NEW YORK CITY — SL Green Realty Corp. and Vornado Realty Trust have closed on the $900 million refinancing of 280 Park Avenue, a 1.2 million-square-foot office building in Manhattan that is jointly held by the companies. The new three-year loan features four one-year extension options and a floating interest rate of LIBOR plus 2 percent. The loan replaces the previous $721 million indebtedness that carried an interest rate of 6.35 percent. The office building recently under went a $150 million redesign and renovation of the building’s façade and interior. Renovations included the creation of an expansion world-class lobby, an extensive program to enhance environmental sustainability, a complete redesign of the building’s adjacent plaza and building-wide infrastructure upgrades, including new elevator cabs and bathrooms, new thin line perimeter induction units, new electrical distribution and state-of-the-art security.
SPRING, TEXAS — Cypressbrook Co. has selected Jim Cooper to lead the firm’s third-party property management and leasing division. Cooper was previously a broker and principal for Cypressbrook. He continues to be responsible for generating and executing opportunities for office and industrial clients. In his new role, Cooper will oversee both company-owned and other third-party office and industrial buildings. Prior to joining the Cypressbrook team, Cooper worked for Big City Properties where he solicited and executed direct residential and commercial listings for Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, HUD and several area banks. Prior to that, Jim served as a business development representative at First American Title Co. in Houston.
CHICAGO — International Property Developers North America (IPDNA) has sold Chicago’s Old Post Office and adjacent sites to 601W Cos. for $130 million. The new owners have unveiled plans for a five-year, $500 million redevelopment of the sprawling building. The conversion will turn the 2.7 million-square-foot building into office space and will add a three-acre rooftop park, outdoor cafes, event space, a fitness center, basketball and paddle tennis courts and a quarter-mile running track. The redevelopment, to be conducted in three phases, is slated for completion in 2018. HFF represented 601W Cos. in the transaction, and Savills represented IPDNA.
SAN RAMON, CALIF. — DivcoWest has purchased Plaza San Ramon, a 312,000-square-foot office complex in the Silicon Valley submarket of San Ramon, for an undisclosed sum. The Class B complex is located at 2000-2010 Crow Canyon Place. The two-building plaza is currently 85 percent leased. It was built in the late 1980s and renovated by the prior owner in 2008. DivcoWest plans to implement a capital improvement program designed to reposition the asset as a Class A location for small- and mid-sized tenants.
SAN DIEGO — 2100 Fifth Avenue LLC has purchased a 10,976-square-foot medical office building in San Diego for $4 million. The building is located at 5776 Ruffin Road. Paul Braun and Chris Ross of JLL Healthcare Practice Group represented the buyer. Don Mitchell and Ryan Mitchell of Cresa San Diego represented the seller, AMEN Ruffin Road LLC, in this transaction.
MIAMI — Cushman & Wakefield has brokered the $68 million sale of a five-building office portfolio at Waterford at Blue Lagoon Business Park in Miami. Built between 1982 and 1988, the portfolio totals 357,466 square feet. Mike Davis, Scott O’Donnell, Michael Lerner, Rick Brugge, Dominic Montazemi and Miguel Alcivar of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, a fund managed by DRA Advisors LLC, in the transaction. Ivy Realty acquired the portfolio, which was 79 percent occupied at the time of sale with nearly 60 percent of the tenancy consisting of national and regional companies. Jason Hochman, Michael Ryan and Brian Linnihan of Cushman & Wakefield arranged $50.5 million in acquisition financing through CIBC World Markets on behalf of Ivy Realty. The loan includes funds for Ivy Realty’s capital improvement plans and future leasing costs to stabilize the buildings.
Detroit has become a five-sport town: The Pistons, Red Wings, Lions and Tigers have been joined by Dan Gilbert’s Bedrock Real Estate Services LLC, the entity that has made a sport out of assembling a downtown Detroit portfolio of commercial buildings. In the process, Gilbert is becoming the city’s biggest advocate. Talking about Detroit’s office market without including Gilbert’s latest investment is akin to discussing Detroit’s economy and excluding the automotive industry. The Quicken Loans founder and principal shareholder of the Cleveland Cavaliers put himself on the region’s real estate game board when the recession ended and he started buying up properties. To date, Gilbert and his team have amassed a portfolio of more than 85 properties in and around the downtown comprised of more than 13 million square feet and valued in excess of $2.2 billion. The March 2015 acquisition of the 43-story One Detroit Center at 500 Woodward Ave. — which has since been renamed Ally Detroit Center — and attached 2,070-space parking deck for well over $100 million was his biggest deal during the acquisition spree. Ally Financial is completing its relocation to the building this spring from the nearby Renaissance Center, as well as bringing employees …
LOS ANGELES — Institutional Property Advisors Capital Markets has arranged a $50 million refinancing for a 168,764-square-foot office tower in Beverly Hills. The 12-story tower is situated within the Golden Triangle area. It was first high-rise building erected on Wilshire Boulevard in the 1970s. The cash-out loan refinanced a 25-year, fixed-rate loan. The new non-recourse loan features a 15-year, 3.75 percent fixed rate with interest-only payments. Jake Roberts and Anita Paryani Rice of Institutional Property Advisors Capital Markets arranged the loan.
FRISCO, TEXAS — Southside Bank will finance new development at Frisco Station, a 242-acre mixed-use development located along the Dallas North Tollway in Frisco. The bank will provide the Frisco Station Partnership, an investment entity composed of Hillwood, Rudman Partnership and Van Trust Real Estate, with a three-year revolving line of credit for constructing road, water, sewer and other utilities. Initial construction will begin in June and will include infrastructure to support office development along Warren Parkway. Frisco Station includes more than 5 million square feet of office space, 2,400 apartment units, food and beverage concepts, hotel and conference facilities and more than 250,000 square feet of retail space. Headquartered in Tyler, Texas, Southside Bank has $5.2 billion in assets and operates more than 60 banking facilities in Texas.
DALLAS — Citadel Partners LLC has represented the Richardson Independent School District in the acquisition of an 86,310-square-foot office building situated on 4.5 acres in Dallas. The property will undergo an adaptive reuse process to transform from an office building into an elementary school. Scott Morse, Scott Jessen, Andy Goldston and Mac Morse of Citadel Partners represented the buyer, and Grant Brodeur of Novus Realty Advisors LLC represented the seller, Cocanougher Asset 2 Ltd.