NEW YORK CITY – Construction has topped out for a 30,000-square-foot, boutique medical office condominium building, located at 429 E. 75th St. on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City. The art deco building was originally a carriage house before later being turned into a parking garage. Current construction involved gutting the interior and adding three stories to the building, bringing it to a height of six stories. The project will be able to accommodate high-tech imaging and lab facilities, and will include a back-up power generator and two passenger elevators, one of which will be able to accommodate gurneys. The project is also seeking LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Completion is expected in December. Taconic Investment Partners and ABR Partners are developing the project. Murphy Burnham & Buttrick designed the project, with Ball Construction serving as construction manager. Paul Wexler of Corcoran Wexler Healthcare Properties is serving as exclusive sales agent.
SAN DIEGO — San Diego-based Sharp Healthcare has signed a 10-year, approximately $2.6 million lease renewal for 6,987 square feet of medical office space located at 12710 Carmel Country Rd. in San Diego. Sharp Healthcare will continue to operate its Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group Carmel Valley/Del Mar office at the facility. The lessor, Carmel Country Plaza LP, was represented in-house; the lessee was represented in the transaction by James Laing and Daniel McCarthy of Cushman & Wakefield’s San Diego office.
NORTHBROOK, ILL. — J.F. McKinney & Associates and Kogen Zivin Friedman Development have completed two office sales in their RiverPark office condominium project, which is located at 1400-1486 Techny Rd. in Northbrook. The development, which is comprised of seven single-story buildings, houses offices ranging in size from 1,500 to 10,000 square feet. Gordon Segal, the retiring CEO of Crate & Barrel, has purchased a 7,500-square-foot office building within RiverPark, which is situated adjacent to the Crate & Barrel headquarters. Charlie Portis of J.F. McKinney & Associates represented Kogan Zivin Friedman Development in the transaction. The office, which is being sold as a shell, will be used for Segal’s Prairie Management Group. Additionally, Chicago-based law firm Atkinson & Atkinson has acquired a 3,000-square-foot office condominium within RiverPark. The firm is relocating from its former offices in downtown Evanston, Ill. Stevie Sims of Coldwell Banker represented the buyer; Portis of J.F. McKinney & Associates represented the owner in the transaction. The acquisition price was not disclosed.
BOSTON — Boston-based American Realty Capital has closed on the purchase of 39 of the more than 100 surplus bank branches it is set to acquire from Wachovia over the next year. The 39 vacant bank branches were purchased for more than $53 million. Of the properties already acquired, 15 have been sold, primarily to financial institutions, and four will be leased to banks.
SUDBURY, MASS. — Woburn, Mass.-based Cummings Properties is developing a 63,000-square-foot speculative office building at 144 North Rd. in Sudbury. Situated within Cummings’ North Road campus, the building is situated adjacent to the Frost Farm conservation area. The project is striving for LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. It is scheduled for occupancy in the fall, and can accommodate tenants from 600 square feet.
HOUSTON — Local general contractor Satterfield & Pontikes (S&P) has sold 11000 Equity Drive, a three-story, 65,000-square-foot office building located within Westway Park in Houston. The building was completed for S&P in 2006, and is anchored by the builder’s headquarters office. Additional tenants in the fully occupied building include Superior Energy Services, Link Project Services and Frac Tech Services. The building also holds LEED-Gold certification, and is the only Houston office building to carry the designation. The property was acquired by San Francisco-based Seligman & Associates for an undisclosed amount. S&P will continue to operate its headquarters out of the building.
WEBSTER, TEXAS — Construction will begin this month for 253 Medical Center Boulevard, a 48,000-square-foot medical office building located in Webster. The project is being developed in anticipation of achieving LEED-Gold certification. The adjacent medical office building, 251 Medical Center Boulevard, was completed in April 2007 and has already received the Houston Business Journal’s Landmark Award for green development. Completion of the project is expected in August 2009. Additionally, Houston-based Transwestern has arranged a lease for the entire facility. Tim Gregory of Transwestern represented Jacob White Construction Co., the project’s owner and developer. Randy Bar of REMAX Space Center represented the tenant, Houston-based IDEV Technologies.
LOS ANGELES AND SAN DIEGO — As part of a $25 million capital improvement plan, Equity Office, an affiliate of The Blackstone Group, has completed renovations totaling $6.5 million on three office buildings located in Los Angeles and San Diego. 6701 Center Dr. and 5670 Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angles both received $2 million in renovations, including elevator cab modernization and path of travel upgrades. For $2.5 million, 701 B St. in San Diego underwent lobby renovations and elevator cab modernization.
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CALIF. — Gary Heathcote of the local architecture firm Heathcote & Associates has purchased a two-story, 15,000-square-foot office building, located at 3396 Willow Lane in Westlake Village, from an undisclosed exchange entity for $3 million. Jack Dwyer of NAI Capital’s Westlake Village office represented Heathcote in his acquisition of the property, which will serve as the new headquarters of Heathcote & Associates. Larry Ray of Capital Line Financial and Kelvin Davis of First Community Bank helped arrange financing for the purchase. Tony Principe of Westcord Commercial Group in Westlake Village represented the seller.
SAN DIEGO — Chris Ross and Paul Braun of Colliers International’s San Diego office represented Cardinal Enterprises in its purchase of a 6,502-square-foot office suite in the Cabrillo Medical Center from Fenway Properties V for $2.68 million. The buyer will turn the space, located at 7695 Cardinal Ct. in San Diego, into a dermatology and cosmetic surgery office, which will open in January 2009. Matthew Carlson of Cushman & Wakefield’s San Diego office represented the seller.