CALABASAS, CALIF. — Michael Klein, principal and CEO, has opened Freedom Financial Funds (FFF) in Calabasas. FFF manages private equity funds that it uses for debt and equity capital for the construction, rehabilitation, repositioning, conversion or additions to commercial and residential properties in the Western United States. The firm’s team of experts includes Stanley Kafka, Minda Johnstone and Yan Lam, all principals and founding members of FFF. The firm uses pooled funding or managed accounts, provided by high-net-worth individuals, business managers, institutional investors and lines of credit provided by commercial banks.
ATLANTA — AloStar has provided two loans for an office building and shopping center in metro Atlanta totaling $23.6 million. The bank funded both loans through its commercial real estate platform, AloStar Real Estate Finance. The financing included a $19 million loan for 1100 Circle 75, a 16-story office building in Atlanta’s Cumberland/Galleria submarket, and a $4.6 million loan for Shoppes at Trickum, a 49,900-square-foot, Walmart-anchored shopping center in Woodstock that is also leased to Dollar Tree and rue21. AloStar provided the acquisition financing for Shoppes at Trickum to Shoppes at Trickum LLC, an affiliate of SunCap Real Estate Investments.
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. — NAI Rauch Weaver Norfleet Kurtz & Co. has arranged the $10.8 million sale of 2101 Commercial, a 94,320-square-foot office building located at 2101 W. Commercial Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale. NRNS Acquisition 2101 Commercial LLC, a company backed by local entrepreneur Howard Dvorkin, purchased the office building from RFP Mainstreet 2101 Commercial LLC. Michael Scarpino of NAI Rauch Weaver represented the buyer in the transaction, and Warren Weiser, Harry Blyden and Mark Goldstein of Continental Real Estate Co. represented the seller. The buyer has retained William Kahn of NAI Rauch Weaver to lease the property.
CARY, N.C. — Avison Young has arranged the $7 million sale of a 58,950-square-foot office building located at 201 Shannon Oaks Circle in Cary, a city in the Raleigh-Durham metro area. The two-story building is situated at the intersection of Kildaire Farm Road and Cary Parkway. Gary Lyons, Blake Thomas and Grant Linderman of Avison Young’s Raleigh office represented the sellers, REC Shannon Oaks LLC and Shannon Square Holdings LLC, in the transaction. Frank Norvell of Norvell Real Estate Group represented the buyer, Richmond, Va.-based Real Estate Value Advisors LLC.
CHICAGO — SVN | Chicago Commercial has arranged a 15,166-square-foot lease for Chicago Association of Realtors (CAR) in downtown Chicago. CAR has signed a 10-year lease for the entire eighth floor of The Realtor Building, which is owned by the National Association of Realtors. The space, located at 430 N. Michigan Ave. will serve as CAR’s headquarters. Wayne Caplan, Deena Zimmerman and Scott Maesel of SVN | Chicago Commercial represented the tenant in the transaction. Dean Kutrumanes of GNP Realty Partners represented the landlord. CAR is expected to begin occupying the space this December.
ST. LOUIS — HOK has designed a 17,000-square-foot office space for Square Inc. at the @4240 building in the Cortex Innovation Community in St. Louis. HOK and developer Wexford Science & Technology LLC previously renovated the LEED-certified building that once housed a 1940s phone factory. The new space features 16-foot ceilings, skylights, activity spaces, meeting and phone nooks, adjustable desks, acoustic panels and a micro kitchen that can accommodate various company functions. Artisan Building Co. served as the general contractor. San Francisco-based Square is a financial services and mobile payment company.
SAN FRANCISCO — Bridgeton Holdings has received a $45 million loan to acquire 995 Market St., a 15-story office tower in San Francisco. The company purchased the 91,300-square-foot tower for $62 million. The office portion of the tower is occupied by WeWork and a nonprofit group. It also includes ground-floor retail that is fully leased to CVS. The property is situated in the Mid-Market neighborhood, which is also home to Twitter, Uber and Spotify. Jordan Ray, Ari Hirt, Steven Buchwald and Alex Draganiuk of Mission Capital Advisors arranged the non-recourse loan.
NEW YORK CITY — The Moinian Group has begun work on the foundation of 3 Hudson Boulevard, a 66-story office tower located in the Hudson Yards District. Designed by FXFOWLE Architects and slated for completion in 2021, the 2 million-square-foot tower will feature 48,000-square-foot floor plates on the podium level, 30,000-square-foot to 35,000-square-foot, column-free floor plates on the tower office floors, 10-foot finished ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows. The amenity-rich building also anchors Hudson Boulevard Park, a public green space featuring fountains, green space, public seating and event space. The foundation is slated for completion by late 2017. A portion of the foundation is already underway as part of the MTA’s current infrastructure work for the second entrance to the 34th Street Station on the new No. 7 subway extension.
BILLERICA, MASS. — EMD Serono, the biopharmaceutical business of Merck KGaA, has selected JLL Construction for its $12 million expansion project in Billerica. The new 30,000-square-foot building will expand the existing research and development complex. Additionally, the facility will accommodate 120 new and current employees who will focus on accelerating innovation in R&D, particularly on oncology, immune-oncology and immunology. JLL Construction broke ground for the project in early May and construction is slated to begin in late spring 2016.
NEW YORK CITY — Madison Realty Capital has closed Madison Realty Capital Debt Fund III, the firm’s third institutional real estate debt investment vehicle. The discretionary private equity fund raised a total of $695 million in capital commitments, exceeding its original goal of $600 million. Capital was sourced from a diverse group of investors, including public pension funds, corporate pension funds, foundations and endowments, family offices and wealth managers. The fund originates commercial mortgage loans, mezzanine loans and preferred equity interests and acquires non-performing mortgages.