NEW YORK CITY — Boston Properties has entered into agreements with affiliates of Macklowe Properties to acquire a portfolio of New York City assets for a total of approximately $3.95 billion. The portfolio includes the 200,000-square-foot General Motors Building, the 292,000-square-foot 540 Madison Avenue facility, a 591,000-square-foot office tower at 125 West 55th St., and the 664,000-square-foot Two Grand Central Tower. The purchase price includes approximately $1.47 billion in cash, the issuance to one of the selling entities of $10 million of common units of limited partnership interest in Boston Properties Limited Partnership and the assumption of approximately $2.47 billion of fixed rate debt. Boston Properties plans to execute the acquisitions through one or more joint venture partnerships. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are acting as financial advisors to Boston Properties, and Lehman Brothers and Deutsche Bank are investing in the transactions and advising Boston Properties as well. Proskauer Rose LLP and Goodwin Procter LLP are providing legal and tax advice to the REIT. The acquisition of the General Motors Building is slated to close in June.
MARLBOROUGH, MASS. — R.W. Holmes Realty has completed the $7.15 million sale of a 60,477-square-foot office and laboratory building in Marlborough. Located at 33 Locke Dr., the facility is 95 percent leased to Sepracor, a leading research based pharmaceutical company. Garry Holmes of R.W. Holmes represented the seller, Northland Investment, and Bill Sullivan of R.W. Holmes represented the buyer, Janelon Trust. WRT Management will manage the day-to-day operations of the facility.
DEER PARK, TEXAS — Doug Bates and Joel Hill of Henry S. Miller Commercial have arranged the purchase of 149 acres in Deer Park. Clay Development & Construction Inc. acquired the property, which is located at the 4900 block of Highway 225, to develop build-to-suit office/warehouse and office/manufacturing facilities.
LOS ANGELES — McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. has completed the construction of the Los Angeles County Administration Building, a $65 million facility located in South Los Angeles. The project consists of a $55.5 million, four-story office building and a $9.6 million, six-story parking structure. Developed by Los Angeles-based ICO Development in conjunction with the county of Los Angeles, the 220,000-square-foot office property is leased to four Los Angeles County departments — Child Support Services, Department of Children and Family Services, Department of Mental Health and Department of Social Services. McCarthy constructed the facility under a design-build contract with ICO Development. Gensler Architects provided architectural services for the project.
SAN DIEGO — Pite Duncan LLP has purchased Morena Vista Corporate Center, which his located at 4375 Jutland Dr. in San Diego, for $5.8 million. The two-story, multi-tenant office building offers 31,530 square feet of space and covered parking. Originally built in 1991, the property is situated on a 2.86-acre site. The buyer plans to relocate its law firm into the building, which will be 100 percent occupied by four tenants. Chris Hobson and Jack Kruger of Grubb & Ellis|BRE Commercial represented the buyer; Steve Rowland, Michael Roberts and Kruger represented the seller, Marling Group Inc., in the transaction.
SUWANEE, GA. — 3dh Communications has purchased a 21,762-square-foot, single-story office building in Suwanee, from BRJ Real Estate Management, for $2.7 million. The property is located at 800 Satellite Blvd. 3dh is a video technology company. Rob Binion and Bobby Mason of Lavista Associates represented the seller, and the buyer was represented by Bo Keatley at NAI Brannon Goddard.
MARYLAND HEIGHTS, MO. — Indianapolis-based Duke Realty Corp. has entered into a build-to-suit agreement for the construction of a 146,000-square-foot, Class A office building for Amsterdam-based Elsevier in Maryland Heights. Situated on 11 acres within Riverport Business Park at 13610 Riverport Dr., the three-story building will feature 48,000-square-foot floor plates, a cafeteria and more than 825 parking spaces. Completion is scheduled for summer 2009. Scott Panzer and Lisa Campofranco of Newmark Knight Frank represented Elsevier in the transaction. Whitaker Varley negotiated the deal for Duke.
MASSACHUSETTS — An affiliate of Harbor Group International has made a $4 million preferred equity investment with American Realty Capital to facilitate its acquisition of 18 Rockland Trust bank branches. The portfolio totals 121,057 square feet of properties located throughout suburban Massachusetts. The total sale price of the branches was not disclosed.
DALLAS — Saxon Capital and Morgan Stanley Credit Corp. recently leased 71,174 square feet of office space at Intellicenter Dallas. Dennis Barnes with CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) represented Koll Development Co., the landlord. Bob Edge, Matt Heidelbaugh and Mari Jones with Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant.
TEMPE, ARIZ. — El Segundo, Calif.-based Tempe Investment Associates LLC, a Titan Real Estate Investment Company, has completed the disposition of Research Corporate Center in Tempe. Located at 2085 E. Technology Dr., the three-story, 45,238-square-foot office building sold for $7.7 million. The buyer was an undisclosed party out of California. Built in 1989, the center was 100 percent leased at the time of acquisition. The largest tenant is Cytec Engineering Materials Inc., a global specialty chemicals and materials company. Barry Gabel, Mindy Korth and Mark Dancer of CB Richard Ellis’ (CBRE) Phoenix office, along with Kevin Shannon and Ken White of CBRE’s South Bay, Calif., office, represented the seller in the transaction.