DETROIT — Rock Ventures Group recently purchased three properties in Detroit, capping a year-long drive to acquire and renovate buildings in the downtown area. The newest acquisitions include the Wright-Kay building, located at 1500 Woodward Ave.; the Lane Bryant building, located at 1520 Woodward Ave.; and the Arts League of Michigan building, located at 1528 Woodward Ave. The six-story Wright-Kay building is slated to offer street-level retail with offices or residential units on the floors above. The 45,000-square foot Lane Bryant building and 43,000-square foot Arts League of Michigan building are both slated to offer a mix of retail and office space. In 2011, Rock Ventures, led by Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert, purchased seven properties, three parking structures and one parking lot in Detroit.
DALLAS — M-M Properties has purchased the 1.2 million-square-foot Plaza of the Americas, a mixed-use property located in Dallas' Central Business District, in a partnership with a client of Dallas-based Invesco Real Estate. Plaza of the Americas features two 25-story office towers, a 12-story parking garage, a separately owned Marriott Hotel and 140,000 square feet of restaurants and shops. HFF's Dallas office arranged acquisition financing in the transaction and represented the seller. Dallas-based Peloton Commercial Real Estate has been retained as the exclusive leasing agent for the property and M-M will provide property management services.
PHOENIX — Higley Village, a 44,484-square-foot mixed-use plaza in Phoenix, has sold to Jorde Hacienda for $3,750,000 million. The plaza includes 22,527 square feet of retail space throughout three buildings, 21,957 square feet of office space throughout three other buildings, a 3.53-acre parcel that will house a gas/convenience/fast food stop and a .70-acre pad that will house a 33,061-square-foot office building. Higley Village was built in 2007. The retail portion was 31 percent occupied and the existing offices were 80 percent occupied at the time of sale. Jorde Hacienda intends to stabilize and hold the property. Kevin Petersen of Petersen Properties & Management represented Jorde Hacienda. Rick Danis, Paul Boyle, Ryan Schubert and Michael Hackett with Cassidy Turley BRE Commercial’s Capital Markets Group represented the seller, Meridian Bank.
MADISON, ALA. — GBT Realty Corp. has broken ground on the 122,000-square-foot Madison Corners, a mixed-use development located at the intersection of U.S. Highway 72 and Balch Road in Madison, adjacent to the Madison Medical Park. The property will include two medical office buildings totaling 100,000 square feet and a 22,000-square-foot retail component. Triad Properties Corp. has purchased 3.46 acres of the property to build the first medical office building, totaling 60,000 square feet, which is slated for completion in the fourth quarter of 2012. The retail space, which is pre-leased to tenants including Firehouse Subs, LawLer's Barbecue and Specialized Medical Devices, will be constructed in two buildings and will open in March of this year.
STAMFORD, CONN. — SL Green Realty has secured an $86 million senior mortgage loan for Landmark Square, an 862,000-square-foot mixed-used property in Stamford. SL Green has completed several upgrades to the property since 2007 and is underway with a major capital improvement plan. AIG Asset Management provided the five-year fixed-rate loan on behalf of a wholly owned life insurance subsidiary of American International Group. Steven Kohn, Alex Hernandez, Christopher Moyer and Sridhar Vankayala of Cushman & Wakefield Sonneblick Goldman arranged the financing.
LYNDHURST, N. J. — Walker & Dunlop has arranged $21 million in financing for Riverside Plaza, a mixed-use complex in Lyndhurst. Freddie Mac provided the loan, which has a 7-year term and 30-year amortization schedule. Riverside Plaza is a six-story complex that includes studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments, and retail suites on the first floor. Stephen Farnsworth led the Walker & Dunlop team.
NEW YORK CITY — A private equity group has agreed to buy 511 W. 25th St. in Chelsea, a 195,000-square-foot property, for $93 million from Pembrook Capital Management. The three-building, mixed-use property includes an art gallery and office complex. The sale is expected to close in the first quarter of 2012. Darcy Stacom of CBRE represented Pembrook in the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — Mortgage Equicap has arranged $4 million in permanent mortgage financing for a mixed-used building in West Village. The four-unit apartment building includes ground-floor retail. The non-recourse loan was financed by a commercial bank and includes a five-year fixed rate.
DALLAS — Fort Worth-based Crescent Real Estate Holdings will develop a 600,000-square-foot mixed-use project on its 3.1-acre parcel at McKinney Avenue and Olive Street in Dallas. Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, designer of the World Financial Center in New York City, the Petronas Towers in Malaysia and the International Finance Centre in Hong Kong, will design the project. The property will feature 400,000 square feet of office space, 60,000 square feet of retail space and 50 luxury residences. The project will break ground once it has been successfully pre-leased.
BURLINGTON, MASS. —Norblom Co. has released plans for Third Avenue, a dining and entertainment destination, within its Northwest Park mixed-use development in Burlington. Infrastructure work to pave the way for Third Avenue is nearly finished and the project is scheduled to begin construction in the spring of 2012. Demolition will soon begin to accommodate 300,000 square feet of retail space through Third Avenue's first phase of development. The development will be anchored by Wegmans, a supermarket chain.