SCHAUMBURG, ILL. — Retail Properties of America Inc. (RPAI) has renamed the office property formerly known as Zurich Towers to Schaumburg Towers. RPAI also signed two new leases at the property with Great American Insurance Group and Swiss Re for approximately 78,000 square feet. Schaumburg Towers is an office building with twin 20-story towers totaling approximately 895,000 square feet and is located in Schaumburg, Ill. The property is situated adjacent to Woodfield Mall, a Class A shopping mall. Great American Insurance Group and Swiss Re are both insurance companies. Steven Kling and David Florent of Colliers International are marketing the property for lease. Mark Kolar of JLL represented Great American Insurance Group, while Sven Sykes and Thomas Volini of Colliers International represented Swiss Re. Zurich Insurance relocated to a new 783,000-square-foot headquarters in Schaumburg near the corner of Meacham Road and Interstate 90.
CINCINNATI — Woolpert, a national architecture, enginnering and geospatial (AEG) firm, has opened a new Cincinnati office in Over-the-Rhine. The office, located at 1203 Walnut St., will be home to at least 20 full-time architects, engineers, surveyors and support staff. Woolpert will occupy the second floor with a total of 6,302 square feet. Woolpert’s new Cincinnati office, which was funded by the City of Cincinnati through the Job Creation Tax Credit, will expand its commercial renovation and housing development, higher education, energy, government and aviation services. Woolpert’s headquarters will remain in Dayton.
BURBANK, CALIF. — Co-working office space provider WeWork will open a 75,000-square-foot location in Burbank. The space will be located at 3900 W. Alameda Ave. in the city’s Media District. It will sit adjacent to the Walt Disney Co., Warner Bros. Studios and ABC Television. The space is located within the 31-story, Class A office building called The Tower, which boasts a renovated lobby, large-scale artwork, cafe, gym and pool table. The co-working space will include shared kitchens, private offices, brainstorming rooms and a green room for editing or filming needs.
MIAMI — Ytech-1428 Brickell LLC, an investment affiliate of Ytech International, has acquired the 100,762-square-foot BankUnited Office Building located at 1428 Brickell Ave. in Miami’s Brickell district. The purchase includes $26.5 million for the real estate and “tens of millions of dollars more” to settle claims and non-real estate matters. The transaction also includes development rights for up to 80 stories and 825,000 square feet of mixed-use space. Ytech provided the immediate capital to stave off the impending foreclosure, and in a series of separate transactions and agreements involving both the real estate and non-real estate matters, Ytech and its outside general counsel, Stuart Kapp of Kapp Morrison LLP, negotiated to bring an end to years of litigation that included claims by neighboring property owner Walter DeFortuna, lender ESJ Capital Partners and New York investor Shahab Karmely. Ytech International is a Miami-based real estate investment and development company that has invested in, developed and redeveloped more than 7,000 residential units in the Southeast over the past decade.
RICHMOND, VA. — Riverstone Properties has acquired James Center, three office towers in the heart of Richmond’s central business district, for $108 million. The James Center comprises the 21-story One James Center, the 22-story Two James Center and the 14-story Three James Center, all developed in 1985. LNR Property, a subsidiary of Starwood Property Trust, sold the towers free and clear of existing debt. The three buildings include 986,000 square feet of Class A office space, a fitness facility, five restaurants, 1,600-car parking garage and a 50,000-square-foot retail atrium that connects to the Omni Richmond Hotel. Additionally, an outdoor area named The Plaza hosts activities, concerts and the Grand Illumination holiday lighting tradition. Situated on 3.4 acres at 901, 1021 and 1051 E. Carey St., James Center is located in downtown Richmond’s River District along the James River. The HFF investment sales team of Ryan Clutter, Dek Potts, Scot Humphrey and Christopher Lingerfelt represented LNR in the transaction. Starwood Property Trust Inc. (NYSE: STWD), an affiliate of global private investment firm Starwood Capital Group, claims to be the largest commercial mortgage real estate investment trust in the United States. Riverstone Properties is the commercial real estate arm of the Riverstone …
New Orleans may be The Big Easy, but when it comes to understanding this unique Southern city’s commercial real estate marketplace, very little is easy or simple. The numbers, at least, are fairly straightforward. New Orleans currently has around 8.8 million square feet of Class A office space and 1.6 million square feet of Class B. Average rental rates are approximately $19.00 per square foot and $15.50 per square foot for Class A and Class B, respectively, with current occupancy rates at 89.5 percent for Class A and 71 percent for Class B. By way of comparison, the popular suburban Metairie market has around 2 million square feet of Class A and 1.5 million square feet of Class B office space, with occupancy rates at 93 percent and 88.2 percent, respectively (both down slightly from 2014 highs of 95 percent and 92 percent). Average rental rates are approximately $24.00 per square foot in Class A properties and $19.50 for Class B. The numbers in the suburban North Shore market are similarly healthy, with rates and occupancy numbers in the same general range as Metairie. Look beyond the surface numbers, however, and things get interesting, and a little more complicated. In …
LITTLETON, MASS. — SVN|Parsons Commercial Group|Boston has brokered the sale of a high-tech office building located at 305 Foster St. in Littleton. Foster Street Acquisitions sold the building to 2641-2651 Santa Anna Avenue LLC for $4.4 million. Situated on 10.3 acres, the building offers 80,064 square feet of office space for high-tech and R&D tenants. At the time of sale, the property was more than 80 percent occupied. Marci Alvarado, Jake Parsons and Marilyn Santiago of SVN|Parsons represented the seller in the transaction.
DALLAS — TIG Real Estate has arranged the sale of an office building located at 17250 N. Dallas Parkway in Dallas. Situated on 2.2 acres, the property features 40,112 square feet of office space. Matthew Hickey and Kristin Grammar of TIG represented the undisclosed seller. The name of the buyer and acquisition price were not released.
BUFFALO GROVE, ILL. — Computer Aided Technology LLC (CATI) has renewed and expanded its lease to 14,000 square feet at the company’s headquarters in Buffalo Grove. This is CATI’s third expansion in the complex located at 165 N. Arlington Heights Road. The product development company previously occupied 9,040 square feet. CATI expects to begin occupying the additional space in May. Jake Ehrenberg and Scott Brandwein of CBRE represented the tenant. Mike Rolfs of Hamilton Partners represented the undisclosed owner.
SAN FRANCISCO — Paramount Group Inc. has received a $975 million loan for the refinancing of One Market Plaza, a property featuring two landmark office towers in San Francisco’s South Financial District. The property consists of 1.6 million square feet of Class A office and retail space. The buildings, originally constructed in 1976, underwent a $25 million lobby and atrium renovation that was completed in 2015. The 43-story Spear Tower and 27-story Steuart Tower are bridged by a six-story office and retail annex. Amenities include two restaurants, subterranean valet parking, on-site banking and dry-cleaning, and 24-hour security. The seven-year loan has a fixed interest rate of 4 percent. The net proceeds from the refinancing were used to repay the existing $873 million loan scheduled to mature in December 2019. Goldman Sachs Mortgage Co., Morgan Stanley Bank, Deutsche Bank AG and Barclays Bank PLC provided the loan. Eastdil Secured LLC arranged the financing. New York City-based Paramount Group is a real estate investment trust that owns, operates, manages, acquires and redevelops Class A office properties located in central business district submarkets of New York City, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco. — Kristin Hiller