PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Colliers International has negotiated the $10 million partial sale-leaseback of 1 Corporate Place South, a multi-tenant office building in Piscataway that spans 88,780 rentable square feet. Jacklene Chesler, Patrick Norris, Matthew Brown and Angelo Vitale of Colliers represented the seller, Princeton Equities LLC, in the transaction. The buyer was a private New Jersey-based investor. The property, which is situated on a 5.5-acre site, was built in 1981 and upgraded in 1997. Additional lobby and façade renovations were completed in 2009. The building is fully occupied by four tenants including Marlabs, a technology firm that is the properties’ anchor tenant.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — San Francisco-based financial services firm Charles Schwab Corp. has opened a new 50-acre campus within the Gracy Farms community in north Austin. According to the Austin Business Journal, the campus is valued at approximately $200 million. The property spans 469,000 square feet and feature two five-story office buildings. Amenities include walking trails, on-site yoga classes, a cafeteria, 275-seat auditorium and a Schwab bank branch for employees. The campus will house about 1,900 of the firm’s Austin employees. Construction of an additional office building and second parking garage is slated to begin this summer. Charles Schwab first came to Austin in 2000.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — AQUILA Commercial has negotiated the sale of Quarry Lake Business Center, a 117,000-square-foot office building in northwest Austin. The Class A space will serve as the new corporate headquarters for the buyer, Velocity Credit Union. The Florida-based not-for-profit financial institution plans to move into the building by May 2019. Michael Murphy, Jay Lamy and Andrew Reue of AQUILA represented Velocity Credit Union in the transaction. Jeremy Smitheal and Win Smith internally represented the seller, Riverside Resources.
MILWAUKEE — Irgens has begun construction of BMO Tower in downtown Milwaukee. Four concrete pumps poured 6,700 cubic yards of concrete over the weekend to create the foundation for the 380,000-square-foot office tower. Completion is slated for late 2019. Located at 770 N. Water St., the tower will rise 20 stories. BMO Harris Bank and Michael Best have signed leases at the property. Colliers International is the leasing agent, J.H. Findorff & Son is the general contractor and Kahler Slater is the architect.
HOUSTON — Dallas-based private equity firm Velocis has sold Echo Lane, a two-building, 189,162-square-foot office complex located in the Hedwig Village area of west Houston. Velocis acquired the property in 2012 and raised the occupancy rate from 83 percent to 97 percent during its ownership period. Investment firm 800 Builders acquired the property for an undisclosed price.
DENVER — HFF has arranged refinancing for Stanford Place II, an 18-story Class A office building located in the north end of Denver Technological Center. The borrower is Lowe Enterprises Investors. Eric Tupler of HFF arranged the two-year, floating-rate loan with extension options through a national bridge lender. The loan amount was not disclosed. Completed in 1982, 22 tenants occupy the 366,184-square-foot building, with Western Union as anchor tenant.
CHICAGO — Baker Development Corp. has completed the exterior construction of 2017 N. Mendell, a 62,000-square-foot office redevelopment in Chicago. The property was formerly an industrial building and will be the first Class A office project completed in the North Branch Industrial Corridor since the adoption of zoning changes last year. Customizable spaces at 2017 N. Mendell, a speculative office development, range from 3,800 to 17,000 square feet. The property will feature a 3,000-square-foot rooftop deck and a dedicated food truck court. Windows will automatically adjust to sunlight to reduce glare and improve temperature control. Baker expects to deliver the first spaces during this quarter. A streamlined interior build-out process, featuring pre-selected options for paint, lighting, flooring and wall partitions, will enable businesses to quickly occupy their space.
NEW YORK CITY — Global design firm CallisonRTKL has signed a 10-year lease at the Woolworth Building at 233 Broadway in Manhattan. Mitchell Konsker and David Dusek of JLL represented CallisonRTKL in the transaction. The Lawrence Group represented the building’s owner, The Witkoff Group. CallisonRTKL signed a 28,096-square-foot lease for the entire 16th floor of the building. Architect Cass Gilbert designed The Woolworth Building, which opened in 1912. From 1912 until 1930, it was the world’s tallest building. The Witkoff Group acquired the property in 1998 and restored the historic building.
SAN DIEGO — CIT Group’s Healthcare Finance business, part of the Commercial Finance division, has funded a $15.3 million loan to finance the purchase of Coast Medical Center, a medical office building in San Diego. The borrower is a joint venture between Kayne Anderson and MB Real Estate. Situated 10 miles from downtown San Diego, the four-story building is occupied by a variety of healthcare tenants offering a range of medical services, including surgery, urology, orthopedics and dentistry.
BOTHELL, WASH. — Colliers International has brokered the sale of The Romero Professional Building, a medical office property located at 19110 Bothell Way NE in Bothell, a northeastern suburb of Seattle. LAIT Bothell LLC sold the property to Bothell RE Venture LLC for $3 million, or $307.88 per square foot. Built in 1987, the property features 9,744 square feet. Current tenants are Bothell Endodontics, Bothell Physical Therapy, Eastwind Acupuncture Clinic and Formo Enterprises. Pat Mutzel and Jeff Jeremiah of Colliers represented the seller, while Derek Heed and Gregg Riva, also of Colliers, represented the buyer in the off-market transaction.