PEABODY, MASS. — Fantini & Gorga has arranged a $2.5 million loan to refinance a four-story office building in Peabody. Located at 1R Newbury St., the 40,861-square-foot property is currently occupied by 22 tenants. The building is part of Peabody Corporate Center. Derek Coulombe and Lindsay Feig of Fantini & Gorga secured the 15-year, fixed-rate loan on behalf of the undisclosed borrower. The lender was not disclosed.
CHICAGO — Interra Realty has arranged the sale of 1827 W. Hubbard, a 33,000-square-foot flex office building in Chicago’s West Town neighborhood. Chicago-based Dayton Street Partners LLC paid $3.9 million to acquire the structure located within the Kinzie Industrial Corridor. Interra’s Colin O’Malley and Jon Morgan represented the private seller. Built in 1960, the 33,000-square-foot building is currently leased to a single tenant, Tablescapes Chicago Party Rentals. The property features 6,320 square feet of fully conditioned showroom space, two loading docks and a paved parking lot with space for 34 vehicles. The city’s proposed rezoning of the Kinzie Industrial Corridor is attracting strong interest from investors and developers as they look to move west of Fulton Market, according to Interra Realty. The property is located less than a mile from Metra’s Western Avenue station and the Chicago Transit Authority’s Green/Pink Line station at Ashland/Lake. The planned Green Line stop at Damen/Lake, scheduled for completion in 2020, is expected to further enhance accessibility in the immediate area, which is approximately one mile from both the Kennedy and Eisenhower expressways.
Long before the emergence of Fulton Market, local real estate professionals referred to the West Loop as the office submarket between Wells Street and immediately west of the Chicago River. But today some also refer to the Fulton Market area, an area one mile west and across a natural boundary of the Kennedy Expressway, as the West Loop. So which is it? The West Loop is the leading — and by far the largest — office submarket in Chicago with over 50 million square feet of office space inventory. Its proximity to public transportation and wide setbacks along Wacker Drive and the Chicago River offer better view corridors and more access to natural light — key competitive advantages in an area that permits more buildable density than the periphery of the central business district (CBD). On the other hand, Fulton Market has its own distinct “edgy” identity that some area office tenants consider the antithesis of the Loop (recall that the original reference to the Loop meant the area surrounded by the Elevated CTA tracks, the “El,” that loops around the CBD). The West Loop proper has witnessed significant change in the last 10 to 15 years. The …
DALLAS — JP Morgan Chase has signed a 41,906-square-foot office lease renewal at Preston Commons, a three-building office park located in the University Park area of Dallas. The 427,799-square-foot property, which is owned by California-based KBS, features an outdoor patio, fitness center and an onsite restaurant and bar. Russell Cosby and Torrey Littlejohn of JLL represented JP Morgan Chase in the lease negotiations.
PHOENIX — George Oliver has unveiled plans for its redevelopment of CASA, an office building in Phoenix’s Uptown neighborhood. The company plans to implement a $17 million renovation to re-establish CASA from a 1989-built project, previously known as Catalina Terraces, into a modern Class A office space focused on community, health and wellness. Renovations will keep the 181,188-square-foot building’s Spanish architectural roots, including natural wood elements and smooth stucco finishes, as well as updated modern lobbies, updated restrooms, an exterior facelift and new landscaping. Tenant amenities will include a tenant lounge and café operated by Kaleidoscope Juice and a training center with the ability to host approximately 60 guests. The property will feature two centralized courtyards with water features and seating, as well as an on-site co-working facility operated by the ownership accommodating users ranging from one to 10 desks. CASA will also include a wellness center with a yoga room, new fitness center with showers, on-site meditation room, salon with hair stylist and dog park. The ownership also plans to include a two-story dining experience with dedicated food truck parking, climate-controlled space, a shaded outdoor dining area, and outdoor games and lounge space. Phoenix-based George Oliver purchased the CASA …
LEXINGTON, MASS. — CBRE has brokered the sale of a 78,717-square-foot office building in Lexington for an undisclosed price. Located at 131 Hartwell Ave., the three-story building is located on more than five acres in the heart of the Route 128 Technology Corridor in Lexington. The property was renovated in 2014 and is currently 80 percent leased to six tenants. Roy Sandeman, Chris Skeffington and Jason Levendusky of CBRE represented the seller, Griffith Properties, in the transaction. The buyer was Azad Legacy Partners.
NORCROSS, GA. — Alliance Residential has acquired the former WestRock office campus in the northeastern Atlanta suburb of Norcross. The vacant site has eight office buildings, of which two will be preserved and transformed into 90 residential units and coworking space in Alliance Residential’s planned Broadstone Norcross apartment community. Alliance Residential will construct two four-story buildings that will house 200 rental units. The project will also include a half-acre park. The 12-acre site is located at 504 Thrasher St., two blocks south of downtown Norcross and about 19 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta. The community is expected to be open to residents in 2020.
Boston’s metro west office market continued to move along at a steady clip in 2018. Many of the trends seen in the west market have been consistent over the past few years. One of the most prominent trends is that tenants continue to prefer high-quality properties. Class A product has benefited from the demand, resulting in a limited supply of Class A large blocks. In contrast, commodity space is still lagging from a demand standpoint. Additionally, many landlords have been performing gut renovations on older properties and have been reaping the rewards of their investments. The west market has also benefited from tenants migrating from Cambridge and life science demand, which are two closely related trends. Cambridge, particularly Kendall Square, is well known as the national hub of the life science industry. With that pedigree, pricing there has grown tremendously, and available space is scarce. As such, many life science occupiers are looking west to fulfill their needs, and the Cambridge market conditions have pushed other non-life science occupiers west as well. A proximity to the inner urban core makes towns like Watertown and Waltham particularly attractive. The above trends are not new, but one is. New economy tenants, who …
WEST OMAHA, NEB. — Darland Construction Co. is underway on Pacific Springs Center II, a 40,000-square-foot office complex in West Omaha. Located on the northwest corner of 168th and Pacific streets, the two-story property features an underground parking garage. Completion is slated for this fall. Investors Realty is handling management and leasing for the project. Avant Architects is the architect and Century Development is the developer.
NEW YORK STATE — Jacobson Properties has brokered the $45 million sale of the New York State Medical Office Portfolio, five properties located in the Capital Region and Hudson Valley of New York State. The 209,382-square-foot portfolio is anchored by St. Peter’s Hospital, Ellis Hospital, Seton Health System and Westchester Medical Center Health Network. Lisa Menin of Jacobson Properties and Leo Jones of Cushman & Wakefield/Pyramid Brokerage Co. represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction. The buyer was a national private equity healthcare investor.