MELVILLE, N.Y. — Cushman & Wakefield has acquired the brokerage division of NAI Long Island, adding 16 new commercial leasing and investment sales professionals to its regional workforce. Founded in 1980 by Carmine Inserra, NAI Long Island is based in Melville, located centrally on Long Island, and represents both investors and tenants in leasing and sales of office, industrial, retail and mixed-use properties. Former NAI Long Island employees will continue to work temporarily in NAI Long Island’s current office until all team members relocate to a new Cushman & Wakefield office in Melville in 2020. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.
SEATTLE AND TOLEDO, OHIO — Merrill Gardens, a Seattle-based owner-operator, has formed a joint venture with ReNew, a Toledo-based REIT. The two companies will co-own 26 of the 28 seniors housing properties that ReNew is acquiring from New Senior Investment Group. In addition to owning a minority stake in the venture, Merrill Gardens will take over operations of the 26 communities. The two companies have worked together before on other joint ventures. An existing operating partner of ReNew will operate the final two communities in the portfolio, with ReNew taking a full ownership stake in those properties. The transaction brings Merrill Gardens’ total portfolio to 65 communities in 17 states. Of the 26 communities that will now be part of the Merrill Gardens portfolio, 15 are currently managed by Blue Harbor, the Portland-based management company that Merrill Gardens purchased in early November. Merrill Gardens also recently announced the addition of Tana Gall as president, replacing Dave Eskenazy who plans to retire early next year. Gall was the CEO at Blue Harbor for the past three years and she will now oversee the expanded Merrill Gardens portfolio. “This agreement provides an important chance for us to expand our footprint and diversify …
SAN ANTONIO — CBRE Group Inc. has acquired Reata Real Estate, a San Antonio-based full-service firm that focuses on retail, office, medical office and land transactions. Founded in 2001, Reata employs approximately 45 real estate professionals serving clients across Central and South Texas. In describing the acquisition, CBRE executives cited the opportunity to shore up its leasing, sales and managers services in the growing San Antonio market.
BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MICH. AND TERRE HAUTE, IND. — Global trucking and logistics firm Penske Corp. has agreed to purchase Hulman & Co., a private company that owns Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the world-famous racetrack that hosts the Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400 racing events. The acquisition price was not disclosed. Situated on more than 1,000 acres in Speedway, Ind., the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was built in 1909 and today has a permanent seating capacity exceeding 235,000 people. When infield seating is added, more than 400,000 people can view the various racing events held at the 2.5-mile oval track. According to Hulman, which has owned the venue since 1945, it’s the world’s largest spectator sporting facility. “The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has been the centerpiece and the cathedral of motorsports since 1909 and the Hulman-George family has proudly served as the steward of this great institution for more than 70 years,” says Tony George, chairman of Hulman & Co., a family-owned company based in Terre Haute. “Now, we are honored to pass the torch to Roger Penske and Penske Corp. There is no one more capable and qualified than Roger and his organization to lead the sport of IndyCar racing and the Indianapolis …
MINNEAPOLIS — President Jeffrey Weidell will become CEO of NorthMarq effective Jan. 1, 2020. He will succeed Eduardo Padilla, who has served in the role for 20 years and will become executive chair. Weidell has been responsible for a number of successful initiatives as president, including a production training program, the launch of the investment sales business, growth in both mortgage origination and investment sales, and expansion of the equity advisory business. He was promoted to president in 2013 after serving as managing director of the San Francisco office since he joined NorthMarq in 2000. “This planned executive transition sets the stage for NorthMarq to continue to thrive, ensuring our operations, financing and investment sales businesses maintain the highest level of client support,” said Padilla in a news release. Under Padilla’s leadership, Minneapolis-based NorthMarq completed nearly 20 acquisitions, growing to 37 debt and equity offices with more than 50 correspondent relationships and a loan servicing portfolio of nearly $60 billion. NorthMarq is part of the Pohlad Cos., a privately held portfolio of businesses and investments spanning a variety of industries.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Austin-based Roscoe Property Management (RPM) has been awarded the B/K portfolio, which consists of 14 apartment communities totaling approximately 3,500 units, the majority of which are located in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) and Houston markets. RPM has now added more than 50 communities to its management portfolio in 2019 alone.
DALLAS — The Howard Hughes Corp. (NYSE: HHC), a mixed-use and residential real estate developer and operator with projects across the country, has announced a series of changes for the nine-year-old company. The Dallas-based firm plans to focus on its master-planned communities in Texas, Hawaii, New York, Maryland and Nevada and sell its non-core assets valued at roughly $2 billion over the next 12 to 18 months. HHC expects to net $600 million in cash proceeds from the sales. The Dallas Morning News reports that HHC will put several high-profile projects up for sale, including the Outlet Collection at Riverwalk in New Orleans, the Bridges of Mint Hill in Charlotte, Elk Grove in Sacramento and 110 North Wacker, a 56-story office tower under construction in Chicago. HHC says the office tower will deliver in October 2020 and is 69 percent preleased. HHC recently sold Cottonwood Mall in Salt Lake City for $56 million and plans to shop Monarch City, a 261-acre mixed-use project that the Allen City Council approved earlier this summer. Leadership change, HQ move Paul Layne, president of HHC’s Central region, is taking over as CEO effective immediately as David Weinreb and Grant Herlitz are stepping down from …
JACKSONVILLE, FLA. — Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. has acquired Maple Street Biscuit Co. for $36 million in an all-cash deal. Maple Street’s portfolio comprised 28 company-owned and five franchise-owned restaurants in seven states at the time of sale. The company plans to convert its Holler & Dash Biscuit House into Maple Street Biscuit locations. Scott Moore and Gus Johnson founded Maple Street in Jacksonville in 2012. Moore will stay on as CEO and will report to Sandra Cochran, president and CEO of Cracker Barrel.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — CoStar Group will acquire STR, which tracks hotel data, for $450 million in an all-cash deal. The sale is expected to close by the end of this year. STR was founded in 1985 as Smith Travel Research to provide performance benchmarking and comparative analytics to hotels. Henderson, Tenn.-based STR aggregates data from more than 65,000 hotels worldwide. The company employs 370 people in 15 countries. Washington, D.C.-based CoStar plans to use STR to create new products that provide building data, income level and trend reports, sales comps and for sale information.
PORTLAND, ORE. — The Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR)’s Fall World Conference is set to take place Oct. 16 to 19 at the Hilton Portland in Portland. Starting in the afternoon on Oct. 16, attendees will be able to sit in on a wide variety of panels and discussions, including Industrial Occupiers: A View from the Inside; Smart Building Platforms; Global Cities – Challenges & Opportunities: Impact on Real Estate; Underwriting & Due Diligence of Investment CRE Deals; and Augmented Reality (AR): Real Estate’s New Reality. SIOR selected Portland for this year’s conference to highlight growth in the city’s commercial office and industrial sectors since 2018. According to CoStar’s Loopnet, office prices have risen by 9.2 percent and industrial has increased by 18.5 percent.