LEAWOOD, KAN. — VanTrust Real Estate LLC, in partnership with Hallbrook Office Center LLC, has unveiled plans to develop a new 120,527-square-foot office building at Hallbrook Office Center in Leawood. This is the third building planned for the office park. Miles McCune and Jeff Winters of Cushman & Wakefield will market the building for lease. The new structure will sit on eight acres at College Boulevard and State Line Road. While the first two buildings at Hallbrook were built on a speculative basis, the project team does not plan to begin construction on the third building until commitments for at least one floor of the property (30,000 square feet) are secured.
AURORA, ILL. — Transwestern Commercial Services has brokered the sale of 2357 Sequoia Drive in Aurora for $12.5 million. The 50,000-square-foot, single-story office building is fully leased to Dreyer Medical, an affiliate of Advocate Health Care. Gary Nussbaum and Paige Gunn of Transwestern represented the seller, Downers Grove-based REM Builders Inc. Maryland-based Global Medical REIT Inc. purchased the asset.
HOUSTON — ENGIE North America Inc., which provides operating solutions for the energy industry, has signed a 110,000-square-foot office lease at 1360 Post Oak Blvd. in Houston. The company will relocate its North American headquarters from nearby 1990 Post Oak Blvd. and occupy floors four through nine beginning in December 2019. Louis Rosenthal and Bruce Rutherford of JLL represented ENGIE North America in the lease negotiations. Eric Anderson, David Baker and Tyler Garrett of Transwestern represented the landlord, a joint venture between Nuveen Real Estate and Allianz. Morgan Relyea and Tim Relyea of Cushman & Wakefield represented an undisclosed lessee that surrendered some of it excess space to enable ENGIE to meet its space requirements.
MEDLEY AND DORAL, FLA. — Bridge Investment Group LLC, a Salt Lake City-based investment firm, has acquired two office properties totaling more than 500,000 square feet in the western Miami metro area. The price was not disclosed. The properties include the Offices at Flagler Station in Medley and the Offices at Doral Square in Doral. The buildings are approximately five miles away from each other, and just west of Miami International Airport. The Offices at Flagler Station is a collection of three buildings totaling 387,474 square feet within the Flagler Station Business Park. Bridge plans to invest $5.2 million to renovate the fitness centers, conference facilities and cafes of all three buildings. Renovations are slated for completion in 2020. At the time of sale, the buildings were 91 percent leased, with available offices ranging from 1,507 to 16,970 square feet. The Offices at Doral Square is an eight-story, 141,205-square-foot property originally built in 1979. A recent $8.5 million renovation project upgraded the lobby, corridors, bathrooms and elevators. The investment also funded completion of a new roof and three-story parking deck. At the time of sale, the building was 89 percent leased, with available offices ranging from 1,974 to 8,165 square …
Greater Phoenix has re-cast itself in this real estate cycle. It is no longer expected to play the “boom-to-bust” role in the office sector. The metro area has definitely expanded its breadth of industries, reaching beyond homebuilding and professional services to now feature some of the country’s leading insurance corporations, technology companies and medical innovators. This diversification promises to buffer any future fall in nationwide economic activity. Greater Phoenix continues to lead the country in job creation, adding an estimated 66,500 net new jobs between May 2018 and May 2019, marking a 3.2 percent increase. These jobs are coming from companies like Carvana, AllState and WageWorks. Phoenix has benefitted from great exposure from in the national media, which has matriculated to corporate America and attracted broad attention. The Greater Phoenix MSA boasts a phenomenal combination of attractive cost of living, growing wages and an enviable lifestyle. This package of appealing factors has allowed Phoenix to garner more than its fair share of corporate expansions and relocations throughout the Western U.S. Demand has been strong for office space in the area. However, a diminishing availability of quality, speculative space is creating a battle for the tenants. Sizable users wanting signature spaces …
NEW YORK CITY — A partnership between New York-based developers F&T Group and SCG America has opened Tangram Tower, an 85,000-square-foot office building within the Tangram mixed-use development in Queens. The building is currently 80 percent sold to medical practitioners and other professionals. Tangram Tower offers access to the 1.2 million-square-foot Tangram development’s two residential towers and hotel, as well as an array of retail and culinary options. Margulies Hoelzli Architecture designed the development.
CHICAGO — Coworking giant WeWork has leased 89,500 square feet at 1155 W. Fulton St. in Chicago’s Fulton Market. The lease represents all of the office space within the building, which was acquired earlier this year by Barnett Capital Ltd. and Domus Special Situations Group and is undergoing a redevelopment. As originally developed, 1133 and 1155 were separate three-story industrial buildings. Through the redevelopment process, the new ownership has combined the buildings to create larger floorplates, add a fourth floor and convert the property into office and retail space. A rooftop deck and amenity space will wrap around the perimeter of the fourth floor. The property spans a total of 100,000 square feet. The location will serve as WeWork’s 13th location in Chicago.
MESA, TEMPE AND SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. — Harvard Investments and Lincoln Property Co. (LPC) have completed the sale of Waypoint, a suburban Class A office campus located in Mesa, Tempe and Scottsdale. New York City-based Innovatus Capital Partners acquired the four-building asset for $107.6 million. Harvard and LPC developed the first 108,956-square-foot building at Waypoint in 2014 as a build-to-suit that was fully pre-leased to Verrda Mobility, formerly American Traffic Solutions. In 2016, the partnership completed the second 153,134-square-foot building. Additionally, the companies purchased two adjacent existing buildings to create the four-building, 426,951-square-foot Waypoint campus. At the time of sale, the campus was 98 percent leased. Tenants include Cognizant, Verra Mobility, Mitel, Ashton Woods, Beazer Homes, Nextcare, Udall Shumway and EPS Group. LPC serves as property manager for all four buildings and the company will maintain the management assignment as part of its almost 10 million-square-foot Phoenix property management portfolio. Dave Carder and Scott Boardman of Cushman & Wakefield are handling leasing for the property.
Intercontinental Real Estate, Harvest Properties Purchase 85,580 SF Office Building in San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO — Intercontinental Real Estate Corp. and Harvest Properties have completed the acquisition and recapitalization of 400 Montgomery, a historic office building located in San Francisco’s Financial District. Located at the corner of California and Montgomery streets, 400 Montgomery features 85,580 square feet of office space. Constructed in 1901, the building has undergone a multi-million-dollar capital improvement program that included upgraded building systems and infrastructure, a new lobby, refreshed common areas and restrooms, as well as a complete façade restoration to preserve the building’s Renaissance/Baroque architecture and ornamentation. Additionally, more than half of the building’s space was redesigned as creative office space offering more than 13-foot ceiling heights, polished concrete floors and operable windows. At the time of sale, the building was 91 percent occupied by a variety of tenants, including Hexagone, Clearmetal, WE Communications, Lightsource Renewable Energy, Bank of Guam and Sterling Bank & Trust. Rob Hielscher, Michel Seifer, Erik Hanson, Cheri Pierce, Kristina Wollan and Michael Manas of JLL advised on the transaction.
ATLANTA — Gene Kansas Commercial Real Estate plans to open Indie Studios, a 35,000-square-foot coworking space in Atlanta, in spring 2020. Located at 190 Ottley Drive, Indie Studios will be fashioned for designers and creative companies with 12 spaces accommodating eight to 20 people. Indie Studios will also include “Studio X,” a technology-driven space for software developers creating programs, products and processes that center on design. Amenities at Indie Studios will include a living room, conference rooms, full-service café, community space, porches, patios, 150 linear feet of front garden and cinnamon rolls served each afternoon with complimentary coffee. Additionally, the space is situated across the street from SweetWater Brewing Co. Atlanta-based Gene Kansas will develop, lease and manage Indie Studios.