DETROIT — Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) is leasing 435,245 square feet of space in Towers 500 and 600 of GM Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit. The company will move approximately 3,000 employees from its current Southfield, Mich., campus to the new space. The move will reduce BCBSM’s real estate footprint by more than 400,000 square feet, and increase the company’s downtown Detroit workforce to approximately 6,000. BCBSM will retain its current Detroit offices located at 500 and 600 E. Lafayette Blvd. and 441 E. Jefferson Ave. — creating a campus that extends from the Detroit riverfront to Lafayette Boulevard. Terms of the lease were not disclosed.
OMAHA, NEB. — Chicago-based Omaha Headquarters Venture DST has acquired Farnam Tech Center, an office property located at 10826 and 10842 Farnam Dr. in Omaha. Ameritas Life Insurance Corp. sold the property for $18 million. The two-building center offers 118,612 square feet of office space and a 383-stall parking garage. Built in 1986, the fully occupied buildings are anchored by TD Ameritrade, which leases 70 percent of the asset. Mark Seger of CB Richard Ellis|Mega represented the buyer; Richard Meginnis and Tom Graf of NAI FMA Realty represented the seller in the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — Healthfirst has signed a lease for 172,577 square feet at 100 Church Street, a 21-story, 1.05 million-square-foot office tower located in downtown Manhattan. The lease carries a 20-year term and covers four floors of the building. Healthfirst will use the space as its headquarters. The Jones Lang LaSalle team of Derek Trulson, Bill Peters and Daoud Awad represented the tenant in lease negotiations. The Newmark Knight Frank team of Brian Waterman, James Kuhn, John Fanuzzi, Hal Stein and Lance Korman represented the landlord, SL Green, which acquired the building out of foreclosure in January.
NEW YORK CITY — The United Nations Population Fund, an agency of the United Nations, has signed a new 15-year lease for 130,740 square feet at 605 Third Ave. in Manhattan. The tenant will occupy all of floors four through six starting in October. Pfizer had been subletting the space but gave it back to the landlord, Fisher Brothers, with 7.5 acres remaining on the lease. The UN took the remaining lease term and extended it by an additional 7.5 years. Andrew Roos led the Colliers International team that represented the tenant. Jack Whalen provided in-house representation for Fisher Brothers.
NEW YORK CITY — Malkin Strategic Capital has secured an $11.5 million mezzanine loan to recapitalize 400 Madison Avenue in Manhattan. The loan, which carries a 5-year term, supplements a new $55 million senior loan provided by MetLife, and the two loans are coterminus. The package replaces the prior securitized financing at a blended annual rate of less than 6.5 percent. Built in 1929, 400 Madison Avenue totals 22 stories and 188,000 square feet. Its occupancy was approximately 90 percent at the time of closing. The property's owner is the Macklowe family.
BOULDER, COLO. — The Denver office of NorthMarq Capital has arranged a $1.85 million loan for the refinancing of 2500 Arapahoe, a two-story office building in Boulder. The 17,639-square-foot, Class B office building is currently leased to five tenants, including JPMorgan Chase. The building is located within the Safeway-anchored Arapahoe Village Shopping Center. Greg Benjamin and Jim DiRienzo secured the financing for the undisclosed borrower.
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — Microsoft has signed a lease for 113,000 square feet of office space at One Cambridge Center in Cambridge. It will occupy six floors of the 12-story building, which is located at the intersection of Main Street and Broadwaty in Kendall Square. The new lease will consist of the expansion of Microsoft's New England Research & Development Center, which opened in 2007. John Osten, Peter Bekarian and Molly Heath of Jones Lang LaSalle represented Microsoft in lease negotiations. David Provost and Philip Dorman provided in-house representation for the landlord, Boston Properties. Cambridge Center is a 24-acre office and research park that contains 2.7 million square feet of space.
NEW YORK CITY — The National Football League (NFL) has signed a lease that will move its headquarters to 345 Park Ave. in Manhattan. It will occupy all of floors five through seven of the 44-story tower as well as 30,000 square feet of below-grade space. The NFL plans to relocate from its current headquarters at 280 Park Ave. during the third quarter of 2011. The lease carries a 20-year term. Petter Hennessy and Daoud Awad of Jones Lang LaSalle partnered with Franklin Speyer and Lou D'Avanzo of Cushman & Wakefield to represent the NFL. Tom Keating of Rudin Management Co. provided in-house representation for the landlord, the Rudin Family.
DALLAS — Marcus & Millichap has completed two Dallas sales. The first deal involved the sale of a 14,922-square-foot office building located at 6105 Windcom Court. The property is fully occupied, mostly by medical office tenants. Patrick Giles and Craig Lewin of Marcus & Millichap's Dallas office represented the seller, a local partnership, and procured the buyer, a local limited liability company. The second deal consisted of the sale of a 14,000-square-foot industrial building located at 1940 W. Northwest Highway. The building is currently vacant, but the tenant still has 1.5 years remaining on a triple-net lease. Scott Ryan of Marcus & Millichap's Dallas office and Steve Sauter of the firm's Palo Alto, Calif., office represented the seller, a California-based investor. The buyer was an undisclosed party out of San Antonio.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH, FLA. — Orlando-based Roger Kennedy Inc. is renovating the Bert Fish Business Center in New Smyrna Beach for Bert Fish Medical Center. The $1 million, 11,284-square-foot project is located at 401 S. Dixie Freeway. The former bank building will serve as office space for hospital administrative employees. Completion is slated for November.