SAN RAMON, CALIF. — A joint venture between Sunset Development Company and MetLife Inc. has purchased the 2-million-square-foot AT&T campus in San Ramon for a reported $250 million. The campus is located at 2600 Camino Ramon in the Bishop Ranch business park. The JV plans to redevelop the property into a modern office space. The transaction included a significant leaseback by AT&T, though about 1 million square feet of space will be available to new tenants once the redevelopment is completed later this year. The property includes four wings that each contain nearly 500,000 square feet of space. Pacific Bell acquired the undeveloped property from Sunset Development Company in 1983. Eastdil Secured advised Sunset Development on the current acquisition and helped arrange debt and equity capitalization. The transaction was financed by Wells Fargo. This is Sunset’s first time purchasing an existing asset, as well as its first equity partnership through MetLife’s 49 percent stake in the property.
Office
SEATTLE — Hudson Pacific Properties has acquired Merrill Place, a 179,000-square-foot office and ground-floor retail center in Seattle, for $57.7 million. The center is located at 411 1st Ave. in Downtown’s Pioneer Square. Merrill Place contains four interconnected brick-and-beam buildings that span an entire city block. The property is currently 93 percent leased. About 52 percent of the leases are scheduled to expire over the next four years. Hudson estimates in-place rents to be about 22 percent below current market rents. The company plans to reposition the property, which may soon be home to a second development. Current zoning would also allow for the potential development of a new office building that would front the Alaskan Way waterfront, which will soon undergo improvements itself. Hudson intends to begin the entitlement process immediately in the hopes of delivery the new office building by 2017. The Eastdil Secured group of Wells Fargo Securities, LLC advised both Hudson and the seller, a joint venture between Angelo Gordon, Nitze-Stagen and Mile Rock Capital, in this transaction.
HOUSTON — HFF has brokered the sale of the Woodbranch Building, a 109,471-square-foot office building in Houston’s Energy Corridor submarket. Located at 12012 Wickchester Lane, the property was fully leased at the time of the sale. Dan Miller and Marty Hogan of HFF represented the seller, an affiliate of Parkway Properties Inc. CapRidge Partners LLC, an investment and management company based in Austin, purchased the asset free and clear of debt.
PASADENA, CALIF. – A 23,776-square-foot office building in Pasadena has sold to Markwood Enterprises, Inc. for $7 million. The office/medical office building is located at 66 Hurlbut Street. It is net leased to Pacific Clinics through June 2023. Markwood was represented by Marie Taylor and Dan Bacani of NAI Capital’s Pasadena office. The seller was Robert Leonard.
GERMANTOWN, MD. — Cassidy Turley has arranged the $128.4 million sale of Milestone Business Park, a 635,272-square-foot office campus in Germantown. The campus features three office buildings, one flex property and sites for future development. Milestone Business Park was 85 percent leased at the time of the sale. Bill Collins, Paul Collins, Jud Ryan, Drew Flood and James Cassidy of Cassidy Turley represented the seller, Multi-Employer Property Trust, and its real estate advisor, Bentall Kennedy, in the transaction. Matan Fund IV, an affiliate of Matan Cos., purchased the 41.8-acre office park.
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.