HOUSTON — Partners Capital, the investment arm of NAI Partners, has sold Wells Fargo Business Park, a 104,212-square-foot flex property in Houston. Partners Capital originally acquired the two-building complex in 2018. Trent Agnew and Charlie Strauss of JLL represented Partners Capital in the transaction. Dallas-based Hillview Capital Partners purchased the asset for an undisclosed price.
NORTHBROOK, ILL. — JLL Capital Markets has brokered the sale of Edens Corporate Center, a two-building office property in the northern Chicago suburb of Northbrook. The sales price was undisclosed. Located on Dundee Road, Edens Corporate Center rises four stories and spans 188,040 rentable square feet. The two buildings were constructed in 1987 and 1988 and renovated from 2016 to 2019. Amenities include heated parking, an outdoor terrace, café, fitness center, yoga room and bike room. Patrick Shields, Sam DiFrancesca, Jaime Fink, Jeff Bramson and Bruce Miller of JLL represented the seller, KBS. Bradford Allen Investment Advisors was the buyer.
NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF. AND NEW YORK CITY — Pacific Investment Management Co. (PIMCO) has entered into a definitive agreement with Columbia Property Trust (NYSE: CXP) to acquire the New York City-based office REIT. Funds managed by PIMCO will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Columbia’s common stock in a deal valued at $3.9 billion, including debt. Columbia owns 15 office properties spanning more than 6 million square feet in the gateway markets of New York City, Boston, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. The firm’s portfolio also includes four office properties under development and 8 million square feet under management for private investors and third parties. The U.S. office sector has been severely impacted by the outbreak of COVID-19 and rise of the Delta variant as millions of office-using employees are currently working from home. According to The Wall Street Journal, New York City and San Francisco reported the lowest usage rates among the 10 major office markets tracked by Falls Church, Va.-based Kastle Systems, which monitors access swipes of office buildings. New York City had a usage rate of 22.3 percent and San Francisco had a 19.7 usage rate for the week ending Aug. 25. Despite the headwinds facing …
By Cynthia Cowen, managing director, Cushman & Wakefield Throughout the past 18 months, there has been an ongoing discussion about returning to the office. Culturally, financially, production-wise — does it make sense to return? There is so much that goes into making these decisions, and there isn’t a simple yes or no answer. It might depend on the industry, the generational differences among employees, the job functions being performed and more. Baby boomers tend to be critical of millennials’ desire to have greater balance and their preference for working at home, but what about recent college grads? They need to absorb as much as information as they can, but how do they achieve that at home? What about those in child-bearing years? They may want to stay home to juggle it all under one roof. In 25-plus years in the commercial real estate industry, our team has never witnessed employees possess so much control. In speaking with tenant representation brokers and their clients, the message remains that employers are struggling to figure out how to get their employees to come back to the office. According to Cushman & Wakefield’s “Workplace Ecosystems of the Future” report, there is a strong consensus …
HUNTSVILLE, ALA. — Berkadia has secured a $51 million refinancing loan for a 670,890-square-foot office and flex portfolio in Huntsville. The three-property portfolio, which includes Perimeter Center, Progress Center and 110 Wynn, sits approximately six miles from downtown Huntsville and was 91 percent leased at the time of financing. Located at 1500 and 1525 Perimeter Parkway, Perimeter Center includes two mid-rise buildings built in 1987 and 1989. The buildings total 234,146 square feet and are 87 percent leased to 41 tenants. Situated at 6767 Old Madison Pike NW, Progress Center features five buildings totaling 221,259 square feet that were built in 1985, 1989 and 1992. The property is 86 percent leased to 34 tenants. Lastly, 110 Wynn, formerly known as the DRS Building, was built in 1967 and later renovated in 2003 and 2021. The property includes two buildings totaling 215,485 square feet, and is 100 percent occupied by one tenant. The properties are all located within Cummings Research Park, which is a science and technology park housing nearly 300 companies, 26,000 employees and 13,500 students. The property’s anchor tenants include Teledyne Brown Engineering, UAH, Lockheed Martin, Redstone Federal Credit Union and Calhoun Community College. The property is located about …
BRENTWOOD, TENN. — Bridge Investment Group has sold Bridge Crossing, a three-story, 199,194-square-foot office building in Brentwood, about 10.3 miles south of Nashville. Pacific Oak Capital Advisors purchased the property for $46 million. Jay O’Meara, Morgan Hillenmeyer, Roscoe High and Ryan Reethof of CBRE represented Bridge Investment in the transaction. Originally built in 1989, Bridge Investment purchased the property in January 2018 and rebranded the building for multi-tenant use by adding new signage. Bridge Crossing recently underwent a $3 million renovation, including a $1.8 million parking lot expansion that added 147 additional parking spaces. The third floor was also updated, and enhancements were made to common areas, lobbies and elevators. Bridge Crossing is fully occupied with leases signed through May 2026. The building is anchored by Fleetcor Technologies Inc., an Atlanta-based business payment processing firm. The property also has tenants including information technology and services company Cognizant and Comdata, a payment processing company. Comdata, which has had its headquarters at Bridge Crossing since 1996, has recently expanded its lease to 50,690 square feet on the third floor. Located at 5301 Maryland Way, Bridge Crossing is situated within Maryland Farms, a 400-acre, mixed-use park with over 20,000 jobs. Brentwood overall has …
SEATTLE — Essex Financial Group has arranged a $75 million permanent loan for Menashe Properties to refinance Medical Dental Building, an infill medical office building in downtown Seattle. The sponsor purchased the 297,470-square-foot historic building in 2019 and assumed existing debt on the property. The seven-year loan features a fixed interest rate with three years of interest-only payments followed by a 30-year amortization. Alex Riggs and Blaire Butler of Essex Capital Markets secured the financing for the borrower. Originally built in 1924, the 18-story office building has undergone several renovations with the most recent completed in 2014. At time of financing, the property was 91 percent occupied by 123 tenants. The property also features ground-floor retail space, which a coffee shop and local pharmacy occupy.
CHICAGO — J.C. Anderson has completed construction of a 32,576-square-foot spec office suite buildout for owner GlenStar at the Chicago Board of Trade Building. Located in Chicago’s Loop at 141 W. Jackson Blvd., the property was originally built in 1930. The scope of the project included building out spec suites on the 13th floor that range in size from 2,300 to 7,500 square feet. The spaces feature conference rooms, private offices, huddle rooms, break rooms and open office areas. MRSA Architects & Planners served as architect. This is the third spec suite project that J.C. Anderson has completed for GlenStar at the building.
BURLINGTON, MASS. — Newmark has arranged the sale of a 157,229-square-foot office building located at 1 Van de Graaff Drive in Burlington, a northern suburb of Boston. The property offers proximity to Interstate 95/Route 128 and amenities such as a cafeteria and a fitness center. Robert Griffin, Edward Maher, Matthew Pullen and Samantha Hallowell of Newmark represented the undisclosed seller and procured the buyer, commercial owner-operator FoxRock Properties, in the transaction.
DALLAS — Industry professionals believe the commercial real estate values for industrial, office and suburban multifamily properties across the United States are expected to return to pre-pandemic levels or remain stable, hinting at a potential full recovery for the rest of 2021, according to a CBRE Group Inc. survey released on Aug. 31. CBRE’s survey looked at capitalization rates for stabilized assets and investment sentiment on market conditions. Capitalization rates measure a property’s value by dividing its net operating income by its sale price and a lower cap rate generally shows a higher value. In the survey, investors predicted cap rate movement will vary across different property types for the second half of 2021. For example, cap rates for industrial and multifamily properties are expected to compress in most markets, while the cap rates for office, retail and hotel properties are expected to stay steady. The survey also found that investors were willing to purchase industrial and multifamily properties at a premium or higher price than other property types. Additionally, investors looked mainly for small to moderate pricing discounts for office properties, and moderate to large discounts for retail properties and hotels. More than 75 percent of real estate investors …