BOSTON — O’Connell Hospitality Group is merging its Northeast hotel brokerage practice with HREC’s national hotel platform effective Sept. 8. With the merged companies, Jim O’Connell will be principal at HREC Investment Advisors, as well as HREC’s practice leader in the new Boston office. Combined the two firms will offer hotel investors expertise and contacts of approximately 40 dedicated lodging and gaming insiders across the North American hospitality industry.
FARMERS BRANCH, TEXAS — Farmers Branch city manager Charles Cox has promoted Allison Cook to director of economic development and tourism for the city of Farmers Branch. Cook has been an employee of Farmers Branch since 2011, when she started the first city program focused on business retention. She was later promoted to economic development manager. The previous director of economic development and tourism John Land, has been promoted to deputy city manager. Cook previously worked for Catalyst Commercial, a real estate analytics company, and was also the leasing manager for another commercial real estate company focused on retail development in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
OAK CREEK, WIS. — Colliers International has arranged the lease and sale of the former headquarters of Caterpillar’s Global Mining division located at 6744 S. Howell Ave. in Oak Creek. Master Lock Co. leased the two-building, 120,883-square-foot office campus under a long-term agreement. Master Lock will relocate from its current Oak Creek location in early 2017 after tenant improvements are completed at the property. Additionally, Bucyrus Wisconsin Property, a subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc., sold the property to W.P. Carey for $16.8 million. Tom Shepherd and Matthew Stauber of Colliers represented Caterpillar in the lease and sale of the campus.
Growth. It is occurring all across the Rio Grande Valley. From the residential sector to the retail development industry, regional statistics indicate there is an overwhelming boom in the Valley. The rise in the region’s population and the increasing number of yearly visits from Mexican nationals, among other factors, are contributing to the boom. The Rio Grande Valley commercial real estate industry has seen steady, consistent growth over the last two years. National retailers looking to incorporate themselves into the local economy or expand their existing business include Main Event Entertainment, Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers, Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt, Dave & Busters, Dick’s Sporting Goods, HomeGoods, Chick-fil-A and Walmart. Local and international retailers including Super Cream Restaurant & Bakery, Kurai Sushi Buffet, and Dona Tota are also expanding in the region. Other entities helping to spur growth in the commercial real estate industry are the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) campuses in Edinburg, Harlingen and Brownsville, and a number of large investment retail projects in the upper and mid-valley including the development of the 8,500-seat Bert Ogden Arena in Hidalgo County. Impact of UTRGV The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley is less than two years old and boasts …
MINNEAPOLIS — CBRE Capital Markets has brokered the sale of Ameriprise Financial Center, a 31-story, 847,667-square-foot office building located at 701 Second Ave. South in downtown Minneapolis. A joint venture between Axar Capital Management and Morning Calm Management acquired the property for $200 million, or $236 per square foot. Built in 2000, the building serves as the global headquarters for Ameriprise Financial. Tom Holtz, Ryan Watts, Judd Welliver and Sonja Dusil of CBRE’s Minneapolis office represented the seller’s advisor and asset manager, Founders Properties LLC, in the transaction.
COLUMBUS, OHIO — CBRE has been retained as the exclusive leasing agent for Huntington Center, located at 41 S. High St. in Columbus. The 37-story, 1 million-square-foot office tower features 27,000 square feet of retail space, a 1,000-car parking facility and a 29,650-square-foot athletic club. Brad McMahon and Don Roberts of CBRE will lease the building on behalf of Hines, which owns and manages the property. Hines plans to make significant upgrades to the property, including a new amenity package with a tenant lounge, rooftop patio and secure bike storage. Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture is designing the upgrades.
BROOKLYN CENTER, MINN. — Cushman & Wakefield NorthMarq, on behalf of landlord The AtWater Group, has arranged the lease of 9,800 square feet of office space at Concorde Executive Center in Brooklyn Center, a suburb of Minneapolis. United Food and Commercial Workers will move into the space by Nov. 1. With this lease, the six-story property’s occupancy rate is 67 percent. Aaron Barnard of Cushman & Wakefield Northmarq represented The AtWater Group in the deal.
HACKENSACK, N.J. — Colliers International has arranged the sale of Continental Plaza, a landmark corporate property located at 401, 411 and 433 Hackensack Ave. in Hackensack. Capstone Realty Group and JD Cos. acquired the three-building complex from a Miami-based special servicer for $63 million. The 650,000-square-foot office was 72 percent leased at the time of sale. Jacklene Chesler of Colliers, along with her team, brokered the transaction.
NASHUA, N.H. — NorthMarq Capital has secured $1.8 million in refinancing for an office building in Nashua. Michael Chase of NorthMarq’s Boston office arranged the long-term financing through a regional bank for the undisclosed borrower. The two-story building features 33,000 square feet of office space.
PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. — BEB Real Estate has leased 56,000 square feet of office and industrial space to Cintas Corp. The Cincinnati-based company will occupy space on the first and second floors at 12 Harbor Park Drive in Port Washington. Lee Brodsky, Dan Oliver and Dan Marcus of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented the landlord, BEB Real Estate, in the deal.