HOUSTON — A joint venture between Houston-based Mission Equities GP and Baltimore, Md.-based Alex Brown Realty has acquired the 18-story St. Joseph Professional Building in downtown Houston. ORIX sold the 138,586-square-foot medical office building. Located at 2000 Crawford, the tower features ground-level retail with five floors of structured parking above. The upper 12 floors house medical office space, and the building’s basement includes additional office space and a tunnel connecting directly to St. Joseph’s Medical Center. The building will undergo a $7.8 million renovation. Alex Brown Realty Chesapeake Fund III, which is a value-added real estate investment fund sponsored by Alex Brown Realty, provided an equity commitment along with Mission’s equity to the venture. Robert LaRue of Live Oak Capital arranged equity capital and debt, and Whitney National Bank provided the acquisition and redevelopment loan for the project. Tim Gregory of Transwestern Houston represented the seller. Transwestern’s healthcare advisory team will continue to handle leasing at the building for the new owners.
HENDERSON, NEV. — American Nevada Company (ANC) has developed a four-story office building, which is located at 2360 Corporate Cr. within Green Valley Corporate Center in Henderson. As the first green building developed by ANC, the project includes water efficiency elements, a heat island effect on the roof, low-emitting interior materials and photovoltaic panels. The 134,400-square-foot facility also offers tenants spaces ranging in size from 2,000 to 33,900 square feet. Currently, 72,654 square feet has already been pre-leased.
BETHESDA, MD. — Bob Donhauser, Bill Asbill and Cary Abod of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler’s (HFF) Washington, D.C. office have secured an $80 million loan for Rockwall I and II, two Class A office buildings totaling 345,885 square feet in Bethesda, on behalf of Chevy Chase, Md.-based The JBG Companies. The fixed-rate, 5-year loan was obtained through HFF’s relationship with ING Real Estate. The properties are currently 89 percent leased, with The Food and Drug Administration occupying 40 percent of the space. The buildings are located at 11400 Rockville Pike and 5515 Security Lane.
INVER GROVE HEIGHTS, MINN. — Minneapolis-based United Properties has received preliminary approval from the city of Inver Grove Heights for the development of Inverwood Business Park, a five-building office park located at the intersection of Highway 55 and Barnes Avenue. Once complete, the park will contain 470,627 square feet of office space. Groundbreaking is set to occur late this year or in early 2009. NorthMarq Real Estate Services will handle leasing at the park.
HOUSTON — Waste Management Inc. has signed a 10-year lease extension through 2020 for its space at downtown Houston’s One City Centre office tower. The company occupies 181,000 square feet in the 31-story, 608,622-square-foot building, which is located at 1021 Main St. in the central business district. David Baker and Eric Anderson of Transwestern represented the landlord, Broadway Partners.
DENVER — Westfield Development Co. has begun construction of 1800 Larimer, a 22-story office tower located in Denver’s central business district. The pre-certified Platinum LEED CS building will offer 500,000 square feet of office space. The project is nearly 75 percent pre-leased to a variety of tenants, including Xcel Energy, Westfield Development Co., Westfield Capital Partners, Frederick Ross Company, Apartment Realty Advisors and Citywide Banks. Wachovia is providing construction financing for the project, which is slated for completion in 2010.
CHULA VISTA, CALIF. — San Diego-based Pacific Realty Advisors has acquired a 2.98-acre office property, which is located at 340-342 Fourth Ave. in Chula Vista, for $8.8 million. The property comprises 35,000 square feet of office space. Tracy Clark and Jeff Wells of Voit Commercial Brokerage represented the seller, Doctor’s Park LLC, in the transaction; Pacific Realty Advisors negotiated the transaction in-house.
CHICAGO — The Chicago and Boston offices of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler (HFF) have arranged a $72.1 million loan for the refinancing of 550 West Washington, a 16-stry, Class A office tower located in Chicago’s West Loop. The office building contains 371,415 square feet of space, and is 97.5 percent leased to investment-grade tenants. Tim Joyce, Mike Kavanau and Fred Wittmann of HFF secured the financing on behalf of Boston-based Beacon Capital Partners. The loan, which was provided by Landesbank Hessen-Thuringen Girozentrale, carries a 5.84 percent fixed interest rate over a 5-year term.
BOOTHWYN, PA. — CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) has completed the sale of two office condominium units at Garnett Plaza, a new flex business park in Boothwyn. The units total 9,120 square feet and are located in the first building constructed within the park. Steve Italiano of CBRE represented the seller, Wood Duck Real Estate, and the buyer, 3060 LP, in the disposition. The sale price was undisclosed.
NEW YORK CITY — Cushman & Wakefield has negotiated an approximately 163,000-square-foot lease for Newsweek at 395 Hudson Street in Manhattan, New York City. The 600,000-square-foot Class A office building is owned by the New York City District of Carpenters Pension Fund. Josh Kuriloff, Gus Field and Melissa Bazar of Cushman & Wakefield represented Newsweek, and Jonathan Serko, Barry Zeller and David Malawer, also of Cushman & Wakefield, represented the building owner in the negotiations. American Realty Advisors’ Christina Hill is the asset manager advising the pension fund. Peter Bassano of Blealley, Platt & Schmidt LLP acted on behalf of the pension fund.