SANTA MONICA, CALIF. — Olive Hill has purchased a 112,987-square-foot office building in downtown Santa Monica for $117 million. The Class A building is located at 520 Broadway. The asset was built in 1981. It underwent a $13.2 million renovation in 2013. The space is now 82 percent occupied. Eastdil Secured represented Olive Hill in this transaction, while Steven Edwards and Grace Winters of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips served as its legal guidance. The seller was not named.
MAPLE GROVE, MINN. — Onward Investors has sold Wedgewood Commerce Center in Maple Grove, a northwest suburb of Minneapolis, for $8.4 million. Built in 1988, the 85,404-square-foot office building is located at 6900 Wedgwood Road. Onward purchased the property in February 2015 and subsequently renovated vacant office spaces and made significant upgrades to the lobby. Additional upgraded amenities include a bike room that allows tenants to store and service their bikes on site. Major tenants include Henningson & Snoxell, PartnerRe America Insurance Co. and McKinstry Communications. Atlanta-based WCC Partners LP was the buyer.
NASHUA, N.H. — A&G Partners has closed the sale of Daniel Webster College’s 53-acre campus, formerly owned by ITT Educational Services, to Hong Kong-based user for $11.6 million. The campus housed 13 buildings totaling 281,000 square feet. The transaction — approved October 25, 2017, by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Indianapolis — followed the closing in November of A&G’s sale of the college’s aviation-specific facilities to Southern New Hampshire University. Assets at the former aviation school included a hangar, flight center, library, gym, townhouse and six additional buildings.
WEST HARTFORD, CONN. — Sentry Commercial has brokered the acquisition of an office building located at 28 N. Main St. in West Hartford. North Main Holdings LLC purchased the property from Rosenfield/Hollander Associates for $1.2 million. Situated on half an acre, the property features 9,392 square feet of office space. Sentry Commercial represented the buyer, while Chozick Realty represented the seller in the deal.
ORLANDO, FLA. — Atlanta-based Cousins Properties has sold a three-building, 1 million-square-foot office portfolio in Orlando for $208.1 million. The portfolio includes Bank of America Center, Citrus Center and One Orlando Centre. The seller was not disclosed, but The Real Deal reports San Diego-based Southwest Value Partners acquired the assets in a single transaction. In addition to the portfolio, Cousins Properties recently sold its 20 percent interest in Courvoisier Center, a 343,000-square-foot office building in Miami’s Brickell Key district, to its joint venture partner for $33.9 million, which included its share of joint venture debt.
DALLAS — Gaedeke Group has signed four tenants to leases at three of its office towers in Uptown Dallas. The transactions include Bain & Co. expanding its footprint at 17Seventeen McKinney by 15,122 square feet; Native International Realty leasing 7,000 square feet of office space and Sallio Itallio leasing 5,216 square feet of dining space at One McKinney Plaza; and Priority Management Services leasing 6,780 square feet of office space at Regency Plaza. Elliott Prieur and Allison Johnston represented Gaedeke internally in all four transactions. The tenant representation in all four deals include Charlie Morris of Avison Young representing Bain & Co., Duke Biggers of Swearingen Realty Group representing Native International, Kimberly Rote of Allie Beth Allman & Associates representing Priority Management and John Evans and Emilie Gioia of John T. Evans Co. representing Sallio Itallio. Dallas-based Gaedeke Group’s portfolio spans 3.4 million square feet of Class A office buildings in Arizona, Florida, Tennessee, Texas and Washington, D.C.
As 2018 begins, it appears that the Greater Portland office market has continued to hold on to low vacancy rates as supply remains low across both Class A and Class B buildings throughout the market. CBRE/The Boulos Co is conducting its annual market outlook; it will be exciting to see the results, which we release in January. I anticipate the numbers to show a steady or slight decrease in vacancy rates across all submarkets but also show a much lower absorption rate, as momentum has appeared to slow down over the last 18 months. Transaction volume is trending far lower than in previous years and could possibly be the lowest number of transactions in the last seven years. However, there were a number a relatively large transactions completed over the last six months that will have a larger impact on the overall vacancy rate than simple transact ion volume. And we must consider that the small number of leases signed could also be due in part to limited supply. The Downtown Portland Class A office market, in particular, continues to operate at historically low vacancy rates. Over the last five years, there has been a steady decline in Class A …
DENVER — Heitman LLC has purchased a 309,988-square-foot trophy office building in Denver for an undisclosed sum. The Class AA tower is located at 1401 Lawrence St. It sits adjacent to Larimer Square and the Four Seasons hotel at the convergence of Denver’s LoDo (lower downtown) neighborhood and the Central Business District. The property features 10-foot finished ceilings with floor-to-ceiling windows, outdoor terraces and balconies, 360-degree views from every floor including unobstructed panoramas of the Rocky Mountains, an exterior glass façade, state-of-the-art building systems, and a seven-story, above-grade parking garage. The asset is 98 percent leased to tenants like CoBiz Financial, Jagged Peak Energy and law firm Polsinelli. CBRE represented the seller, First Gulf Corporation of Toronto, which also developed the property.
MINNEAPOLIS — Mesa West Capital has provided a $20 million loan for the refinancing of the Colwell Building in Minneapolis. Built in 1909, the 150,000-square-foot office building is located at 123 N. 3rd St. in the Warehouse District. A joint venture led by San Francisco-based Spear Street Capital recently completed the first phase of a multi-million dollar renovation of the property. Improvements included new terrazzo floors in the lobby, upgrades to the elevator systems, a new HVAC system and new windows. Proceeds from the five-year loan will be used to build a fitness center and bike storage room, as well as to fund leasing and tenant improvement costs associated with stabilizing the building.
RALEIGH, N.C. — Cushman & Wakefield has arranged the $30 million sale of The Arbors, a three-building, 211,504-square-foot office portfolio in Raleigh. The buildings are located at 3120, 3128 and 3200 Highwoods Blvd., within Highwoods Office Center. Cushman & Wakefield arranged the transaction on behalf of the seller, a partnership between The Simpson Organization and Harbert Management Corp. A joint venture between B&G Real Estate Investment Management and Priam Capital acquired The Arbors, which was 99 percent leased at the time of sale. Dennis Hurley, Hillman Duncan and Patti Autry of Cushman & Wakefield will handle the portfolio’s leasing assignment on behalf of the new owners.
