PITTSBURGH — Newmark Grubb Knight Frank (NGKF) represented Pennsylvania State University (PSU) in the relocation of the Penn State Center and Exchange. PSU has signed a lease for 11,000 square feet at the Energy Innovation Center, which is located at 1435 Bedford Ave. in the Hill District neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Constructed in 1930, the 185,000-square-foot facility formerly served as the Connelly Trade School. The Penn State Center will occupy the first floor of the property, which is undergoing LEED Platinum certification. PSU is slated to occupy the property in April. Tom MacDonald of NGKF represented PSU in the transaction.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — CBRE has brokered the sale of the Time Warner Cable Building in Charlotte’s I-77 submarket for an undisclosed sales price. The 113,600-square-foot building is fully occupied by Time Warner Cable and serves as a call center, office and operations facility. Patrick Gildea led CBRE’s Charlotte team in brokering the transaction.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — CBRE Auction Services is facilitating the online auction of 4266 Felter Lane — a combined 22,750-square-foot warehouse and office space on a two-acre site in Austin — as part of a bankruptcy court order. The property is situated two miles from the intersections of U.S. Route 183 and McKinney Falls Parkway, 3.6 miles from I-35 and Texas State Highway 71, and four miles from U.S. Route 183 and Texas State Highway 71. The property will be sold to the highest bidder at or above $400,000. The online auction will be held on Wednesday, March 11. Built in 1984, the one-story property’s warehouse space is approximately 16,750 square feet with an additional 6,000 square feet of office space. The site is currently zoned I-RR (Interim Rural Residence District Designation) and has fenced inside storage.
DOWNERS GROVE, ILL. — Morgan/Harbour has completed a 20,000-square-foot office renovation for LexTech Global Services in Downers Grove. The property is located at 1431 Opus Place within the Executive Towers West I building. LexTech, an enterprise mobile app development firm, is relocating its headquarters to this property from 3080 Ogden Ave. in Lisle, Ill. The build-out included the addition of 27 private offices, large collaboration areas, six conference rooms, 15 team rooms and video conferencing rooms. Features of the new space include exposed construction ceilings, fabric panel ceilings, LED light fixtures and custom millwork throughout. Morgan/Harbour’s construction team included Ben Warriner Sr., Andy MacMillan, Noah Warriner, Marrico Crum and Tom Sawa. Newman Architecture provided architectural services for the project.
NEW YORK CITY — Meridian Capital Group has negotiated a $15.5 million mortgage for the refinancing of an office and retail property located in First Avenue in New York City. The borrower is First Broadway Acquisition LLC, an affiliate of Himmel + Meringoff Properties. The seven-year loan, provided by a local commercial bank, features a 3.75 percent fixed-rate and one year of interest-only payments. Allan Lieberman, Jeffrey Berkes and Asher Half of Meridian Capital Group arranged the financing. Located at 1114 First Ave., the 45,000-square-foot building is occupied by Hartstrings, a children’s apparel store, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
MIAMI — CBRE has brokered the $140 million sale of 777 Brickell Ave., a 288,485-square-foot office tower located in Miami’s Brickell neighborhood at the intersection of Brickell Avenue and S.E. 8th Street. The 13-story asset also features an adjacent five-story parking garage. An unnamed private investment group from South America purchased the waterfront office tower from an institutional investor advised by CBRE Global Investors. The office building is currently 93 percent leased to 29 tenants. Christian Lee, Charles Foschini, Christopher Apone, Amy Julian and Jose Lobon of CBRE Capital Markets represented the seller in the transaction. Brian Gale and Andrew Trench of Taylor & Mathis helped the CBRE Capital Markets team market 777 Brickell Ave.
In a city known for its fast-shifting real estate cycles and ever-changing demographics, it’s becoming clear that change is the only real constant in Miami. Examples are everywhere — from the construction cranes dotting the skyline and trendy neighborhoods emerging throughout the region, to a fresh crop of international investors and the launch of entirely new industries. The makeup of our people is also evolving. A report by the Miami Downtown Development Authority (DDA) found that the city’s urban core has experienced 100 percent population growth since 2000 as its population becomes younger and more educated. Residents ages 25 to 44 make up 46 percent of the population and 58 percent of residents over the age of 25 have a college degree. It’s easy to overlook the impact these trends are having on commercial real estate in favor of Miami’s headline-grabbing residential market, but the demographic shifts taking place are also impacting the office market as employers cultivate a workforce increasingly dominated by Millennials drawn to growth-oriented jobs. This change has been in the making for years as Miami’s public and private sectors invest in creating new business opportunities for young professionals across industries less prone to economic swings, such …
LOS ANGELES — A 28-story office tower in the Los Angeles submarket of Century City has received $125 million in financing. The Class A tower was built in 1969. The 596,856-square-foot tower contains a mixture of FIRE (finance, insurance, real estate) and legal tenants. The non-recourse, fixed-rate loan features a 10-year, interest-only term. It was arranged by George Mitsanas and Doug Tisdale of Newmark Realty Capital’s Los Angeles office through the firm’s correspondent life insurance company lenders. Mitsanas has previously financed this property twice for the borrower.
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. — Transwestern Strategic Partners has acquired Lincoln Towne Centre, a 226,112-square-foot office property in downtown Scottsdale, for $58.8 million. The two-building property is located at 4150-4250 N. Drinkwater Blvd. Lincoln Towne Centre is situated directly across from the Scottsdale City Hall, near the Loop 101. Nearly half of the property is occupied by investment-grade tenants, including CAN, Catlin and EMC2. The seller, Equus Capital Partners, was represented by Chris Toci, Chad Littell, Jerry Noble, Pat Devine and Greg Mayer of Cushman & Wakefield of Arizona. Equus had acquired the asset on behalf of its value-add fund, BPG Investment Partnership IX, L.P. Transwestern acquired the asset on behalf of its TSP Value and Income Fund. Transwestern Strategic Partners is the discretionary investment management arm of Dallas-based Transwestern Investment Group.
HOUSTON — NAI Partners has negotiated the sale of 2610 W. Sam Houston Parkway,a 24,300-square-foot office building located just north of Westheimer Road. A local law firm purchased the two-story, multi-tenant office property. Doug Pack and Sam Hansen with NAI Partners negotiated the sale on behalf of the unnamed seller.