WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Meridian Group, a Bethesda, Md.-based real estate investment and development firm, has purchased 1901 L Street, an eight-story office building located in downtown Washington, D.C.’s central business district. Meridian purchased the 132,372-square-foot property from New York Life in an off-market transaction for $75 million. At closing, the building will be 73 percent leased to two retail tenants — Staples and Sweetgreen — and a mix of 15 office tenants. Meridian is planning an extensive renovation of 1901 L that will add three new floors of trophy space to the top of the building. The renovation will also include a new lobby with high-end finishes, new façade and new HVAC and elevator systems, as well as a tenant-only indoor/outdoor penthouse space, fitness center and a conference center. The renovation will increase the size of the building to 206,000 square feet. Meridian selected Fox Architects to design the new building. The purchase is the fifth acquisition for an affiliate of Meridian — Meridian Realty Partners II LP, a $231.6 million discretionary fund.
Property Type
MIAMI — Berkadia has secured the $25 million refinancing of Carib Villas, a 365-unit apartment community located at 11105 S.W. 200th St. in Miami. Built in 1972, the property features onsite laundry facilities, barbecue areas and a swimming pool with a sundeck. Mitch Sinberg and Matt Robbins of Berkadia’s South Florida office arranged the 10-year loan on behalf of the borrower, The Cornfield Group. The Freddie Mac loan features interest-only payments for the full term and an adjustable interest rate.
Financial Federal Bank Secures $24.3M Acquisition Loan for Multifamily Property in Metro Charlotte
by John Nelson
MATTHEWS, N.C. — The Memphis office of Financial Federal Bank has arranged a $24.3 million acquisition loan for Legacy Matthews Apartments in Matthews, a suburb of Charlotte. The borrower, a repeat Financial Federal customer, purchased the 288-unit garden-style property, which was 97 percent occupied at the time of closing. Rick Wood and Jon Van Hoozer of Financial Federal Bank arranged the 12-year, fixed-rate loan with three years of interest-only payments and a 30-year amortization schedule through an agency lender.
ARLINGTON, VA. — Greysteel has arranged the $13.5 million sale of Whispering Oaks, a 49-unit mid-rise apartment community located at 1310 N. Oak St. in Arlington’s Rosslyn neighborhood. Whispering Oaks’ amenities include covered and uncovered parking, a telephone entry system call box, fitness center, laundry facilities, secluded rear patio sitting area and a renovated lobby. Ari Firoozabadi, Kyle Tangney, Rawles Wilcox, Alicia Orkisz and Herbert Schwat of Greysteel’s Washington, D.C., office represented the sellers, 401 Commonwealth LLC and HJL Properties LLC, and procured the buyer.
DURHAM, N.C. — NorthMarq Capital has arranged the $7.3 million refinancing of Hope Valley Commons, a 38,963-square-foot retail property located at 1125 W. NC Highway 54 in Durham. NorthMarq arranged the 15-year loan with a 25-year amortization schedule through an unnamed life insurance company.
The Southeast’s top seaports and their surrounding industrial real estate markets have braced themselves for years for the larger post-Panamax vessels that can now pass through the newly expanded Panama Canal. The 102-year-old canal opened in late June 2016 following its $5.4 billion expansion, creating a shortcut for the larger ocean carriers coming from Asia. The opening of Panama Canal’s expansion was delayed by two years, missing the 100-year anniversary of its 1914 debut. Shipping companies had their larger vessels in place, though, and decided to ship those vessels to the East Coast via the Suez Canal, according to Walter Kemmsies, managing director, economist and chief strategist of JLL’s U.S. Ports, Airports and Global Infrastructure Group. “As the Panama Canal gets through the learning curve, we’re seeing the number of weekly transits increase, and we’re still in that phase and perhaps will be for the next six months,” says Kemmsies, who is currently engaged with three of the top five seaports in the United States on their master plans. “The ocean carriers are starting to scrap their smaller vessels and moving their services back from the Suez Canal to go through the Panama Canal. Right now the East Coast has …
JV Secures $325M in Financing to Revive Potala Tower Hotel, Apartment Project in Seattle
by Nellie Day
SEATTLE — A joint venture between the Molasky Group and China-based Binjiang Group has secured $325 million in financing to build a 41-story mixed-use multifamily and hotel tower in the Belltown submarket of Seattle. Financing includes a $225 million joint venture partnership, as well as a $100 million construction-to-permanent loan. The project has not been named yet, but will be built on the site of the old Potala Tower. That project was put under the control of a court-appointed receiver, which suspended construction for about one year. The joint venture development partnership, arranged by Newmark, acquired the property from the court-appointed receiver in October 2016. Construction has resumed at the project. PCL will serve as the general contractor and Weber Thompson will act as the architect. The tower will feature 339 apartment units, 142 hotel rooms and 1,824 square feet of ground-floor retail space. It is scheduled for completion in August 2018. The $100 million construction-to-permanent loan was placed with two of Newmark’s correspondent life insurance company lenders, Guardian Life and Voya Investment, with each lender providing $50 million. The seven-year, construction-to-permanent loans will feature interest-only payments for a period of time, and later amortized over 30 years. Newmark will service the loans, …
SAN DIEGO — Murphy Development Co. (MDC) has reacquired a 542,197-square-foot campus at the San Diego Business Park for $28 million. The property, which will be rebranded as The Campus at San Diego Business Park, is located at 2001 and 2055 Sanyo Ave. Panasonic will lease about 70 percent of the 329,000-square-foot building after MDC completes 42,000 square feet of new office improvements, at a value of about $15 million. The remaining 94,000 square feet of Class A industrial space and 209,700 square feet of office space will be marketed for lease. MDC originally built the campus in 1986 for Sanyo, which Panasonic acquired in 2010. Brent Bohlken and Bryan Teel of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented Panasonic. MDC represented itself in the transaction.
SAN DIEGO — A pair of Class A office buildings in the Golden Triangle area of San Diego have sold to an unnamed buyer for an undisclosed sum. The institutional-quality office campus buildings, Governor Executive Centre and Governor Park Plaza, are located at 6165, 6256, 6333 and 6363 Greenwich Drive. The properties are 90.9 percent leased to tenants like the University of California, San Diego. HFF’s Ryan Gallagher, Nick Psyllos, Nick Frasco and Michael Leggett represented the seller in this transaction.
ANAHEIM, CALIF. — S&A Management has acquired a 156,054-square-foot manufacturing building that serves as the headquarters of Taylor-Dunn for an undisclosed sum. The facility is located at 2114 W. Ball Road in Anaheim, with a two-story office building at 2100 W. Ball Road. The transaction is not expected to impact Taylor-Dunn’s continuing operations. The firm has engineered and manufactured vehicles from its location on West Ball Road for more than 65 years. Jeff Chiate and Mike Adey of Cushman & Wakefield’s National Industrial Advisory Group in Irvine represented both the buyer and seller in this transaction. The firm’s Rick Ellison and Randy Ellison also provided local market advisory.