MORRISVILLE, N.C. — Fortress Investment Group has purchased a majority of Spark LS, a 106-acre life sciences campus in the Raleigh suburb of Morrisville, for $226.5 million, according to Triad Business Journal. The sale covers six parcels, including two new advanced manufacturing facilities, totaling 80 acres. The news outlet also reported the buyer secured an acquisition loan from Bank of America totaling $111.1 million. In December, the seller, affiliates of Starwood Capital Group and Trinity Capital Advisors, signed a nearly 1.3 million-square-foot lease with Millennium Print Group for 20 years, with a 20-year renewal option. Doug Cook of Cushman & Wakefield arranged the lease. The tenant is a subsidiary of The Pokemon Co. International and produces Pokemon playing cards. The company plans to occupy more than 400,000 square feet of existing space and a new ground-up building totaling 866,000 square feet that will deliver in 2027, according to a December press release from Trinity Capital. Triad Business Journal reports that the status of the construction and upfit for Millennium Print is “unclear” in light of the ownership change.
Acquisitions
ORLANDO, FLA. — Cross Ocean Partners and CP Group have acquired an eight-property office portfolio in Central Florida for $96 million. The properties span 722,456 square feet and include Central Fairwinds in downtown Orlando (169,600 square feet); 1101 Greenwood in Lake Mary (155,048 square feet); Research Commons and Tech Point I and II in Orlando (188,738 square feet); Ingenuity Point in Orlando (125,616 square feet); and University Tech Center in Orlando (83,454 square feet). The portfolio was 93 percent occupied at the time of sale to tenants including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fairwinds Credit Union, Siemens Energy, Galen College of Nursing, Abbott Rapid Dx, Health First and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). Robbie McEwan and Matt McCormack of JLL represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction. CP Group will retain JLL to oversee leasing across the portfolio.
BALTIMORE AND AUSTIN, TEXAS — MCB Real Estate, a privately held commercial real estate investment management and development firm based in Baltimore with more than $4 billion in assets under management (AUM), has completed the acquisition of Austin-based Epic Real Estate Partners. The transaction includes the operation of 15 grocery-anchored shopping centers totaling just over 2 million square feet of retail space across 10 states, with a total portfolio value exceeding $575 million, as well as the operating company encompassing 13 professionals. The assets were cumulatively 92 percent leased and occupied at the time of the merger, and the ownership structure of all property-level limited partnerships stayed intact as part of the transaction. The new AUM, which average 150,000 square feet in size, include: “The Epic Real Estate Partners portfolio, consisting of institutional-quality and high-performing grocery-anchored retail shopping centers, aligns perfectly with our existing national portfolio, while also providing a strong foothold and strategic presence into new submarkets with extremely favorable long-term growth opportunities,” says P. David Bramble, co-founder and managing partner of MCB. “We have known and respected the Epic team for years, and it was extremely important to retain the professional talent at Epic as part of this transaction, …
MetLife Sells Chino Spectrum Towne Center in California to Brixmor Property Group for $138M
by Amy Works
CHINO, CALIF. — MetLife Investment Management, the institutional asset management business of MetLife Inc., has completed the disposition of Chino Spectrum Towne Center, a power center in Chino. Brixmor Property Group, a New York-based public REIT, purchased the asset for $138 million. Jimmy Slusher, Preston Fetrow, James Tyrrell, Mark Damiani and Shaya Northrup of CBRE’s National Retail Partners – West represented the seller in the deal. Located at 3801-4097 Grand Ave., Chino Spectrum Towne Center features 461,269 square feet of retail space that was 95 percent leased at the time of sale. Current tenants include H Mart, Kohl’s, Five Below, Best Buy and Nordstrom Rack, as well as regional and local retailers, service providers and restaurants. The property is also shadow anchored by Walmart Supercenter and Sam’s Club.
CHICAGO — Mavrek has acquired 12-16 W. Maple Avenue, a 20,000-square-foot, four-story retail building in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood. Mavrek plans to renovate the building into flexible space for retail and office tenants. The property offers 75 feet of frontage along Maple Street and is partly occupied by CorePower Yoga on the fourth floor. Paul Bryant and Brendan Reedy of Mid-America Real Estate Corp. will handle leasing efforts.
KENT, OHIO — The Boulder Group has brokered the $2.3 million sale of a single-tenant retail property occupied by Dollar General in Kent. Located at 1154 Tallmadge Road, the asset totals 10,566 square feet. Randy Blankstein and Jimmy Goodman of Boulder Group represented the seller, a preferred Dollar General developer. The buyer was a Delaware Statutory Trust. Dollar General operates more than 20,000 stores in 48 states.
WACO, TEXAS — Cromwell Commercial Group, an affiliate of brokerage firm Coldwell Banker Commercial APEX, Realtors, has arranged the sale of a 1 million-square-foot industrial facility in Waco. The facility, which spans 56 acres at 5200 Beverly Drive, was operated as a glass bottle manufacturing facility for 80 years. The new owner, Dallas-based investment firm Keating Resources, plans to reposition the facility’s 907,000‑square‑foot distribution component for lease or sale and has rebranded the property as Waco I-35 Logistics Center. Jordan Beard of Cromwell Commercial brokered the sale of the property, and the firm has also been retained to direct and market the repositioning strategy.
MATHIS, TEXAS — MAG Capital Partners has purchased a 34,150-square-foot industrial facility in Mathis, about 35 miles northwest of Corpus Christi, in a sale-leaseback deal. The 37.7-acre site at 11557 State Highway 359 houses the global headquarters operations of Airforce Turbine Service and includes a private runway. Steven Okon, Blake Shaffer and Anthony Walters of JLL advised on the transaction. DWG Capital Group arranged acquisition financing for the deal on behalf of the purchaser.
LOS ANGELES — Joint venture partners Hankey Investment Co. and Barker Pacific Group have acquired Sunset Media Center, a 22-story creative office tower in Hollywood’s Media Row, from Kilroy Realty for $61 million. Located at 6255 W. Sunset Blvd., Sunset Media Center features 325,995 square feet of Class A office space with unobstructed view corridors and average floor plates of 18,500 square feet. At the time of sale, the property was 51 percent occupied. Current tenants include Media Res, Magical Elves, The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, Slickdeals, OpenTable and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. Built in 1974, Sunset Media Center underwent an extensive multi-million-dollar renovation in 2014 by architect Gensler and features an updated lobby space, onsite visitor parking, redefined common areas, a sun-drenched outdoor plaza with neighborhood retail hot spot and access to major entertainment studios and media professionals. The new ownership has retained JLL’s Dana Vargas and Peter Hajimihalis to handle leasing efforts for the property. Michael Kathrein, Adam Edwards, Sam Baughman and Blake Stamato of Eastdil Secured represented the seller in the deal.
DoubleBay, Midloch Sell 56,000 SF Retail Space Occupied by VASA Fitness in Longmont, Colorado
by Amy Works
LONGMONT, COLO. — DoubleBay Partners and Midloch Investment Partners have completed the $13.9 million sale of 1630 Pace Street, a retail space situated within Fox Creek Marketplace in Longmont. Mark Thiel and Cory Gross of Marcus & Millichap facilitated the transaction. The name of the buyer was not released. VASA Fitness occupies the 56,000-square-foot space.