Origination

The board set up to finance and operate a new state teaching hospital in New Orleans has withdrawn its request for federal enhancement of revenue bonds needed to build the $1.2 billion University Medical Center.

Prudential Mortgage Capital Co. and affiliated funds of Perella Weinberg Partners’ asset based value strategy have formed a joint venture to originate commercial mortgages for future securitization, the companies said Friday.

Global real estate funds management firm Agincourt Capital plans to launch this Thursday what it said is the first-ever offshore renminbi secured convertible bond fund for Australian residential and commercial real estate, and it is also in the process of structuring an RMB bond fund that will invest in certain New York City properties.

Vacancies at shopping centers rose for the first time in a year in the second quarter as retail properties lagged the U.S. office and apartment rebound, according to a new report from Reis Inc.

The mortgage originations business has seen a number of different business models, including traditional storefronts and online call centers as well as all sorts of iterations of net branches and cooperatives. Now, one originator believes the industry is ripe for a franchise model, similar to what is seen with real estate brokers and even McDonald’s.

For Mike Meena, hard work built up over a lot of years in the business was the driving factor behind his 2010 production numbers. That hard work turned into referrals from business partners and past clients. Underlying that is a culture of service.

Even as overall wholesale volumes continue to decline some players continue to grow their stakes in the space like Texas-based Caliber Funding and 360 Mortgage Group, which may represent two different ends of the range of approaches to lending in this third-party origination space.

MHI Hospitality Corp., a lodging real estate trust based in Williamsburg, Va., has exercised its option to extend the maturity date by one year on its mortgage loan secured by the Crowne Plaza Hampton Marina Hotel, Hampton, Va.

The prospect of getting laid off has home shoppers wary of committing to a mortgage, and those that do want to buy a home are continuing to find it hard to get financing, according to a monthly survey of real estate agents by Credit Suisse.

Nancy Alley, the vice president of product services at Xerox Mortgage Services, will now lead the group as its general manager, replacing outgoing GM Greg Smith.