MILWAUKEE, WIS. — Siegel-Gallagher has arranged a 5,362-square-foot office lease for The Benedict Center, an interfaith, nonprofit criminal justice agency in Milwaukee. The Benedict Center will lease space at The Ring Building, located at 1849 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. The landlord is 1849 MLK LLC. John Dulmes and Dan Walsh of Siegel-Gallagher represented the tenant in the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — New York City Economic Development Corp. (NYCEDC) and Bedford Courts LLC, a joint venture between BFC Partners and Slate Property Group, have unveiled plans for a 500,000-square-foot mixed-use development at the Bedford Union Armory in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood. The development will bring hundreds of units of housing, a multi-sport recreational facility, community event space, office space and commercial space to Brooklyn. Planned in close coordination with community and local elected officials, the Bedford Union Armory project will activate the vacant building, which was built in 1903. Bedford Courts will develop the property on a long-term ground lease from the city into a 300-unit residential building and a commercial building with recreational, community and office space. Outfitted by Carmelo Anthony and The Carmelo Anthony Foundation, the recreational facility will feature basketball courts, a swimming pool and an indoor turf field. CAMBA, a Brooklyn-based non-profit organization, will operate and provide associated programming for the recreational facility and community event space.
HOUSTON — i3 Interests and Atlas Real Estate Partners have closed a 202,978-square-foot acquisition of a three-building portfolio located on the campus of the Tenet Health Systems-operated Northwest Medical Center in Houston. Scott Carter of Transwestern represented the seller. Texas Capital Bank provided financing. The company plans to update the portfolio’s lobbies, landscaping, corridors, bathrooms, elevators and internal building components that will be followed by a rebranding campaign. Transwestern will provide both leasing and property management services.
BOCA RATON, FLA. — HFF has brokered the $35.8 million sale of Bank of America Tower located at 150 E. Palmetto Park Road in downtown Boca Raton. The Class A, 109,553-square-foot office building features a Bank of America branch on the ground floor and restaurant space that will soon be occupied by Besito Boca. The property was 87 percent leased at the time of sale to tenants such as Bank of America, Zen Offices, Veretech Holdings and Charles Schwab & Co. Hermen Rodriguez, Ike Ojala and Jorge Portela of HFF represented the seller, Clarion Partners, in the transaction. The buyer was Dividend Capital Diversified Property Fund Inc.
MEMPHIS, TENN. — The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has awarded One Commerce Square in downtown Memphis LEED Gold certification. The office building is the first property in downtown Memphis to earn the distinction. Built in 1972, the 29-story office building is located at 40 S. Main St. Memphis-based Looney Ricks Kiss spearheaded the renovation, which resulted in 45 percent in energy savings, or roughly $138,000 per year. The office building has also experienced 33 percent water savings over the LEED baseline and features a 20 percent parking rebate offered to building patrons who have a qualified low-emitting or fuel-efficient vehicle. Cushman & Wakefield | Commercial Advisors leases and manages the building. Memphis Commerce Square Partners LLC, which is managed by Worthington Hyde Partners, owns the office tower.
CHICAGO — Acting on behalf of Riverside Investment & Development Co., CBRE has signed Navigant Consulting Inc. to an 110,000-square-foot lease at a 53-story office tower under construction in Chicago. Navigant will move its global headquarters to the new building to be located at 150 N. Riverside Plaza. As a result of the four-story lease to Navigant Consulting, the office tower is now 75 percent pre-leased. The Class A building, which will span 1.2 million square feet, is slated for completion in January 2017. William Blair & Co. LLC and Hyatt Corp. will also be moving their global headquarters to the building. Goettsch Partners is the building designer and Magnusson Klemencic Associates is serving as the structural engineer. Drew Neiman of CBRE represented Riverside Investment & Development Co. in the transaction.
The long-held perception of the Milwaukee office market is that it mostly trades tenants between buildings with one landlord winning at the other’s expense, while the overall pie remains the same size. However, with cranes dotting the horizon, large blocks of vacant space quickly leasing up, a number of major new developments waiting to break ground, and the inflow of outside dollars into Milwaukee, the market has recently experienced some amazing deal velocity. This activity is expected to continue as we head into 2016. However, the office market could slow down due to the completion of several projects currently under construction. The greater Milwaukee office vacancy rate stood at 15.5 percent in the third quarter, down slightly from 15.6 percent in the third quarter of 2014. The vacancy rate in the central business district (CBD) dropped from 16.2 percent to 14.9 percent during the same period. Meanwhile, rental rates have increased slightly in both the overall market and the CBD. Cranes in the skies Construction on the Northwestern Mutual Tower and Commons began in late 2014 in downtown Milwaukee and is scheduled for completion in late 2017. A 32-story office tower will adjoin a two-block-long, three-story space known as The Commons. The new development …
LOS ANGELES – Ready Capital has provided a $6.1 million loan for a 16,000-square-foot office property in Los Angeles. The property is located at 515 Shatto Place in the Koreatown neighborhood. The funds will be used to acquire, renovate and stabilize the property, which will be converted to creative office space. The loan features a two-year term with a one-year extension option. It also comes with a funding facility that can provide future capital expenses, tenant improvement and leasing commissions, with an advance of up to 75 percent loan-to-cost. The borrower was not named.
LOS ANGELES — BH Properties has donated $500,000 to the USC Price School of Public Policy in Los Angeles. The donation will help fund the school’s new Bachelor of Science in Real Estate Development degree. The gift will also help recruit real estate faculty, provide professional development opportunities for students to gain real-world experience in the industry and fund scholarships for the program’s most exceptional young students. This is the first gift pledged in support of the Bachelor of Science in Real Estate Development program. The Price School launched one of the nation’s first graduate degrees in real estate development with the establishment of the Dollinger Master of Real Estate Development program in 1986. USC’s Bachelor of Science in Real Estate Development launched this past fall. It is expected to accept up to 250 students per year.
DALLAS — Wellington Realty, a commercial real estate services company serving the four major markets in Texas, has completed a leasing transaction on behalf of Black Shark Family Investments, a family office. Black Shark Family Investments has leased 9,670 square feet of office space in Thanksgiving Tower, a 50-story skyscraper located in downtown Dallas. Jack Allen of Wellington Realty represented the tenant. Mike Dement and Sam Meginnis of Wellington Realty represented the landlord, Altschuler & Co. Thanksgiving Tower is undergoing a $30 million renovation to its lobbies and common areas.