HARFORD COUNTY, MD. — St. John's Properties has broken ground for the development of three Class A office properties at The Government and Technology Enterprise (The GATE), a 416-acre state-of-the-art office and technology business park located within Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County. The project includes 6200 and 6210 Guardian Gateway Drive, two three-story, 75,000-square-foot office buildings, and 6180 Guardian Gateway Drive, a 29,400-square-foot building. Additionally, St. John Properties is currently constructing five other office buildings at The GATE. Scheduled for completion in mid-2011, the buildings are seeking LEED Silver certification by utilizing high-efficiency HVAC systems, high performance windows, water conserving lavatory fixtures, a white thermoplastic polyolefin roofing system and drought-tolerant landscaping. St. John's Properties has the capacity to develop more than 2 million square feet of Class A office, R&D and flex/office space at The GATE.
Office
CLIFTON, N.J. — A joint venture between KABR Real Estate Investment Partners and Capstone Realty Group has acquired the $15.2 million note secured by the former headquarters of Linens 'n Things. The three-building, 155,000-square-foot office campus is located at 2-6 Brighton Road in Clifton. The all-cash purchase was made for 40 cents on the dollar. Concurrent with the closing, the joint venture sold the 55,000-square-foot building located at 6 Brighton Road to NJ Physicians LLC, which plans to convert it into medical office space. KABR and Capstone have rebranded the campus as Allwood Atrium Office Center and are launching a leasing campaign. Newmark Knight Frank negotiated the sale through the property's special servicer, LNR Partners.
NEW CANAAN, CONN. — NorthMarq has arranged the acquisition of an office building located at 65 Locust Ave. in New Canaan for $4.5 million. The property was 80 percent leased at the time of closing. Following the closing, the undisclosed buyer secured new leases for the property that will bring it to 95 percent occupancy by year-end. Deanna Polizzo and Ernest DesRochers of NorthMarq's New York Metro office arranged the deal as well as secured $3.5 million in acquisition financing with the help of NorthMarq Capital.
DORAL, FLA. — The Miami office of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler (HFF) has arranged a $19.9 million loan for a newly constructed Class A office property in Doral. Located in downtown Doral, the property offers 150,000 square feet of office space and is adjacent to the Doral Resort. Currently, the property is 29 percent leased. The borrower is a joint venture between Codina Partners and institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management. The 2-year, floating rate loan was financed through Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Paul Stasaitis, Manny de Zárraga and Ignacio Portuondo of HFF represented the borrower in the transaction.
LOS ANGELES — LA Realty Partners and Madison Partners have arranged Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones’ $18 million lease renewal for 32,000 square feet of office space at 10100 Santa Monica Blvd. in the Century City area of Los Angeles. Under the 10-year lease agreement, the law firm will relocate to the 13th and 14th floors of the property it’s called home for more than 25 years. LA Realty Partners’ Gary Weiss and Madison Partners’ Bob Safai represented the tenant in the deal; the landlord, Hines Interests, was represented in-house by Todd Later and Eric Lyon.
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. — US Republic Core Fund and U.S. Premier Office Equities, which are both owned by USAA Real Estate Co., have purchased a two-building, multi-tenant office complex located within Fort Lauderdale’s Las Olas corridor. BF Las Olas sold the 469,353-square-foot property for an undisclosed price. The 18-story, 259,607-square-foot building and the 14-story, 209,746-square-foot building share street-level retail and parking space on Las Olas Boulevard. Current tenants of the complex include Huizenga Holdings, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and the law firm of Akerman Senterfitt & Edison.
BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MICH. — Tel Square LLC has acquired 81,937 square feet of office space at Bloomfield Professional Center and Bloomfield Office Pavilion, which are located at 2520 and 2550 S. Telegraph Road in Bloomfield Hills. LBUBS 2005-C2 Bloomfield Hills LLC sold the property for an undisclosed price. Mitchell Lipton and Barry Swatsenbarg of Friedman Real Estate Group represented the seller in the transaction.
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — GHP Office Realty, an affiliate of Houlihan-Parnes Realtors, has sold a White Plains office building to Baker Cos. for an undisclosed amount. Baker plans to relocate its corporate offices from Pleasantville, N.Y., to the new building, which is located at 1 W. Red Oak Lane. The Class A property contains 21,000 square feet of space and was 92 percent leased at the time of closing. It features a fitness center and a café.
DALLAS — The Trammell Crow Center in the Arts District of Dallas has received LEED Silver in the Existing Building (EB) category by the U.S. Green Building Council. The 50-story, 1.2 million-square-foot office property is one of only eight properties in Dallas and 44 in Texas to receive LEED EB certification. Crescent Real Estate Holdings owns the property and made several changes to achieve LEED certification including replacing its water closets with efficient water-conserving, low-flow models. CB Richard Ellis manages the property and led the LEED initiative.
ARLINGTON, VA. — Skanska USA Commercial Development is developing and constructing its second commercial office project in Washington, D.C. Located at 1176 Wilson Blvd., the $63.5 million project in Arlington. The project will offer approximately 161,458 square feet of leasable space and 230 underground parking spaces. Construction is slated to begin in the fourth quarter of this year, with completion scheduled for second quarter of 2012. Additionally, the project is being designed to achieve a minimum of LEED Gold certification.