RICHARDSON, TEXAS — Venture Investment Partners has purchased The Shire at CityLine, an 83,256-square-foot office and retail property located in the northeastern Dallas suburb of Richardson. The property was built on 6.2 acres between 2005 and 2006 and was 85 percent leased at the time of sale. Tenants include Sweeney Eye Associates, Dogtopia, Shire Pediatrics, North Texas Dermatology, Anaya’s Seafood, Republic Title, Modern Dental, Ameriprise, Re/Max and Gillespie’s Tavern. Adam Howells, Barry Brown, Jack Copher and Beth Copeland of JLL represented the seller, locally based investment firm Standridge Cos., in the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — Newmark has arranged $175 million in debt and equity financing for Park 53, a 129,000-square-foot boutique office building in Midtown Manhattan. The financing consists of a $120 million acquisition loan and $55 million in equity from Acres Capital. The 20-story building was originally constructed in 1991 as the New York City headquarters of Santander Bank. The borrower, a joint venture between ZG Capital Partners and Rialto Capital Management, plans to upgrade the lobby and elevators, activate outdoor gathering spaces and add two amenity centers. Dustin Stolly, Jordan Roeschlaub, Daniel Fromm, Eden Abraham and Michael Dorfman led the transaction for Newmark.
NEW YORK CITY — Berkley Insurance Co. has signed a 60,000-square-foot office lease renewal at 757 Third Avenue, a 504,953-square-foot building in Midtown Manhattan. The new lease term is eight years, and the space spans the 10th and 11th floors. The 26-story building offers tenant amenities such as a lounge, full kitchen, pantry, coffee bar, wellness club and conference space. Mitchell Konsker, Clark Finney, Simon Landmann and Lance Yaskinsky of JLL represented the landlord, institutional investment firm BentallGreenOak, in the lease negotiations. Tom Gibson of Newmark represented the tenant.
ATLANTA — KKR has acquired Atlantic Yards, a two-building office property located in Midtown Atlanta that is fully leased to Microsoft Corp. A joint venture between Hines and Invesco Real Estate sold the asset for an undisclosed price. Atlantic Yards spans 523,511 square feet across two Class A office buildings. The property, built in 2021, is located within Atlantic Station, a 12.5 million-square-foot mixed-use development. The Atlantic Station site was once the home of the Atlantic Steel Mill and rail yards. Designed for LEED Gold certification, Atlantic Yards features a number of outdoor areas, fitness facilities, bike storage and 861 parking spaces. Microsoft committed to Atlantic Yards in spring 2020 and its lease goes through 2035. The company expects to house roughly 1,500 to 2,000 employees at the facility. The Atlantic Yards office focuses on artificial intelligence and cloud-based services, and includes space for engaging directly with customers. “Atlanta is one of the fastest-growing technology hubs in the Sunbelt, thanks to its great academic institutions, diverse talent and long history of serving as home to leading Fortune 500 companies,” says Roger Morales, partner and head of real estate acquisitions in the Americas for KKR. “As one of the highest-quality properties …
DULUTH, GA. — Avison Young has brokered the $45 million sale of Chattahoochee Corners at River Green, an office/flex campus in the Atlanta suburb of Duluth. Built in 1997, the property spans 388,213 square feet across nine single-story buildings. Pennsylvania-based Somerset Properties purchased Chattahoochee Corners from Miami-based B Group Co. Capital Management. Casey Keitchen of Avison Young’s Atlanta office brokered the transaction. Situated off Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, the property features floor-to-glass windows across all nine buildings, as well as a fitness center. Somerset plans to invest in capital improvements at Chattahoochee Corners, including boosting the curb appeal and enhancing onsite amenities.
ANDOVER, MASS. — 3Step Sports, which provides services and support to youth athletics programs, has signed a 64,000-square-foot office lease at Brickstone Square in the northern Boston suburb of Andover. The 1 million-square-foot, four-building campus was originally constructed about 100 years ago and recently underwent an extensive capital improvement program. Blake Baldwin, Shayne O’Neil and Petra Flynn of Cushman & Wakefield represented the landlord, KS Partners, in the lease negotiations. Matt Quinlan of SVN Parsons represented the tenant.
CHICAGO — J.C. Anderson has completed a 59,000-square-foot interior office buildout for Ipsos at The Franklin in Chicago. Ipsos is a market research company headquartered in Paris. The firm relocated its Chicago office from 222 Riverside to the 11th floor of The Franklin. The buildout includes a “user experience” facility, collaboration spaces, offices, open seating and a game room. Ohio-based Champlin Architecture served as the architect. I-Lee Hwa and Nick Ferro of Cushman & Wakefield provided project management and consulting services.
FARMERS BRANCH, TEXAS — TAS Commercial Construction has signed a 10,561-square-foot office lease in the northern Dallas suburb of Farmers Branch. The 191,900-square-foot building at 2727 LBJ Freeway offers a conference room, deli and a game room. Adam Toth internally represented the landlord, Boxer Property, in the lease negotiations. Ryan Buchanan of CBRE represented the tenant.
TEMPE, ARIZ. — BatchService has purchased an office property, located at 4625 S. Wendler Drive in Tempe, for $8.8 million. BatchService is a software company that provides an all-in-one prospecting platform for residential real estate investors, agents and brokers. Built in 1985 and renovated in 2016, the two-story building offers 44,000 square feet of useable office space. The property is currently undergoing tenant improvements for additional offices, new paint and new flooring. Eddie Gonzalez of SVN Desert Commercial Advisors represented the buyer in the transaction.
The Raleigh-Durham office market is poised for future growth as it exits the pandemic, however the question for us all is when. Re-occupancy of buildings by office users has been stubborn in the current post-pandemic environment. Despite the sluggish activity since the beginning of the year, there have been bright spots with companies becoming more strategic about their office space decisions as they return, especially in newer projects that offer best-in-class experiences. Moving forward, there will be economic and geopolitical headwinds that may interfere with the pace of recovery. However, investors and developers continue to the see the value in the market due to our highly educated workforce, favorable business climate and one of the fastest growing population centers in the country. The return of the workplace is the main driving factor for the activity in the office leasing market. As companies execute their re-occupancy plans, they are reevaluating their existing buildings, footprints and workspaces in a way that we have never seen before. Forward thinking organizations are making decisions to create unique spaces where their employees want to come to work, rather than a space where they have to come to work. We have quickly seen that one size …