CHICAGO — CEDARst Cos. and WeWork have unveiled plans to open the first WeWork location on Chicago’s North Side as part of the adaptive reuse project of the Bridgeview Bank building. The WeWork location will offer nearly 25,000 square feet of flexible workspace and is slated to open this fall. CEDARst is redeveloping the historic property into a $58 million mixed-use project. Plans call for 176 apartment units, 13,500 square feet of retail space and 19,000 square feet of office space in addition to the WeWork space. CEDARst’s property management company, FLATS, will manage the asset. The Bridgeview Bank building dates back to 1925.
BOSTON — New York City-based investment and management firm Fortis Property Group has received a $1 billion loan for the refinancing of One Lincoln, a 1.1 million-square-foot office tower in Boston’s Financial District. Proceeds will be used to repay existing debt and provide more than $200 million in capital upgrades geared toward wellness and lifestyle amenities, as well as to fund future leasing costs. In addition, Fortis will renovate the common areas and reconfigure the floor plates to support a wider range of indoor and outdoor amenities. Concurrent with the financing, Fortis also signed HarbourVest Partners to a 250,000-square-foot lease. The company plans to occupy 11 floors of the building as the new anchor tenant. The Boston-based private equity firm will replace fellow financial services firm State Street Corp. in this role, becoming the building’s namesake tenant in the process. HarbourVest plans to take occupancy in 2025. “We are reimagining the post-COVID office environment, and One Lincoln signifies the beginning of a new era for workplaces in Boston,” says Jonathan Landau, CEO of Fortis Property Group. “The Fortis and HarbourVest teams both recognized the tremendous demand for luxury office space that is amenitized with unparalleled wellness and lifestyle-driven experiences in …
By Marc DeLuca, CEO and eastern regional president, KBS Refreshing office properties with updated amenities is a time-tested strategy for infusing buildings with new life and appealing to future and existing tenants. While an asset’s location is a fixed element and a region’s fundamentals tend to change slowly, amenities are more flexible and can usually be implemented quickly if necessary for immediate impact. A recent report by flexible workspace provider TCC Canada found that many companies and their team members increasingly recognize the benefits of gathering teams in a central workplace. But after more than two years of varying degrees of remote work, it makes sense for property owners to invest in amenities that actually meet the needs and wants of office users — which have recently shifted. So which amenities are the best ones to include in today’s office buildings? As an owner and operator of premier office assets for the last 30 years, KBS has witnessed amenity preferences come and go. We know how to spot a passing fad versus a trend with legs. Based on our expertise in this area, here are a few amenities we see attracting office tenants in the current and emerging environment. Scalable …
CHESAPEAKE, VA. — Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer’s Capital Markets Group has negotiated the sale of Crossways I & II, a 213,955-square-foot office property located at 1434 Crossways Blvd. in Chesapeake, a city in Virginia’s Hampton Roads region. Seminole Trail Properties acquired the asset for $24 million and is bringing on affiliate Seminole Trail Management to operate the property. Eric Robison, Bo McKown and Christine Kaempfe of Thalhimer represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction. Kenneth Penrose Jr., also with Thalhimer, represented the buyer. Originally developed in 1999 and expanded in 2002, Crossways I & II was fully 100 leased at the time of sale to tenants including anchor Conduent Business Services, a publicly traded international business services provider that specializes in healthcare and human resources solutions. Conduent occupies more than 50 percent of the property, and the remaining space is leased to insurance, education and financial services firms.
NEW YORK CITY — Kimmerle Group, a New Jersey-based design-build firm, has completed a 175,000-square-foot office and showroom renovation project at 11 Penn Plaza in Manhattan. The project is a build-to-suit for SPARC Group, a provider of apparel and accessories whose brands include Brooks Brothers, Eddie Bauer and Forever 21. Specialty areas include mock stores for national retail buildout models, showrooms to support the wholesale business and designer workshops.
SOMERSET, N.J. — Lexicon Pharmaceuticals has signed a 20,000-square-foot office lease at Somerset Corporate Center I in Bridgewater, located in the northern part of the Garden State. Gregg Najarian and Slava Vaynberg of Savills represented Lexicon, which is relocating from Basking Ridge in the first quarter of 2023, in the lease negotiations. Other tenants at Somerset Corporate Center, which is owned by SJP Properties, include Qualcomm, Oracle and Merrill Lynch.
GILBERT, ARIZ. — Orsett Properties has completed the sale of The Reserve at San Tan, a trophy-quality office property in Gilbert. West Valley Properties acquired the asset for $53.1 million. Built in 2020 on 12.8 acres, The Reserve at San Tan features 149,321 square of office space spread across two three-story multi-tenant office buildings connected by a common area tenant amenity lounge. The building offers high-end spec suites with open ceilings, creative office finishes and abundant covered surface parking. Additional features include monument signage, building signage, tenant lounges, PRESS coffee on-site and conference facilities. CJ Osbrink, Scott Scharlach and Kevin Shannon of Newmark handled the transaction. Mike Garlick, also of Newmark, assisted in the sale and was retained by the buyer to lead leasing efforts at the property.
GOLDEN, COLO. — North Beacon Capital has acquired Cole Center, a recently renovated office building at 1687-1707 Cole Blvd. in Golden, which is in the Denver West region. Bancroft Capital and Viking Partners sold the asset for $32.7 million. Renovated in 2021, the four-story Cole Center features 155,610 square feet of multi-tenant office space. On-site amenities include an outdoor plaza with covered seating, 201 subterranean parking spaces, a new fitness center with showers and lockers, and on-site bike storage. At the time of sale, the property was 88 percent leased with 75 percent of the tenants being investment grade. Larry Thiel and Jason Schmidt of JLL Capital Markets represented the seller in the transaction.
HOBOKEN, N.J. — Northmarq has arranged a $26.4 million acquisition loan for the Hudson Tea Parking Garage in Hoboken. Built in 2004 by multifamily developer Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL), the eight-story structure spans 389,984 square feet and houses 1,250 parking spaces. Daniel Karp of Northmarq arranged the fixed-rate financing on behalf of the borrower, Boston-based LAZ Parking Realty Investors. The loan carried a 10-year term with five years of interest-only payments followed by a 30-year amortization schedule.
SAN JOSE, CALIF. — CBRE has arranged the sale of 625 Lincoln Avenue, a medical office building in San Jose. The Sobrato Organization sold the asset to El Camino Health, the current tenant, for $19.5 million. El Camino Health uses the 35,272-square-foot medical office building for urgent and primary care. Scott Prosser, Joe Moriarty, Jack DePuy, Mike Taquino, Kyle Kovac and Alec Haley of CBRE represented the seller in the deal.