LORAIN, OHIO — Grandbridge Real Estate Capital has arranged two loans totaling $4.7 million for the refinancing of a two-property portfolio in Lorain, about 30 miles west of Cleveland. The first property is Fairway East Apartments, a recently renovated apartment community totaling 80 units across five buildings. The second asset is City Center, a 56,384-square-foot office building housing tenants such as Spectrum Consulting Services, Lorain County Community College and United Property Management. Craig Kegg of Grandbridge arranged the 15-year, fixed-rate loans with insurance company correspondents. United Property Management was the borrower.
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SPRING, TEXAS — Locally based investment firm The Welcome Group has acquired a 38,072-square-foot office and industrial complex at 2400 Spring Stuebner Road in the northern Houston suburb of Spring. The two-building property is situated on 11 acres and is leased to SES Foam, a provider of insulation products. The first building was built in 1984 and the second building was built in 1994.
PHILADELPHIA — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the $15.3 million sale of The Parkside Portfolio, a collection of retail and office buildings totaling 78,194 square feet in the West Parkside neighborhood of Philadelphia. The buildings are located at 5050, 4946, 4952-64 Parkside Ave. and are leased to national anchor tenants including Davita, Santander Bank and Goodwill. The office portion of the portfolio was fully leased to homecare, government and local professional tenants. Derrick Dougherty and Scott Woodard of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, Rockland Capital, in the transaction. The team also represented the buyer, The Leser Group.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Healthcare firm Centene Corp. has announced plans for its $1 billion East Coast headquarters in Charlotte. At full build-out, scheduled for 2032, the six-building campus will comprise 1 million square feet of office space, a fitness center, auditorium, multiple dining options, childcare center and Centene Tech University, a standalone building that will be used for corporate learning and development. The St. Louis-based company plans to break ground on the project in August. The campus will be built in phases, with Phase I scheduled for completion in the second half of 2022. Phase I will house 3,000 employees who will fill roles in information technology, finance, compliance, health economics, business analytics, human resources and clinical positions, with salaries averaging $100,089 annually. “Charlotte has great talent, excellent infrastructure and a real commitment to sustainable development,” says Michael Neidorff, chairman, president and CEO of Centene, a Medicaid-managed care organization. In 2024, Centene plans to begin construction of Phase II, which will accommodate another 3,000 employees. Charleston, South Carolina-based LS3P Architects designed the campus. The general contractor is St. Louis-based Clayco. LandDesign is the site planner and Uzun+Case is the structural engineer. Syska Hennessy Group will be providing the mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire …
ATLANTA — AT&T informed CNN employees Monday that it will sell the CNN Center in downtown Atlanta, according to multiple media reports. AT&T took control of CNN in 2018 when it acquired Time Warner Media. Employees were notified that the move will not happen right away, as CNN will lease One CNN Center for another five years before moving to Time Warner’s Techwood campus in Midtown Atlanta. Ted Turner founded media giant at Techwood in 1980 before moving to downtown in 1987. It was not immediately clear if AT&T had a buyer lined up. CNN Center totals 150,490 square feet. The building includes a food court with tenants such as Starbucks, BurgerFi, Dunkin’, Moe’s Southwest Grill and Chick-fil-A. Retail tenants include the Atlanta Braves Dugout Store and Wells Fargo. The building is situated next to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Centennial Olympic Park, State Farm Arena, Omni Hotel & Resort, the Georgia Aquarium, World of Coca-Cola and the College Football Hall of Fame.
Iron Bridge to Install Medical-Grade Air Filtration System, UV Lights at Charleston Tech Center to Combat COVID-19
by Alex Tostado
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Iron Bridge Capital Partners will install a medical-grade air filtration and UV light system at Charleston Tech Center to prevent the spread of COVID-19 or other pathogens through its ventilation system. Iron Bridge, the lead developer of the 92,000-square-foot building, expects to open the property by the end of the year. Charleston Digital Corridor will anchor the property. The system will include an electrostatic filtration process similar to what surgery centers and medical facilities install to prevent the spread of airborne bacteria and viruses from room-to-room. Additionally, the system features a bank of UV lights that will treat any remaining pathogens, as well as reduce the amount of airborne mold and dust. In addition to the air treatment system, Charleston Tech Center will also include COVID-19 protocols and features such as occupancy maximums for elevators and shared conference spaces, hand sanitizer stations in the lobby and at each elevator, touchless faucets and the strong encouragement for workers and guests to wear masks in all common areas.
NKF Arranges $165M in Financing for BioMed Life Sciences Building in Emeryville, California
by Amy Works
EMERYVILLE, CALIF. — Newmark Knight Frank (NKF), on behalf of property owner BioMed Realty, has arranged $165 million in financing for an asset located at 5300 Chiron Way in Emeryville. The Class A life sciences building, which totals 303,509 rentable square feet, is located within Emeryville Center of Innovation. Zymergen, a science and material innovation company, fully occupies the property. BioMed will use the loan to transform the asset into a specialized and innovative high-tech environment for the tenant’s new headquarters location. Ramsey Daya and Chris Moritz of NKF’s Debt & Structured Finance office in San Francisco secured the financing for the owner, which is a provider of real estate solutions to the life science and technology industries.
SAN JOSE, CALIF. — Kennedy Wilson Fund VI has acquired a six-building R&D/office portfolio in South San Jose for $53.5 million. The name of the seller was not released. Totaling 257,000 square feet, the portfolio consists of five single-story R&D buildings and a two-story office building. The portfolio is currently 100 percent occupied by 15 tenants. The acquisition expands Kennedy Wilson’s presence in Silicon Valley and its growing portfolio of flex office assets across a global footprint. Kennedy Wilson has an 11 percent interest in Fund VI, which has a portfolio that includes 13 multifamily, office, retail and other commercial assets in markets in San Jose, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Denver and Seattle. The assets have an aggregate purchase price of $1.1 billion.
TROY, MICH. — L. Mason Capitani CORFAC International has brokered the sale of a 70,000-square-foot office building located at 550 Stephenson Highway in Troy. The sales price was undisclosed. The multi-tenant property was 97 percent leased at the time of sale. Mason L. Capitani, a principal with the brokerage firm, represented the buyer, California-based LREH Michigan LLC. L. Mason Capitani will oversee leasing efforts moving forward while the company’s affiliate, Liberty Property & Asset Management, will serve as property manager.
PHILADELPHIA — Independence Blue Cross has acquired 1901 Market Street, a Class A office tower in Center City Philadelphia, for $360 million. The 45-story, 800,000-square-foot building has served as the health insurance company’s headquarters since construction was completed in 1989. Atlanta-based Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE: PDM) was the seller. The property has received more than $110 million in capital improvements over the last eight years. Upgrades included a new lobby, outdoor plaza and mechanical systems, as well as renovations throughout the interiors for a more modern look. The building is the eighth-tallest office tower in Philadelphia and houses nearly 2,500 Independence associates. Independence is the sole occupant of the building. In addition to 1901 Market Street, Independence’s campus includes a customer service call center and Independence LIVE, a customer experience center. Both connect to the company’s headquarters via a courtyard that is open to the public. Prior to the purchase, Independence was in a long-term lease. But the company found the purchase attractive because low interest rates enabled Independence to lower its annual cost of occupancy, according to Donna Farrell, vice president of corporate communications. Robert Fahey, Jerry Kranzel, Erin Hannan and Jack Corcoran of CBRE Capital Markets marketed …