VIRGINIA BEACH, VA. — Bcause LLC, a privately held company that is building the world’s first full-stack cryptocurrency ecosystem, will expand its operations and move its corporate headquarters to 5465 Greenwich Road in Virginia Beach. The company will invest $64.8 million and will occupy 84,000 square feet of the former Hoffman Beverage building. Cryptocurrency is a digital asset that uses cryptography to secure transactions, control the creation of additional units and verify the transfer of assets. This type of currency, including bitcoin, is available only in digital form. The U.S. Treasury classified bitcoin as a legal, convertible, decentralized virtual currency in 2013. Bcause plans to create 100 new full-time jobs with the expansion. The new building has an additional 21,000 square feet of space available for future expansion.
CLEVELAND, OHIO — Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital LLC has arranged a $57 million loan for the refinancing of One Cleveland Center in Cleveland. Renovated in 2011, the property includes 543,945 square feet of Class A office space, along with a 1,100-square-foot attached parking garage. The 31-story building features an on-site café, dry cleaning service, security and an underground pedestrian connection. Jim Doyle and Ross Halloran of Bellwether arranged the 10-year CMBS loan on behalf of the borrower, Optima 1375 II LLC. Rialto provided the loan, which was used to refinance both the building and parking garage as well as fund tenant improvements.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A joint venture between Paris-based AXA Investment Managers – Real Assets and Stewart Investment Partners has acquired 1401 New York Avenue NW, a 210,000-square-foot office property located in Washington, D.C.’s East End, for $165 million. AXA holds the majority interest in the partnership. The sellers, Heitman and Minshall Stewart Properties, originally acquired the property in December 2013 from Lone Star Funds for $95 million. Stewart Investment Partners is a successor firm spun out from Minshall Stewart Properties. The 12-story building is LEED Gold certified and features ground-level retail and a below-grade parking garage. The property was originally built in 1983, and recently underwent renovations that included a redesigned lobby, retail frontage, the addition of new tenant amenities and the replacement of the building’s original masonry façade with a glass curtain wall system. This property is AXA’s second investment in the Washington, D.C., metro over the past few months. The company acquired Montgomery Tower, a 366,800-square-foot office tower located in Bethesda, Md., in October of last year for $132.8 million. Paris, France-based AXA Investment Managers – Real Assets operates offices in 20 countries throughout Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America. The company has 74 billion euros in assets under …
HOUSTON — Law firm Jackson Walker has signed a 77,015-square-foot office lease renewal and expansion at 5 Houston Center, a 580,000-square-foot, Class A office property in downtown Houston. The lease includes a renewal of the existing 74,094 square feet occupied by the firm and an expansion of 2,921 square feet. Eric Anderson and Tyler Garrett of Transwestern represented the landlord, Spear Street Capital, in the lease negotiations. Tim Relyea of Cushman & Wakefield represented Jackson Walker.
BROOMFIELD, COLO. — Invesco Advisers has purchased a 186,231-square-foot office building in Broomfield for $47.1 million. The building is located at 105 Edgeview Drive. The asset is fully leased, with the anchor tenant being Gogo, an in-flight internet and entertainment provider. The newly built property, known as Gogo Building at Interlocken, was developed by Hines and designed by Forum Architects. It is the first phase of Hines’ EOS at Interlocken office campus development. NKF represented Hines in this transaction.
PORTLAND, ORE. — A joint venture between Goldman Sachs Asset Management Private Real Estate and HP Investors has acquired a two-property office portfolio in Portland for an undisclosed sum. The properties included in the transaction are Block 90 and 300 Building. The portfolio contains a total of 85,753 square feet. The assets are situated adjacent to one another. They comprise an entire block in the Pearl District and are listed on the National Historic Register. The JV plans to maintain the boutique creative office space that caters to demand from a wide range of tenants in the marketplace looking for authentic, repurposed office space.
ATLANTA — CBRE has arranged the sale of University Office Park, a 1.2 million-square-foot office park situated on 78 acres in Atlanta’s Northeast office submarket. Jason Parsonnet, Will Yowell, Jay O’Meara and Ryan Reethof of CBRE arranged the transaction on behalf of the seller, DRA Advisors. An Atlanta-based investment group acquired the 21-building campus for an undisclosed price. The Centers for Disease Control, FEMA and the IRS anchor University Office Park. In addition, the park is home to information technology services firm WiPro Limited’s operations hub and training center. CBRE has been retained by the new ownership to lease and manage the office park.
ATLANTA — London-based GSMA, a trade organization that represents the interests of more than 800 mobile operators worldwide, has opened its new North American regional office at 165 Ottley Drive in Atlanta’s Armour Yards development. GSMA operator members in the North American region include companies such as AT&T, Bell Mobility, Digicel, Rogers Communications, Sprint, T-Mobile, Telus and Verizon. GSMA held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the grand opening on Friday, Jan. 11. The new office space features flexible work areas, open collaboration and meeting facilities and access to amenities within the Armour Yards campus. The building will house roughly 90 GSMA employees. Situated near the BeltLine, Armour Yards comprises 28 buildings and is home to companies including Sweetwater Brewing Co., American Sprit Works, Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q and East Pole Coffee Co. The loft-office portion is housed within four former industrial buildings and features creative office space.
NEW YORK CITY — ATCO Properties & Management has closed a $72.7 million refinancing for an office building located at 240-246 W. 35th St. in Manhattan’s Garment District. MetLife Investment Management provided the five-year, fixed-rate loan. Jordan Roeschlaub and Dustin Stolly of Newmark Knight Frank arranged the financing. ATCO acquired the 165,000-square-foot building in 2016 and has executed new leases and implemented capital improvement projects at the 18-story property. The company executed 47,000 square feet of new leases and renewals during 2017 and completed several improvement projects, including a new lobby renovation, common corridor upgrades and sidewalk improvements. Newsday, Fidelus Technologies, Jason Wu, Carrier Enterprises Northeast, Nexguard Labs and Café Metro are tenants at the building.
PHOENIXVILLE, PA. — HFF has arranged the sale of a single-tenant office building located at 1140 Valley Forge Road in Phoenixville, a suburb of Philadelphia. A Philadelphia-based family office sold the building for $6.6 million. Constructed as a build-to-suit in 1994 for Environmental Standards Inc., the property features 30,588 square feet of office space, including a 10,000-square-foot expansion that was added in 2013. Brett Segal and Doug Rodio of HFF represented the seller in the deal.