CHICAGO — Construction is under way for Teach for America’s new corporate headquarters in the historic 300 W. Adams building in Chicago’s West Loop. The building is 7,000 square feet with a majority of the space featuring an open office area with an exposed concrete deck and mechanical systems. Summit Design + Build is constructing the new headquarters. Fitzgerald Earles Architects and Associates is the project architect. Construction is slated for completion by the end of the first quarter. Teach for America is a nonprofit organization that enlists recent college graduates to teach for at least two years in low-income communities throughout the U.S.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Newport Beach, Calif.-based MIG Real Estate has purchased the 99,404-square-foot Barton Oaks Plaza, a Class A office building located at 901 S. Mopac Expressway in Austin. The office building is currently 96 percent leased to tenants such as Everbank, Texas Gas and Strategic Partnerships. MIG Real Estate was self-represented in the transaction. J. Todd Mills and Casey Knust of CBRE represented the seller.
IRVING, TEXAS — Jones Lang LaSalle has arranged Lehigh Hanson Inc.'s corporate headquarters consolidation at The Point at Las Colinas, a Class A office building located at 300 E. John Carpenter Freeway in the Las Colinas submarket of Irving. Lehigh Hanson, a construction materials firm, leased 211,121 square feet of office space in the building, where it previously leased 156,897 square feet. The 18-story office building is LEED certified and features a full-service deli, on-site fitness facility, 24-hour security and concierge service. Steve Thelen, Jeff Staubach, Russell Cosby, Vice Burt and Torrey Littlejohn of Jones Lang LaSalle represented the tenant in the lease transaction. John Fancher of CBRE represented the landlord, CBRE Global Investors – Strategic Partners.
SAN FRANCISCO — Boston Properties has purchased a development site at 535 Mission Street in San Francisco for $71 million. It plans to erect a $215-million, Class A office tower on the site. Construction is scheduled to commence in mid-February, with completion set for fall 2014. The 27-story tower will strive for a LEED-Gold rating. It will also contain some retail space. Boston Properties has also agreed to purchase the last remaining land parcel inside the city’s Reston Town Center for $27 million. The parcel is zoned for 250,000 square feet of office space. Boston Properties is looking into potential mixed-use opportunities on this site. This sale is expected to close in the first quarter of 2013.
LOS ANGELES — The Refinery has leased 19,200 square feet at a 30,662-square-foot office building in the Los Angeles submarket of Sherman Oaks. The advertising agency will occupy two full floors of the three-story building. The firm plans to consolidate and relocate to the space in April. The Refinery was represented by Stacy Vierheilig-Fraser of Charles Dunn Company’s Sherman Oaks office. The landlord, a private family trust, was represented by Scott Silverstein and Tom Specker of Lee & Associates.
OAKLAND, CALIF. – Cerexa has expanded and extended its lease at 2100 Franklin in Oakland. The biopharmaceutical company has leased an additional 12,000 square feet on the building’s 8th floor. It now occupies the entire 8th and 9th floors of the nine-story tower, which resides within the Lake Merritt district. The building is owned by CIM Group.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Mesa West Capital has provided Brookfield Real Estate Opportunity Fund I with a $95.5 million first mortgage loan on 64 New York Ave. NE, a 355,000-square-foot office building in Washington, D.C. Built in 1924 as a warehouse, the building was converted into a Class A office building in 2000. The building is 45 percent occupied by the District of Columbia, which recently signed a new long-term lease. The loan proceeds were used to refinance the existing debt as well as provide for capital costs associated with recent upgrades to the property. Raphael Fishbach of Mesa West originated the financing.
SPARKS, MD. — An affiliate of Greenfield Partners has acquired Tower Point at the Highlands, a 162,646-square-foot portfolio of two office buildings in Sparks, for $23.7 million. The Class A, campus-style buildings are located at 920 and 930 Ridgebrook Road within a planned business park along the I-83 corridor. The property is 96 percent occupied by tenants such as Fundamental Long Term Care Holdings and MobilexUSA. Christopher Abramson, Brian Kruger and Nicholas Signor of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, Equus Capital Partners, in the transaction.
MINNEAPOLIS — Newport Beach, Calif-based KBS Real Estate Investment Trust has acquired RBC Plaza, a 678,045-square-foot office building in downtown Minneapolis for $118 million. RBC Plaza is a 40-story building that includes 609,368 square feet of office space and 68,677 square feet of retail and amenity space above an underground parking structure. At the time of sale, the building was 83 percent occupied. KBS has hired Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq to manage and lease the asset.
WESTPORT, CONN. — The Silverman Group has acquired Westport Corporate Office Park, a 120,121-square foot Class A office property, for $16 million. The office complex features two ponds with walking trails and is located in Westport, about 60 miles south of Hartford. Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, Minneapolis-based Allianz Life Insurance Co. of North America, in the sale to Short Hills, N.J.-based Silverman Group.