Green acres

Morgan Stanley Real Estate and East West Partners will partner on a ‘green’ resort in the Canadian Rockies.

Morgan Stanley Real Estate, having closed on its $8 billion property vehicle earlier this year, has acquired the Three Sisters Mountain Village near Banff, Alberta with Colorado-based East West Partners. The partnership is working on completion of the 1,800-acre resort.

The property is unique as the “only approved destination resort in an area completely surrounded by 2.8 million acres of protected public wilderness,” East West founding partner Harry Frampton said in a statement announcing the deal. The Colorado-based resort development company is recognized for its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified developments.

Located in the Canadian Rocky Mountains in the Bow River Valley, near Banff National Park and Lake Louise, the Three Sisters Mountain Village is home to the Stewart Creek Golf and Country Club.

LEED-specific developments have been gaining increased attention in the US. In November, The Carlyle Group and Texas-based Means Knaus Partners formed a joint venture to develop a $75 million, 300,000-square-foot One Oak Park & Two Oak Park complex in Houston. The development features designs such as “Low-E” (low-emittance) glass on building exteriors. The corporate center at Oak Park will also feature a courtyard, pedestrian plaza and landscape design incorporating the park's natural environment.

Starwood Capital Group and Perseus Realty also teamed up in October to bring green luxury to the nation's capital. The joint venture is building the first LEED-certified luxury hotel in Washington, DC. The development is being built under the 1 Hotels brand, Starwood's recently launched eco-friendly international hotel brand. Environmental group the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) will serve as advisor to the project, which will also donate one percent of its profits to local environmental organizations guided by a steering committee on which the NRDC will sit.

With aptly-named “green” developments picking up speed, environmentalists and posh hoteliers alike should have reason to rejoice.

Angelo Gordon taps Six Flags exec for amusement parks
New York-based Angelo, Gordon and Company has established Adrenaline Family Entertainment, Inc. in conjunction with its acquisition in August of Clementon Lake Park in Clementon, New Jersey. Located on 55 acres of land, Clementon Lake Park comprises amusement park rides and a water park. Through its new entertainment company, the firm seeks to build a diversified portfolio of amusement park operations through acquisition and development of assets. The entertainment company will be led by chief executive Hue Eichelberger, former executive vice president of the eastern region for Six Flags, Inc., and chief financial officer Russell Kuteman, also formerly with Six Flags. Angelo is targeting developments across the US with its new company and is currently in active discussions with park owners in different markets.

Carlyle plans joint venture ‘green’ project in Houston
The Carlyle Group and Texas-based real estate services and investment firm Means Knaus Partners have formed a joint venture to develop the $75 million, 300,000-square-foot One Oak Park & Two Oak Park complex in the Westchase submarket of West Houston. Oak Park is scheduled to break ground in January 2008 with first-phase occupancy set for December 2008. The first phase in the project will be a 150,000-squarefoot, six-story office and garage complex. The “green” developments will be built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) specifications. Features include designs such as “Low-E” (low-emittance) glass on building exteriors. Development of the corporate center at Oak Park will also include a courtyard, pedestrian plaza and landscape design incorporating the park's natural environment.

Investcorp buys two hotels from Blackstone Group
Investcorp's US real estate group has joined with Interstate Hotel to buy two hotels from The Blackstone Group. The hotels, the 321-room Hilton Seelbach Louisville in Kentucky and the 226-room Crowne Plaza Madison in Wisconsin, received a $4.7 million investment from Interstate for a 15 percent equity interest. With a third hotel not involving Investcorp, the total transaction value was $118 million. Investcorp US has offices in New York and Los Angeles and manages some $5 billion in assets. Investcorp is a publicly listed company based in Bahrain. Investcorp Real Estate is co-led by Jonathan Dracos and John Fraser. Dracos joined Investcorp in 1995 from George Soros's Quantum Realty Fund. Fraser joined the firm in 1995 after having worked at the O'Connor Group.