COLUMBIA AND NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — Berkadia has brokered the sale of two multifamily communities located in Columbia and North Charleston for a combined $46.4 million. The transactions include the $30 million sale of Greenbrier Apartments in Columbia and the $16.4 million sale of Ashley Village Townhomes in North Charleston. Southwood Realty purchased the 526-unit Greenbrier Apartments from an undisclosed seller. PEM Real Estate Group purchased the 260-unit Ashley Village Townhomes from URS Capital Partners. Mark Boyce and Blake Coffey of Berkadia brokered the transactions.
SAVANNAH, GA. — PRP LLC and Atlanta-based TPG Group have sold Interstate Center II, a 604,930-square-foot distribution facility in Savannah. An affiliate of Gramercy Capital purchased the property for $32.9 million. The property was owned in partnership between one of PRP’s comingled investment funds and TPG Group. Built in 2009 on a 54-acre parcel, the property features 32-foot clear heights and cross-dock loading. Interstate Center II was fully leased this summer to tenants including Ameriwood Industries, a subsidiary of Montreal-based Dorel Industries.
ATLANTA — SunTrust Banks Inc. (NYSE: STI) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire all of the assets of the operating subsidiaries of Pillar Financial LLC. The assets include Pillar’s multifamily lending business, which comprises affordable housing, healthcare properties, seniors housing and manufactured housing specialty teams. The assets also include Chicago-based Cohen Financial’s commercial real estate investor services business, advisory services and offering loan administration, as well as its mortgage banking business. Following completion of the acquisition, the Pillar team will join SunTrust’s Commercial Real Estate (CRE) division, which is part of the bank’s Wholesale Banking segment. CRE provides banking and capital markets services to commercial real estate developers, owners and operators through various lending platforms. “SunTrust and Pillar make a fantastic combination since there is very little overlap in our capabilities, yet there is tremendous synergy and compatibility,” says Anand Gajjar, CEO and senior managing director of Pillar Financial. Following the acquisition, Gajjar will report to Kathy Farrell, executive of SunTrust’s CRE division. “Our management team is energized to serve our clients with the significant product offerings of SunTrust,” adds Gajjar. The acquisition will expand SunTrust’s multifamily lending capabilities, given that Pillar Financial holds licenses with all three agencies …
Success breeds success. That adage, more than any other, defines the Dallas-Fort Worth economy and its strong multifamily market. In the last five years, a number of companies, such as Toyota North America and Nationstar Mortgage, impressed by the advantages of doing business in Dallas-Fort Worth, have relocated their headquarters here. These companies were attracted by the area’s central location, equidistant from both coasts, as well as an educated workforce, a diverse economy and a favorable business climate. This year Jamba Juice, among other companies, took notice and announced that they are joining the migration to north Texas. Even companies not choosing to uproot their headquarters are expanding their presence in Dallas-Fort Worth. Early this year, JPMorgan Chase picked Plano’s Legacy West development for a new 6,000-employee campus, next door to Toyota as well as Liberty Mutual, which itself will add 5,000 workers to a huge new service center it is building there. Also this year, Fannie Mae announced it would move more than 1,000 workers to Plano, the medical giant McKesson revealed plans to add 1,000 office jobs in Irving and Pegasus Foods chose Rockwall for a new plant that will employ 300. The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas’ …
GLASTONBURY, CONN. — Rouse Properties has acquired The Shops at Somerset Square, a lifestyle retail center located in Glastonbury. The HB Nitkin Group sold the property for $42 million. The 115,000-square-foot center is occupied by Francesca’s, Victoria’s Secret, White House Black Market, Chinos, Talbots, Chipotle, Starbucks Coffee, Lux, Bond & Green Jewelers, Max Fish and Max Amore. Additionally, the center features office and medical space.
WALTHAM, VT. — Development partners Addison County Community Trust and Cathedral Square Corp. have redeveloped a formerly unoccupied manufactured home park in Waltham into McKnight Lane, Vermont’s first net-zero affordable housing community. The $3.6 million community features 15 net-zero energy homes configured into seven duplexes with 12 two-bedroom layouts and two three-bedroom layouts. The homes are available for households with incomes at or below 50 percent and 60 percent of the area median income. The homes incorporate the latest in energy-efficiency design and technology, including a high-performance building envelope, cold climate heat pumps and a state-of-the-art ventilation system. Additionally, each home is designed to have its total energy usage, including heating, cooling, domestic hot water, appliances and plug demands, met by a 6 kW roof-mounted solar photovoltaic array, and each home features a 6 kWh AC sonnen smart solar energy system for backup power.
MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. — Cushman & Wakefield has arranged the sale of an office building located at 85 Crystal Run Road in Middletown. A private equity group acquired the 164,070-square-foot Class A property from an affiliate of Madison International Realty and its operating partner for an undisclosed price. Situated on 21 acres, the four-story property serves as the corporate accounts services location for Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield. The building features ample parking, multiple on-grade entryways, a naturally-lit atrium lobby, cafeteria and fitness center infrastructure. Andrew Merin, David Bernhaut, Gary Gabriel, Brian Whitmer, Frank DiTommaso and Andrew Schwartz of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller and procured the buyer.
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CALIF. — Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) has purchased Empire Lakes Corporate Center, a 241,292-square-foot office building in Rancho Cucamonga, for $44.3 million. The Class A building is located at 9500 Cleveland Ave. IEHP also owns the neighboring property, a 400,000-square-foot building at 10801 Sixth St. The new building will allow the nonprofit public health organization to expand. Southern California Edison and State Farm Insurance also occupy the space. Andrew Peake and Tom Pierik of Lee & Associates represented the seller, Utah State Retirement Fund, in this transaction.
ELIZABETHTOWN, PA. — HFF has arranged the sale of Market Street Square, a grocery-anchored retail center located at 1605-1641 S. Market St. in Elizabethtown. Nassimi Realty LLC acquired the property free and clear of existing debt for an undisclosed sum. Situated on 18.6 acres, the 169,856-square-foot center is anchored by Weis Markets, Kmart and Dollar General. Additional tenants include Sleepy’s, Sherwin-Williams, Subway and Fulton Bank. Chris Munley, Jose Cruz and Michael DiCosimo of HFF represented the seller, a publicly traded REIT, in the transaction.
LOS ANGELES — Gramercy Property Trust has purchased a 208,167-square-foot industrial project in the Los Angeles submarket of Santa Fe Springs for $27 million. The facility is located at 13132 Lakeland Road, 10947 Painter and 11010 Shoemaker Ave. It is fully leased to Votaw Precision Technologies. Jeff Chiate, Jeffrey Cole, Ed Hernandez and Mike Adey of Cushman & Wakefield’s National Industrial Advisory Group represented the seller, Double Run LP, in this transaction.