Vornado Acquires Miami, NYC Assets

Vornado Realty Trust (VNO - Analyst Report), a real estate investment trust (REIT), recently announced that its 25% owned real estate fund, Vornado Capital Partners, L.P has acquired a retail property, 1100 Lincoln Road, for $132 million. The retail property, spanning 167,000 square feet, is currently 97% leased and is one of the prime attractions of the Lincoln Road shopping district in Miami Beach, Florida.

The transaction was financed partially by a $66 million new mortgage loan on the property. The loan bears interest at LIBOR plus 2.75% and is scheduled to mature in July 2015 with two one-year extension options.

Additionally, Vornado Realty also entered into an agreement to acquire a retail condominium located at 666 Fifth Avenue on 53rd Street in New York City for approximately $707 million. The property encompasses 114,000 square feet with a frontage of 126 feet on Fifth Avenue. The transaction will be funded with property level debt and proceeds from asset sales and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2012.

New York-based Vornado Realty is engaged in acquiring, owning and leasing office properties, retail space, and temperature-controlled logistics and refrigerated warehouses.

Vornado Realty is the largest publicly traded office REIT in the New York region concentrating on Class A office properties. This puts the company well ahead of many competitors who have assets in less desirable markets, still struggling with high vacancies and little pricing power.

Vornado Realty currently retains a Zacks #3 Rank, which translates into a short-term Hold rating. We are also maintaining our long-term Neutral recommendation on the stock. One of its competitors, Brookfield Properties Corporation (BPO - Snapshot Report) also holds a Zacks #3 Rank.