HOUSTON — Hartman Income REIT, a private real estate investment trust, has acquired a portfolio of three office buildings totaling 254,234 square feet in Houston. The first property is a 102,893-square-foot building located at 1400 Broadfield Blvd. in the Energy Corridor area. The second asset is an 83,760-square-foot property located at 16420 Park 10, and the third property is a 67,581-square-foot building located at 7915 FM 1960 in northwest Houston. The three properties were 55.2 percent leased on average at the time of sale. JLL represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY— Developer Safehold Inc. is underway on construction of a 42-story, 670,000-squre-foot office building in the Park Avenue corridor of Manhattan. Located at 425 Park Avenue in Manhattan, the Class A building will include office space and 18,000 square feet of retail space, the majority of which will be leased to restaurant users. Safehold entered into a joint venture with a sovereign wealth fund in September and now owns approximately 55 percent of the venture.
Office vacancies are falling across the big metros of the Northeast as robust user demand outpaces the supply of new construction. Deliveries in the last year have primarily been limited to Class A, build-to-suit properties and mixed-use developments. Meanwhile, office tenants are seeking high-end amenities at favorable prices. Nationally, the office vacancy rate stood at 16.8 percent in the second quarter, up slightly from 16.6 percent a year ago, according to real estate research firm Reis. Net absorption for the quarter totaled 3.2 million square feet, down from 3.9 million square feet a year ago. The average asking rent was $33.79 per square foot, up 2.2 percent on a year-over-year basis. Approximately 11.1 million square feet of office space was under construction at the end of the second quarter across Philadelphia, New York and Boston, according to CoStar Group. Helped by approximately 8.3 million square feet of absorption in the second quarter, the average vacancy rate across all three markets was 8.1 percent. Rather than undertake costly new ground-up construction projects, many developers are choosing to redevelop existing assets and efficiently incorporate office space into mixed-use projects. Coworking tenants occupied 54.2 million square feet of office space nationally at the …
PORTLAND, ORE. — Shorenstein Properties has disposed of River Forum, a two-building office asset located in Portland. Clarity Real Estate acquired the campus for an undisclosed price. Situated along the South Waterfront, River Forum features 209,000 square feet of Class A office space. At the time of sale, the property was 90 percent leased to a diverse tenant base. Charles Safley, Paige Morgan and Trevor Kafoury of CBRE represented the seller in the transaction.
GREENWICH, CONN. — PGIM Real Estate Finance has provided a $150 million refinancing loan for Greenwich Plaza, a two-building office complex located in Greenwich, a western suburb of Stamford. The Ashforth Co., which owns the property, plans to use proceeds from the refinancing for the redevelopment of the Greenwich Train Station transportation center. Originally developed by Ashforth in 1970, Greenwich Plaza comprises two four-story office buildings totaling 325,100 square feet. Tom Goodsite of PGIM Real Estate Finance led the transaction on behalf of the firm. Ken Ziebelman and Ethan Pond of Eastdil Secured arranged the financing.
SPRINGDALE, ARK. — Real estate investment company NAS Investment Solutions has acquired a newly constructed, 27,465 square-foot flex building fully occupied by BNSF Logistics in Springdale, less than six miles north of Fayetteville. Located at 2708 S. 48th St. the facility completes the second phase of BNSF’s property expansion that serves as the company’s regional headquarters. National Asset Services (NAS) will assume responsibility for asset and property management for the newly acquired property. NAS currently manages the 30,339-square-foot Phase I building and will assume management responsibilities for the newly created campus. BNSF Logistics is a third-party supply chain management firm based in Flower Mound, Texas. The company is a subsidiary of BNSF Railway but works with all major and secondary railroad lines.
RIDGEWOOD, N.Y. — ABS Partners Real Estate has negotiated a 13,823-square-foot office lease for music rehearsal space provider Pirate Studios at the Box Factory, an office and retail center in Ridgewood, Long Island. The U.K.-based company provides rehearsal and production space to musicians in sound-treated rooms. Ben Waller of ABS Partners represented Pirate Studios in the lease negotiations. Waller also represented the landlord, a partnership between Hornig Capital Partners and Brickman.
CHICAGO — Qualtrics, a survey software provider, has leased 25,000 square feet at 191 N. Wacker Drive in Chicago for its 25th office. The company, which maintains headquarters in Provo, Utah and Seattle, will begin occupying the space in 2020 and expects to hire more than 200 employees in the area. Built in 2003, 191 N. Wacker Drive is a 37-story, Class A office tower with approximately 731,000 square feet of rentable space. Manulife Investment Management manages the property and recently upgraded the lobby, fitness center and conference center. Michael Finley, Evan Djikas and Kyle Hundelt of Colliers represented Qualtrics in the lease transaction. Christine Choi Moore and JD Strode of Manulife Investment Management represented ownership.
LOS ANGELES — Meridian Capital Group has arranged $52 million in non-recourse construction financing for Produce LA, a speculative mixed-use development located in Los Angeles. The three-year loan, which a balance sheet lender provided, features a floating rate, two one-year extension options and full-term interest-only payments. Seth Grossman and Sarah Kuebler of Meridian negotiated the financing for the undisclosed borrower. Located at 640 S. Santa Fe Ave., the 71,400-square-foot development site is located within an Opportunity Zone in the Arts District of downtown Los Angeles. When complete, the four-story, 113,600-square-foot property will feature Class A creative office space with ground-floor restaurant and retail space and a 4,300-square-foot rooftop terrace. Additionally, the project will sit above two levels of subterranean parking and include an adjacent 64-stall surface lot, totaling 216 parking spaces for the property. Produce LA is also located adjacent to the Sixth Street Viaduct project, a new bridge and 12-acre park slated to open in 2020, as well as the proposed Sixth Street metro station.
LAS VEGAS — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of a medical office property located at 8678 Spring Mountain Road. A limited liability company sold the property to an undisclosed buyer for $1.6 million. Southwest Neck & Back Clinic occupies the 9,672-square-foot building. Ray Germain and Austin Lee of Marcus & Millichap’s Las Vegas office represented the seller in the deal.