PORTLAND, ORE. – GBD Architects has renewed its lease and expanded its space at the Brewery Blocks II in Portland. The five-block retail and office center is located at 1477 Northwest Everett Street in the city’s Pearl District. GBD was represented by Chris Johnson, MaryKay West and Carter Beyl of NAI Norris, Beggs & Simpson. The landlord, MEPT Brewery Block 2 LLC, was represented by Eric Haskins of Jones Lang LaSalle.
THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS — Newcor Commercial Real Estate has arranged the sale of a 13,000-square-foot office warehouse building in The Woodlands. The property is situated on two acres located at 33219 Forest West Drive near the intersection of FM 1488 and FM 2978. Rick Stallings of Keller Williams represented the buyer, Pilates Place. Rob Banzhaf and Krissie Vanyo of Newcor represented he seller, Zinterests LLC.
HOUSTON — CPR Money has provided a $4.2 million acquisition loan for a 16-story vacant office building in Houston’s central business district. During the loan term, the borrower will finalize pre-development plans for a conversion to a 154-room Hyatt Place Hotel, with construction expected to begin in nine to 12 months. The property is located near the George Brown Convention Center, Toyota Center, Minute Maid Park and the Houston Pavilions.
NEW YORK CITY — Mission Capital Advisors has arranged $29 million in non-recourse acquisition and renovation financing for a commercial loft property located at 2415 Third Ave. in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx. The eight-story, 175,000-square-foot property will undergo a capital improvements program, including upgrades to elevators, bathrooms, windows, corridors and HVAC systems. Additionally the new ownership plans to rebrand the property as the Bruckner Building. Jonathan More, Ari Hirt, Steven Buchwald and David Behmoaras of Missions Capital secured the loan on behalf of a joint venture between Savanna and Hornig Capital Partners.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Trinity Partners has brokered the $8.5 million sale of Three South Executive Park, a 54,000-square-foot office building located at 6115 Park South Drive in Charlotte’s SouthPark submarket. Chicago-based Origin Capital Partners purchased the property from an unnamed private partnership. The office building was 86 percent leased at the time of sale to tenants such as Signature Healthcare, Carolinas ACG and Wyndham Capital Mortgage. This is Origin Capital’s second acquisition in Charlotte — the company purchased Cambridge Corporate Center in August 2014. Dunn Mileham of Trinity Partners represented the seller in the transaction.
By all measures, 2014 was the strongest year in recent memory for the Boston office market. With an approximate 1.8 million square feet of positive net absorption, nearly 5 million square feet of tenant demand, and continued development around the city, Boston remained one the country’s strongest markets. It’s not news that proximity to parking, public transportation, restaurants, bars and other amenities keeps employees happy. But Boston’s escalating prices mean cost-conscious companies must evaluate their downtown options — which means they have begun trading other items of importance, such as locational cachet, space configuration, look, feel and ultimately building type, for access to amenities. As a result, if 2013 was the year of the Seaport, then 2014 was the year of Downtown Crossing (DTX). With the renovation of 10 Summer Street and Havas’ 120,000-square-foot move to the Millennium redevelopment complete, other companies have followed suit. The third and fourth quarters brought more than 250,000 square feet of deals to 500 Washington Street. Carbonite and Sonos took 52,000 square feet and 170,000 square feet, respectively, in the third quarter, while Safari Books Online took 30,000 square feet in the fourth. Prominent national non-profit Year Up also consolidated its headquarters near DTX …
MIAMI — CBRE’s capital markets debt and structured finance team has arranged a $95 million acquisition loan for a portfolio of five single-tenant office properties totaling 1.6 million square feet in the Southeast. The properties, which are all leased by Wells Fargo, include 3579-3585 Atlanta Ave. in Atlanta; 401 Linden St. in Winston-Salem, N.C.; 809 W. 4½ St. and 801 W. 4 St. in Winston-Salem; 101 Greystone Blvd. in Columbia, S.C.; and 7711 Plantation Road in Roanoke, Va. Charles Foschini, Christian Lee and Christopher Apone of CBRE’s Miami office secured the financing on behalf of the borrower, a private family interest in Brazil. Guggenheim Partners provided the 10-year loan with a 30-year amortization schedule at 65 percent loan-to-value.
SAN DIEGO – A 17,800-square-foot medical office building in La Jolla has sold to Monarch La Jolla LLC for $7 million. The property is located at 7630 Fay Ave. The LLC intends to convert the building into an upscale assisted living facility. The seller, Executive Leasing of Nevada LLC, was represented by Brandon Keith of Voit Real Estate Services’ San Diego office and Stephen Dok of Lee & Associates. The buyer also operates as Monarch Living and Monarch Communities.
San Diego’s core commercial office markets continue to tighten. Less than 1 million square feet was added last year, while more than 1.2 million square feet was absorbed. In 2014, construction commenced on the first speculative high-rise office project since Hines’ La Jolla Commons I in 2008. The Irvine Company plans to deliver a 306,000-square-foot, Class A development called One La Jolla Center in UTC this year. This project follows on the heels of the adjacent 415,000-square-foot, build-to-suit for LPL. This activity points to a strengthening market as developers, equity partners and lenders believe the benefit outweighs the risk of speculative development. Sorrento Mesa also received 410,000 square feet of new office space at 10001 Pacific Heights Blvd. last year that was pre-committed by owner-user Qualcomm. The overall vacancy rate for the core markets in three San Diego regions (Downtown, Central and North County) was reduced to 11.5 percent by year’s end, indicating a tight market for users. Rent spikes can be anticipated when vacancy rates shrink to single digits. This should occur this year in submarkets like the Uptown area (5.5 percent), Poway (5.4 percent), Rancho Bernardo (6.8 percent), North Beach Cities (5.7 percent), Torrey Pines (8.0 percent), Sorrento …
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. – Canyon Village, a mixed-use office project in Scottsdale has sold to Laurus Corp. for $18.7 million. The Class A project is located at 18801, 18835, 18867 and 18899 N. Thompson Peak Parkway. It is situated within the 8,800-acre, master-planned DC Ranch at the base of the McDowell Mountains. Canyon Village is primarily composed of office tenants, but also includes high-end medical office, retail and restaurant users like Ciao Wine Bar & Bistro and the Village Health Club’s hot yoga studio. It was 75.9 percent occupied at the time of sale. The seller, Canyon Village LLC, an entity of DMB, was represented by JLL’s Dennis Desmond and Brian Ackerman. DMB’s Michael Burke and T.A. Shover also participated in this sale, as did Alfred Hackbarth of SRS Real Estate Partners and JLL’s John Bonnell and Brett Abramson.
