NEW YORK CITY — JLL has arranged $70 million in acquisition and construction financing for a new multifamily project that will be located at 308 Livingston St. in Brooklyn. In addition to the construction financing, the developer, Lonicera Partners, sourced preferred equity from Twining Properties and a major institutional investor to develop the 23-story project, which is in the pre-construction phase. Lonicera will demolish the existing five buildings on the site make way for a development containing 160 apartments, including 48 affordable housing units, as well as 9,460 square feet of retail space. Amenities will include a sky lounge, common dining room, entertainment lounge, fitness center and coworking office space. Jonathan Schwartz, Aaron Appel, Keith Kurlan, Adam Schwartz and Mark Fisher of JLL arranged the financing through Santander Bank and City National Bank on behalf of Lonicera.
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PHILADELPHIA — HFF has negotiated the sale of a 50,000-square-foot medical office building located at 1740 South St. in the Rittenhouse Square submarket of Philadelphia. The property, which was 97 percent leased at the time of sale, is situated adjacent to the Penn Medicine Rittenhouse campus, which includes a 96-bed hospital. Ben Appel, Evan Kovac, Andrew Milne and Zachary Drozda of HFF represented the seller, a partnership between Tennessee-based Chestnut Funds and investment firm Anchor Health Properties.
NEW YORK CITY — Restaurateur Todd Leong, owner of Lucky Rice as well as Leaf Bar & Lounge, will open The Beer Assembly, a 3,550-square-foot beer garden at Tangram. The 1.2 million-square-foot mixed-use development is located in Flushing. Developed by F&T Group and Shanghai Construction Group (SCG), Tangram features residential, office, retail and hospitality uses, including a 24,000-square-foot food hall that will be positioned adjacent to the beer garden. The opening is slated for early 2020.
KANSAS CITY, MO. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has selected the Kansas City region for the relocation of the Economic Research Service (ERS) and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue cites affordability, easy commutes and quality of life for the site selection process. “The Kansas City region has proven itself to be a hub for all things agriculture and is a booming city in America’s heartland,” he says. “There is already a significant presence of USDA and federal government employees in the region, including the Kansas City Ag Bank Federal Reserve.” In August, USDA had announced that it would undertake the relocations largely to attract and retain staff. The organization says it has been difficult to recruit employees to the Washington, D.C. area given the high cost of living and long commutes. While 90 percent of USDA employees are located outside of the D.C. area, ERS and NIFA are the only USDA agencies that don’t have representation outside of the national capital region. Out of NIFA’s 315 positions, 294 will relocate while 21 will stay in D.C. Of the 329 ERS positions, 253 will relocate while 76 will stay in D.C. …
GLENVIEW, ILL. — Mid-America Real Estate Corp. has arranged the sale of Glen Gate, a 102,961-square-foot shopping center in Glenview, about 15 miles northwest of Chicago. Mariano’s Fresh Market anchors the fully leased property. Other tenants include AT&T, Hair Cuttery, Bentley’s Pet Stuff, Glenview Bank & Trust and For Eyes. The shopping center is situated at the northeast corner of Waukegan and Golf roads. Joe Girardi and Ben Wineman of Mid-America represented the seller, a client of LaSalle Investment Management. Dallas-based Invesco Real Estate purchased the asset for an undisclosed price.
MINNEAPOLIS — Eleven Artisans, a brew pub and entertainment venue, has signed a 3,500-square-foot lease at the historic Handicraft Guild Building and Assembly Hall adjacent to the new City Club Apartments. The name Eleven Artisans comes from a community of 11 female artists who pioneered a creative movement in downtown Minneapolis in the early 1900s. They created their art in the Handicraft Guild Building and Assembly Hall, which dates back to 1907. The brew pub, designed by Minneapolis firm Shea Design, will offer a range of craft beers, rotating handles, wine and cocktails. The restaurant will have more than 60 indoor seats, 60 outdoor seats and capacity for another 100 guests in the Assembly Hall. The outdoor patio will feature a bar, grill, games and live music. Eleven Artisans is expected to open this fall. City Club Apartments is the landlord.
ELK GROVE VILLAGE, ILL. — CA Ventures has acquired an 8.3-acre site at 550 Devon Ave. in Elk Grove Village for an undisclosed price. The acquired site includes a 20,000-square-foot retail building that CA Ventures intends to reduce in size and modernize. The developer also plans to build a 142,000-square-foot speculative industrial building on the remainder of the land. Tom Rodeno and Jonathon Kohn of Colliers International represented the seller, Terry Bolger. The team also represented the buyer. This is the first foray into the Chicago industrial real estate market for CA Ventures.
Investcorp Sells Former Home Depot Headquarters in Atlanta’s Vinings District for $120M
by John Nelson
ATLANTA — Investcorp has sold an office campus in Atlanta’s Vinings district that formerly housed the world headquarters of The Home Depot back in the 1990s. The global asset management firm sold the property, known as Paces West, to a joint venture between Farallon Capital Management LLC and Crocker Partners for $120 million. Crocker Partners served as the asset and property management team in partnership with Investcorp since late 2015. Situated along Paces Ferry Road in Atlanta’s Cumberland/Galleria office submarket, the 646,471-square-foot property comprises two buildings connected via a pedestrian bridge. Amenities include two full-service cafes, a renovated fitness center, conference facilities, dry cleaners, a car wash service, onsite ATM and electric car charging stations. Paces West has served as the administrative headquarters for Piedmont Healthcare, an Atlanta-based health system with 11 hospitals and 650 facilities, since 2002. Jay O’Meara, Justin Parsonnet, Will Yowell, and Ryan Reethof of CBRE represented Investcorp in the sale. Since acquiring Paces West in 2015, Investcorp has boosted its occupancy from 85 percent to 93 percent, according to CBRE. “Paces West has withstood the test of time due to its quality, amenities, large flexible floor plates, and location in one of Atlanta’s most authentic and …
COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA — Healthcare real estate developer NexCore Group has opened the 37,800-square-foot CHI Health Clinic Valley View in Council Bluffs. A ribbon cutting ceremony took place on Thursday, May 30, and the facility opened to patients on Monday, June 3. Services provided at the 60-room clinic include behavioral health, women’s services, pediatrics, urology, dermatology, diabetic education, radiology, ultrasounds and physical therapy. Darland Construction Co. served as general contractor.
E-commerce has cut through brick-and-mortar retail in a Darwinian fashion, establishing clear winners and losers and drastically re-shaping landlords’ approaches to leasing. Purveyors of certain soft goods — apparel, jewelry, electronics — have seen their footprints at malls and retail centers dwindle as online shopping has infiltrated American consumer behavior. But given a little financial credit and strong branding that integrates local culture, these same concepts can find success in airport settings. “Local concepts create a sense of place and introduce travelers and visitors to what’s special about that place,” says Nicole Linton, marketing manager at Paradies Lagardere, a travel retail company that operates more than 1,000 stores and restaurants across 100 North American airports. “By adapting local concepts to airport settings, we help our partners create brand recognition, which leads to increased sales.” Of course, no airport is clamoring for any retailer — local or not — whose sales are declining and whose stores are closing. But once a retail or restaurant concept makes it onto an airport’s tenant roster, it enjoys higher price points and a captive audience, two key facets of sales growth that have increasingly eluded brick-and-mortar operators in the e-commerce era. “Retailers like the insulation …