MINNEAPOLIS — The Opus Group has completed a new office headquarters property for Xcel Energy in downtown Minneapolis. The 222,000-square-foot project is located at the north end of Nicollet Mall, a 12-block shopping, dining and commercial district. 401 Nicollet is a two-building campus that consolidated operations that were previously spread throughout Minneapolis. The complex features collaborative work spaces with flexible furniture, technology and conference areas, as well as a skyway that connects the two nine-story buildings.
ALPHARETTA, GA. — Pope & Land Enterprises Inc., with assistance from capital advisor Patterson Real Estate Advisory Group, has purchased a five-story, 113,000-square-foot office building located on a 10.2-acre parcel at 3333 Old Milton Parkway in Alpharetta. Siemens, which will be vacating the property in August, sold the asset to Pope & Land for an undisclosed price. Patterson arranged debt financing through The Brand Banking Co. for the office acquisition. The building is situated adjacent to 27 acres of land that Pope & Land owns, as well as a mile from Avalon and GA 400. Siemens has owned and operated the office asset since the company built it in 1987.
HORSHAM, PA. — Horsham-based Workspace Property Trust (WPT), in partnership with global investment firm Safanad, has agreed to buy 108 office and flex buildings from Liberty Property Trust (NYSE: LPT) for approximately $969 million. The acquired properties — located in Arizona, Florida, Minnesota and Pennsylvania — total roughly 7.6 million square feet. The sale is expected to close before the fourth quarter of this year. Of the 30 properties to be acquired in Pennsylvania, two dozen are located within the Great Valley Corporate Center in Malvern, according to reports by The Philadelphia Business Journal. The balance of the portfolio is largely located in Florida, with 34 buildings to be acquired in the Tampa market and 11 properties to be acquired in Southern Florida. At the closing of the transaction, WPT’s total portfolio will be composed of approximately 9.9 million square feet of leasable space across 149 properties in five markets. Workspace Property Trust specializes in the development, management and operation of office and flex space. The company is a partnership between Rizk Ventures, Forum Partners, JMP Group, EverWatch Capital and, with the closing of this transaction, Safanad. Liberty Property Trust is an $8.2 billion real estate investment trust, which owns …
SUNNYVALE, CALIF. — Aessense is consolidating, expanding and relocating its headquarters and R&D facility to Sunnyvale. The 16,260-square-foot, single-story building is located at 1281 Reamwood Drive. The Class A flex property has been fully renovated. It is situated near Highway 237 and the Lawrence Expressway. The developer of aeroponic plant growth systems and products is currently located at 1400 Terra Bella Ave. in Mountain View and 1220 Alderwood Drive in Sunnyvale. The company has nearly tripled its size. It will occupy the new space in October. AEssense is a Pan-Pacific company with a significant manufacturing facility in Shanghai. Scott Kinder of Savills Studley represented AEssense, while Greg Davies, Steve Horton, Alan Guterman and Kelly Yoder of Cushman & Wakefield represented the landlord, WTA Reamwood LLC, in this transaction.
BOSTON — GLL Real Estate Partners has completed the disposition of a mixed-use building located at 70 Franklin St. in Boston. Deka acquired the 85,977-square-foot property for $42.1 million. At the time of sale, the building was 91 percent leased to eight tenants, including TIAA-CREF, Jos. A. Bank and Papyrus. Robert Griffin, Edward Maher and Matthew Pullen of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented the seller in the transaction.
LA FERIA, TEXAS — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of La Feria Post Office, a 4,980-square-foot net leased property located in La Feria. Foster Best, Stephen Berchelmann and Chad Knibbe of Marcus & Millichap’s San Antonio office marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a private investor. Michael Shall of the firm’s Portland office secured and represented the buyer, a limited liability company. La Feria Post Office is located at 123 W. First St. The property is situated on one acre and includes a concrete parking area. A 10-year primary lease term is in place with over four years remaining on the first of two renewal options. The property is located within the city’s central business district and two blocks from La Feria City Hall.
COTTAGE GROVE, MINN. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of a 10,291-square-foot office building for $3.2 million. A developer sold 80th Street Commons, which is located at 7500 80th St. S. in Cottage Grove, approximately 25 miles southeast of Minneapolis. An individual personal trust was the buyer. Sean Doyle, Adam Prins, Matthew Hazelton and Cory Villaume of Marcus & Millichap listed the property on behalf of the seller.
There has been a seismic shift in the way that companies throughout America make their relocation decisions, and it applies to Atlanta as well as its competitors. Companies are driven to locations that can provide a robust pipeline of talent and tight-knit innovative communities. This focus has created new demands on cities that want to build and sustain competitive economies. Companies have always taken talent into consideration but ultimately there was a belief that the talent would follow the company. This is no longer true. Millennials first choose where they want to live and then where they want to work. Today’s sought-after talent is closely tied to a city’s ability to provide a high quality of life. This means a connected transportation system, plenty of entertainment activities and accessible, affordable housing. All of this can be found in Atlanta. Companies that have recently chosen to call Atlanta home are a testament to this. From NCR (3,600 employees) to Kaiser Permanente (900 employees) to Worldpay (1,266 employees), all of these prestigious business newcomers have emphasized the critical role that access to highly qualified talent played in their decision to relocate here. Tight-knit, innovative communities do not just appear and cannot be …
LOS ANGELES — A joint venture between Douglas Emmett and Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has purchased a 365,000-square-foot office property in the West Los Angeles submarket of Brentwood for $225 million. The Class A office building is located at 12100 Wilshire Blvd. The property will be 77 percent leased after a few impending vacancies. The space was acquired using a new secured, non-recourse, $90 million, interest-only loan that matures in July 2019. The loan bears interest at a floating rate of LIBOR plus 1.55 percent.
LOS ANGELES — Rockwood Capital has acquired Playa Jefferson, an 11-acre creative office campus in the Playa Vista submarket of Los Angeles, for a reported $165 million. The campus is located at 12777 W. Jefferson Blvd. Playa Jefferson contains four buildings that total 200,000 square feet. A fifth building containing 55,000 square feet is slated for construction later this year. The campus serves as the Los Angeles headquarters for Facebook. It is also home to Arup engineering firm, Omnicom advertising agency and R/GA Regus flexible workspace provider. The seller, Vantage Property Investors, transformed the ‘70s-era property into its current creative iteration. The campus is 93 percent leased.