Economic growth in Tampa Bay continues at an impressive pace, driven by strong population and employment growth over the past several years. The unemployment rate has steadily declined, dropping 110 basis points from December 2016 to a current 3.4 percent, and the strong pace of job growth continues with a rise in non-farm employment of 35,000 new jobs during the trailing 12-month period ending December 2017. As a result, leasing activity has increased, rental rates continue to show incremental growth and there is a strong likelihood of new speculative office construction in the coming year. Major corporations continue to reaffirm their confidence in Tampa with significant announcements of planned corporate expansions by MetLife, Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC), AAA and USAA during the second half of 2017. In fact, the Tampa Bay metropolitan area ranked as one of the top 20 “U.S. Markets to Watch” for overall real estate prospects in the Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2018 report published by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Urban Land Institute. Investment Activity Many investors who in years past were seeking opportunities in gateway markets are now turning their attention to secondary markets like the Tampa Bay area in search of higher yields. There were several …
NEW YORK CITY — New York City-based real estate investment manager Savanna has acquired a 682,988-square-foot office and retail property in Midtown Manhattan for $640 million. The property, known as 5 Bryant Park, was purchased from an affiliate of Blackstone. Savanna plans to modernize the property through a capital improvement program that will include a redesigned lobby, entrance and building signage. 5 Bryant Park is located directly across from Bryant Park on Sixth Avenue and features 100 feet of frontage facing the park. A joint team of JLL and HFF represented Savanna in the financing of the acquisition. Laurie Grasso of Hunton Andrews Kurth represented Savanna as legal counsel in the transaction. CBRE has been selected as the exclusive leasing agent for the property.
HOUSTON — New York-based Meridian Capital Group has arranged a $7.5 million loan for the acquisition of 5800 North Course, a 75,000-square-foot office building located in the Westchase area of Houston. The property includes 2,500 square feet of food service space and roughly 600 parking spaces. The building has been fully leased to financial services firm Alltran since it was constructed in 2001. Shaya Ackerman and Shaya Sonnenschein of Meridian Capital arranged the loan on behalf of Windmill Investments, a firm specializing in value-add projects.
PLYMOUTH, MINN. — Cantel Medical has signed a 160,000-square-foot lease for its regional headquarters in Plymouth, about 15 miles northwest of Minneapolis. The provider of infection prevention products will relocate from several sites throughout Plymouth to the four-story office building, which is located at 9800 59th Ave. Dave Paradise, Sydney Johnson and David Itzkowitz of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant in the lease transaction. Bob Revoir of Cushman & Wakefield represented the undisclosed landlord. Cantel Medical plans to occupy the space in the fourth quarter of this year.
WICHITA, KAN. — Contractor Rock Enterprises is converting a 12,674-square-foot historic building into a multi-tenant office and retail development. Built in 1911, the property is located at 930 W. Douglas Ave. in Wichita’s Delano District. Property suites will range from 1,200 to 3,500 square feet in size. The building will have a common kitchen, lounge area and conference room. Jeff Englert and Nathan Farha of NAI Martens, the leasing agents for the property, have negotiated leases for No Coast Salon and Point Guard Management. No Coast Salon will occupy 1,245 square feet of ground-floor retail space while property management firm Point Guard Management will occupy 1,337 square feet on the second level. 3 Ten studio is the architect for the project.
The economy of the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) has always been closely linked to foreign trade. The region’s numerous port markets and its proximity to Mexico — in particular, the robust industrial market of the Mexican border city of Reynosa — have always ensured that international commerce plays a key role in the economic success of the RGV. Manufacturing and distribution have always been major drivers of growth in the RGV. We often analyze the performances of these sectors when gauging the health of the region’s office market, as the performance of the office market tends to trail the performance of the industrial sector, usually by a period of 12 to 18 months. The office market of the RGV consists mostly of small, Class B properties developed in the 1980s and 1990s. There are no true skyscrapers or trophy assets in this region, as office users in the RGV simply don’t demand the level of amenities and quality of space as their counterparts in major markets. Small and steady as the office market may be, it is not immune to the influence of larger political movements. Everyone with a vested interest in RGV commercial real estate is keeping a close …
NEW YORK CITY — Caspi Development and Mactaggart Family & Partners LP have acquired 134-136 Broadway, a 23,064-square-foot, six-story office building in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. The sales price was $18.8 million. Michael Sherman of The Manhattes Group represented the buyers in the transaction. The seller was 134-136 Broadway LLC. Caspi and Mactaggart intend to turn the property into a boutique office building for high-tech and creative office tenants.
MILWAUKEE — Spaces has signed a 43,000-square-foot office lease at 1433 N. Water St. in downtown Milwaukee. This will be the first Milwaukee location for the co-working company. The fourth- and fifth-floor space will feature a business club, private offices and desks. Members will also have access to a rooftop patio, meeting rooms and other amenities. A project of Wangard Partners, the 115,600-square-foot property is a redevelopment of the former Laacke & Joys building. John Mazza and Alyssa Geisler of CBRE represented Wangard Partners in the lease transaction. Michael Streit and Patrick Savoie of JLL represented Spaces.
FORT MILL, S.C. — RoundPoint Mortgage Servicing Corp. will expand and relocate its headquarters from Charlotte, N.C., to a new $34 million office building in Fort Mill, a South Carolina suburb of Charlotte. The new facility will bring 1,100 new jobs to the area upon completion in the third quarter of 2019. Dan Woodley of Savills Studley arranged the 150,000-square-foot, build-to-suit deal on behalf of RoundPoint. The new building will be located within Southbridge Business Park, a 350-acre property owned by Lincoln Harris and Cato. The RoundPoint building is the first planned new construction of the Southbridge development since the joint venture acquired the property in 2014. The South Carolina Coordinating Council for Economic Development approved job development credits, as well as a $500,000 Set Aside grant to York County to assist with the costs of site preparation and building construction. Founded in 2007, RoundPoint is a fully licensed agency and non-agency subservicer for commercial banks, credit unions, mortgage companies and hedge funds.
LAS VEGAS — Commercial Executives Real Estate Services has brokered the sale of a professional office space located at 1120 Shadow Lane in Las Vegas. Shadow Lane Property sold the building to Moorea Holdings LLC for $1.8 million. The property features 9,800 square feet of office space. Soozi Jones Walker and Bobbi Miracle of Commercial Executives Real Estate Services represented the seller in the deal.