Office

Renaissance Park Tampa

TAMPA, FLA. — Vision Properties, a commercial real estate operating partner based in northern New Jersey, has acquired a five-building, Class A office campus in Tampa for more than $100 million. The 573,053-square-foot complex is located along Henderson Road, north of Tampa International Airport. In addition to the five office buildings, the property also has a development pad with an active site permit for an additional 111,600-square-foot office building. The office campus is situated within Renaissance Park, a master-planned, 71-acre mixed-use development. Mike Davis, Michael Lerner and Rick Brugge of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller in the transaction. William Bertolero of Vision Properties will oversee the operations and asset management of the office campus. Fred Arena, founder of Vision Properties, expects to break ground on the sixth office building within the next 12 months.

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4000 Brandywine Street Washington DC

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Urban Investment Partners (UIP) has purchased three Class C office buildings in Washington, D.C.’s Tenleytown neighborhood from American University for $45 million. The portfolio includes a 38,396-square-foot office building at 4000 Brandywine St. N.W., the former home of National Public Radio affiliate WAMU; a 59,996-square-foot office building at 4620 Wisconsin Ave. N.W.; and a 39,299-square-foot property at 4545 42nd St. N.W. CapSource is providing acquisition and construction loans for the Brandywine and Wisconsin Avenue locations. MidCap Mortgage is the lender for the 4545 42nd St. transaction. Bobby Meehling and Scott Frankel of CBRE represented the seller in all three transactions. UIP plans to invest $75 million in order to gut-renovate the Brandywine and Wisconsin Avenue buildings, creating residential apartments, all within a block of the Tenleytown-AU Metro station on the Red Line and with an abundance of underground parking.

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Bank of America Center Richmond

RICHMOND, VA. — Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer has brokered the sale of Bank of America Center, a 24-story, 513,479-square-foot office tower located at 1111 E. Main St. in downtown Richmond. The sales price and buyer weren’t disclosed, but some media outlets report the sales price was $42 million and the buyer was an undisclosed private investment group made up of principals from Washington, D.C., and New York City. Eric Robinson of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer represented the seller, an institutional investor represented by Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers, in the transaction. The property was 71 percent leased at the time of the sale to tenants such as the Commonwealth of Virginia, Bank of America, Sands Anderson PC, McCandlish Holton and DurretteCrump Law Firm.

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CHICAGO — CBRE has arranged the purchase of a 15,000-square-foot office building for $5 million in Chicago. Strategic Assets Associates LLC has acquired the property, located at 1132-1140 W. Fulton Market, with intentions of repurposing the building for retail use. The asset is located several blocks from the Chicago Transit Authority’s Morgan stop. The seller in transaction was undisclosed. Keely Polczynski of CBRE represented the buyer.

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SAN DIEGO — Union Cowork has signed a 10-year lease for the Unicorn Building in downtown San Diego. The historic space is located at 704 J St. This will be the cowork space’s fifth location in Southern California, which includes two additional outposts in the San Diego submarket of North Park. David Maxwell and Bill Shrader of Colliers International represented both Union Cowork and the landlord, PREF Unicorn, an affiliate of Paragon Real Estate Investments, in this transaction.

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Alley24-seattle

SEATTLE — MetLife (NYSE: MET) has purchased Alley24, a 215,402-square-foot, Class A office building with ground floor retail in Seattle’s South Lake Union submarket, for $129.3 million. HFF marketed the property on behalf of the sellers, Vulcan Inc. and PEMCO Insurance Co. MetLife assumed an existing life insurance company loan as part of the purchase. Alley24 is located at 221 Yale Ave. N. Completed in 2006, the property was one of Seattle’s first mixed-use projects to earn LEED certification and features sustainable elements such as natural daylight, operable windows, energy-efficient water flow fixtures, automatic sun-tracking sun shades and environmentally sensitive building materials. The 85 percent-leased property serves as the corporate headquarters for architectural firm NBBJ. Additional tenants include Skanska and Cole & Weber. Alley24 offers tenants two roof decks and flexible floor plans. Todd Tydlaska, Nick Kucha and Michael Leggett led the HFF team. “Alley24 is one of the only true mixed-use assets in the South Lake Union submarket, a centrally located, high-amenity, pedestrian-oriented location that has maintained historical occupancy of more than 96 percent since it was completed,” says Tydlaska. MetLife’s stock price closed at $37.43 per share on Friday, Feb. 12, down from $50.86 one year prior. — …

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HOUSTON — CBRE has arranged a 25,000-square-foot office relocation lease for Hughes Watters Askanase (HWA). HWA, a full-service commercial law firm, has moved from Three Allen Center, located at 333 Clay St., to Total Plaza, located at 1201 Louisiana St. in downtown Houston. Kevin Kushner and Lucian Bukowski of CBRE’s Houston office represented the law firm in the lease transaction. The landlord, Brookfield Office Properties, was self-represented by Clint Bawcom, Jon Dutton and Margaret Sigur. Although the new space is smaller than their previous space, HWA will be able to accommodate more lawyers and staff than it did in its old space by taking advantage of a modern layout designed by Kirksey Architecture. Moderate changes, such as shrinking the size of individual offices, providing more access to natural light, creating spaces that encourage collaboration and interaction and reducing storage and library space will give HWA the ability to grow into their space as needed. CBRE also provided project management services, led by Erin Schultz and Ashley Ramos, which included vendor selection, budget management and timeline oversight to ensure the space was delivered on time and on budget. Total Plaza is a Class A, 843,533-square-foot office building located in downtown Houston. …

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ADDISON, TEXAS — E Smith Realty Partners has secured a lease for Maxim Integrated at Tollway Center, a 200,000-square-foot, six-story office building located on six acres along the Dallas North Tollway in Addison. Jim Hazard, Sharon Morrison, Brad Struck and Saadia Sheikh with E Smith Realty Partners represented Maxim Integrated, while Jeremy Duggins and Addie Ludwig of Cawley Partners represented the landlord. Maxim Integrated will lease space on the first floor and the company will occupy the entire third and fourth floors. With the addition of Maxim’s lease, Tollway Center’s occupancy is 80 percent.

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CHICAGO — Chicago-based Cohen Financial has arranged $28.2 million in acquisition financing for LLJ Ventures LLC. The California-based buyer has purchased several properties in the state of Illinois and Wisconsin. In the first transaction, Dan Rosenberg of Cohen Financial arranged an $11 million loan with a 10-year term for The Armitage Collection, a portfolio of five retail buildings in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. The buildings in the portfolio are 100 percent leased. In the second transaction, Rosenberg arranged a $17.2 million, 10-year CMBS loan for a 57,000-square-foot medical office, Racine Dental, in Racine, Wis.

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Jupiter-trade-center-3300-wood-drive-garland-texas

Dallas is on a hot streak. This is the best market Dallas has seen in years. Companies are expanding and corporate relocations are driving new development in office, industrial and retail. Based on the healthy, active market of 2015, the momentum should carry over and remain strong through the first half of 2016. Office Dallas has become a headquarters hub in the past few years with companies like Toyota and Liberty Mutual putting down roots in the Metroplex. Companies are doing well financially and are growing, which is great news for the office sector. Leasing activity is at an all-time high with all sizes of companies experiencing growth. Office expansions and mid-term lease extensions are becoming the norm. In November, GEICO’s regional headquarters relocated to a larger facility with the goal of hiring nearly 200 employees before year’s end. The insurance company leased 224,000 square feet at 2280 Greenville Ave. in Dallas, brokered by Tom Lynn and Nick Lee, CCIM, of NAI Robert Lynn and Griff Bandy of NAI Partners in Houston. GEICO’s former headquarters building in the North Dallas area is now on the market. We’re also seeing the employment industry shift from focusing solely on clients to employee …

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