HARLINGEN, TEXAS — San Antonio-based Pocket Communications has signed a lease for an 18,000-square-foot building located at 6906 West Expressway 83 in Harlingen. The new location will serve as the company’s flagship customer service center. Pocket currently operates a retail store and a small customer service center at 2617 South 77 Sunshine Strip in San Antonio. The 80 people employed at the location will relocate to the new center; Pocket plans to employ 260 people at the new location by 2012. Terms of the lease were not disclosed.
LEXINGTON, MASS. — GE Real Estate has provided a $70 million loan for the refinancing of the Lexington Tech Park portfolio in Lexington. The portfolio comprises three Class A office and research properties — located at 125 Spring St., 300 Patriot Way and 500 Patriot Way — that total 278,905 square feet. The properties are situated on a 96.5-acre campus and are 89.4 percent leased to two major life sciences tenants. Two of the properties are fully occupied until 2023. The largest tenant is Shire, which is using the space as the global headquarters of its Human Genetic Therapies division. GE led a syndicate that included Worcester, Mass.-based Commerce Bank and Danvers, Mass.-based Danversbank to provide the funding, which also includes a $7.8 million line of credit for additional improvements and lease-up. Other terms of the loan include a 3-year term and a flexible fixed interest rate. David Douvadjian and Tom Welch of Colliers Meredith & Grew brokered the transaction. The borrower is Boston-based Patriot Partners.
PORTLAND, ORE. — Commercial Defeasance LLC has recently facilitated a $63 million defeasance transaction for ScanlanKemperBard Companies, a Portland-based private equity firm. The defeasance enabled ScanlanKemperBard to sell three of its Portland properties: The Mohawk Building, Jackson Tower and American Bank Building. LaeRoc Partners Inc. acquired the properties for an undisclosed price.
MILTON AND NORCROSS, GA. — An entity of EOLA Capital has sold the 170,400-square-foot Deerfield Professional Centre and the 163,000-square-foot Peachtree Corners Corporate Centre in a package deal to Crown West Realty for $38.6 million. Deerfield, which consists of three single-story buildings, sits on 17.3 acres at 13000 Deerfield Pkwy. in Milton. The property is 95 percent leased by tenants such as BB&T Payroll Services, the city of Milton and Exide Technologies. Peachtree Corners, located at 4775 and 4855 Peachtree Industrial Blvd. in Norcross, is 62 percent leased and houses Elekta Instruments and Toshiba America Business Solutions.
PEWAUKEE, WIS. — NAI MLG Commercial has brokered the sale of a 37,000-square-foot multi-tenant building, which is located at W231 N2844 Roundy’s Circle East in Pewaukee. Velcheck & Finger Roof Consulting & Services has acquired the building from JMC Properties LLC for $2.6 million. The new owners plan to renovate 15,000 square feet of vacated space for their new headquarters. The remaining 22,000 square feet is leased to Capital Wire & Cable. Stephen Provancher of NAI MLG Commercial represented the seller; Gordon Steimle of Ogden & Co. represented the buyer in the transaction.
CHICAGO — Grubb & Ellis Co. has arranged the acquisition of 24,000 square feet of office space located at 180 W. Adams St. in Chicago. Aiman Humaideh and his partner, Peter Burdi, have acquired the space for an undisclosed amount. The seller, Ted McDonald’s Corp., has retained ownership of the first floor, where it operates a McDonald’s restaurant. Ted Prillaman in the Office Group of Grubb & Ellis represented the buyer in the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — New York City-based SL Green Realty Corp. is undertaking a $160 million renovation of 1515 Broadway, a 54-story office tower located on Times Square in Manhattan, New York City. The most notable improvements to the approximately 2 million-square-foot tower include a 42-foot vertical extension of the building’s curtain wall, as well as the re-cladding of all of the exterior limestone surfaces with brushed aluminum panels. Other renovations include a redesign of the lobby with 5,000 square feet of custom art glass wrapping the walls; new elevator cabs; new common corridors and bathrooms; increased electrical capacity; HVAC upgrades; plumbing and fire protection improvements; and the addition of a new freight elevator. The project is applying for LEED-Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. SL Green is aiming to upgrade the building to “best in class” status with the project. Completion is expected in late 2009.
SAN ANTONIO — Newport Beach, Calif.-based Buchanan Street Partners has sold Nowlin Tower, a 13-story, Class A office building located in San Antonio, for $38.5 million. Situated on 3.3 acres, the property comprises the 236,400-square-foot office building and an adjoining five-level parking garage. It also features a full-service bank with a 24-hour ATM, as well as postal and courier services. The property had recently undergone significant capital improvements, including a roof replacement, parking garage upgrades, HVAC upgrades, a remodeling of the building’s restrooms and the addition of a canopy to the main entrance. The property was acquired by SWBC, which had leased space at the tower as its headquarters for the past 15 years.
SAN DIEGO — Wereldhave USA has purchased DiamondView Tower for $161 million. Located in downtown San Diego, the 15-story, 305,255-square-foot office tower features an elaborate penthouse suite, 12 floors of Class A office space and two levels of high-end amenities. Kraig Kristofferson and Stacy Meronoff of CB Richard Ellis represented the buyer; Eastdil Secured represented the seller, a partnership between Cisterra Partners and The Prudential, in the transaction.
ORANGE COUNTY, CALIF. — Orange County-based Innovative Property Partners LLC et al. has acquired a 15-property portfolio in a $24 million sale-leaseback transaction. The properties, which are located in Arizona, California and Nevada, are entirely occupied by Del Taco. Del Taco Corp. executed 20-year absolute NNN leases with the buyer and will continue to operate the properties. Richard Walter and Dennis Vaccaro of Irvine, Calif.-based Faris Lee Investments represented the buyer; Del Taco Corp. was represented in-house.