CINCINNATI — The Global Operations Center has opened at The Banks mixed-use development in Cincinnati. More than 2,000 employees will work in the 12-story, 338,000-square-foot tower. The main entrance will be at the corner of Second and Rosa Parks streets. The new building is located in Phase II of The Banks, and includes 19,000 square feet of street-level retail space. Taste of Belgium and Pies & Pints are under construction and will open in the coming weeks. Next door, the Radius at The Banks apartment community is also now open. GE has signed a 15-year lease with Carter and Nicol Investment Co., co-owners of the building. PNC Financial Services led the construction financing for the project, and Brasfield & Gorrie oversaw construction along with Cincinnati-based Jostin Construction. RJTR is the architect and CBRE will manage the property.
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — JLL has secured an office lease renewal and expansion on behalf of accounting firm Auldridge-Griffin P.C. The 8,614-square-foot office lease includes a nearly 1,500-square-foot expansion for the Fort Worth-based company. JLL’s Pat McDowell negotiated the lease on behalf of the tenant. John Grace of Colliers International represented the unnamed landlord. Auldridge-Griffin’s office is located in the Ridglea Bank Building at 6300 Ridglea Place.
CHICAGO — The Missner Group has acquired the Oxxford Building, located at 1220 W. Van Buren St. in Chicago. The firm plans to redevelop the 115,000-square-foot office/showroom and manufacturing building into a Class A loft office building. The seven-story property includes a basement and an 8,000-square-foot adjacent vacant lot, which serves as parking. Located in Chicago’s West Loop, 1220 West Van Buren is surrounded by new residential and commercial developments and offers frontage off the Eisenhower Expressway (I-290). The Missner Group’s redevelopment plans for 1220 West Van Buren include building out the space to include open floor plans, exposed ductwork, concrete and brick features as well as a tenant lounge with rooftop deck, fitness center, conference center, locker rooms and bike parking facilities. Oxxford Clothing, a manufacturer of men’s clothing, currently occupies the property. The firm has occupied the building for the past 67 years and at one time manufactured 35,000 suits per year. After a short-term lease, Oxxford will complete its transition to a new facility near Midway Airport. Ed Adler of The Missner Group led the acquisition for the firm. Ari Klein, Larry Goldwasser and Colin Green of Cushman and Wakefield represented Oxxford in the transaction.
ATLANTA — A joint venture between Banyan Street Capital and funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management LP have purchased Atlanta Plaza, a 631,808-square-foot office tower in Atlanta’s Buckhead district, for $137.5 million. The 32-story tower recently underwent $7.5 million of upgrades and renovations, which led to nearly 200,000 square feet of leasing activity over the past two years. Atlanta Plaza’s major tenants include the regional hub for Salesforce.com, Rubicon Global and the corporate headquarters for RentPath. Banyan Street and Oaktree are planning an additional $6 million in common area improvements to the main lobby, tenant elevator landings and corridors, elevator cabs, retail concourse and building signage. The joint venture has retained Chris Port, Nicole Goldsmith and Katherine Lynch of CBRE to lease the asset. Will Yowell, Justin Parsonnet, Jay O’Meara and Ryan Reethof of CBRE represented the seller in the transaction. Jeff Ackemann, Jonathan Rice and Porter McDonald of CBRE’s Debt & Structured Finance team sourced acquisition financing on behalf of Banyan Street and Oaktree. Banyan Street will manage the property directly.
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Harrison French & Associates Ltd. (HFA), a Bentonville, Ark.-based architecture and engineering firm, has opened a new office in Fort Worth. The office is located in the Chase Building at 420 Throckmorton St., Suite 910 in downtown Fort Worth. HFA holds licenses in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The company recently acquired Franklin, Mass.-based Allevato Architects as part of an expansion.
HOUSTON — Colvill Office Properties has brokered a 3,989-square-foot office lease with The Mitchell Group at The Jones on Main, a newly rebranded office complex located at 708 and 712 Main St. in Houston. The Jones on Main includes the JPMorgan Chase & Co. Building in Houston’s central business district. Mitchell Group will occupy the entire 31st floor at the 715,000-square-foot office tower. Connor Saxe and Vince Strake of Colvill Office Properties represented the property’s ownership, Lionstone Investments and Midway, in the lease transaction. Kevin Kushner of CBRE represented The Mitchell Group.
SHENANDOAH, TEXAS — Tim Maczko and Lisa Hughes of The J. Beard Real Estate Co. represented VP1 Partners LP in the lease of 8,720 square feet within 128 Vision Park Office in Shenandoah. The 75,000-square-foot, three-story office building is situated on five acres near I-45. Fischer Co. represented the tenant, Reed Group Management, which will occupy the space by the end of the year.
GREENWICH, CONN. — NGKF Capital Markets has arranged $36.25 million in financing for 500 West Putnam Avenue, a 124,668-square-foot Class A office building in Greenwich, for Connecticut investment group 500 WPA LLC. Jordan Roeschlaub, Daniel Fromm and Steve Sperandio of NGKF led the team that arranged and structured a floating-rate loan that provides a three-year initial term and two one-year extension options. The loan proceeds were used to fund the acquisition of the property from SL Green and execute the sponsor’s business plan for the property, which was 54 percent occupied at closing.
LOS ANGELES — Sandstone Properties has purchased the Tower at Sherman Oaks, a 167,726-square-foot office building in the Los Angeles submarket of Sherman Oaks, for $56.7 million. The Class A building is located at 14724 Ventura Blvd. The Tower at Sherman Oaks was built in 1966 and underwent a complete renovation in 1991. It is currently 96 percent occupied. Sandstone Properties plans to reposition the asset as a creative campus. Bob Safai, Chris DuMont and Bob Pearson of Madison Partners will handle leasing efforts. The firm also arranged acquisition and renovation financing totaling $48.1 million with Loancore Capital. Safai also represented the seller, Douglas Emmett, along with Matt Case and Brad Schlaak.
PORTLAND, ORE. — BPM Real Estate Group has started construction of the Broadway Tower office and hotel project in downtown Portland. The 19-story project will include a 180-room Radisson RED hotel, 175,000 square feet of office space and more than 2,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. Radisson RED will occupy Broadway Tower’s first eight floors, with Class A office space occupying the top 11 floors. The project is scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2018. Howard S. Wright, a Balfour Beatty company, is building the project, which GBD Architects designed. Broadway Tower is Howard S. Wright’s second project for BPM Real Estate Group in Portland. The firm delivered the Pearl West office building for the developer earlier this year.