CLEVELAND — PGIM Real Estate Finance has opened a new Cleveland office and hired an originations team led by Bruce Gerhart and David Strachan. PGIM Real Estate Finance is the commercial mortgage finance business of PGIM, the $1 trillion global investment management business of Prudential Financial Inc. (NYSE: PRU). The new team will be responsible for sourcing and originating loans for affordable housing, Federal Housing Administration (FHA) multifamily, healthcare and seniors housing with a focus on Ohio, Michigan and the Midwest region. The team will report to Hal Collett, head of FHA and affordable lending for PGIM Real Estate Finance. Gerhart, Strachan and their production team of Thomas Bruce and Troy Buckley formerly worked together at Love Funding Corp.
CLEVELAND — Berkadia has arranged a $100 million refinancing of the Ernst & Young Office Tower, a 23-story property in downtown Cleveland.The Class A building is located at 950 Main Ave. and totals 465,000 square feet. Onsite amenities include garage parking, a dry cleaner, a fitness center and concierge services. According to LoopNet Inc., the property has a Walk Score of 85 (out of 100) due to its proximity to numerous downtown restaurants, a commuter rail and Cleveland’s waterfront district. Ernst & Young, a London-based accounting firm, moved into the building upon its completion in 2013, occupying the top six floors. The building was 95 percent leased at the time of the loan closing to other tenants such as law firm Tucker Ellis and Wells Fargo, which houses its regional Cleveland office in the building. Ernst & Young Tower also adjoins a 150-room Starwood Aloft Hotel. Mark Vogel and Eric Bevilacqua of Berkadia arranged the financing through J.P. Morgan with mezzanine debt from Axonic Capital LLC. The borrower was The Wolstein Group, an Ohio-based development and investment firm.The two-year permanent refinancing features an adjustable interest rate, three one-year extension options, an 80 percent loan-to-value ratio and interest-only payments. — Taylor …
ATLANTA — Preferred Office Properties, a subsidiary of Preferred Apartment Communities Inc., has closed an investment loan worth up to $67.6 million for 8 West, a 187,000-square-foot office building planned to rise in Atlanta’s West Midtown district. Preferred Office Properties has the option to purchase 8 West upon stabilization from the developers, Atlantic Capital Properties and Gateway Development. Situated at the corner of Howell Mill Road and 8th Street, 8 West will be built on a speculative basis and cost roughly $150 million to develop, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle.
NEW YORK CITY — New York City-based real estate investment owner/operator Savanna has acquired a 12-story, 126,256-square-foot office and retail building in the NoMad neighborhood of Manhattan. The sales price was $100 million. Located at 48 W. 25th St., the property was built in 1920. Savanna plans to implement a $21 million capital improvement plan at the property, which will include a complete lobby renovation as well as roof and façade repairs. Adam Spies, Adam Doneger and Josh King of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, a longtime family owner, in the transaction.
CHICAGO — GlenStar Properties LLC and its joint venture Angelo Gordon & Co. LP have unveiled plans to complete a $20 million renovation of President’s Plaza in Chicago’s O’Hare submarket. The two-building, 830,479-square-foot office property is located at 8600 and 8700 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. Plans call for a lobby refresh at both buildings, new tenant lounge with a coffee café, renovation of the fitness center, renovation of the deli, new technology for the conference center, new lobby stairwell, new passenger elevator interiors and corridor renovations. Completion is slated for the second quarter of 2019. Major tenants at the property include True Value, American Imaging Management and Lafarge North America. Occupancy stands at 94.4 percent.
ATLANTA — Transportation giant Norfolk Southern will relocate its headquarters from Norfolk, Va., to Midtown Atlanta. The railroad company is expected to buy a site at 650 W. Peachtree St. from Cousins Properties for $575 million. The Atlanta-based real estate owner and developer will manage the office campus when the project is completed. Norfolk Southern president and CEO Jim Squires says the headquarters will be complete in 2021. The announcement comes on the heels of Norfolk Southern selling its land in downtown Atlanta’s Gulch area for a reported $115 million to Los Angeles-based CIM Group. CIM Group plans to redevelop the 16.3-acre site into a “mini-city,” with office buildings, residential units, hotels, shops and restaurants. The Atlanta City Council approved the plans in November. Norfolk Southern is expected to put money from the sale toward its new headquarters.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) will expand its operations in Austin by building a $1 billion campus in North Austin, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company announced Thursday morning. The new campus will be located less than one mile from existing facilities, though the exact site and development timeline were not disclosed. Apple officials said the 133-acre campus is expected to initially employ 5,000 new workers with the potential to house 15,000 employees, which Apple says would make it the largest private employer in Austin. The jobs to be created will be in engineering, research and development, operations, finance, sales and customer support. “Apple is proud to bring new investment, jobs and opportunity to cities across the United States and to significantly deepen our quarter-century partnership with the city and people of Austin,” says Apple CEO Tim Cook. “Talent, creativity and tomorrow’s breakthrough ideas aren’t limited by region or ZIP code, and, with this new expansion, we’re redoubling our commitment to cultivating the high-tech sector and workforce nationwide.” The Austin Business Journal reports that the Texas capital is the second-largest hub for Apple outside company headquarters. A recent report by Yardi Systems Inc. pegged Apple as one of Austin’s largest office landlords with …
DENVER — NAI Shames Makovsky has negotiated the sale of an office property, located at 820 16th St. in Denver. Harbor Associates purchased the building from 820 16th Street LLC for $24.5 million. Known as the Symes Building, the property recently underwent renovations and improvements, including to the common-area corridors. Renovations included flooring, wall treatments, lighting, signage and restrooms. The buyer plans additional improvements including amenities, interior and exterior improvements, and more creative office features to the existing space. Dorit Fischer, Hayden Hirschfield, Trent Rice and Connor Donahue of NAI Shames Makovksy represented the seller in the deal.
RIVERSIDE, CALIF. — Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) has directed the purchase of Center Tower Riverside, a five-story office building in downtown Riverside. De Anza Land and Leisure Corp. acquired the property from Irvine-based CIP Real Estate for $20.7 million. Located at 3880 Lemon St., the property features 73,645 square feet of Class A office space. Situated on 1.1 acres, the building was built in 1987 and underwent a more than $3 million renovation in 2017. Renovations included common area improvements and upgrades to the lobby, elevators, corridors, restroom and landscaping. At the time of sale, the building was 94 percent occupied by 11 tenants, including Best Best & Krieger, County of Riverside, Index Fresh, Kimley-Horn & Associates and Reid & Hellyer. Additionally, the property features 248 parking stalls in an adjacent four-level parking structure. John Ewart and John Daciolas of NKF represented the buyers, while Mike Longo, Todd Tydlaska, Sean Sullivan, Barbara Perrier and Darla Longo of CBRE represented the seller in the deal.
SAN ANTONIO — Worth & Associates has broken ground on Farinon Business Park III, an 84,890-square-foot office building in San Antonio. The two-story, Class A property is located within Worth’s master-planned business community at 5818 Farinon Drive on the city’s northwest side. Completion is slated for the third quarter of 2019.