PHOENIX — Lowe Enterprises Investors (LEI) has purchased three office buildings at the Phoenix Gateway Center office complex for an undisclosed sum. The properties are located in the North Airport/44th Street corridor area of Phoenix. The transaction included the 107,755-square-foot Gateway I; the 107,963-square-foot Gateway II; and the 221,885-square-foot Gateway III buildings. LEI plans to improve the properties’ common areas and public spaces. The overall occupancy at the buildings is 94 percent. Peter Morgan led LEI’s acquisition team. CBRE’s Barry Gable and Kevin Shannon represented the seller, a partnership of Pearlmark/Transwestern and Oaktree Capital.
MANHATTAN BEACH, CALIF. — West Ridge Rentals LLC has purchased a 35,911-square-foot medical office complex in Manhattan Beach for $15.6 million. The three-building complex is located at 500 S. Sepulveda Blvd. The buildings include small retail elements that house related businesses. The complex was built in 1976. Eric Lastition and Geoff Ludwig of Colliers International represented the seller, Manhattan Beach Mall LP.
RIVERWOODS, ILL. — Milton Podolsky, founder of Podolsky|Circle CORFAC International, passed away this past weekend at the age of 94. Born in 1921, Podolsky attended DePaul University and studied at John Marshall Law School before serving in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1946. He first considered a career in commercial real estate in 1957 when a frequent customer of his family’s drug store encouraged him to do so. Over the next five years, he worked at two commercial real estate firms in the Chicago market doing primarily industrial brokerage. Then he began developing and managing buildings in what later became known as the O’Hare market. In 1962, Podolsky co-founded his first entrepreneurial firm. In 1971, he established Podolsky and Associates Ltd., which evolved into the company now known as Podolsky|Circle CORFAC International based in Riverwoods. His accomplishments include the development of seven industrial parks and myriad individual industrial and office buildings, as well as Westbrook Corporate Center, a 1.1 million-square-foot office complex in Westchester, Ill. He is survived by his wife, Lois; his brother, Jerry; his three children, Steven, Bonnie and Randy; and seven grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
NEW YORK CITY — Savanna, a New York-based real estate private equity and asset management firm, has completed the disposition of 100 Wall Street to Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers, acting on behalf of a Cornerstone-managed fund. The 29-story, 520,000-square-foot office building is 97 percent occupied by tenants, including Lester Schwab Katz and Dwyer, Loeb Holding Corp., Crenshaw Associates and Pcubed. Savanna acquired the property in 2011 and completed $25 million in capital improvements during its ownership period, including a successful prebuild program and future resiliency improvements following Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Douglas Harmon, Adam Spies, Joshua King and Adam Doneger of Eastdil Secured represented Savanna, while Carl Schwartz, Laurie Grasso, Susan Saslow, Larissa Kravanja, Ian Group and Barbara Lau of Hunton & Williams served as legal counsel in the transaction. The sales price was not released.
DALLAS — IH Capital LLC has opened its North Texas office at the Republic Center in downtown Dallas. The IH Capital Dallas office is led by Chance Johnson, who heads the company’s Southwest region CMBS lending platform. “I’m excited to open the Dallas office for IH Capital and expand its market presence throughout the Southwest region,” says Johnson. “I’m confident IH Capital’s local presence will result in a healthy deal flow and winning our fair share of business. Furthermore, boots on the ground locally will provide responsiveness with firsthand local market knowledge to serve our client needs throughout the South.”
HAMDEN, CONN. — Fantini & Gorga has arranged $12.9 million in first mortgage permanent financing for two medical office buildings in Hamden, a city in southeast Connecticut. Totaling 65,216 square feet, the properties are fully leased and occupied by regional and local medical practices. Casimir Groblewski of Fantini & Gorga arranged the refinancing with a major securitization lender for the borrower, a New England-based real estate developer and investor.
After a lackluster first quarter, the Southern New Hampshire office sector is showing strong potential as we head into the heart of 2015 and as the recovery that is firmly entrenched in major hubs like Boston begins to make its way to secondary markets. Notably, the trend toward reurbanization and the growing popularity of live/stay/play opportunities are driving activity in Portsmouth and promise to bolster activity in lagging submarkets like Manchester and Nashua. As companies increasingly gravitate to downtown locations, Portsmouth is seeing steady demand. In fact, its 3 million-square-foot office inventory boasts the lowest vacancy rate (11 percent) and highest average asking rents ($20.31 per square foot) of the six New Hampshire office submarkets tracked by Cushman & Wakefield. This vibrant seacoast city is the first New Hampshire market supporting speculative construction. Farley White built the 67,000-square-foot North Wing addition to 100 Arboretum Drive, bringing the building’s total to approximately 127,000 square feet. Our team serves as leasing agent for the property, where multiple deals are in the pipeline. At 249 Corporate Drive, the Katz Co. is building a 37,000-square-foot building and recently leased a significant portion of the space to Loftware Inc. Renovation, redevelopment and repurposing of older …
IRVING, TEXAS — Progressive Laboratories Inc. has sold a 35,050-square-foot office/warehouse in the Las Colinas submarket to Chris Weir Commercial Enterprises LLC for an undisclosed price. Las Colinas Distribution Center, located on 1.9 acres at 1909 Hereford Drive in Irving, is the second building in the past year Progressive Laboratories has sold to make way for its expansion, consolidation and relocation. Brock Wilson and Joe Santaularia of Dallas-based Bradford Commercial Real Estate Services represented the seller. The building was developed in 1977 and features 8,601 square feet of office space, 26,449 square feet of distribution space, six loading docks, 20-foot clear heights and a sprinkler system. Progressive Laboratories used 1031 exchange funds to acquire a 200,000-square-foot building less than one mile away. Dallas-based Chris Weir Commercial Enterprises, also executing a 1031 exchange, is planning to occupy the Hereford Drive building in October. Rick Medinis of NAI Robert Lynn represented the buyer.
ATLANTA — Delta Community Credit Union, the largest credit union in Georgia, has leased 79,000 square feet at Highwoods Properties’ Riverwood 200 in Atlanta’s Cumberland/Galleria submarket. The new lease follows Delta Community’s sale of its 78,151-square-foot office building at 1025 Virginia Ave. near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The credit union will retain its retail space at the Virginia Avenue location. Kirk Diamond, April Parrish and Erin Smith of DTZ represented the credit union in the lease transaction. Jim Bacchetta and Mike Wells of Highwoods and Randy Holmes of Seven Oaks Co. represented Highwoods. Delta Community will relocate to Riverwood 200 upon completion of the 12-story, 299,000-square-foot office building, which is expected in mid-2017. With Delta Community’s lease signing, Riverwood 200 is now 66 percent pre-leased. The new Cumberland/Galleria office building is adjacent to the credit union’s existing office space at 3250 Riverwood Parkway. The two office buildings will be connected via a structured parking facility.
MIAMI — Uber Technologies Inc. and the South Florida Business Journal have leased office space at Brickell City Tower, a 33-story office building located at 80 S.W. 8th St. in downtown Miami. The 287,000-square-foot tower is one of the premier office assets in Miami’s Brickell Financial District. Transportation tech firm Uber has leased 9,333 square feet for its Miami headquarters, and South Florida Business Journal will occupy 6,373 square feet office at the tower. Both transactions are the first office leases in Miami for both companies. Additionally, existing tenants Lamex Agrifoods, Inlingua Language School and Verizon have finalized their lease renewals at Brickell City Tower. Danet Linares and Alexander Cahlin of Blanca Commercial Real Estate served as exclusive leasing agents for Brickell City Tower’s ownership for all five lease deals. Shay Pope of CBRE represented Uber; Tere Blanca of Blanca Commercial Real Estate and Chase Monroe of JLL represented the South Florida Business Journal; and Andres del Corral of Blanca Commercial Real Estate represented Inlingua Language School. The Lamex Agrifoods and Verizon leases did not involve co-brokers.