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PIMCO to Acquire Office REIT Columbia Property Trust in $3.9B Deal

by John Nelson

NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF. AND NEW YORK CITY — Pacific Investment Management Co. (PIMCO) has entered into a definitive agreement with Columbia Property Trust (NYSE: CXP) to acquire the New York City-based office REIT. Funds managed by PIMCO will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Columbia’s common stock in a deal valued at $3.9 billion, including debt. Columbia owns 15 office properties spanning more than 6 million square feet in the gateway markets of New York City, Boston, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. The firm’s portfolio also includes four office properties under development and 8 million square feet under management for private investors and third parties. The U.S. office sector has been severely impacted by the outbreak of COVID-19 and rise of the Delta variant as millions of office-using employees are currently working from home. According to The Wall Street Journal, New York City and San Francisco reported the lowest usage rates among the 10 major office markets tracked by Falls Church, Va.-based Kastle Systems, which monitors access swipes of office buildings. New York City had a usage rate of 22.3 percent and San Francisco had a 19.7 usage rate for the week ending Aug. 25. Despite the headwinds facing …

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ArkansasCompany NewsRetailSoutheast

Walmart to Hire 20,000 New Supply Chain Employees Following Revenue Growth in Fiscal Second Quarter 2021

by Julia Sanders

BENTONVILLE, ARK. — Walmart Inc. plans to hire 20,000 more supply chain employees in order to keep up with the retailer’s recent growth. Walmart released a statement a few weeks ago saying that the company saw an increase in revenue by 2.4 percent year-over-year in its fiscal second quarter of 2021, which ended on July 31. The new employees will be hired across more than 250 Walmart and Sam’s Club distribution centers, fulfillment centers and transportation offices. The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer will offer job roles including order fillers, freight handlers, lift drivers, technicians and management positions. The roles will be on a permanent basis and the new employees will be hired for both full-time and part-time positions. The average wage for the supply chain positions is $20.37 per hour. For new employees, Walmart has opened six new Walmart Academies, which have been established to train associates with both classroom and floor training in specialized supply chain skills, as well as soft skills such as leadership and communications. During the company’s fiscal year in 2021, 5,900 employees were trained via the Walmart U.S. Supply Chain Academy. In July 2021, the national discount retailer also announced that it will invest about $1 …

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Company NewsTexas

Whitebox Real Estate Opens New Office in West Houston

by Taylor Williams

HOUSTON — Whitebox Real Estate, a Dallas-based advisory and development firm, has opened a new office at 5847 San Felipe St. in West Houston. In its decision to expand to Houston, Whitebox president and managing director Grant Pruitt cited the healthy volume of businesses relocating to Houston from California, Illinois and New York as a key factor. Industry veteran and Houston native Andrew Brod will lead the new office as managing director.

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Company NewsTexas

CarMax to Open Technology Innovation Center, Auction Facility in Dallas Area

by Taylor Williams

PLANO AND HUTCHINS, TEXAS — CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) will open a new technology innovation center at Granite Park in the northern Dallas suburb of Plano, a move that is expected to create about 200 new jobs. The square footage and expected opening date of the center were not disclosed. In addition, the Richmond-based used vehicle retailer will open an 11-acre auction facility in Hutchins, located south of Dallas. CarMax expects to hire about 25 people at the auction house and to begin hosting virtual events by October. Lastly, the company will launch a new customer experience center (CEC) to serve its Dallas-area customers. This initiative will result in the hiring of about 75 remote positions, resulting in total employment growth of about 300 jobs. In addition to its more than 220 stores, CarMax’s corporate footprint includes its headquarters in Richmond; CarMax Auto Finance in Atlanta; and CEC locations in Atlanta, Phoenix, Richmond, Raleigh and Kansas City.

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AcquisitionsAffordable HousingCaliforniaCompany NewsMarylandMultifamilySoutheastTop StoriesWalker & DunlopWestern

Walker & Dunlop Bolsters Affordable Housing Business with $696M Acquisition of Alliant Capital, Affiliates

by John Nelson

BETHESDA, MD. AND WOODLAND HILLS, CALIF. — Walker & Dunlop (NYSE: WD) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Alliant Capital Ltd., a privately held affordable housing asset management firm based in Woodland Hills. Under the terms of the purchase agreement, Walker & Dunlop will acquire Alliant and its affiliates, Alliant Strategic Investments and ADC Communities, at a total value of $696 million. Alliant is the sixth-largest syndicator of low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC) in the United States and has participated in the development of over 100,000 affordable units serving over 400,000 families. ADC Communities is the affordable housing development arm of Alliant, which has financed 29 developments and over 5,400 units in eight states since 2014. Alliant Strategic Investments focuses on non-LIHTC affordable housing preservation, workforce housing and opportunity zone investments. The acquisition will bring Walker & Dunlop’s total affordable housing assets under management to $16 billion, with $14 billion of those assets under management belonging to Alliant. The move is expected to be accretive to Walker & Dunlop’s existing $112 billion servicing portfolio. “Alliant is one of the largest and most respected tax credit syndicators and affordable housing developers in the country. The addition of their people, …

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Company NewsLeasing ActivityNew YorkNortheastOffice

Project Management Advisors Expands to New York City, Opens Office in Empire State Building

by Taylor Williams

NEW YORK CITY — Chicago-based real estate consulting firm Project Management Advisors Inc. (PMA) has signed a lease for approximately 5,000 square feet in the Empire State Building. The new office — the company’s seventh across the country — will bring together PMA’s existing New York staff and the team from LPE Management Services, which PMA recently acquired. The office is scheduled to before the end of the month.

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Company NewsNew JerseyNew YorkNortheastRetail

Toys ‘R’ Us to Open 400 Stores Within Existing Macy’s Locations in 2022

by Taylor Williams

NEW YORK CITY — WHP Global, the parent company of Toys ‘R’ Us, has entered into an agreement with Macy’s (NYSE: M) to open more than 400 toy stores within the department store chain’s existing locations across the country in 2022. In addition to physical merchandise, the new stores will feature interactive experiences and activation centers to enhance the experience for both children and parents. The Wayne, New Jersey-based toy retailer originally announced its intent to close or sell off all of its 700-plus U.S. stores in 2018. New York City-based WHP Global acquired the controlling stake of TruKids Inc., the former owner of Toys ‘R’ Us, in March with plans to reopen some stores.

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AcquisitionsCompany NewsData CentersDistrict of ColumbiaIndustrialLife SciencesMarylandOfficeSoutheastTexasTop StoriesVirginia

PRP Sells Four Office Campuses for $1B, Makes $2B Commitment for Logistics and Data Center Acquisitions

by John Nelson

WASHINGTON, D.C. — PRP, a privately held real estate investment and management firm based in Washington, D.C., is making a sea change as it looks to bolster its logistics and data center portfolio and churn its office assets. The company is in the process of selling four office campuses in separate deals totaling more than $1 billion. At the same time, PRP is allocating $2 billion to acquire logistics facilities leased to credit-worthy companies in primary and secondary markets, as well as data centers and land zoned for future data centers. The specific locations of the assets were not disclosed. “The assets that we are acquiring are located in attractive markets backed by solid demographics, high barriers to entry and historically high industrial occupancy rates,” says Joe Neckles, managing director of net lease acquisitions at PRP. “The logistics and data center sectors remained highly resilient throughout the pandemic and continue to grow at rates well in excess of inflation.” The office assets that PRP is selling include Sequoia Plaza, a 370,000-square-foot campus spanning three buildings in Northern Virginia’s Arlington County. The property houses the headquarters of Arlington County’s Department of Human Services and the Arlington County Public School System. An …

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Company NewsTexas

AECOM to Relocate Global Headquarters from Los Angeles to Dallas

by Taylor Williams

DALLAS — AECOM (NYSE: ACM) will relocate its global headquarters from Los Angeles to Dallas, the engineering and infrastructure consulting giant said in a statement earlier this week. Beginning on Oct. 1, select corporate leaders, including CEO Troy Rudd, will join the 1,200-plus employees who currently work at AECOM’s Dallas office at 13355 Noel Road, as well as the firm’s other offices across Texas. About 2,500 employees will continue to work in the California offices, including Los Angeles. The company cited the market’s talent pool for engineering and infrastructure consulting as a key factor in its decision to relocate, while also crediting the “additional benefits as a corporate hub” that Dallas offers. AECOM, a Fortune 500 company, accrued $13.2 billion in revenue in its 2020 fiscal year. The company’s stock price closed at $63.19 per share on Wednesday, Aug. 18, up from $38.19 per share a year ago.

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Affordable HousingCaliforniaCompany NewsDevelopmentMultifamilyTop StoriesWestern

Standard Communities, Faring Plan to Build $2B in Middle-Income Housing in California Within Two Years

by Amy Works

LOS ANGELES — Standard Communities and Faring have formed a joint venture with plans to create more than $2 billion of middle-income housing across California over the next 18 to 24 months. The strategic partnership, Standard-Faring Essential Housing, will engage in both ground-up construction of middle-income rental housing and the acquisition and conversion of existing market-rate properties. The partnership recently created more than 650 units of dedicated middle-income housing in Southern California with a total capitalization of over $400 million. The transactions utilized tax-exempt bond financing provided by CSCDA Community Improvement Authority, a state program that seeks to improve the availability of housing for Californians earning approximately the same as the area median income (AMI).  Upon taking ownership, CSCDA Community Improvement Authority worked with Standard-Faring Essential Housing as project administrator to immediately lower rents for new residents who qualify with incomes between 80 percent and 120 percent of AMI. “By focusing on middle-income housing, California cities can ensure that middle-income families and essential workers such as first responders, hospital and healthcare staff, and teachers can afford to live near their jobs in the communities they serve,” says Jeffrey Jaeger, principal and co-founder of Standard Communities. “This joint venture will provide …

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