HOUSTON — Construction has begun on Wallis State Bank’s new corporate headquarters, a 67,000-square-foot, Class A office building located on Kempwood Drive and Beltway 8 in Houston. Arch-Con Construction is the general contractor for the property, and Powers Brown Architects is providing design services. Wallis’ headquarters will occupy 25,000 square feet and customer banking will occupy 4,500 square feet. The remaining space will be available for lease.
FARMERS BRANCH, TEXAS — Colliers International North Texas has brokered the lease for Texas Industries’ (TXI) new, 44,000-square-foot office lease in the Park West office complex at 1501 LBJ Freeway in Farmers Branch. More than 160 TXI employees will be relocated to the new office in November. Jim Graham and Travis Ewert of Colliers International represented the tenant. Grant Sumner, Joe Pustmueller and Sarah Hinkley of Peloton Commercial Real Estate represented the landlord, Highland Capital Management.
SAN DIEGO — CentreWest Plaza, a 116,825-square-foot, Class A office park in the San Diego submarket of Sorrento Mesa, has sold to Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers, LLC for $29.2 million. The plaza is located at 9710 & 9740 Scranton Road. The twin three-story buildings were developed in 1990. The seller was Cruzan-Monroe AEW Scranton LLC, a joint venture between Cruzan | Monroe and AEW Capital Management. It was represented by Rick Reeder and Brad Tecca of Cassidy Turley San Diego.
CHICAGO — A group of investors has acquired the office and parking components of the John Hancock Center, a 100-story landmark skyscraper located in downtown Chicago. The investor group, which includes The Hearn Co., The Lynd Co. and Mount Kellett Capital Management LP, purchased the property for $140 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. Built in 1970, the 3.1 million-square-foot tower is known for its cross-beam steel bracing design that eliminated the need for interior columns, creating a more efficient interior space. In 2012, the building was vertically subdivided, creating multiple components, each of which has been sold. Hearn and its partners purchased the 900,000-square-foot office sector (floors 13-41) and the 710-car parking facility (floors 4-12). The group also acquired most of the common areas including the outdoor plaza, concourse and the entries and lobbies on both Chestnut and Delaware Streets. Jack McKinney Sr., Jack McKinney Jr. and Matt Lerner of J.F. McKinney & Associates have been selected to lease the office space.
SCHAUMBURG, ILL. — Diebold, a manufacturer and supplier of self-service banking products, has signed an office lease for 6,524 square feet at 900 National Parkway in Schaumburg, a northwest suburb of Chicago. The 100,287-square-foot office building is 80 percent leased with available suites ranging from 2,000 to 14,000 square feet. Jack Reardon of NAI Hiffman’s office services group represented the landlord, Raytek Three Woodfield Lakes, in the transaction. Lexis Livengood of UGL Equis represented Diebold.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF. – A 59-building office/R&D portfolio that spans throughout Silicon Valley has received a $300-million loan. The portfolio contains three business parks and 38 stand-alone office buildings for a total of 2.4 million square feet. The properties are located in Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, San Jose and Milpitas. The portfolio is more than 80 percent leased to tenants like Apple, SanDisk, the McGraw-Hill Company, Intel and Netflix. The properties have been institutionally maintained and most are well positioned to serve as corporate headquarters.The 4 percent, floating-rate loan was arranged by HFF’s Eric Tupler, Bruce Ganong, Chris Gandy, Leon McBroom and Ed Brown who worked on behalf of a joint venture between two global investment managers. The loan was placed with Blackstone Mortgage Trust. Proceeds were used to refinance existing debt.
PHOENIX – The Corporate Campus at Norterra, a 232,600-square-foot office campus in Phoenix, has sold to Griffin Capital Essential Asset REIT for $54.5 million. The two-building, Class A campus is located at 25500 and 25600 Norterra Parkway. It is part of a 573-acre master-planned campus that is adjacent to the USAA Phoenix Campus. The buildings are fully leased to a Fortune 500, global health services company that holds a triple-net lease through July 2023. The seller, an affiliate of USAA Real Estate Company, was represented by Chris Toci, Chad Littell, Tim Whittemore of Cushman & Wakefield’s Phoenix office, as well as by Mike Beall of Cassidy Turley in Phoenix. Toci also procured the buyer.
TOLEDO, OHIO — Oklahoma City-based CSA9-Arrowhead LLC has sold a three-property office portfolio located at 1695, 1705- 1715 Indian Wood Circle in Toledo. A Toronto-based investment group purchased the properties, which total 129,786 square feet. The new owners acquired the property for a long-term hold and intend to continue the property stabilization process begun by the prior owner, which was a bank that acquired the property through foreclosure. A team of investment property consultants including Harlan Reichle and Walter Plath of by Reichle | Klein Group represented the seller in the transaction.
DARIEN, ILL. — Mach Management Inc. has sold a 6,400-square-foot office building located at 8190 South Cass Ave. in Darien, a southwest suburb of Chicago. The purchase price was undisclosed. The one-story building includes ample parking and signage on Cass Avenue. Maninder Kholi M.D. purchased the building. Adam Johnson and Aubrey Van Reken with NAI Hiffman’s office services group represented Mach Management in the transaction.
PARSIPPANY, N.J. — Jones Lang LaSalle has broken ground on the Lexus Eastern Area Office and Training Facility at 300 Webro Road in Parsippany, which will serve as a training center for Lexus dealerships throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. In September 2012, Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. (TMS) retained Jones Lang LaSalle to provide project management services for the construction of the facility, as well as to lead efforts to achieve LEED for Commercial Interiors certification for the facility. The Jones Lang LaSalle team overseeing the project management assignment is led by Jerry Sullivan, senior project manager, and supported by Eric Brown, project manager. The group handling LEED certification is led by Dana Schneider, senior vice president, and includes Jasmine Davis, project manager. Upon completion, which is expected in late August, the facility will total 32,000 square feet, including 20,000 square feet of administrative and presentation space and 10,000 square feet of training space equipped with 16 training bays. The facility will allow TMS to train up to 16 different teams simultaneously.
