HAMDEN, CONN. — Press/Cuozzo Commercial Services has brokered the long-term lease of 2,664 square feet of office space at Hamden Center II in Hamden. FC USA Inc., the parent company of GOGO Worldwide Vacations, will occupy the space at 2321 Whitney Ave. Stephen Press of Press/Cuozzo represented the landlord, while Steve Inglese of The New Haven Group represented the tenant in the transaction.
HOUSTON — Ashford Crossing LLC, an affiliate of Hartman Short Term Income Properties XX, has purchased the Ashford Crossing II office building in Houston. The property is a 158,451-square-foot, six-story office building located at Dairy Ashford Road and Whittington Drive on the southern edge of the energy corridor and the northern border of the Westchase submarket. Ashford Crossing II was built in 1983 and has been institutionally owned and managed since 2002. The property is 87 percent leased to a mix of tenants, including Rignet, a provider of communications, networks and collaborative applications for the oil and gas industry. H. Dan Miller and Marty Hogan of HFF represented the seller in the transaction. Dave Wheeler, Julian Kwok and Russell Turman of Hartman represented the buyer, Hartman Ashford Crossing LLC.
ANNAPOLIS JUNCTION, MD. — St. John Properties Inc., in partnership with Somerset Construction Co., has revealed plans for the development of a new 100,000-square-foot office building at 10170 Junction Drive in Annapolis Junction, roughly 18 miles south of Baltimore. The new four-story property will be located within Annapolis Junction Town Center, a mixed-use transit-oriented development situated adjacent to the Savage Maryland Rail Commuter Rail (MARC) station. The project represents the office component of the development, which will also contain 416 luxury apartment homes, a 150-room hotel, 17,450 square feet of retail space and the recently completed MARC Station with a 700-space commuter parking garage. Southern Management Corp. and Somerset Construction Co. are developing the residential and retail portions of Annapolis Junction Town Center and are seeking a partner for the hospitality component. St. John Properties is constructing the office building to satisfy LEED Silver specifications for Core and Shell. The exterior of the building will comprise brick and glass and will feature 25,000-square-foot floorplates. St. John Properties plans to deliver the property in fall 2016. The company recently assumed control of this project, which was formerly being developed by Corporate Office Properties Trust.
LOS ANGELES — A private Asian investor has purchased a 106,560-square-foot office building in the Los Angeles submarket of Thousand Oaks for $19.1 million. The building is fully occupied by Anthem Blue Cross of California. The property is located at 2000 Corporate Center Drive. Anthem has occupied the building since 1993. There are more than seven years remaining on the lease. CBRE’s Kevin Shannon, Brad Burton, Mike Moll, Ken White, Michael Longo, Tom Dwyer and Michael Slater represented the seller, Gramercy Property Trust.
GRAND PRAIRIE, TEXAS — AutoWash Services has purchased a 29,480-square-foot office/warehouse space in Dallas’ Great Southwest Industrial District to relocate its headquarters and operations center from downtown Arlington. Casey Tounget and Theron Bryant of Coldwell Banker Commercial Alliance DFW represented the buyer, whose current location at 1305 E. Abrams Road is being impacted by a city project to widen the east-west thoroughfare. Upon completion of the transaction, AutoWash Services will immediately relocate to 2925 114th St. in Grand Prairie, ending nearly one year of searching for a new location in the greater Arlington area. AutoWash Services is a wholesale supplier of car wash equipment and supplies and provides construction/design services. Michael Stanzel of NAI Robert Lynn represented the seller, Ralph McMillan, who owns RAMCO Laundry Machinery Inc. Situated on 1.6 acres, the light-industrial structure features a 3,504-square-foot office space, 24-foot clear heights, four dock doors, one drive-up ramp, a staging bay, 120-foot truck court and 37 parking spaces. The infrastructure includes heavy power and a sprinkler system.
WESTLAKE, TEXAS — Echo Locum Tenens Inc. has leased 34,188 square feet of office space in Solana at 7 Village Circle in Westlake. Josh White and Neal Puckett of CBRE represented Echo Locum Tenens Inc. Chris Taylor, Rodney Helm, Trey Smith and Layne Mayfield with DTZ represented the landlord, Equity Office Properties, an affiliate of The Blackstone Group.
BALTIMORE — DTZ has brokered the $7.4 million sale of a 61,655-square-foot office building located at 300 W. Pratt St. in Baltimore’s central business district (CBD). Baltimore-based Valstone Partners purchased the property from Guggenheim Real Estate LLC. The office building was 55 percent leased at the time of sale. Jonathan Carpenter, Nicole Keelty and Graham Savage of DTZ’s Baltimore capital markets team represented the seller in the transaction.
HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIF. — KCI Warner has acquired a 45,597-square-foot office building in Huntington Beach for $7.5 million. The building is located at 4552 Warner Ave. Rob Rader of Wind Water Investment Co. represented KCI. David Romero of Lee & Associates – Newport Beach represented the seller, Twomey/Ezzell/Balfour.
PHILADELPHIA — CBRE Group Inc. has arranged $49.7 million in acquisition and renovation financing for the Public Ledger Building in Philadelphia. The borrower, Purchase, N.Y.-based Carlyle Development Group, received short-term acquisition financing for a three-year term with two one-year extensions for the purpose of acquiring and improving the property. (The Public Ledger was a daily newspaper in Philadelphia published from 1836 to 1942.) The bridge financing allows the borrower to receive additional proceeds for future lease-up and general building renovations, as well as the flexibility to operate and dispose of the asset as needed. Located at 600 Chestnut St., the 534,004-square-foot property is 65 percent occupied, with The United States of America General Services Administration as the largest tenant. James Gunning, Donna Falzarano and Evan Kleppe of CBRE arranged the financing with a national debt fund.
SUGAR LAND, TEXAS — A report from SmartAsset, a personal finance technology company, ranks Fort Bend County, a county in the Houston metropolitan area, as No. 1 in Texas and No. 5 in the United States as the area with the most incoming investments. The data, aggregated from various sources including the U.S. Census Bureau, showed that the county ranked highly in several further categories including gross domestic product (GDP) growth, new building permits and municipal bonds. The county ranked No. 10 in Texas with a GDP growth of over $3.5 million from 2013 to 2014. Fort Bend also ranked No. 1 in Texas and No. 2 in the United States for the highest number of new building permits granted per 1,000 homes. From 2013 to 2014, the county had a municipal bonds index of 2.13, earning the No. 8 spot in Texas. These bonds have been used to enhance quality of life such as mobility, water and safety, and are responses to the high growth in employment and residential opportunities available in the county.
