The end of the second quarter of 2019 marked 120 consecutive months of U.S. economic growth, the longest on record. The steady climb in investment sales over the past few years has been fueled by record amounts of institutional capital and private equity, and office-using employment has reached an all-time high. By the end of March of this year, Florida’s private sector businesses had created over 208,000 jobs over the trailing 12-month period, and Orlando had reached 48 straight months as the state’s top location for job growth. Additionally, the U.S. Census Bureau’s latest figures indicate that three of the top 10 fastest growing cities in Florida are in the Orlando area (Kissimmee, St. Cloud and the city of Orlando itself). Altogether, there is $3.6 billion in multifamily construction underway or planned in metro Orlando, and all of this growth is fueling the need for improved transportation and logistics networks, as well as the corresponding commercial development taking place throughout the market. Finally, world-famous as a vacation destination, Orlando’s $70 billion tourism and travel industry continues to thrive with 75 million visitors during 2018 alone. Urban core grows Downtown Orlando’s renaissance continues, with a total of $2 billion in new …
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Stonelake Capital Partners is underway on construction of Domain Tower II, a 24-story office project within The Domain mixed-use development on Austin’s north side. Designed by Beck Group, the property will ultimately span 330,000 square feet. A timeline for completion was not released. Stonelake recently completed construction of Domain Tower, which is fully leased to employment search engine Indeed.
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — JLL has negotiated a 22,414-square-foot office lease for Property Damage Appraisers at the Pier 1 Imports building in Fort Worth. The space will serve as the company’s new corporate headquarters. Michael Morgan of Hertz Investment Group, which owns the building, and Pat McDowell of JLL handled the transaction.
Crescent Communities to Construct 158,000 SF Office Building in Charlotte’s University Research Park
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Crescent Communities will construct Escent Research Park, a four-story, 158,000-square-foot office building within Charlotte’s University Research Park submarket. The site spans 20 acres and is located near the intersection of West Mallard Creek Church Road and David Taylor Drive, a mile from Interstate 85. BB+M Architecture is the project architect, ColeJenest & Stone is the civil engineer and Choate Construction is the general contractor. Crescent expects to deliver the property in early 2021.
TAMPA, FLA. — RealOp Investments has sold Bay West Commerce Park, an eight-building, 195,558-square-foot office campus in Tampa’s Westshore submarket, for $26.7 million. RealOp acquired the property in 2017 and invested $1.5 million in renovations during its ownership. The campus, located six miles west of downtown Tampa, was 86 percent leased at the time of sale. Dale Peterson of CBRE represented the seller in the transaction. The buyer was not disclosed.
WORCESTER, MASS. — Kelleher & Sadowsky Associates Inc. has brokered the sale of Worcester Plaza Tower, a 244,000-square-foot office tower in central Massachusetts. The sales price was $16.5 million. The 24-story tower is the tallest office building in Worcester. Kelleher & Sadowsky represented the seller, S-BNK Worcester Main, an entity registered to the Casey Brothers Trust of Boston. The firm also procured the buyer, Synergy Investments, which plans to make capital improvements to the property.
NEW YORK CITY — SL Green Realty Corp., a publicly traded office investment firm, has acquired 603 West 50th Street, a 160,000-square-foot office building in Manhattan. KCP Holdco Inc., an affiliate of the seller that currently occupies the property, will lease approximately 40,000-square-feet of office space to serve as its headquarters. SL Green will undertake a full-building repositioning to elevate the profile of this asset, which was originally built in 1940. Woody Heller and David Heller of Savills Studley represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction.
BOSTON — Alduwaliya, a Qatar-based investment firm, has purchased 99 Chauncy Street and 101 Summer Street, two office buildings totaling 159,781 square feet in Boston’s Financial District. Both properties include ground-floor retail space and were fully leased at the time of sale to tenants with an average weighted lease term of 7.2 years. Scott Dragos, Doug Jacoby, Chris Skeffington, Roy Sandeman, Anthony Hayes, Timothy Mulhall and Daniel Hines of CBRE represented the seller, Nuveen Real Estate, in the transaction. The price was not disclosed.
SAN BERNARDINO, CALIF. — A joint venture between Harbor Associates and Taconic Capital Advisors has acquired a five-building office portfolio located within the 153-acre Tri City Corporate Center office park in San Bernardino. An undisclosed seller sold the assets for $41.7 million in an off-market transaction. Totaling 368,000 square feet, the buildings range from 70,000 square feet to 115,000 square feet. The portfolio, which is collectively 55 percent leased to 28 tenants, represents the only block of contiguous office space of more than 75,000 square feet in the Inland Empire. The joint venture plans to re-position and lease-up the assets through a renovation program across the portfolio that includes upgraded building entries and lobby experiences, elevator improvements, new roofs and replacement of the original HVAC units. Upon completion, the portfolio will feature rent-ready speculative suites, electric vehicle charging stations, LED lighting retrofit, as well as new building and project signage. Anthony Delorenzo, Todd Tydlaska and Sammy Cemo of CBRE represented the seller in the deal. The acquisition was leveraged with short-term financing from a subsidiary of Granite Point Mortgage Trust, which is externally managed by Pine River Capital Management.
ALGONQUIN, ILL. AND EARTH CITY, MO. — NAI Hiffman has negotiated the sale-leaseback of several properties occupied by Young Innovations Inc. for $17.1 million. Young Innovations is a manufacturer and distributor of consumable dental supplies and equipment. The assets include the company’s 95,000-square-foot headquarters at 2260 Wendt St. in Algonquin as well as the firm’s three manufacturing facilities totaling 117,400 square feet in Earth City, a suburb of St. Louis. Young Innovations will maintain operations at all properties under a 20-year lease with the buyer, New York-based New Mountain Net Lease. Pat Sullivan and Ryan Chambers of NAI Hiffman brokered the sale.