DENVER — Essex Financial Group has secured $32 million in financing for the purchase of 2nd & Josephine, a 105,253-square-foot mixed-use property in Denver. Comprising four buildings, the development was fully leased at the time of sale. Bank of America anchors the property, which features retail and office space, as well as 260 parking spaces. Paul Donahue, Cooper Williams, Nate Schneider and Andrea Mehlem of Essex arranged the seven-year, fixed-rate loan through an undisclosed life insurance company on behalf of the buyer.
Birmingham’s office market is facing many of the same challenges our peer markets are encountering. Lingering economic uncertainties have created a very cautious environment. Most tenants and business owners I speak with are either cautiously pessimistic or cautiously optimistic about the economy. Regardless of which side is right, economic projections for 2023 have caused a general slowdown in deal flow as decision makers have become more guarded with business decisions and commitment levels. Is there cause for concern in Birmingham? Historically, Birmingham’s office market has remained stable during challenging times, dodging the extreme highs and lows as markets ebb and flow nationwide. Birmingham’s office market consists of approximately 19 million square feet of multi-tenant inventory across five submarkets, four of which have Class A inventory. Fundamentals, subleases As of fourth-quarter 2022, the occupancy rate for Birmingham’s office market sits at 83.8 percent. For the same period over the last five years, the occupancy rate has only slightly fluctuated year-over-year, ranging from 86.1 percent in fourth-quarter 2018 to 83.8 percent in fourth-quarter 2020. The current rate is at 83.8 percent, illustrating consistency throughout a very problematic time for the office sector. Birmingham’s office sublease inventory is rising, but again, not to …
PALM BEACH, FLA. — Cushman & Wakefield has arranged an $8.6 million acquisition loan for the purchase of an office building located at 100 Ave. of Champions in Palm Beach. Totaling two stories and 42,090 square feet, the property served as PGA of America’s headquarters since its construction more than 50 years ago prior to the organization’s relocation to Frisco, Texas. Jason Hochman and Ron Granite of Cushman & Wakefield secured the financing through a local bank on behalf of the borrower, Blue Water Advisors LP, which plans to convert the property to a multi-tenant building.
HOUSTON — Suderman & Young Towing Co., which provides towing and other ship assistances to a variety of vessels, has signed a 6,000-square-foot office lease at East River, a 150-acre mixed-use development in Houston’s Historic Fifth Ward. Griff Bandy of Partners Real Estate represented the tenant, which will relocate its headquarters to East River, in the lease negotiations. Brandi McDonald Sikes and Sobi Qazi with SVN | J. Beard Real Estate — Greater Houston represented the landlord, locally based developer Midway.
HOFFMAN ESTATES, ILL. — Red Oak Capital Holdings has provided an $8.3 million bridge loan for Prairie Stone Commons in the Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates. The Class B office property consists of two buildings totaling 101,981 square feet. The funds will be used to refurbish, re-tenant and increase occupancy and rental rates at the property. Built in 1996 and 2000, the buildings are situated within Prairie Stone Business Park. The borrower, YP Trillium LLC, is managed by Zaya Younan, president and CEO of investment and brokerage firm Younan Properties Inc. The loan features a loan-to-value ratio of 92.2 percent based on the property’s current valuation as well as a 24-month term with two six-month renewal options. The borrower originally acquired the property in March 2005 for $16.3 million.
BOSTON — Global architecture and design firm Sasaki has opened its new 64,000-square-foot office headquarters at 110 Chauncy St. in downtown Boston. The space spans seven of the building’s eight floors. Sasaki, which signed a 16-year lease in 2021 to relocate from the western suburb of Watertown, also redesigned the building’s lobby, retail space and entrance. MC Real Estate Partners owns 110 Chauncy Street, which was originally constructed in the 1890s.
KANSAS CITY, MO. — Architecture and design firm Hoefer Welker is relocating its corporate headquarters to 46 Penn Centre within the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City. The firm expects to take occupancy of its self-designed, 26,229-square-foot office on the 14th floor in June. Hoefer Welker also served as architect for 46 Penn Centre, which was completed in 2020. Hoefer Welker’s new office will include a living room, kitchen, two cafes, a terrace, design lab and multiple collaborative areas and conferencing spaces. The design firm spent the past 13 years at its current Leawood, Kan., headquarters. Prior to that, Hoefer Welker maintained an office at Country Club Plaza. Block Real Estate Services owns 46 Penn Centre, which rises 15 stories.
By Mark Kolar, Cresa There’s been a lot of news recently about the financial pressures facing suburban Chicago commercial office landlords who have financed their office buildings via commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) loans. While the financial challenges these buildings face continue to grab the headlines, there is a much less visible yet greater amount of privately funded commercial office landlords that could be facing dire financial changes over the next couple of years. These privately funded loans that originated through major banks and insurance companies are seeing just as much, if not more, stress than their CMBS counterparts. Collectively we’re seeing significant systemic issues for all Chicago commercial office landlords with no clear path to a solution in sight. In suburban Chicago, about 13 percent of commercial office loans are financed by CMBS loans with the majority of loan debt financed through local financial institutions, private investment funds and insurance companies. While details on these loans is not as readily available as their CMBS counterparts, many office landlords are confronting similar challenges. Both CMBS and privately funded commercial landlords and their lenders are facing a host of capital challenges that revolve around systemic changes in leasing activity, increasing costs of …
KENNESAW AND ATLANTA, GA. — Atlanta Property Group (APG) has sold two office buildings in metro Atlanta for a combined $18.5 million. The transactions include the $8.1 million sale of 1075 Big Shanty, a 72,000-square-foot, single-story office building located at 1075 Big Shanty Road in Kennesaw, and the $10.4 million sale of Paces Cumberland, a 70,000-square-foot, multi-tenant office building located in Atlanta’s Vinings district. The buyers were not disclosed. APG currently owns or operates nearly 4.5 million square feet of office and industrial properties throughout the Southeast.
HENDERSON, NEV. — MIG Real Estate has sold Pecos Plaza, a 124,000-square-foot medical and office campus in Henderson, to Woodside Health for $26.7 million. The Class B medical and office campus is located at 9005-9089 South Pecos Road. It includes a two-story building complemented by seven single-story medical/professional office buildings situated on a 7.6-acre parcel. The assets are 93 percent occupied with a tenant roster that includes Belle Medical, Las Vegas Urology, Serenity Dental, and Innovative Pain Care Center, among others. Cushman & Wakefield and JLL represented MIG in the transaction.