HOUSTON — McCarthy Building Cos. has begun work on the Houston Methodist Alkek Level 9 Universal Care renovation in the Texas Medical Center. The project is led by McCarthy’s Houston-based specialized solutions group, which concentrates on the Texas Medical Center and surrounding institutions focused on healthcare, laboratory and higher education projects. The demolition and renovation project will convert level nine of the Houston Methodist Alkek building into a 17,000-square-foot universal care unit/ICU with 19 inpatient beds. The project also includes the demolition and replacement of equipment on level 10 and the roof of the building. Preston Hodges and McCarthy project superintendent Michael Kacal lead the Houston SSG.
DALLAS — Real estate developer Harwood International has signed a new lease agreement in the district of Harwood with the law firm McDermott Will & Emery LLP. Harwood International signed a 25,267-square-foot lease at Saint Ann Court. Jihane Boury of Harwood International negotiated the lease with Jim Graham of Colliers International. McDermott Will & Emery moved from their Turtle Creek offices to Harwood Sept. 1. With more than 1,000 lawyers, the firm has offices in Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Milan, Munich, New York, Orange County, Paris, Rome, Seoul, Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C. Designed by Los Angeles Architect Shimoda Design Group, the 26-story, Class A office tower offers amenities including Saint Ann Restaurant & Bar, The Samurai Collection and Mercat Bistro.
IRVING AND FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Bill Bledsoe of Henry S. Miller has arranged two property sales in metro Dallas. Bledsoe brokered the sale of a 0.77-acre office pad site at 727 W. Airport Freeway in Irving. The property housed a 3,939-square-foot building and features freeway frontage. Hangrove Interests purchased the property from VTC Westway Investments and will refurbish the office building for a long-term tenant. Bledsoe also represented the seller in the disposition of a 10-acre site in Fort Worth. The buyer may develop the property, located at 8421 Meadowbrook Drive, into residential space. Ernest Jakes of Jakes Realty Group represented the buyer in this transaction.
NORTHBROOK, ILL. — I.M. Construction Group (IMCG) has completed two of four office buildings within the new MeadowPark development located at Techny Road and Founders Drive in Northbrook, a northern Chicago suburb. MeadowPark is a 52,000-square-foot, 5.5-acre development. IMCG completed the 12,600-square-foot, single-story office property leased to Bright Horizons Daycare as well as an 18,000-square-foot facility leased to Lurie Children’s Hospital. The Lurie Children’s facility will serve as the hospital’s second largest outpatient center in the Chicago area. IMCG will construct the two remaining speculative buildings this fall. The projects will feature masonry construction as well as eco-friendly options, including bioswales, which collect and filter stormwater through vegetation. Tenants of MeadowPark also have the option to incorporate solar panels and geothermal heating. IMCG is a joint venture of Insite Construction and The Missner Group, a full-service construction firm. Leading the construction team for IMCG are Bob Nomellini, the firm’s president, and Bill Uchyn, the Missner Group’s project superintendent. Center Line Architects is providing architectural services, and Manhard Consulting is the civil engineer. Cushman & Wakefield is the project developer.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Akridge and its partner, Stars Investments, plan to redevelop 1101 and 1111 16th St. N.W. into one freestanding, 100,000-square-foot trophy office building. One block away from the new Fannie Mae headquarters and within view of the White House, the new property will feature a fitness center, rooftop terrace and parking. Akridge recently purchased the two assets from the American Beverage Association and the American Association of University Women. Eric Berkman, Steve Gichner and John Boland of Cushman & Wakefield brokered the transaction on behalf of the sellers. The new 1101 16th Street building will deliver in 2017.
ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. — Kucera Properties has renamed One Progress Plaza, a 28-story Class A office tower in St. Petersburg, as Priatek Plaza. The office building was named after a tenant, Priatek, a startup tech firm that utilizes interactive kiosks in global mass marketing. Darin Kucera, managing partner of Kucera Properties, says that Priatek Plaza will be the only Class A office tower in the United States named for a technology startup. The tower spans more than 309,000 square feet of office and retail space and currently has a 90 percent occupancy rate. The terms of the renaming deal were not disclosed.
SAN ANTONIO — Architecture firm Pelli Clarke Pelli will design the Frost Tower, Frost Bank’s new headquarters and San Antonio’s first new downtown office tower in three decades. The architecture firm, based out of New Haven, Conn., will orchestrate the design of the 400,000-square-foot office tower. Fred Clarke and Bill Butler will lead the project. Pelli Clarke Pelli has designed and developed towers including the World Financial Center in New York and the Petronas Towers in Malaysia. Texas-based KDC will partner with Weston Urban to serve as the development team for the tower project. Alamo Architects will serve as the local consulting architects. Construction on the project is slated to begin next fall and will be completed in 2018 or 2019.
BOSTON — An affiliate of The Winhall Companies has acquired Two Liberty Square, a 67,609-square-foot office building in Boston. Originally constructed in 1913, the 11-story, Beaux Arts-style building is 82 percent occupied by tenants that include Zipcar, Humana, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., Copyright Clearance Center and Brill. CenterSquare Investment Management, on behalf of one of its institutional clients, sold the property for an undisclosed price. Coleman Benedict and Ben Sayles of HFF represented the seller in the sale. Additionally, Lauren O’Neil of HFF arranged a 10-year, fixed-rate acquisition loan through SunLife for the buyer.
STERLING, VA. — NXT Capital has provided a $22.5 million first mortgage for the recapitalization of Lakeside at Loudoun Tech Phase II & III, two Class A office buildings in Sterling totaling 204,000 square feet. Both properties are located within Loudoun Tech Center, an office park featuring office buildings, restaurants and two hotels.
CHICAGO — In a joint venture with Golub & Co., CIM Group has acquired a condominium ownership interest in 625 North Michigan, a high-rise building located at 625 N. Michigan Ave. in downtown Chicago. Although the purchase price was not disclosed, Crain’s Chicago Business reported in August that a venture of CIM Group paid approximately $48 million for 290,000 square feet of office space on floors five through 27 of the building. The seller was Goldman Sachs Group. The sale doesn’t include the lower four floors, which are separately owned retail space. The individual floors span 13,000 square feet and no tenant takes up more than one full floor, according to Crain’s Chicago Business. The property, which is currently 29 percent vacant, was built in 1970 and underwent a $6 million renovation in 2000. Caption (625 North Michigan Avenue): CIM Group has acquired a condominium ownership interest consisting of 290,000 square feet of office space located at 625 N Michigan Avenue.