CRANBURY, N.J. — JLL has negotiated a 68,000-square-foot office lease for WuXi Biologics, a Chinese medical technology development company, in Cranbury, a northeastern suburb of Trenton. The company has leased the entirety of a facility located at 7 Clarke Drive for 10 years. The building includes a research and development laboratory, biologics manufacturing space and office space. The facility was constructed in 1998 and is located within Cedar Brook Corporate Center, a 1.2 million-square-foot office and technology park. This is the third lease for the WuXi Biologics in the United States, along with a facility in Worcester, Massachusetts, and a 33,000-square-foot development laboratory in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Cedar Brook Corporate Center, the owner of the building, was represented internally. Robert Ryan and John Buckley of JLL represented WuXi Biologics in the lease negotiations.
MOUNT LAUREL N.J. — Brooklyn-based private equity firm Golden Gate Capital has acquired a seven-building office portfolio in Mount Laurel, an eastern suburb of Philadelphia, for $14.8 million. The portfolio totals 244,000 square feet and includes a building located at 10001 Briggs Road in the Cambridge Crossing office complex, as well as six buildings in Greentree North Corporate Center. Tenants of the portfolio include Vertical Screen, Cooper Institute for Reproductive Hormonal Disorders, Ancero LLC, Just Children and Virtua Infectious Disease. Both properties offer convenient access to the New Jersey Turnpike and Interstate 295. Stephen Marzullo, Adam Silverman and Jon Sarkinsian of CBRE represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction.
PARSIPPANY, N.J. — The Kislak Company Inc. has brokered the $4.3 sale of Colony Plaza, a 40,000-square-foot office and retail property in Parsippany, a northwestern suburb of New York City. The site is located on a 3.2-acre site at 1180-1220 Route 46 near State Routes 10 and 287 and currently houses three buildings. Tom Scatuorchio and Matt Weilheimer of Kislak represented the seller, a private investor, in the transaction. The buyer was undisclosed.
NORFOLK, VA. — Divaris Real Estate has arranged the sale of the Arnold B. McKinnon Norfolk Southern headquarters, a 310,745-square-foot office building in downtown Norfolk. The building has been home to Norfolk Southern Railroad’s headquarters since 1988. The company will finish out its lease, which has 18 months remaining, then move to Midtown Atlanta. A joint venture between TowneBank and Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughter (CHKD) acquired the 22-story tower for an undisclosed price from Norfolk Southern. As part of the acquisition, the buyers also purchased the Commercial Place Garage, a 744-space parking garage connected to the tower via skybridge. The parking garage features retailers on the ground level. TowneBank and CHKD will each occupy 10 stories, with CHKD bringing over 475 employees and TowneBank relocating 400. TowneBank has hired WM Jordan as the general contractor to renovate the bank’s future home, on floors that Norfolk Southern is not currently occupying. Creative Development Partners will manage the renovations. Gerald Divaris, Michael Divaris and Jason Oliver of Divaris Real Estate represented the buyers in the transaction. Gayle Bartlett of Divaris Property Management Corp. will continue to manage the building, as well as the parking garage and retail on the first …
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Atco Properties & Management and Shorenstein Properties LLC have opened the Gama Goat Building, a 140,000-square-foot office building in Charlotte. The new building is situated at 1701 N. Graham St. within the 1 million-square-foot mixed-use development, Camp North End. The open-air property also features four food halls, including La Caseta, Bleu Barn Bistro and Saru by Bow Ramen, which were all unveiled during the grand opening ceremony held Wednesday. S9 Architecture served as the design architect, BB+M Architecture served as the local production architect and LandDesign served as the civil engineer and landscape architect for the Gama Goat Building. Jessica Brown, David Dorsch, Kris Westmoreland and Grant Keyes of Cushman & Wakefield will handle leasing efforts at the building. Approximately 3,000 square feet of retail space is available for lease, including the fourth food stall. Fitness concept bloc also leases space at the Gama Goat Building.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Los Angeles-based developer CIM Group has completed a 44,000-square-foot creative office building located at 3601 S. Congress Ave. in Austin. The building is situated within Penn Field a 16-acre campus that was originally developed in 1918 as a U.S. Army air base and now houses tenants such as Deep Eddy Vodka, High Brew Coffee and Pandora. The new building can accommodate single or multiple users and features floor-to-ceiling windows and outdoor patios and terraces. AQUILA Commercial is handling leasing of the property.
LEWISVILLE, TEXAS — The Mansour Group, a division of Marcus & Millichap, has arranged the sale of an 80,038-square-foot office building in the northern Dallas suburb of Lewisville that serves as the headquarters of auto repair firm Caliber Collision. The property was built on 5.8 acres in 2006 and renovated in 2018. Alvin Mansour and Kevin Mansour of The Mansour Group represented the seller and buyer, both of which requested anonymity, in the transaction.
ATLANTA — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will develop a 160,000-square-foot research lab at Roybal Campus, the organization’s main headquarters in Atlanta. The high-containment continuity lab (HCCL) will be a Biosafety Level-4 (BSL-4) facility, a designation reserved for the highest level of biological safety. The lab is part of the CDC’s 2025 master plan, which was finalized before the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic began. The Atlanta-based organization expects construction to begin in early 2021 and has tapped McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. as general contractor. Flad Architects, Page Southerland Page and WSP designed the HCCL. McCarthy, a St. Louis-based general contractor, has built 25 percent of the BSL-4 labs in the United States. The company also built the Emerging Infectious Diseases BSL-4 Laboratory on the Roybal Campus in 2005. In early 2018, the CDC petitioned Congress to allow for upgrades to be made at the facility. The development cost was not disclosed, although McCarthy entered into a $233 million contract with the U.S. government to construct the HCCL. “The facility has done quite well, but it runs constantly — 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year,” Inger Damon, director of the division of high-consequence …
By Andy Gutman, President, Farbman Group It’s no hyperbole to acknowledge that we are living in unprecedented times and facing unique and historic challenges. The novel coronavirus pandemic has had a profound impact on the lives and livelihoods of Americans across a wide range of industries, and commercial real estate is no exception. As brands and businesses struggle to adjust to the slowdown, with many shutting their doors and others making significant operational adjustments, owners and operators face their own dilemmas. How can real estate professionals help their tenants while protecting their own interests? What can they do differently today to start preparing for a post-shutdown new normal once the nation and the economy begin reopening in the months ahead? What follows is a review of practical tips and best practices that real estate professionals should be deploying to ensure they are doing everything they can to help themselves and their tenants navigate the unfamiliar terrain of a pandemic-altered landscape. Talk the talk Communication with tenants is always important. In the current circumstances, however, clear and consistent communication is not just a priority, but an urgent necessity. Make sure your team is connecting on COVID-related changes to tenants, sharing updates …
BATON ROUGE, LA. — Franklin Street has arranged the $12.4 million acquisition and renovation financing for Physicians Medical Center, a 76,370-square-foot medical office and hospital campus in Baton Rouge. The three-story facility features a hospital on the first floor and 44,984 square feet of leasable medical office space at the time of sale. The buyer, New Era Cos., plans to implement property renovations. Following the project, Oceans Healthcare Outpatient Services will anchor the property. A local ophthalmology office and a division of the Louisiana Departments of Health and Capital Area Human Services will also lease space at the facility. Ben Miller and Casey Siggins of Franklin Street represented the buyer in the financial transaction. The seller and lender were not disclosed.