CHICAGO — An investment group, led by Mark Karasick with 601W Companies and Michael Silberberg with Berkley Properties, is spending more than $100 million to take a controlling interest in the Prudential Plaza Office Towers in Chicago. The group, through a partnership with current owner and operator BentleyForbes Holdings LLC, plans to redevelop the property’s retail and common areas. The 1950s-era towers take up a full city block overlooking North Michigan Avenue. Occupying the center point between Illinois Center, the Loop Business District and Grant Park, the Prudential Plaza complex features approximately 2.2 million square feet of Class A office space in two distinctive high-rise towers, which are 41 and 64 stories. The complex also includes 90,000 square feet of retail.
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SECAUCUS, N.J. — Gaia Real Estate Investments has acquired 200 Plaza Drive, a fully-leased, recently renovated office building in Secaucus. Jeffrey Dunne, Kevin Welsh and Brian Schulz of CRBE’s New York Institutional Group represented the buyer, Gaia, and the seller, Hartz Mountain Industries Inc. The 249,863-square-foot building is fully leased to Ernst & Young. 200 Plaza Drive is a LEED-certified building and was redeveloped in 2008 with new base building systems, lobby, and façade renovation.
WAKEFIELD, MASS .— CTA Construction has completed the new $7 million Municipal Gas and Light Department building at 480 N. Ave. in Wakefield. CTA Construction worked with the Town of Wakefield and HKA Associates to provide demolition of the existing 15,000-square-foot building and construction of a new 30,000-square-foot facility. The new building provides department employees with spacious offices, open administrative areas, a large conference room, training room, large reception area, and kitchen and dining facilities.
QUINCY, MASS. — Jones Lang LaSalle has arranged the sale of 150 Newport Ave. in Quincy, 121,329-square-foot Class A office building, for $14 million. The four-story building is next to Granite’s 100 Newport Ave. building. Vice Presidents Tom Kent and Sean Lynch of Jones Lang LaSalle represented the buyer, Foxrock Granite LLC, while Normandy Real Estate Partners Principal Justin Krebs represented the seller, Normandy Newport Holdings LLC. Normandy Real Estate Partners currently manages a series of discretionary real estate funds totaling approximately $1.5 billion of equity commitments.
HOUSTON — Ziegler Cooper Architects has completed a $7.5 million redevelopment project for a 273,000-square-foot, Class A office, located at 515 Post Oak in Houston. Columbia Property Trust owns the property. When Columbia acquired 515 Post Oak in 2004, the building was leased by a single tenant under a lease that expired in 2011. The redevelopment of the property includes an increase in rentable area by 12,000 square feet, a new major building entrance and vehicular drop-off, garage pedestrian entry, atrium skylights and upgraded finishes and strategies preparing the building to achieve the LEED Existing Building certification.
HOUSTON — Boxer Property concluded lease negotiations with Lone Star Group for a 12,803-square-foot lease in the Wells Fargo Bank office building, located at 12941 N. Freeway in Houston. Rami Alablli of Keller Williams represented Lone Star Group in the transaction. Brian Hines arranged the lease on behalf of Boxer Property.
MESA, ARIZ. – An 18,928-square-foot medical office building in Mesa has sold to Campus Professional Plaza, LLC for $5.9 million. The Class B building is located at 1220 South Higley Road on the campus of Phoenix Children’s Specialty and Urgent Care East Valley Center. It was 92.7 percent leased at the time of sale. Campus was represented by Paul Christ of Newport Beach. The seller, Ensemble, LLC, was represented by Mike Coover and Thomas Weinhold of Cassidy Turley Arizona.
LOS ANGELES – Splendid and Ella Moss have opened their corporate headquarters at Alameda Square in Downtown Los Angeles. The fashion labels signed a 10-year lease to occupy 82,000 square feet inside Building 1, which recently underwent a major renovation. Alameda Square is owned by EVOQ Properties.
SURPRISE, ARIZ. – A 51,768-square-foot office building in Surprise has sold to RRS & Company for $2.1 million. The Class B building is located at 15331 W. Bell Road. The building was vacant and in shell condition at the time of sale. Eric Wichterman, Mike Coover and Thomas Weinhold of Cassidy Turley Arizona represented both the buyer and the seller, LGE & Axis Development, in this transaction.
INDIANAPOLIS — Sourwine Real Estate Services has broken ground on the first speculative office building in the Indianapolis market since 2008, according to Cassidy Turley, leasing agent for the property. The project, which includes 80,700 square feet of Class A space for lease, is scheduled for completion by the end of the second quarter. Dubbed 8335 Keystone Crossing, the three-story structure is the third building in Sourwine’s Keystone Office Centre southeast of 86th Street and Keystone Avenue. The estimated cost of the project is $12 million, according to the Indianapolis Business Journal. CSO Architects designed the building, and Shiel Sexton managed the construction. Sourwine will own, develop and manage the new multi-tenant space.