NORCROSS, GA. — United Arab Shipping Co. has purchased a 50,000-square-foot, two-story office building at 5515 Spalding Drive in Norcross for an undisclosed price. Bob Misdom of Cresa Atlanta represented the buyer in the transaction. The buyer plans to consolidate existing offices in Cranford, N.J., Norfolk, Va., and Savannah, Ga., to its new metro Atlanta location. Peter McGuone and Bryan Heller of CBRE’s Atlanta office represented the seller, Land Investment Partners, in the transaction.
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GREENWOOD, IND. — Lee & Associates has arranged the lease of a 1,319-square-foot office space in Greenwood for Lewark Newton & Powers, an insurance provider. The office space is in the Library Park Professional Centre, which is located at 1700 W. Smith Valley Road. Cathy Richards and Teresa Clementsof Lee & Associates represented Lewark Newton & Powers and the landlord, Deegan Properties 107E LLC.
HOPEWELL, N.J. — American Real Estate Partners and financial partner Siguler Guff & Company have purchased a 341,000-square-foot Class A office campus in Hopewell, which is south of Princeton, N.J. The companies paid $28.6 million for the three-building complex located at 1700, 1750 and 1800 Merrill Lynch Dr. The buildings, which are part of the 1.8 million-square-foot, 12-building Bank of America Hopewell Campus and currently house Bank of America’s Private Wealth Management and Investment Banking divisions, will become available for re-tenanting in late 2014.
HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. — HFF has arranged a $20 million in refinancing for a three-property suburban office portfolio totaling 175,579 square feet in Hauppauge for borrower TRITEC Real Estate Company. The permanent fixed-rate loan was provided by New York Community Bank (NYCB). The properties are located at 49 Wireless Boulevard (85,331 square feet at 82.6 percent occupancy, 125 Kennedy Drive (60,209 square feet at 100 percent occupancy), and 50 Engineers Road (30,039 square feet at 100 percent occupancy). The portfolio is a combined 91.3 percent leased to a variety of tenants including Verizon, Esurance, MedSave USA and an affiliate of the lender. The HFF team representing the borrower was led by Michael Gigliotti.
NEW YORK CITY — Colliers International has arranged a 176,121-square foot lease at One New York Plaza for the Macmillan Science and Education group of companies, part of the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. This will consolidate approximately 950 of the company’s employees into the Lower Manhattan office building by mid-2015; the company will lease floors 46 through 48 and a portion of the 45th floor. Leon Manoff of Colliers International represented the tenant; Adam Foster and Peter Turchin of CBRE represented Brookfield, the landlord.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Westmount Realty Capital LLC has acquired a 13-building, 546,984-square-foot portfolio in Austin. Originally developed in the mid-1980s for light industrial use, the structures are now primarily finished out as office space. Institutionally managed and maintained, the assets were 88 percent occupied at the time of the sale. The portfolio is located within the Braker Center business park, which is situated between I-35 and the MoPac Expressway in the North Central submarket. NorthMarq Capital secured the acquisition financing on behalf of the buyer. Westmount, which is based in Dallas, is planning to invest approximately $1.5 million in an architectural facelift and will rebrand the complex as The Offices at Braker Center. Jack Fraker, Josh McArtor, Jonathan Bryan and Heather McClain Venegoni of CBRE represented the sellers, Dallas-based Granite Properties and Austin-based Endeavor Real Estate Group.
HOUSTON — HFF has brokered the sale of 2900 Weslayan, a 136,698-square-foot office building in Houston. The asset also features a motor bank (drive-thru tellers) with 20 lanes. Bounded by Alabama, Weslayan and Essex streets in the Greenway Plaza/Galleria submarket, the property is in proximity to residential development 2929 Weslayan; retail centers Highland Village and Central Market; and major thoroughfares U.S. Highway 59, the Westpark Tollway and Loop 610. The asset was 73 percent leased to tenants including JPMorgan Chase at the time of the sale. H. Dan Miller and Trent Agnew of HFF marketed the property on behalf of the unnamed seller. PM Realty Group purchased the asset free and clear of debt and plans to invest in capital improvements to the property.
WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. – The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) has signed a lease for three floors at Formosa South, a creative office building in West Hollywood. The 98,000-square-foot building is situated within The Lot studios where OWN will have access to sound stages and other production facilities. The Formosa South building is the first in a series of new office buildings being developed at The Lot, an 11-acre studio campus on Santa Monica Boulevard. The Lot was originally founded in 1919 by Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. Notable productions such as Guys and Dolls, Westside Story, Some Like it Hot, The Love Boat, Dynasty, The Social Network and True Blood have all been filmed at The Lot. The landlord is CIM Group.
TEMPE, ARIZ. — Dornin Investment Group acquires Agave Center, a five-building office/flex development in Tempe, for $29.5 million. The development includes the 55,221-square-foot Agave Business Center at 8945 S. Harl Ave.; the 86,115-square-foot Agave Corporate Center at 1711 W. Greentree Drive; and the three-building, 78,405-square-foot Agave Executive Center at 17211, 1725 and 1729 W. Greentree Drive. The 219,741-square-foot Agave Center was developed in 2000. The center is collectively more than 90 percent leased. Chris Toci, Chad Littell and Ryan Bartos of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, an entity owned by certain funds managed by Westport Capital Partners LLC, in this transaction.
DULUTH, GA. — RexxHall Realty has acquired a six-building, 250,000-square-foot office portfolio in Duluth, a suburb of Atlanta. The portfolio is located in the Chattahoochee Corners office park. This the first time since 1998 that a single entity has owned Chattahoochee Corners — RexxHall previously acquired 250,000 square feet of office space from The Alter Group at Chattahoochee Corners in August 2013. RexxHall plans to make capital improvements to the park, including a new full-service fitness center, improved running trails, food truck program and completion of its fiber optic network. Including this transaction, RexxHall owns approximately 700,000 square feet of office space in metro Atlanta. Tom Shafer of CBRE represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction. Bryan Heller, Heather Lamb and Peter McGuone of CBRE have been given the leasing assignment for the park. Alter Asset Management will handle property management services for the park.