GRAND PRAIRIE, TEXAS — Milestone Electric & Air Inc. has opened an 11,715-square-foot office and training center in the Grand Prairie Tech Center in the Upper Great Southwest Industrial District. The local HVAC contractor has signed a long-term lease at 2302 113th St. Will Dillard and Michael Spain of Dallas-based Bradford Commercial Real Estate Services represented the landlord, 2302 113th Street GP. David Rouble of David Rouble Brokerage represented Milestone.
ALPHARETTA, GA. — Carter Validus Mission Critical REIT II Inc. has purchased Alpharetta Data Center III in Alpharetta, a northern suburb of Atlanta, for approximately $15.8 million. The property is a single-story, 77,322-square-foot colocation data center situated within 1,500 feet of a Georgia Power substation. The property is fully leased to Sungard Availability Services LP, an IT and cloud information services provider based in Wayne, Pa.
NORWOOD, OHIO — CBRE has arranged a 172,000-square-foot, long-term lease for CDK Global, the largest global provider of information technology and digital marketing solutions for the automotive retail industry. CDK Global will operate a national customer service center at Central Parke I & III in Norwood, approximately 10 miles northeast of Cincinnati. CDK Global will bring 1,000 full-time jobs to Norwood. Travis Likes and John Eckert from CBRE’s Cincinnati office, in addition to David Saad from the Chicago office, represented CDK Global in the deal.
TORRANCE, CALIF. — Montana Avenue Capital Partners has purchased Torrance Pointe, a 145,280-square-foot office campus, for $25.4 million. The low-rise campus is located at 21041, 21061 and 21081 S. Western Ave. in Torrance. It is 97 percent leased to tenants like Honda Motor Company, AT&T and Hitachi Transport System. HFF’s Andrew Harper represented the seller, Amstar Capital, in this transaction.
PORTLAND, ORE. — George Smith Partners has arranged a $19.9 million bridge loan for the construction of a build-to-suit creative office campus in downtown Portland for sportswear supplier Under Armour. The 68,698-square-foot, special-purpose, single-tenant building formerly housed the local YMCA. It will be transformed into a 108,698-square-foot campus environment. Under Armour signed a 15-year lease at the property. The borrower and landlord were not disclosed. Malcolm Davies, Kyle Henrickson and Teddy Stutz of George Smith Partners secured the financing.
BOSTON — GE will locate its new global headquarters in the Seaport District of Boston. The company has entered into an agreement to acquire a 2.5-acre property located at 5 and 6 Necco Way from P&G. The site includes two historic buildings, which will be renovated, and an adjoining parking lot on which GE plans to construct a new building. GE employees will move to a temporary location in Boston on Farnsworth Street this summer, with a full move expected in several steps by 2018.
NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. — Kennedy Funding Financial has completed a $1.8 million loan secured by a development site in North Kingstown. The borrower was property owner CIOE A34 LLC. Located on Ten Rod Road, the 5.3-acre parcel is currently zoned for approximately 200,000 square feet of mixed-use development. Kevin Wolfer of Kennedy Funding Financing arranged the financing for the borrower.
BETHESDA, MD. — Bethesda-based Finmarc Management Inc. has purchased a 26-building portfolio from First Potomac Realty Trust (NYSE: FPO) for $96 million. The portfolio spans 950,000 square feet of office, flex and warehouse space in Northern Virginia. The properties purchased include Enterprise Center in Chantilly; Gateway Centre Manassas, Linden Business Center and Windsor at Battlefield in Manassas; Herndon Corporate Center and Van Buren Office Park in Herndon; Prosperity Business Center in Merrifield; and Reston Business Campus in Reston. The portfolio is approximately 78 percent leased to more than 70 tenants, including the General Services Administration, Fairfax County, McLean Bible Church, American Public University System, Lenox Industries and U.S. Home Corp. “The sale of the northern Virginia non-core portfolio represents continued execution of our plan to dispose of $350 million of assets,” says Robert Milkovich, CEO of First Potomac Realty Trust. “The proceeds will be utilized to redeem a portion of our outstanding preferred shares, as we work to strengthen our balance sheet and improve our liquidity.” James Meisel and Bruce Strasburg of HFF represented First Potomac in the transaction. Joseph Hoffman and Aaron Rosenfeld of the law firm Kelley Drye & Warren LLP represented Finmarc. First Potomac Realty Trust is …
With economic conditions improving across the country and business confidence significantly increasing, the Jacksonville office market is gaining momentum and seeing positive space absorption for the fifth consecutive quarter in a row. Jacksonville’s tax-friendly environment, competitive business relocation incentives and strong labor pool have historically been a magnet for Fortune 1000 companies looking to establish back-office locations, but over the last few years, the city has evolved into a regional hub for the headquarters of domestic and international financial services companies. Most recently, Georgia-based Ameris Bank announced that it would move its headquarters this January from Moultrie, Ga., to the 26th floor of Riverplace Tower in downtown Jacksonville. Among the reasons why Jacksonville was an attractive location for its headquarters is the ability to tap into the city’s growing skilled workforce and the opportunity to increase the bank’s footprint and brand exposure in this market. Jacksonville is also becoming a hotspot for global financial firms like German global banking and financial services company Deutsche Bank and Australia’s Macquarie Group. Deutsche Bank has been building its presence in Jacksonville since 2008, employing about 1,700 people, and continues to import jobs from the Northeast to Jacksonville as it grows its business operations. …
LOS ANGELES — Luxury real estate platform Compass has opened its new Los Angeles headquarters in Beverly Hills. The firm now occupies the fourth floor at 9454 Wilshire Blvd., a 12-story office building on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Beverly Drive. The space is situated within the Golden Triangle. The move more than doubles the firm’s footprint in Beverly Hills.
