LOS ANGELES — The Crack Shack, an all-day chicken and egg restaurant, is opening its first Los Angeles location at Westfield Century City. Slated to open in spring 2018, the restaurant is owned by Michael Rosen, chef Richard Blais and chef Jon Sloan. Century City will be the restaurant’s fourth location and will feature outdoor patio dining, picnic-style seating, fire pits and communal-dining fire tables, a bocce ball court and open-air children’s play spaces. The Crack Shack is currently located in San Diego and Encinitas, Calif., with a third location opening in Costa Mesa later this year.
BALTIMORE — Goldman Sachs has committed $233 million to the Port Covington redevelopment project in Baltimore. This is the largest single private equity investment made by the firm’s Urban Investment Group (UIG) to date, according to a Port Covington news release. Port Covington is a 235-acre mixed-use redevelopment located on Baltimore’s waterfront adjacent to I-95. At completion, the 25-year project will include up to 18 million square feet of retail, entertainment, office, hotel and residential space. In addition, the project will encompass 2.5 miles of restored waterfront and 40 acres of parks and green space. Sagamore Development Co. and the UIG have entered into an agreement to jointly own the project and develop the infrastructure in Port Covington. Marc Weller of Sagamore Development will lead the infrastructure development team. The joint venture will own and develop the land in Port Covington that is adjacent to the campus of the future global headquarters of Under Armour. The footwear and sports apparel company owns 50 acres of Port Covington land, and is not involved in this transaction. Other businesses with land parcels in Port Covington that are not part of the joint undertaking include City Garage, Nick’s Fish House, Sagamore Spirit Distillery …
For the past several quarters, the headlines of most CRE publications in Texas and beyond have proclaimed the end of retail as we know it. By now, we’ve all heard the stories and seen the writing on the wall: e-commerce will kill the shopping mall; large anchors that landlords have counted on for decades are shuttering and Amazon will be the end of the retail storefront. It’s a familiar tale as of late. But amid the doom and gloom of store closings, Houston seems to be staying on top of the trends, as its retail market remains healthy and appears to be moving ahead. In fact, despite losing over 70,000 oil-related jobs since 2015, Houston’s retail market remains one of the strongest in the country, posting an average occupancy rate of 95 percent. In addition, employment growth in the retail sector grew 5.1 percent in 2016 amidst the oil bust. Despite these strong retail indicators in Houston, the aforementioned market changes do have an effect on the retail environment. And while retailers themselves need to make the biggest adjustments, developers and landlords are not without their own challenges. Like the rest of the country, Houston retailers must figure out ways …
DALLAS — Say the words “mixed-use” in commercial real estate circles today and generally the first thought that comes to mind is a property featuring a combination of multifamily and retail space. But there’s no written rule that says what property classes can or can’t be included in mixed-use. As such, a number of multifamily developers in Texas are redefining the term’s scope and application by bringing together apartment living and an office component in newer projects. As part of the InterFace Multifamily Texas conference, a panel of real estate experts convened Sept. 13 at the Westin Galleria in Dallas to address this topic and other emerging trends in the apartment sector, most of which center on ways of improving amenity packages for tenants. Approximately 200 real estate professionals attended the event. The move toward developing apartment communities with office space — not business centers — stems from landlords’ need to differentiate their amenity packages from the competition. These new office elements within multifamily properties are taking a variety of forms in their infancy, ranging from large co-working spaces and conference rooms to individualized desks and cubicles. “Having amenities like a knockout pool and an awesome fitness center doesn’t really …
RIVERSIDE, CALIF. — Allianz Real Estate of America has provided $55 million to refinance a 507,000-square-foot cold storage facility in Riverside. The property is located at 1001 Columbia Ave. The asset was developed in 2011 on a 25.3-acre site within Hunter Park. It is fully leased to an investment-grade credit tenant. The 10-year, fixed-rate loan will refinance the property’s existing loan. HFF’s Kevin MacKenzie and AJ Manas represented the borrower in this transaction.
PORTLAND, ORE. — NBP Capital has acquired a two-building office portfolio in Portland for $32.2 million. The acquisition includes Blagen Block, a four-story creative office building, and New Market Theater, a six-story office building. Blagen Block was built in 1888. It is fully leased to Airbnb. New Market Theater was built in 1872 and 1875. It is home to Portland’s long-standing Saturday Market. Swift Real Estate Partners acquired both buildings from Beardsley Building Development in 2015. The company invested in modernizing and upgrading the buildings. CBRE’s Charles Safley and Trevor Kafoury represented both parties in the transaction. The firm’s Nick Santangelo, Mike Walker and Brad Zampa secured $26.7 million in acquisition financing for the buyer.
SEATTLE — Blueprint Healthcare Real Estate Advisors has arranged the $24.5 million sale of Foundation House, a 104-unit independent living and assisted living community in Seattle. A local nonprofit sold the property to a Seattle-based commercial real estate firm. The sale will keep the existing triple-net lease in place with the operator. The purchase price equates to approximately $236,000 per unit and a 6.9 percent yield on current rent. Ben Firestone and Michael Segal of Blueprint executed the transaction with the assistance of Mike Mooney, who covers the Pacific Northwest region for the firm.
IRVINE, CALIF. — Irvine Co. has opened 400 Spectrum Center, a 21-story office tower within the Irvine Spectrum. The tower’s sister property, 200 Spectrum Center Drive, debuted a year ago. The newest addition is 40 percent pre-leased. Notable tenants include communications platform company SendGrid, cybersecurity artificial intelligence company Cylance, Kieckhafer Schiffer & Co. and CrossCountry Mortgage.
HERRIMAN, UTAH — Buchanan Street Partners has acquired a 298-unit age-restricted apartment community in the Salt Lake City suburb of Herriman for an undisclosed price. The sellers were KeyBank and Bank of the West. Buchanan Street plans to finish construction of the unfinished property in early 2018. The name of the community was not released. Previously focused on the office, industrial and retail sectors, Buchanan Street launched a multifamily investment platform in March. The company plans to invest $500 million in multifamily properties over the next three years. Kip Paul and Camron Carpenter of Cushman & Wakefield represented the sellers in the transaction. Buchanan Street represented itself. Buchanan Street Partners is a real estate investment firm based in Newport Beach, Calif. Over its history, the company has invested more than $6 billion in real estate debt and equity.
NEW YORK CITY — Savanna has received $100 million in construction financing for an office building development at 106 W. 56th St. in Manhattan. When completed, the 26-story property will feature 90,000 square feet of high-end office space. Designed by Perkins Eastman, the tower is slated for completion in the third quarter of 2018. Kellogg Gaines, Aaron Niedermayer and Douglas Baillie of JLL arranged the financing, which includes a senior construction loan from United Overseas Bank and mezzanine financing from Canyon Partners Real Estate.