By Tom Johnson, NAI Martens The overall Wichita economy is not out of the woods yet, but numerous factors point to a continuation of the recovery from both the Great Recession and the impact of the pandemic. Since the significant employment downturn during the second quarter of 2020, the Wichita metro area has markedly recovered but remains well below 2019 non-farm employment. The seesaw unemployment rate has now declined to just over 5 percent. All employment sectors are expected to increase from 3 to 6 percent in 2021 with retail, leisure and hospitality leading the way as restaurants and travel return to pre-pandemic levels. In the background of all the pandemic noise have been significant gains in urban development with over $1 billion of public and private sector investment since the recession. ● Residential has grown exponentially with 21 new and renovated properties representing 1,228 units with some of the highest rental rates in the city. ● With over 100 restaurants and local shops, retail has increased significantly, adding almost 500,000 square feet, a 39 percent increase with more to come. ● Starting with the Ambassador Hotel renovation, the hospitality sector has added 375 rooms with another 95 rooms in …
Office
PHOENIX — RED Development has announced that construction is underway for The Grove, a $300 million mixed-used development at the northwest corner of 44th Street and Camelback Road in Phoenix. Situated on 15 acres, the development will include the recently announced Global Ambassador hotel, a four-story office building, several ground-floor retail and restaurant spaces, two two-story office buildings, a self-storage facility by Hibernia Capital, a covered parking structure and an apartment building by StreetLights Residential. Completion of the first phase is slated for the latter half of 2022 with final completion and the hotel’s opening scheduled for fall 2023. The Grove is also the home to the new Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury private training facility that opened in late 2020.
DALLAS — Barings Real Estate has provided a loan for the refinancing of PwC Tower at Park District, a 504,750-square-foot office tower in Uptown Dallas. The amount of the loan was not disclosed, but the Dallas Morning News reports that it was $225 million. Built in 2018, the building consists of 20 stories of office space above a four-story parking garage. Onsite amenities include three restaurants, a tenant lounge, conference center and a 7,000-square-foot health club. Jim Curtin of JLL arranged the loan, which was structured with a 10-year term and a fixed interest rate, on behalf of the borrower, MetLife Investment Management. PwC Tower at Park District, which bears the name of its anchor tenant, PricewaterhouseCoopers, was approximately 93 percent leased at the time of the loan closing.
TAMPA, FLA. — Cushman & Wakefield has secured $33.8 million in financing for Two Harbour Place, a Class A office building located in downtown Tampa. Cushman & Wakefield also arranged the sale for the property. Mike Davis, Rick Brugge, Rick Colon, Zachary Eicholtz and Dominic Montazemi of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, a joint venture between CP Group and CenterSquare Investment Management, in the transaction. Farley White Interests, a Boston-based commercial real estate owner, acquired the property for an undisclosed price. Jason Hochman, Brian Linnihan, Mike Ryan and Ron Granite of Cushman & Wakefield secured the long-term, fixed-rate acquisition loan through Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. Located at 302 Knights Run Avenue, the 12-story building was 92 percent leased at the time of sale. Property amenities include 3.7 per 1,000-square-foot parking ratio via an attached structured garage, as well as an onsite coffeehouse, concierge services, a full-time day porter, auto detailing and dry-cleaning pick-up and delivery. CP Group, formerly Crocker Partners, is a Boca Raton, Fla.-based owner, operator and developer of office and mixed-use projects throughout the Southeast and Southwest United States. CenterSquare is a global investment manager based in Philadelphia.
HOPEWELL, N.J. — Newmark has arranged a $76 million acquisition loan for Princeton West Innovation Campus, a 1.1 million-square-foot life sciences property in Hopewell, about 55 miles southwest of New York City. The property, which formerly served as the global R&D headquarters of pharmaceutical giant Bristol Myers Squibb, is located less than 10 miles from its namesake university’s main campus. Amenities include a full-service cafeteria, an 8,000-square-foot fitness center, a 28,000-square-foot child development center and multiple conference areas. The borrower was a partnership between H.I.G. Realty Partners and Lincoln Equities Group. Dustin Stolly and Jordan Roeschlaub of Newmark placed the debt through Denver-based ArrowMark Partners. The new ownership will use a portion of the proceeds to fund capital improvements and speculative leasing costs.
NEW YORK CITY — Dattner Architects has signed a 30,000-square-foot office lease at 498 Seventh Avenue, a 25-story building in Midtown Manhattan. Recent capital improvements at 498 Seventh Avenue include new lobbies and entrances, new retail storefronts, upgraded destination dispatch elevators, new turnstiles with facial recognition software, a grab-and-go coffee kiosk by Ground Central Coffee and a dedicated lounge area for tenants. Robert Frost and Andy Weiss of Signature Partners LLC represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Andrew Conrad and Matt Coudert represented the landlord, George Comfort & Sons, on an internal basis.
SAN DIEGO — Regent Properties has acquired a portfolio of four office buildings in downtown San Diego for $420 million. The acquisition marks Regent’s first investment via its Regent Opportunity Fund V. The high-rise properties include 1 Columbia Place, 701 B Street, 2 Columbia Place and 707 Broadway. Totaling 1.5 million square feet, the buildings represent approximately 16 percent of all Class A and B office inventory in downtown San Diego, according to Regent. The transaction, which equates to $281 per square foot, also includes a parking garage. Privately owned real estate investment adviser Emmes was the seller, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. “With this investment, Regent is continuing its push to acquire high-quality office projects across the Sunbelt,” says Eric Fleiss, CEO of Regent. “We are seeking to purchase over $2 billion of assets over the next 24 months.” Prior to the sale, the seller extensively renovated the portfolio’s common areas, including upgrading the lobbies and outdoor amenities. Regent plans to augment these renovations with additional “hospitality-oriented improvements,” such as new fitness centers, conference centers, eateries and community gathering places like outdoor terraces and wine lounges. “To successfully attract and retain tenants today, we need to give them …
By Nico Vilgiate, Executive Vice President, Colliers Greater Los Angeles has one of the largest office development pipelines in the nation, which includes new construction and some sizeable adaptive reuse projects. There is currently more than 6 million square feet in this pipeline with nearly 2.7 million square feet scheduled to deliver this year. This will increase overall vacancy throughout 2021. The most significant developments are occurring in Downtown and West Los Angeles, which contain more than 55 percent of all new office construction. One of the most prominent projects is One Westside, a shopping mall conversion that will contain 584,000 square feet of creative office space in West Los Angeles. Google will be moving into the building upon completion. The greater Los Angeles overall vacancy rate of 18.3 percent is 50 basis points higher than the previous peak in 2013 when it reached 17.8 percent. Sublease availability has increased over the past four quarters due to the work-from-home mandate. However, there has been an increase in the overall average asking rate in the past few quarters. The rate has increased by 4.4 percent year-over-year to about $3.54 per square foot, per month. Asking rate rental growth during this period was strongest …
DALLAS — Integrity Marketing Group, a distributor of life and health insurance products, has signed a 100,000-square-foot office lease for its new headquarters at Fountain Place, a 58-story building in the Dallas Arts District. CBRE’s Josh White and Ryan Buchanan represented the tenant, which will occupy six floors at Fountain Place as part of its relocation from Coppell, in the lease negotiations. CBRE’s Fletcher Cordell, Dennis Barnes and Jackie Marshall represented the landlord, Goddard Investment Group, which recently completed a $75 million renovation at the property. That project included the addition of a 10-story parking garage, retail and restaurant space and a tenant lounge and conference center.
Rescore Property, Nadel Architecture Complete 561,600 SF The Rise Residential/Office Project in Hollywood
by Amy Works
LOS ANGELES — Rescore Property, as developer, and Nadel Architecture + Planning, as architect, have completed construction of The Rise, a seven-story, mixed-use project located at 1331 N. Cahuegna Blvd. in Hollywood. The 561,600-square-foot property features 369 apartments, 13 live/work units and 2,570 square feet of creative office space. Consisting of five buildings linked by pedestrian bridges, The Rise offers 341,600 square feet of residential space on six levels and more than 220,000 square feet of parking space on two levels, with space for 567 cars and 410 bicycles. The project offers a mix of ADA-adaptable micro-units, studios and one- and two-bedroom layouts. Community amenities include a rooftop deck, inner open courtyard, outdoor gym, pool, barbecue grills, fire pits, dog runs with a dog wash unit and outdoor seating with TVs. Additional amenities include a clubhouse with fireplace and pool table, fitness center, lounges, conference rooms, electric-vehicle charging stations and a video screen in the main lobby that displays transit options and status. The Rise also offers a 2,000-square-foot penthouse unit on the seventh floor that can be leased for special events. The penthouse is adjacent to a party room and rooftop deck.