FORT MYERS, FLA. — Colliers International Southwest Florida has brokered the sale of the 63,515-square-foot Fairfax II office building, located at 4310 Metro Parkway in Fort Myers. The transaction closed in December 2013 and was the largest single office building sold in Southwest Florida in 2013, according to Colliers International. William Mankin and Jim Tamblyn of Colliers International Southwest Florida represented the property’s special servicer in the transaction. The buyer, Colonial Corporate Center LLC, plans to renovate and lease up the property.
JACKSONVILLE, FLA. — Crocker Partners has unveiled its new identity and capital improvements program to upgrade the former Freedom Commerce Center office park, a 54-acre campus located on the southwest corner of Baymeadows Road and Interstate 95 in Jacksonville’s Butler Corridor. The 752,154-square-foot office park will be known as Prominence. Crocker Partners has also hired Kaycee Gardner and Jesse Shimp of Jones Lang LaSalle to handle the property’s leasing efforts. Crocker plans to spend several million dollars in upgrades to the park, including renovations for the building signage, lobbies, restrooms, elevator cabs, lighting fixtures and parking lots. Current tenants include Chase Bank, ING Financial Services and Incomm.
HOUSTON — Churchill Capital Co. has arranged a $12.8 million permanent mortgage for a 157,800-square-foot office property in Houston. The Class B property, a 12-story tower, is located at 1415 N. Loop West, in the northwest quadrant of the city. The undisclosed Brooklyn, N.Y.-based borrower acquired the asset in early 2012 and, in conjunction with property manager Boxer Property, increased occupancy from 60 percent to 92.3 percent. Brad Donnell and Duke Stone of Churchill secured the 10-year, fixed-rate CMBS loan, which includes one year of interest-only payments and a 30-year amortization, through Jamie Ruggiero of MC Five Mile.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS — SkyWalker Property Partners has acquired the Chase Bank Center, a 108,170-square-foot office building in west Arlington. Located at 1301 S. Bowen Road, the four-story structure was 90 percent leased at the time of the sale to tenants including the Texas Department of Health & Human Services, Keller Williams and JPMorgan Chase. SkyWalker is planning $600,000 in upgrades to the facility, which was built in 1982 and last renovated in 2001. Beaux Riley and Gigi Grubbs of Coldwell Banker Commercial Alliance DFW will lease and manage the property going forward. SkyWalker purchased the asset from Dallas-based Rosemont Realty on behalf of Hangover Opportunity Fund LP.
ATLANTA — CoStar Group, a commercial real estate information provider, has expanded its lease at Phipps Tower, a 486,917-square-foot, Class A office tower in Atlanta’s Buckhead submarket. CoStar will expand its current 26,800-square-foot lease to occupy a total of 44,000 square feet. Kirk Diamond, April Hawkinson and Erin Smith of Cassidy Turley represented CoStar in the 10-year lease. John Bell and Sara Terry of Crescent Resources represented the owner, John Hancock Life Insurance, in the lease deal. CoStar plans to hire 90 additional employees as part of a plan to relocate the firm’s Southeast region research functions from its Washington, D.C., headquarters. The research firm plans to occupy the new space in the second quarter.
ARLINGTON, VA. — Cresa Washington DC has arranged a 39,192-square-foot office lease extension at N. Kent St. in Arlington’s Rosslyn neighborhood. Tom Birnbach, Mindy Saffer and Dennis Tapiero of Cresa Washington DC represented tenant International Relief & Development, a nonprofit organization, in the lease transaction. Vornado/Charles E. Smith owns the 12-story, 230,000-square-foot office building known as Rosslyn Plaza E.
WILTON, CONN. — A joint venture between The Grossman Cos. Inc. and Summit Development LLC has acquired Wilton 372, a 92,500-square-foot, two-story office building in Wilton, a city in southern Connecticut. The building, located at 372 Danbury Road, sold for $19.2 million, or $208 per square foot. CBRE’s New York Institutional Group represented the seller, Wilton 372 Associates LLC, an entity controlled by Luzern Associates LLC, and procured the new joint venture entity buyer, Wilton GSE LLC. Tenants at the building include Havas Worldwide, Kantar Retail and Northwestern Mutual.
EGG HARBOR, N.J. — Besen Special Assets has arranged the $8.5 million sale of an 83,200-square-foot office property in Egg Harbor, located about 13 miles west of Atlantic City. The property includes two Class B, two-story office buildings spanning 41,600 square feet each. Besen Special Assets represented the buyer, a private investor, in the transaction. A regional bank sold the office park, which was fully leased at the time of sale.
HOUSTON — Commercial real estate firm Studley has arranged a 13,500-square-foot office lease in Houston’s Galleria submarket for the national law firm of Wilson Elser. The tenant will occupy space on the 33rd floor of Two Houston Center, located at 909 Fannin Street. Wilson Elser will relocate from Houston’s CBD, a move necessitated by the firm’s merger with Powers & Frost at the beginning of 2013. Chris Taarzon and David Endelman of Studley represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Debbie Wilson of CBRE represented the property owner, Crescent HC Investors.
SUNNYVALE, CALIF. — SK Telecom Americas has relocated and expanded to a 34,697-square-foot space in Sunnyvale. The new office is located at 310 DeGuigne Drive. SK Telecom was previously based at 150 Mathilda Place. The relocation will allow SK Telecom to more than double its previous space. SK Telecom was represented by Fletcher Baker of Cresa San Jose. The landlord, Menlo Equities, was represented by CBRE.