Zoe Hughes

Reversing two years of massive declines, opportunistic funds reported returns of 6.4% in the fourth quarter of 2010 and 24.3% for the entire year.

Florida Governor Rick Scott has backed calls to replace the state’s defined benefit pension scheme with a defined contribution plan. This latest example in the global switch to DC pensions is raising questions over whether there will even be a next generation of private equity real estate LPs.

As the UK’s financial sector regains its health, demand for office space in Central London is expected to soar with an extra 1.6m sq. ft. needed over the next three years.

Savills Liberty Street Asset Management will manage third-party debt and equity investments across North America.

The two firms have acquired a $385m portfolio of hotel loans from the US banking regulator for around 80 cents on the dollar.

A bill passed by New York’s State Assembly has expanded NYC’s rent regulations governing what landlords can charge and when they can convert apartments to market rates, but it faces increasing opposition in the State Senate.

The firm co-founded by former Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing executives Sonny Kalsi, John Carrafiell and Fred Schmidt in 2010 has raised $150m against a target of between $300m and $400m.

Colony Financial raised the equity through a secondary offering after fully investing the proceeds of its $284m IPO and a $55.7m private placement.

Stephen Renna has been named chief executive officer of the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council after almost three years at the National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers.

The real estate arm of the Qatari Investment Authority is the anchor investor in the $700m CityCenterDC project, a 10-acre, mixed-use development in Washington DC.