NEWARK, DELAWARE — NGKF Capital Markets has arranged the sale of 242 and 248 Chapman Road in Newark. Equus Capital Partners sold the two-building portfolio to Chapman Business Associates LLC for $15.55 million. Both buildings are 100 percent occupied by two long-term tenants; 242 Chapman Road is a three-story, 65,967-square-foot office building and 248 Chapman Road is a two-story, 77,974-square-foot office building. Recent renovations at the property include new ceilings and lighting throughout, updated lobbies and restrooms, a new roof, HVAC upgrades, and a new fire panel as well as new elevators. The NGKF Capital Markets team comprising Mike Margolis, Dave Dolan and Brett Segal, along with area experts, Neal Dangello and Wills Elliman, represented Equus Capital Partners in the transaction.
PITTSBURGH — The Law Firm Group of Fischer has represented law firm Burns White LLC in its relocation to a new headquarters space in Pittsburgh. Burns White will fully occupy a new build-to-suit 108,392-square-foot property starting in March 2017. The Burns White Center will be a five-story freestanding building with parking located in Pittsburgh’s Strip District at the intersection of 26th Street and Railroad Street. Scott Fabean of Fischer was the lead in representing Burns White. Joe Tosi and Mike Daniels of Oxford Realty Services represented the landlord, Three Crossings Riverfront East LP.
ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. — Unilever has chosen a joint venture between OVG Real Estate and Normandy Real Estate Partners to acquire and redevelop the company’s 23-acre, 325,000-square-foot North American headquarters. The site is located at 700 Sylvan Ave. in Englewood Cliffs, just across the Hudson River from New York City. The agreement provides that upon closing, the land and the building will be leased back to Unilever via an 18-year triple-net lease. The sale is expected to close prior the end of 2016. The renovated headquarters will be both LEED- and WELL-certified and benefits will include reducing CO2 emissions, reducing energy consumption by 50 percent, reducing water demand via low-flow plumbing and diverting 75 percent of construction waste from landfills. OVG plans to increase the size of the property by 28 percent to accommodate 1,600 employees. Unilever expects the new campus to be largely finished by the fourth quarter of 2017. Cushman and Wakefield advised in the partnership formation. Other partners include Perkins + Will Architects; Unilever’s legal advisor Robinson Cole; Drinker Biddle & Reith and AKD Advocaten, both serving as legal advisors to the OVG-Normandy joint venture; general contractor StructureTone; and insurance advisor Parallel. — Jaime Lackey
FORT LEE, N.J. — A BFE affiliate has sold the fully leased Polygon Plaza in Fort Lee’s redevelopment district to H&M Group Inc., a New York investor, for $22 million. The 90,000-square foot property is located at 2050 Center Ave. BFE acquired the building in 1994 for $6.4 million from Connecticut Mutual Life, which had acquired it through a foreclosure. Today, Polygon Plaza is leased to a mix of small and mid-sized tenants, including many long-term occupants. Trans-Hudson Management Corp., a BFE affiliate, will continue to manage the building for the new owner. Andrew Merin, David Bernhaut, Gary Gabriel and Brian Whitmer of Cushman & Wakefield represented BFE in the sale. Ashley Kim and Bowen Pak of Eastern International Realty Inc. served as co-brokers for the seller in the transaction.
ALBANY, N.Y. — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of Corporate Plaza, a 149,460-square-foot office park in Albany, for $14.47 million, or just under $100 per square foot. The eight buildings were 93 percent occupied at the time of sale to local owner/developer Cass Hill Development Cos. Ben Sgambati, Chip Collins, and Anthony Asencio of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, Rosenblum Cos., an Albany-based owner/developer, and procured the buyer. J.D. Parker is Marcus & Millichap’s broker of record in the state of New York.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — CIM Group and Seaholm Power LLC have sold the Seaholm Power Plant mixed-use development located at the southwestern edge of downtown Austin. The centerpiece of the project is the 126,000-square-foot, repurposed power plant constructed in the 1950s. The redeveloped Seaholm Power Plant includes four floors of office space designed for its major tenant, athenahealth. Boiler Nine Bar + Grill, a 10,000-square-foot restaurant spanning all four levels, is also part of the redevelopment. Boiler Nine’s concept at Seaholm includes Deck Nine Observatory Bar, a rooftop bar with views of Austin and Lady Bird Lake, and The Boiler Room, a den located on the lowest level of the power plant near the original boiler room. The five acres surrounding the power plant have been redeveloped into a mixed-use space with a 1.5-acre public plaza and multifamily residences. The property also includes a 68,000-square-foot office building and 33,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space anchored by a Trader Joe’s. Construction began on the Seaholm Power Plant project in April 2013, with athenahealth opening its doors in February 2015.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Portman Holdings has signed Regions Bank to a 63,806-square-foot office lease at 615 South College, a speculative 370,000-square-foot office building under construction in Uptown Charlotte. Regions Bank is the first tenant to sign on at the 19-story office building, which is expected to open in early 2017. The building is positioned at Uptown Charlotte’s first light rail stop at Stonewall Station. Travis Garland of Portman Holdings, along with John Ball and Peter Conway of Trinity Partners, represented the ownership in the lease transaction. Sim Wilson, Mike Fahey and Mark Decherd of CBRE represented Regions Bank in the lease deal.
SALT LAKE CITY — Hines Global REIT II has purchased Cottonwood Corporate Center, a 490,030-square-foot office complex in Salt Lake City, for an undisclosed sum. The four-building center is situated on East Cottonwood Parkway near the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon. This was the REIT’s first acquisition in Utah. CBRE’s Eli Mills and Timothy Richey, along with NGKF’s Ken White, represented the seller, CommonWealth Partners LLC, in this transaction.
CHICAGO — Even as the technology industry begins to normalize after two years of major growth, the nation’s tech markets remain winners in the race for talent and, by extension, office leasing. This according to JLL’s recently released Tech Office Outlook report. From the second quarter of 2015 to the second quarter of 2016, tech office leasing volume fell 9.6 percent. However, despite tech industry growth hitting a relative plateau, it will continue to outpace the national economy and is creating strong real estate conditions across the country, according to the report. “The technology sector is the leading industry for real estate expansion in the U.S. and is driving nearly 25 percent of office leasing activity across the nation over the past two years for leases of 20,000 square feet or more,” states the report. “Also, 63 percent of these tech companies are in growth mode. And this demand is driving office rents up. The most expensive rents can be found in San Francisco Peninsula’s Menlo Park, at $102.16 per square foot, followed by Palo Alto in Silicon Valley ($100.79); San Francisco’s Mission Bay/China Basin ($84.70) and Hudson Square in New York ($83.11).” The 9.6 percent year-over-year dip in second-quarter leasing …
ATLANTA — NCR Corp., a global finance technology firm, plans to expand its new world headquarters campus currently under construction in Midtown Atlanta. The $145 million expansion will add a 14-story tower, which will be connected to a 20-story office tower that is set to open in the first quarter of 2018. The second tower is scheduled to be ready for occupancy in the first quarter of 2019. Currently headquartered in Duluth, Ga., NCR will bring more than 1,800 employees to the headquarters campus, which will feature amenities such as eateries with outdoor seating, a coffee bar, gym, informal gathering places and a large lecture space. NCR and Cousins Properties entered into a long-term, build-to-suit lease for the second tower, which will be owned and developed by Cousins, as is the first tower. NCR, the Georgia Department of Economic Development and Invest Atlanta have agreed on additional incentives for the new tower.