NEW YORK CITY — Boston Properties’ consolidated joint venture entity, in which it has 60 percent interest and which owns 767 Fifth Avenue in New York City, has completed the refinancing of approximately $1.6 billion in indebtedness that had been secured by direct and indirect interests in 767 Fifth Avenue. The new mortgage financing has a principal amount of $2.3 billion, has a fixed interest rate and matures in 2027. The loan requires interest-only payments during the 10-year term, with the entire principal amount due at maturity.
FRIDLEY, MINN. — CBRE has brokered the sale of River Road Business Center I-IV in Fridley, about 10 miles north of Minneapolis, for $18.9 million. The office portfolio consists of four buildings and 270,000 square feet. The portfolio was 93 percent occupied at the time of sale by manufacturing, services, healthcare, wholesale products and technology tenants. Constructed between 1986 and 1988, the buildings feature 14-foot clear heights, 28 loading docks and 29 drive-in doors to accommodate a wide variety of users. Q.T. Holdings LLC purchased the portfolio. Judd Welliver, Ryan Watts, Sonja Dusil and Tom Holtz of CBRE represented the seller, Hoyt Properties Inc.
HERNDON, VA. — A new forecast released by the NAIOP Research Foundation calls for approximately 39.7 million square feet of net absorption of office space in 2017. That is about 10 million square feet per quarter — similar to the 41.4 million square feet absorbed in 2016. Greater than expected hiring in the office-using sectors of the economy led to 14.8 million square feet of positive net absorption in the fourth quarter of 2016, well above the 7.8 million square feet that had been projected. The annualized growth rate in office-using jobs was 2.52 percent in the first quarter of 2017, compared with 1.58 percent growth in overall nonfarm payroll employment, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. If growth in office-using employment continues at such a pace, the need for office space will expand rapidly and thus cause actual absorption to come in near or above the 39.7 million square feet of total absorption projected for all of 2017. However, prior experience suggests that growth in the number of office-using jobs will likely decelerate as it moves closer to the overall employment growth average over the long term, according to NAIOP. The forecast is also driven, in part, by …
CHICAGO — CA Ventures has agreed to buy two State Street office buildings in Chicago and redevelop the properties into apartment units as part of a $141 million residential and retail project. Located at 202 and 220 S. State St. and currently owned by the federal government, the vacant buildings were made available through a request for proposals process. The plan calls for the 22-story Consumers Building, designed by Jenny, Mundie & Jensen and completed in 1913, to be rehabilitated as 270 micro-apartments. The 16-story Century Building, designed by Holabird & Roche and completed in 1915, would be rehabilitated and expanded as 159 studio and one-bedroom apartments. The current building at 212 S. State St. would be demolished, and a 15-story structure built in its place. CA Ventures’ proposal to acquire the buildings for $10.4 million involves a simultaneous, three-way transaction involving the General Services Administration (GSA) and the City of Chicago. The offer price and sale terms, expected to be finalized this summer, require review and approval by the GSA and Chicago City Council.
CARMEL, IND. — CBRE has arranged the sale of One & Two Penn Mark office buildings in Carmel, about 20 miles north of Indianapolis. The sales price was not disclosed. Together, the two office buildings combine for 13 floors and 243,271 square feet of Class A office space. Amenities include an exercise facility, tenant lounge, conference center and an outdoor amenity area with shaded seating. Dan Richardson of CBRE represented the seller, TNHYIF REIV Sierra LLC. Omaha-based Metonic Real Estate Solutions was the buyer.
WHIPPANY, N.J. — Barclays Capital, an anchor tenant, has acquired The Crossings at Jefferson Park, an 525,000-square-foot office property located at 115 S. Jefferson Road in Whippany. Vision Real Estate Partners and Rubenstein Partners sold the office campus for $69 million. The seller recently completed a revitalization and rebranding of the 65-acre campus, with the redesign focused on promoting health, wellness and sustainability. The campus features gourmet food services with indoor and open-air seating, a multi-function business lounge with casual seating and WiFi, and a 2,300-square-foot health and wellness center with state-of-the-art equipment, free weights and locker rooms with showers. Arthur J. Gallagher, PSKW, WithumSmith+Brown, JP Morgan Chase and Lord Abbett are tenants at the three-building campus.
NEW HAVEN, CONN. — The Connection Inc. has signed a lease for 13,000 square feet of office space at 900 Chapel St. in New Haven. The private, non-profit human service and community development agency will occupy the full penthouse floor at the 142,439-square-foot office tower. Jeffrey Williams and Hollis Pugh of Colliers International Group represented the tenant, while John Keogh of Dow Condon dba Colliers International represented the landlord, PMC Property Group, in the deal.
BOSTON — Oxford Properties Group has provided a $180 million loan for the refinancing of One Congress Street and the Government Center Garage in Boston. The 11-story, mixed-use asset includes a 1,960-space parking garage with 202,854 square feet of office space and 23,212 square feet of retail space. The borrower was a joint venture between National Real Estate Advisors LLC and its Boston-based development partner, The HYM Investment Group LLC. HFF worked on behalf of the borrower to arrange the short-term, floating-rate loan. The property is centered among many of Boston’s most popular neighborhoods and destinations, including the Financial District, TD Garden, Faneuil Hall Market District, the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, North End, West End and Beacon Hill. The development draws a diverse set of parkers, ranging from commuters to event attendees to residents seeking overnight parking. This location also offers immediate access to entrance ramps for Interstate 93, as well as two on-site subway lines (MBTA Green Line and Orange Line), providing connectivity to greater Boston. The property is also the site of Bulfinch Crossing, a 2.9 million-square-foot mixed-use development project that will consist of residential, office, hotel and retail uses. Led by the borrower, the Bulfinch Crossing project …
The Urban Land Institute (ULI) listed Pittsburgh among its top five markets to watch in the 2017 Emerging Trends in Real Estate report due to its low cost to do business; access to talent via four major universities; and its status as an emerging tech hub with the likes of Uber, Google, Facebook and most recently, Amazon, establishing regional research and development centers in the city. Citizens Bank announced that it would remain a tenant in 525 William Penn Place, where it occupies approximately 150,000 square feet, reporting that its management views Pittsburgh as a growth driver for the company. Ford Motor Company inked a $1 billion deal with Argo AI, a Pittsburgh start-up that focuses on artificial intelligence and robotics, to expand its research and development of self-driving cars. Ford now is surveying the Greater Downtown submarket for space to construct a 100,000-square-foot facility to hold the 200 employees it expects to hire over the next 24 months. Despite the region’s growing popularity as a tech hub, leasing activity in first quarter 2017 reported a 23.3 percent drop from the same period 2016, ending the quarter at just less than 600,000 square feet, while overall net absorption dropped an …
ISSAQUAH, WASH. — Kennedy Wilson has acquired 90 East, a three-building, 573,000-square-foot office campus in greater Bellevue, for $153 million. Located in Issaquah, the campus was built between 1999 and 2001 and is fully leased to Microsoft and Costco. During the last 12 months, the property produced approximately $13 million in net operating income. Kennedy Wilson financed the purchase using a 10-year, interest-only, $77 million loan that features a fixed interest rate of 3.85 percent.