COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. — Essex Financial Group has secured $24.3 million in financing for Albany Road Real Estate Partners for the acquisition of Epic One, an office building in Colorado Springs. Cooper Williams, Paul Donahue, Nate Schneider and Andrea Mehlem of Essex’s Capital Markets team sourced the five-year, fixed-rate bridge loan for the buyer. The seller and price were not disclosed. Built in 2009, Epic One offers 146,000 square feet of Class A office space, an onsite fitness center and views of Peaks Peak and the Rocky Mountains. At the time of financing, the five-story building was 87 percent leased to a variety of tenants, including those in the aerospace, defense, healthcare, education and technology industries.
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Experts Turn to Opportunistic Moves, Lending During Uncertainty of Economic Downturn
As we shift through economic uncertainty and changes in the market, commercial real estate businesses are planning for a range of scenarios — and looking to historical trends to make predictions. REBusinessOnline sat down with two industry experts to talk about how this period of uncertainty compares to previous eras and where there may be benefits and opportunities in the current landscape. Jay Olshonsky, president and CEO, and Cliff Moskowitz, executive vice president, at NAI Global spoke about the commercial real estate outlook and the challenges it is likely to face in the immediate future. REBusiness: Looking at the current environment, how does it compare to previous periods of uncertainty? What might be the impacts on commercial real estate? Olshonsky: To start with, we are in a recession. We’ve already had two quarters of negative GDP growth. I think the most fundamental difference between this cycle and a lot of other cycles is that we have extremely low unemployment, differentiating this moment from others, for example, 2009. Even though the most recent job numbers were lower, they were still fairly strong. Jobs create the demand for commercial real estate at all levels, but especially at the services level. We do …
DALLAS — Harwood International has topped out Harwood No. 14, a 27-story office building located within the locally based developer’s 19-block namesake district in Uptown Dallas. Construction of the 360,000-square-foot building began in March 2021, and the property is now 70 percent preleased. The design team includes Dallas-based HDF, Dallas-based Corgan and Tokyo-based Kengo Kuma & Associates. Manhattan Construction is the general contractor for the project, which also houses 17,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space. Full completion is scheduled for 2023.
MILWAUKEE — Colliers has brokered the sale of the Global Water Center in Milwaukee for an undisclosed price. The historic office building totals 86,156 square feet and is 87 percent leased to 14 tenants. The property was originally constructed in 1904 for the Molitor Paper Box Co. After Molitor relocated, machinery manufacturer The Murphy Specialty Co. occupied the building until 1938. In 2013, the building was redeveloped in partnership with the Milwaukee Water Council, a nonprofit organization. Since the summer of 2020, the property has welcomed new tenants such as Xylem Water Solutions, Beckhoff Automation, OpenGov and Diverge Translational Science Laboratory. Tom Shepherd and Jennifer Huber-Bullock of Colliers represented the seller, Water Accelerator LLC. The buyer was 247 Freshwater LLC, an affiliate of SixSibs Capital Corp.
NORTH LAS VEGAS, NEV. — Agora Realty and Management has broken ground on a 29-acre mixed-use, master-planned commercial district in downtown North Las Vegas. The redevelopment project is located at the gateway to the city, east of Interstate 5 along Lake Mead Boulevard and north along Las Vegas Boulevard. Slated for completion in 24 months, the $105 million project will include 200,000 square feet of retail space and 125,000 square feet of healthcare and medical office space. Earlier this year, Agora started construction on a 22,000-square-foot medical office building that will include primary care and specialty services. The company plans to create a public space with children’s areas and event venues, as well as a large screen for outdoor presentations and movies. Agora also plans to incorporate micro-business suites that range in size from 150 square feet to 450 square feet. SCA Architects is doing construction drawings, and Mycotoo will work with Agora on design and programming for the micro-businesses and public space.
SUNNYVALE, CALIF. — Drawbridge Realty has acquired 200 S. Mathilda Avenue, a five-story, Class A office/engineering building and parking structure in downtown Sunnyvale. JP Morgan sold the asset for an undisclosed price. Completed in 2010, the property features 157,000 square feet with subterranean parking. Uber occupies the building as an engineering hub as part of its Bay Area global headquarters. The transit-oriented, LEED Silver-certified building is walkable to Sunnyvale’s Caltrain station and is surrounded by residential, retail and lifestyle amenities. Eastdil Secured represented the seller in the transaction.
RICHMOND, VA. — CoStar Group has broken ground on an expansion to its corporate campus in Richmond that will bring two new buildings totaling 750,000 square feet. CoStar plans to add 2,000 new jobs to staff the new buildings, specifically in research, technology, operations, software development, marketing and sales roles. Situated on the banks of the James River, the new 21-story tower and five-story multipurpose building, which will house employee and community amenities, will expand the campus to 1 million square feet. CoStar’s current tower is located on the site at 501 S. 5th St. Planned amenities for the campus hub include conference space, fitness and wellness capabilities, an auditorium, more than 2.6 acres of outdoor green space and retail and restaurant options. The new tower is designed to achieve LEED certification and will feature 50,000 square feet of elevated green terraces. Once the site is fully complete, CoStar Group is poised to become the largest tech company and one of the largest private employers in Richmond. The firm currently employs more than 5,300 people in 80 cities across 14 countries.
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. — An affiliate of Boston-based Albany Road Real Estate Partners has purchased Epic One, a Class A office building in Colorado Springs. Terms of the transaction were not released. Aaron Johnson and Jon Hendrickson of Cushman & Wakefield represented the undisclosed seller in the deal. Located at 10807 New Allegiance Drive, Epic One features 146,099 square feet of office space. Constructed in 2009, the multi-tenant office building features LEED Silver design; flexible, efficient floor plates; high-end finishes throughout; an on-site fitness facility; and a 5/1,000 parking ratio.
SIOUX CITY, IOWA — Omaha-based Oracle Aviation has broken ground on a new aviation center at the Sioux Gateway Airport in Sioux City. The 40,000-square-foot facility will include hangar space, training classrooms and office space. The project received a $1 million grant from the Economic Development Administration as well as additional funding from the City of Sioux City, The Siouxland Initiative, Morningside University and Western Iowa Tech. Both Morningside University and Western Iowa Tech will now offer degrees in aviation fields. A timeline for construction was not provided.
PITTSBURGH — JLL has arranged a $74 million loan for the refinancing of Southside Works, a 471,939-square-foot office and retail development in Pittsburgh. Built in phases between 2002 and 2004 and renovated in 2021, Southside Works comprises 245,570 square feet of office space and 226,369 square feet of retail space. The development also features multiple pocket parks, open green spaces, sport courts and a dog park. Nick Unkovic and Jeremy Bernstein of JLL arranged the six-year, floating-rate loan through Dollar Bank on behalf of the borrower, SomeraRoad.