BETHESDA, MD. AND COSTA MESA, CALIF. — Bethesda-based retail real estate owner First Washington Realty (FWR) has purchased Donahue Schriber Realty Group Inc., a shopping center owner based in Costa Mesa. An affiliate of FWR acquired the private retail REIT and its portfolio of grocery-anchored, open-air centers from institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Global Alternatives. The transaction adds 47 shopping centers, as well as one DSRG-owned office property, for a combined 6 million square feet to FWR’s holdings. The sales price was not disclosed, but Bloomberg reported in February that the negotiations for the deal valued DSRG and its assets at north of $3 billion. The news outlet also reports that the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) was an equity partner with FWR on the deal and that JPMorgan Asset Management and the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System (NYSTRS) were among DSRG’s largest investors. For FWR, the deal expands its presence on the West Coast, including in high-profile markets such as the Bay Area, Orange County, Seattle, Portland, San Diego and Sacramento. The deal also expands FWR’s corporate base on the West Coast, as its executive management team now oversees DSRG’s existing offices in Orange County, San …
Company News
CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS — Whataburger, a Corpus Christi-based fast food burger chain, is opening its first metro Atlanta restaurants this year. The two locations will be situated at 705 Town Park Lane NW in Kennesaw and 9766 GA-92 in Woodstock. At its Kennesaw location, Whataburger plans to hire 180 employees, and to employ more than 1,400 employees in the metro Atlanta area restaurants by the end of 2023. In 2023, other Whataburger locations will open around metro Atlanta including at 503 Lakeland Plaza in Cumming; SEQ Buford Drive and Exchange Drive in Buford; 3321 Lexington Road in Athens; 3201 Atlanta Highway in Athens; 100 Pottery Road in Commerce; and 15 Wallace Blvd. in Dawsonville. Whataburger currently has one Georgia restaurant in Thomasville. The burger chain has over 880 locations across 14 states.
MORRISTOWN, N.J. — Berkadia’s New Jersey office has expanded its investment sales team with the addition of six professionals. Nat Gambuzza, Spencer Beriont, Trevor Fiebel, Tim Blashford, Brian Antognini and Mike O’Reilly all join Berkadia from CBRE. The team will specialize in handling portfolio sales, distressed property deals, note sales and 1031 tax exchange transactions for private investors, partnerships, lenders and institutions of varying net worth.
HOUSTON — NewQuest Properties, a Houston-based retail development, brokerage and management firm, has launched a division to provide similar services to the city’s multifamily sector. NewQuest, which owns and manages more than 12 million square feet of commercial space, has tapped industry veteran John Leonard to lead the new division. Leonard most recently served as senior vice president and CFO of developer Sueba USA.
TORRANCE, CALIF. — Stuart Klabin, the founder of The Klabin Co./CORFAC International, has passed away at age 90. Klabin, who founded Torrance-based The Klabin Co. in 1961, was a pioneer in Los Angeles industrial real estate and enjoyed decades of success both as a broker and developer. Klabin was also the founder of the American Industrial Real Estate Association. While Klabin was not involved with the day-to-day operations of the Klabin Co. for the past more than 20 years, he served as chairman emeritus until his passing. Over the past several years, Klabin maintained a connection to The Klabin Co. through the real estate assets he developed and owned in the greater Los Angeles region. CORFAC International, formerly known as Corporate Facility Advisors, is a network for independently owned commercial real estate firms. CORFAC currently has over 75 offices worldwide.
HOUSTON — California-based investment firm BH Properties has opened a new office at 15721 Park Row in West Houston to help manage its growing portfolio of commercial properties in Texas. Brady Wilkins, a 30-year industry veteran, will lead the new office as senior asset manager. BH Properties’ recent Texas acquisitions include a 127,955-square-foot office building in the western Houston suburb of Katy and an 86,640-square-foot industrial building in the Rio Grande Valley city of Harlingen. All told, about 40 percent of the properties that comprise the firm’s 10 million-square-foot commercial portfolio are located in Texas.
HOUSTON — Realty Trust Group, a healthcare real estate advisory firm with six offices across the Southeast, has expanded into Texas with the opening of a new office at 2200 Post Oak Blvd. in Houston’s Galleria neighborhood. Services offered will include healthcare real estate advisory, market analytics, project development, brokerage, property management and regulatory compliance support. Craig Flanagan, an industry veteran who joined Realty Trust Group in 2012, will lead the new office.
Cedar Realty Trust to Sell Retail Portfolio, Company in Various Transactions Totaling $1.2B
by Katie Sloan
MASSAPEQUA, N.Y. — Cedar Realty Trust (NYSE: CDR) has agreed to sell the company and its portfolio of assets through several transactions totaling $1.2 billion. The Massapequa-based firm’s portfolio includes 53 properties with approximately 7.6 million square feet of gross leasable space. Properties are predominantly located across high-density markets in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. A fund managed by DRA Advisors and KPR Centers will acquire a portfolio of 33 grocery-anchored shopping centers from the company for $840 million. Cedar also agreed to sell its Revelry redevelopment project in Philadelphia for $34 million and its Northeast Heights redevelopment project in Washington, D.C., for $46.5 million to undisclosed buyers. In the event the sales are not completed prior to closing of the grocery-anchored shopping center portfolio acquisition, the DRA-KPR joint venture has agreed to acquire both projects at an aggregate price of $80.5 million. The company and its remaining assets are set to be acquired by Virginia Beach, Va.-based Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust Inc. (NASDAQ: WHLR) in an all-cash merger valued at $291.3 million. Upon completion of the transaction, Cedar will be wholly owned by Wheeler and the company’s common stock …
Healthcare Realty Trust, Healthcare Trust of America Agree to Merge, Forming $11.6B Medical Office Building REIT
by John Nelson
NASHVILLE, TENN. AND SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. — Healthcare Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: HR) and Healthcare Trust of America Inc. (NYSE: HTA), two of the larger owners of medical office buildings in the country, have agreed to merge. Upon closing, the combined company will operate under the Healthcare Realty name and use the same stock exchange ticker symbol of “HR,” as well as keep its headquarters in Nashville with offices in Charleston and HTA’s current headquarters of Scottsdale. The combined company is expected to have a pro forma equity market capitalization of approximately $11.6 billion upon the close of the transaction, which is expected to occur in the third quarter pending approval from the shareholders of both companies. The boards of directors of both Healthcare Realty and HTA unanimously approved the merger. With 727 properties totaling 44 million square feet, the new company will be the largest “pure-play” real estate investment trust specializing in medical office buildings (MOB), with nearly double the square footage of the next-largest MOB portfolio. The company will own the largest portfolio of on-campus or adjacent to hospital campus properties comprising 28.2 million square feet. Additionally, 94 percent of the portfolio will be concentrated in the top 100 …
Ares Management Acquires Capital Automotive for $3.8B, Including 250 Net-Leased Car Dealerships
by John Nelson
NEW YORK CITY AND MCLEAN, VA. — Ares Management Corp. (NYSE: ARES) has acquired Capital Automotive LLC, a McLean-based firm that specializes in the sale-leaseback of car dealerships under new triple-net leases. Ares purchased the company through its alternative credit strategy division and real estate group for $3.8 billion. The seller was a private real estate fund managed by Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM). Capital Automotive owns more than 250 real estate assets in the United States and Canada that are structured under long-term, triple-net leases to various car dealers. The names and locations of the properties were not disclosed. Ares purchased Capital to expand and diversify its net-lease investment strategy. Including the recent investment in Capital Automotive, Ares’ funds have invested in over 1,200 real estate assets totaling approximately $7.2 billion of gross asset value in North America and Europe over the past 15 months. These net lease investments include retail, industrial and office properties leased to tenants with varying credit profiles. Ares’ real estate group had approximately $41.2 billion of assets under management as of year-end 2021. Ares Management’s stock price closed on Thursday, Feb. 17 at $79.01 per share, up from $52.02 a year ago, a nearly …