Washington Trust Provides $2.6 Million in Financing for Walgreens Drugstore in Providence, RI

According to Yahoo Finance, Washington Trust’s Commercial Real Estate Group recently provided $2.6 million to Curo Elmwood, LLC, for the refinancing of a Walgreens drugstore located at 533 Elmwood Avenue in Providence, RI. The 2.13-acre property, well located in South Providence, provides customers with 13,930 square-feet of retail space including a pharmacy drive through window. Walgreen’s is the largest drugstore chain in the US, and the Elmwood Avenue location is currently one of the Company’s highest producing stores.

“With the heavy traffic on Elmwood Avenue and familiarity of the Walgreens name, this property is primed for continued success,” said Joseph J. MarcAurele, Washington Trust Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Curo Elmwood, LLC is managed by Curo Enterprises out of New York.

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Hedge-Fund Leverage Rises to Most Since 2004 in New Year

According to Bloomberg’s Whitney Kisling, hedge funds are borrowing more to buy equities just as loans by New York Stock Exchange brokers reach the highest in four years, signs of increasing confidence after professional investors trailed the market since 2008.

Leverage among managers who speculate on rising and falling shares climbed to the highest level to start any year since at least 2004, according to data compiled by Morgan Stanley. Margin debt at NYSE firms rose in November to the most since February 2008, data from NYSE Euronext show.

The rising use of borrowed money shows that everyone from the biggest firms to individuals is willing to take more risks after missing the rewards of the bull market that began in 2009. While leverage means bigger losses should stocks decline, investors are betting that record earnings and valuations 9.8 percent below the six-decade average will help push the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index toward the record it set in October 2007.

“The first step of increasing risk is just going long, the second part of that is levering up in order to go longer,” James Dunigan, who helps oversee $112 billion as chief investment officer in Philadelphia for PNC Wealth Management, said in a Jan. 8 telephone interview. “Leverage increasing in the hedge-fund area suggests they’re now getting on board.”

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