LEWISVILLE, TEXAS — Bright Realty LLC has received $16.7 million in preferred equity for the construction of The Realm at Castle Hills Office, a 235,000-square-foot project being developed in the northern Dallas metro of Lewisville. Canyon Partners Real Estate LLC provided the funds and has entered into a joint venture with Bright Realty, a real estate development firm based in Lewisville. The nine-story building, which will include ground-floor retail space, is part of the first commercial phase of development of Castle Hills, a residential and golf course community established by Bright Realty in 1997. Construction of the office building is expected to be complete by the end of 2019. Colliers International is handling leasing of the office space.
DALLAS — Aethon Energy Operating LLC has signed a 47,679-square-foot office lease at 12377 Merit Drive in Dallas. Melanie Hughes, Richmond Collinsworth and Bret Cooper of Bradford Commercial Real Estate Services represented the landlord, YP Park Central LLC, in the lease negotiations. Russell Trenary of Trenary & Associates represented the tenant.
BIRMINGHAM, ALA. — Hunt Real Estate Capital has hired Chad Thomas Hagwood as senior managing director and Southeast regional manager. Formerly with Capital One Multifamily Finance, Hagwood will be based in Hunt’s Birmingham office. In this role, Hagwood will be actively involved in the origination of multifamily and manufactured home community debt throughout the nation, with a focus on loan originations through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, CMBS and FHA programs. Additionally, Hagwood will oversee the firm’s Southeast Region and the Manufactured Home Community production nationally. Over the course of his career, Hagwood has closed in excess of $8 billion in commercial real estate transactions throughout the United States, and he is annually ranked as one of the industry’s leading loan originators.
MONTVALE, N.J. — JLL has arranged the sale of a 93,916-square-foot office building in Montvale. Located at 3 Paragon Drive, the building is occupied by global R&D firm Pentax Medical. Joseph Garibaldi, Thomas Walsh, Stephen Feinberg and Katelyn Borovsky of JLL represented the seller, The Davis Cos., in the transaction. The buyer was Northeast Capital Group. The sales price was undisclosed.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS — Michigan-based mortgage banking firm Bernard Financial Group has arranged an $11.7 million loan for the refinancing of a 145,323-square-foot office building in Arlington. Dennis Bernard of Bernard Financial Group placed the loan through Ameritas Life Insurance Co. on behalf of the borrower, Brookhollow II Holdings LP.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Aria Development Group has purchased a land parcel located at the corner of Florida Avenue and North Capitol Street N.E. in Washington, D.C., for an undisclosed price. The buyer is planning to develop a mixed-use building, including residential space, on the 25,000-square-foot site. The purchase represents the culmination of three years of assemblage activity to connect tree-lined P Street N.E. with Florida Avenue and North Capitol Street. Additional details of the transaction were not released. This acquisition represents Aria’s eighth multifamily or mixed-use investment in Washington, D.C.
FAIRFIELD, N.J. — Alexander Property Group has acquired a four-story, 48,000-square-foot office building in Fairfield. The sales price was undisclosed. Located at 700 Route East, the property is currently 98 percent leased. Alexander Property Group purchased the office building from Boston-based real estate development and management company the Davis Cos. and joint venture partner Rubicon Cos. The office building is located adjacent to the 204-room Fairfield Crowne Plaza Hotel.
NEW YORK CITY — Bessemer Trust has signed a 239,000-square-foot lease at the Time Life Building in Midtown Manhattan. The privately owned wealth management company will occupy the top seven floors at the 48-story skyscraper. Located at 1271 Avenue of the Americas, the tower was built in 1959 as part of Rockefeller Center. Cushman & Wakefield represented Bessemer Trust in the transaction. An in-house Rockefeller Group leasing team represented the building’s owner. Terms of the lease were not disclosed.
NEW YORK — New York-based Mission Capital Advisors has arranged a $16.8 million loan for the refinancing of 10 office, medical and retail properties located across Central Florida. Matt Polci, Ari Hirt, Alex Draganiuk and Justin Hunt of Mission Capital arranged the non-recourse loan through Deutsche Bank on behalf of the borrower, DMCC Holdings. The assets are located in the greater Orlando, Tampa and Altamonte Springs markets. The portfolio was 97.7 percent leased at the time of sale. DMCC acquired the properties over the past four years, and has made significant property improvements.
CHICAGO — An affiliate of Beacon Capital Partners has acquired 303 East Wacker, a 944,000-square-foot riverfront office tower in Chicago’s East Loop, for $182 million. Completed in 1980 by Metropolitan Structures, the 30-story tower has two penthouse levels and floor-to-ceiling windows offering unobstructed, 360-degree views of the Chicago River, Lake Michigan and the city skyline. A lower-level retail concourse at the property connects it directly to the Swissotel and Hyatt Regency Chicago hotels. The building also features a 294-space parking lot. The JLL Capital Markets team of Bruce Miller and Nooshin Felsenthal brokered the sale on behalf of the seller, Franklin Street Properties, while Keith Largay and Heather Brown arranged acquisition financing for the buyer. Previous owners of the trophy office building include a joint venture between Hines and J.P. Morgan Fleming Asset Management. The companies held the property from 1997 to 2007, implementing a renovation program before selling to Franklin Street Properties. Hines was still managing the leasing of the property at the time of sale to Beacon. Fujikawa Johnson & Associates was the original architect of the property. Notable tenants include AECOM, Hewlett-Packard, Kelly Scott Madison, Maximus Inc., Northwestern University, Senior Lifestyle Management LLC and XPO Logistics. Beacon …