RCA in the commercial property press:

Atlanta-based Portman invested $1.5B in commercial real estate

AJC reports: While the recession has put a damper on investing in real estate, Atlanta-based Portman Holdings ranks among the world’s top buyers of commercial real estate property.

With $1.5 billion in global investments last year, Portman Holdings ranked No. 13 among the top 30 global investors of 2008, according to a report in this month’s Global Capital Trends, a publication of research firm Real Capital Analytics.

The top 30 global buyers of 2008 bought individual properties valued at $10 million or more and made purchases worldwide, said RCA spokesperson Jessica Ruderman.

Global investment leader Goldman Sachs — at $6.5 billion — was one of only five global buyers investing more than $2 billion, the report said. The other four were Morgan Stanley, Jones Lang LaSalle, Arcapita Bank (Arcapita Inc., an Atlanta-based private equity firm, is a subsidiary of Arcapita Bank) and Dubai World. The global investment threshold for 2008 was so low, the report said, “that last place buyer Canada Life of Toronto made the (top 30) cut with only $800 million in acquisitions” in 2008.

Based on volume, the $1.5 billion spent by Portman Holdings put it at No. 49 among the top 100 buyers of 2008, according to the report.

Also, Atlanta-based Invesco Real Estate ranked No. 64 among the top 100 buyers of 2008, according to the report, with $1.2 billion in investments — mostly in domestic properties.

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