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.
Company News
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 …
MORRESVILLE, N.C. AND SAN DIEGO — Mooresville-based Lowe’s and San Diego-based Petco Health and Wellness Co. Inc. have plans to open a new in-store concept that will offer both home and pet products within select Lowe’s locations. The first Lowe’s + Petco store-in-store concept is slated to open at the Lowe’s Alamo Ranch store in San Antonio at the beginning of February. The companies plan to also expand to 14 additional Lowe’s locations in Texas, North Carolina and South Carolina by the end of March. The purpose of the new Lowe’s + Petco locations is to provide a unique customer experience where customers can support their pet’s health and wellness through an assortment of Petco’s pet food, supplies and services and improve the home they share in one shopping trip. The new store locations are also expected to offer a selection of Petco’s pet services, including Vetco vaccination clinics, microchipping, prescription pest prevention and mobile grooming at select times and locations.
First Commercial Property Management to Operate Two Shopping Centers in Arizona, California
by Amy Works
PHOENIX AND MENIFEE, CALIF. — Upland-based 1st Commercial Property Management has been selected to operate two retail centers in Arizona and California. The company will provide management services for Arcadia Crossing Shopping Center, which features more than 450,000 square feet of retail space. Fry’s Food and Drug, Ross Dress for Less, Target, Petco, Burlington and Conn’s Home Plus are tenants at the property. A private foreign owner has selected 1st Commercial to provide property management services for Countryside Marketplace in Menifee. Built in 2008 on 32 acres, the 721,000-square-foot property is fully leased. Current tenants include Super Target, Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse, Kohl’s, Best Buy, T.J. Maxx, HomeGoods, Michaels, Burlington, Staples, Petco and Boot Barn.
NEW YORK AND BASALT, COLO. — NAI Global has expanded its services with a new specialty service that will do business as NAI Outdoor Hospitality Brokers. Bob Kaplan and his Colorado-based team will specialize in buying and selling RV parks, campgrounds and glamping resorts on behalf of investors throughout the United States. Kaplan and his team of three other agents and an operations manager have 27 years of combined brokerage experience in commercial real estate brokerage, during which time they have closed more than 200 transactions valued in excess of $600 million. In 2021, the team closed 18 transactions in 11 states, totaling over $84 million in value. The group’s primary geographical areas are the Rocky Mountains and Western States, Texas, the Southeast and the Northeast. NAI Outdoor Hospitality Brokers is affiliated with The National Association of Recreational Parks & Campgrounds, the American Glamping Association, the Colorado Campground & Lodging Association and the Texas Association of Campground Owners.
NEW YORK CITY — Global Real Estate Advisors (GREA), a full-service brokerage and advisory firm specializing in multifamily acquisitions and financing, has launched 11 offices across the country, including three in the major Texas markets of Dallas, Houston and Austin. The firm brings together representatives of regional brokerages including National Apartment Advisors, Greystone SG, Brown Realty Advisors, HFO Investment Real Estate, Rittenhouse Realty Advisors and Bel Real Estate Advisors. Combined, the brokerages transacted more than $4.5 billion in 2021 sales volume.
DALLAS — CapRock Partners, an investment, development and asset management firm based in Southern California, has expanded into Texas with the opening of a new office in Dallas. The firm will primarily pursue value-add investment opportunities, as well as large-scale logistics developments. Jon Pharris, CapRock’s co-founder and president, will lead the new Texas office. The company, which recently closed a venture to fund some $2 billion in industrial development in California, Nevada and Arizona, sees the expansion into Dallas as a natural move. Specifically, the company cited the metroplex’s temperate weather, affordable lifestyle, highly skilled workforce, established infrastructure, low regulations and business-friendly climate as the key incentives behind its decision.