The Kansas City office market is poised for increasing rental rates and decreasing vacancy rates for the remainder of 2017 and into 2018. Kansas City has realized its 14th consecutive quarter of increased rental rates (through March 2017), while vacancy has decreased in the overall metro area due to lack of new office construction and a steady pace of absorption. Several factors contribute to the complexity of why the market is good but not great, steady but not dynamic, with no one factor driving the steady upward climb. It has been like a plane taking off but never reaching full altitude. A contradiction of sorts is contributing to the rental rate increases and vacancy decline, while there is still a lack of newly constructed space. Bread-and-butter leasing absorption and a lack of new speculative development have been the main ingredients in the overall solid market for office activity. The velocity in the market is doing its job of generating positive absorption each quarter while rates inch up. The lack of large blocks of space has created a few new construction projects, but not as many as experts had predicted and hoped for. Costs on the rise Higher construction costs and …
MESA, ARIZ. — Barker Pacific Group (BPG) has acquired Mesa Financial Plaza, a 311,132-square-foot Class A office building in Mesa, for an undisclosed sum. The 16-story building is located at 1201 Alma Road. BPG plans to increase the building’s occupancy and upgrade common areas through renovations to the lobby and corridors. Updated monument signage and lighting will also be added to further enhance the building’s prominence on the skyline. BPG team secured debt financing from NXT Capital with the help of Palmer Capital. Matt Nebeker of Cushman & Wakefield will lead the building’s leasing efforts.
COLUMBIA, S.C. — CBRE has brokered the $28.1 million sale of Tower at 1301 Gervais, a 298,926-square-foot office building in Columbia. Greenville, S.C.-based RealOp Investments acquired the property from Florida-based Morning Calm Management. Patrick Gildea, Aaron Dupree, Martin Moore and Matt Smith of CBRE represented the seller in the transaction. The 20-story Tower at 1301 Gervais recently underwent a $2 million renovation, including upgrades to the fitness center, common areas, restrooms and tenant spaces offering open floor plans. At the time of sale, the building was 80 percent leased to tenants including the University of South Carolina, South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, Cumulus Media, TM Floyd & Co., IT-oLogy and Merrill Lynch.
WHITE BEAR LAKE, MINN. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of a 55,784-square-foot office and warehouse property in White Bear Lake, about 20 miles northeast of Minneapolis, for $3.7 million. The 55,784-square-foot building serves as the SmarteCarte headquarters and is located at 4455 White Bear Parkway. SmarteCarte provides luggage courts and electronic lockers. Michael Ahles of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, a family partnership, and the buyer, a local investment firm.
SAN DIEGO — Anchor Health Properties has obtained a $68 million loan to purchase a San Diego medical office building portfolio. The portfolio contains a total of 206,000 square feet in the La Jolla/UTC submarket. The acquisition includes the two-building Chancellor Park Medical Campus, which is situated near the UC San Diego Jacobs Medical Center and Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla. The properties were built in 1988 as traditional office buildings before they were converted into medical uses. The properties are 94 percent occupied. UC San Diego Health currently leases 44 percent of the buildings, which form the largest outpatient medical campus in UTC and one of the larger outpatient medical campuses in Southern California. The funding will also support future tenant improvements and leasing commissions for the properties. Capital One provided the funds.
SAN DIEGO — Berkadia has secured $29 million in financing for Pinnacle Medical Office in San Diego. The office is located at 10670-10672 Wexford St. in the Scripps Ranch submarket. The property provides services like primary care, wellness exams, treadmill stress testing, annual physicals, sports and camp physicals, full laboratory testing, vaccinations and pre-operative clearance. The 10-year, fixed-rate loan features interest-only payments for the full term and features a 4.3 percent interest rate through Wells Fargo. The borrower was LP Scripps Lot 1 LLC.
SAN FRANCISCO — Shorenstein Co. has purchased an 89,904-square-foot creative office building in the San Francisco submarket of North Waterfront-Jackson Square for an undisclosed sum. The building is located at 901 Battery St. The Swig Company and Medley Partners purchased the asset in December 2012. The JV immediately executed a capital investment program designed to reposition the four-story building as an institutional-quality asset in a submarket growing in popularity with creative tenants. The team recently completed lobby and façade renovations, and upgrades to each tenant floor. The renovated building features large, open floorplates, natural light and high ceilings. NKF’s Kyle Kovac, Michael Taquino, Daniel Cressman and Mandy Lee represented the sellers in this transaction.
HOUSTON — NAI Partners has arranged the sale of an 8,000-square-foot office/warehouse property located at 8715 Fallbrook Drive in Houston. Built in 2006, the property features 20-foot clear heights and 1.13 parking spaces per 1,000 square feet. Trey Martin of NAI represented the buyer, HCM Development LLC, in the transaction. Steve Adkisson of Adkisson Group represented the seller, 8715 Fallbrook LLC.
NORWALK, CONN. — Marcus Partners has completed the disposition of Cross Street Medical Center, located at 40 Cross St. in Norwalk. Anchor Health Properties acquired the property for $23 million. Norwalk Surgery Center/Norwalk Hospital, St. Vincent’s MultiSpecialty Group, WestMed (formerly Norwalk Medical Group) and the Center for Advanced Pediatrics anchor the 71,401-square-foot building. Frank Nelson, Michael Greeley and Danielle DeMarco of Newmark Knight Frank represented the seller in the deal.
BETHLEHEM, PA. — Cronheim Mortgage has secured $117.5 million in permanent and construction financing for Madison Farms, a mixed-use development in Bethlehem, located north of Philadelphia and west of New York City. The development, upon completion, will feature 152,000 square feet of retail anchored by a 67,400-square-foot ShopRite; a two-story, Class A medical office building occupied by the Lehigh Valley Health Network; and 570 luxury one- and two-bedroom residential units across 15 buildings. Tenants at the property’s retail center include Starbucks Coffee, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Provident Bank, Pure Barre, Pet Valu and Supercuts. The residential property features a 6,500-square-foot clubhouse with a billiards room, multimedia center, fitness center, golf simulator and business center, as well as an outdoor deck with a pool, barbecues and fire pits. The financing — provided by American General Life Insurance Co. — consists of two separate loans placed on behalf of Madison Farms Retail and Madison Farms Residential with 20-year terms and 30-year amortization schedules. For Madison Farms Retail, Cronheim arranged $32 million in permanent financing. For Madison Farms Residential, the company secured an $85.5 million credit facility with two years of interest-only payments. This loan provides permanent financing for the 294-unit first phase of residential development, …