SOMERSET, N.J. — CBRE has brokered the $30.7 million sale of a 15-acre site in Somerset, located in the northern-central part of the Garden State, that currently houses a 209,000-square-foot office building. The undisclosed buyer plans to redevelop the property, which was built in 1986, into a warehouse and distribution center. Mark Silverman, Elli Klapper, Charles Berger, Jeremy Wernick and Kevin Dudley of CBRE represented the buyer in the transaction. The seller was also not disclosed.
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — Newmark has arranged the $815 million sale of Charles Park, a two-building office complex and parking garage in Cambridge. The Davis Cos. and Principal Real Estate Investors sold the asset to an affiliate of Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. (NYSE: ARE). Charles Park spans 408,259 square feet and consists of two Class A office buildings, One Rogers Street and One Charles Park. The property also includes a 656-space, seven-level parking garage. Alexandria plans to redevelop the two buildings into life sciences space, but further details of that project were not provided. Situated near Charles Park is the nearly 1 million-square-foot CambridgeSide complex, which is undergoing a residential and retail development. Charles Park is also located near two Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) subway stations, the campus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the new Cambridge Crossing mixed-use development and Massachusetts General Hospital. “Charles Park is well positioned along Kendall Square’s rapidly expanding First Street corridor with immediately recognizable architecture highlighted by its distinctive horseshoe-shaped façade,” says Edward Maher, vice chairman with Newmark. “The asset is further surrounded by an unmatched laboratory and technology mecca in the life sciences epicenter of the world.” Maher, along with Robert Griffin, …
By Wes Drown, Broker Associate, REMAX Commercial The Las Vegas Valley continues to see growth in the demand, velocity, rates and a decline in incentives as Vegas bounces back. This is led by the return of our entertainment industries, which are almost to pre-COVID levels, in addition to the massive demand for housing and commercial construction. All you have to do is take a drive around the 215-Beltway to see that activity is everywhere. The news-grabbing projects that are seemingly announced weekly are once again turning heads. They’re attracting young college graduates and stimulating the needs for goods and services, almost to a pre-COVID level. Office construction is underway in earnest, with expansion in Summerlin, the SW “Curve” and West Henderson. High- and mid-rise office with parking structures are being leased up in the Westside areas, with predominantly single-story popping up in Henderson. Rates for suburban office products are pushing over $2.10 per square foot, per month, including operating costs. The spread between asking price and closed deals is shrinking significantly. Incentives are back to “normal” with landlords offering new carpet and paint, or maybe a partial month early occupancy rather than the free rent or step-up rents we’ve seen in the past. …
By Taylor Williams Office owners in Texas remain acutely aware of how the pandemic has changed the game and are not shying away from promoting health and wellness within their buildings. According to data from security firm Kastle Systems, which tracks keycard, fob and app access to some 2,600 office buildings across 138 cities and 47 states, office space in America’s largest markets continues to be underutilized. Across the 10 markets that Kastle Systems tracks, including Austin, Houston and Dallas, the average office occupancy rate in early December was 40.6 percent. Yet the three Texas markets all registered occupancy rates considerably above the national average — 59.3 percent, 54.9 percent and 52.3 percent, respectively — for Austin, Houston and Dallas. A more temperate climate in Texas could bear some responsibility for these above-average performances, given that access to functional outdoor spaces has undeniably become a key tenant demand during the pandemic. Along those lines, tenants have understood for some time now that successfully bringing their employees back to their offices is somewhat contingent on making sure those workers feel safe on the job. The onus, therefore, has fallen on office owners to ensure that their buildings have protocols through which …
THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS — Los Angeles-based CIM Group has provided a $127 million loan to The Howard Hughes Corp. (NYSE: HHC) to refinance Hughes Landing, a 649,406-square-foot office campus in The Woodlands, about 30 miles north of Houston. Built in 2015, Hughes Landing consists of a 12- and 13-story building, both of which are located within the 79-acre Lake Woodlands mixed-use development. Amenities include a fitness center, multiple conference facilities and a cafeteria.
DALLAS — Colliers has brokered the sale of Meadow Park Tower, a 260,000-square-foot office building located along the North Central Expressway corridor in Dallas. Dallas-based owner-operator Bradford Cos. purchased the property from an undisclosed seller and plans to invest about $8 million in capital improvements. Construction of that project will start during the current quarter. The sales price was not disclosed. Creighton Stark and Chris Boyd of Colliers brokered the deal along with Richmond Collinsworth of Bradford Cos.
PEARLAND, TEXAS — Partners Capital, the investment management platform and development arm of Partners Real Estate Co., has purchased Silverlake Business Park, a five-building, 90,000-square-foot office and industrial complex located in the southern Houston suburb of Pearland. Wes Cole of Cantera Real Estate Group represented Partners Capital in the off-market transaction in conjunction with internal agents Andrew Pappas and Adam Hawkins. The seller and developer, WC Properties Ltd., was self-represented. Veritex Bank provided acquisition financing for the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — Bank of America has provided a $123 million loan for the refinancing of 767 Third Avenue, a 40-story office tower in Manhattan. Designed by FXFowle, the building spans 310,000 square feet and features an amenity center with games, a movie screen, lounge with TVs and a boardroom. James Millon, Tom Traynor and P.J. Finley of CBRE arranged the debt. The borrower was Sage Realty, the leasing and management division of the William Kaufman Organization. A portion of the proceeds will be used to fund capital improvements and leasing costs.
LOS ANGELES — JLL has arranged the $389.2 million refinancing of One Wilshire, a multi-tenant data center located at 624 S. Grand Ave. in downtown Los Angeles. The borrower is GI Partners, an alternative investment firm based in San Francisco. The 30-story, 661,553-square-foot data center features five separate utility power risers and 13 onsite generators with fuel storage for 24 hours of operation, along with separate and redundant data risers. The property also features office space, a multi-tower antenna array and fiber connectivity to the rooftop. Kevin MacKenzie, Brian Torp, Jake Wagner, Samuel Godfrey and Darren Eades of JLL arranged the 10-year, fixed-rate, non-recourse, interest-only loan through Goldman Sachs. “As one of the largest internet exchanges in the world, One Wilshire is truly a best-in-class asset recognized as the premier telecommunications hub of the Western United States,” says MacKenzie. “GI Partners has done an excellent job managing the asset to maximize utilization and creating significant value.” The demand for fast, secure and reliable data storage and delivery is at an all-time high and will continue to escalate for the foreseeable future thanks to the widespread appeal of content streaming services, social media and virtual connectivity. As a data center market, …
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Shorenstein Properties, an investment firm headquartered in San Francisco and New York City, has sold the Alpha Building, a 210,000-square-foot office property located within the 750-acre Mueller District in Austin. The Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) purchased the six-story building, which was designed by Page Sutherland Page, for an undisclosed price. Troy Holme and Peter Jansen of CBRE represented TRS in the transaction. Shorenstein is developing two more office buildings at Mueller that will contain approximately 350,000 square feet and are slated for a 2024 delivery.