Hurricane Irma made landfall in Florida on Sunday afternoon, tearing through The Keys and heading up the western portion of the state through the Tampa area. For a time, it appeared the hurricane was heading straight for Miami before it ultimately changed course. “A few days ago when we are all staring down the barrel of a Category 4 storm that was heading straight for us, it was concerning,” says Ken Krasnow, executive managing director of Colliers International’s South Florida division. “We ended up having some Category 2 force winds, but we feel fortunate that the storm changed course.” Despite being out of Irma’s direct path, parts of Miami were flooded and most of the region experienced power outages, with many residences remaining without power as of this writing. Irma was the worst storm to hit South Florida since Hurricane Andrew in 1992, but the destruction caused by the storm 25 years ago was much worse, specifically for the industrial sector. “Hurricane Andrew was the worst this market experienced,” says Walter Byrd, senior managing director of Transwestern’s industrial team. “It blew through entire floors on projects in the southern part of Miami-Dade County.” Byrd says that the difference this go-around …
The Kansas City office market is poised for increasing rental rates and decreasing vacancy rates for the remainder of 2017 and into 2018. Kansas City has realized its 14th consecutive quarter of increased rental rates (through March 2017), while vacancy has decreased in the overall metro area due to lack of new office construction and a steady pace of absorption. Several factors contribute to the complexity of why the market is good but not great, steady but not dynamic, with no one factor driving the steady upward climb. It has been like a plane taking off but never reaching full altitude. A contradiction of sorts is contributing to the rental rate increases and vacancy decline, while there is still a lack of newly constructed space. Bread-and-butter leasing absorption and a lack of new speculative development have been the main ingredients in the overall solid market for office activity. The velocity in the market is doing its job of generating positive absorption each quarter while rates inch up. The lack of large blocks of space has created a few new construction projects, but not as many as experts had predicted and hoped for. Costs on the rise Higher construction costs and …
SAN DIEGO — A joint venture between Olympus Property and Artemis Real Estate Partners has purchased the 360-unit Broadstone Corsair in San Diego for an undisclosed sum. The community is located at 8583 Aero Drive in the Kearny Mesa neighborhood. The asset is being rebranded as Olympus Corsair. On-site amenities include a resort-style pool with poolside cabanas inset with outdoor TVs, an indoor golf simulator room, a fitness center, yoga/dance studio, a clubhouse with demonstration kitchen, library and wet bar, green living wall, and seven outdoor courtyard social spaces.
MESA, ARIZ. — Barker Pacific Group (BPG) has acquired Mesa Financial Plaza, a 311,132-square-foot Class A office building in Mesa, for an undisclosed sum. The 16-story building is located at 1201 Alma Road. BPG plans to increase the building’s occupancy and upgrade common areas through renovations to the lobby and corridors. Updated monument signage and lighting will also be added to further enhance the building’s prominence on the skyline. BPG team secured debt financing from NXT Capital with the help of Palmer Capital. Matt Nebeker of Cushman & Wakefield will lead the building’s leasing efforts.
PHOENIX — WWC Holdings, a Canadian investor, has acquired the 244-unit Marble Creek apartments in Phoenix for $16.7 million. The community is located at 5601 W. McDowell Road. Marble Creek was built in 1985. It was 96 percent occupied at the time of the sale. WWC plans to normalize rents and bring them to market average. The company will also invest in washer/dryer installs and interior upgrades to units. Trevor Koskovich, Bill Hahn and Jeff Sherman of Colliers International negotiated the sale transaction. The seller was Marble Creek LLC, an Arizona limited liability company formed by a local, private investor.
WHITTIER, CALIF. — HFF has arranged the $12.6 million sale of a 24,866-square-foot building triple-net-leased to Sprouts Farmers Market in Whittier, about 20 miles southeast of Los Angeles. Gleb Lvovich and Nicholas Foster of HFF marketed the property on behalf of the seller, CVK Street LLC. A private, 1031 exchange investor purchased the asset free and clear of existing debt. Additionally, Greg Brown of HFF secured a 10-year, fixed-rate, interest-only loan with a CMBS lender on behalf of the new owner.
NEW YORK CITY — Jonathan Rose Cos., a green real estate investment, development and project management firm, has closed a $233 million impact fund. The fund is the firm’s fourth institutional fund focused on acquiring and preserving affordable multifamily housing, implementing practical green strategies to reduce environmental impacts and operating costs and to fund social, educational and other services for residents. The fund closed with aggregate capital commitments of $233 million, reaching the top end of its $150 to $250 million target. Institutional investors, investment advisors and leading impact-investment managers, as well as family offices and high net-worth investors, contributed to the success of the fund. A key component of the fund’s strategy is to develop “communities of opportunities,” adding programs and facilities to properties including on-site community centers, computer-filled classrooms, health and wellness rooms, social service rooms, exercise facilities and community gardens. The programs and facilities were implemented to develop initiatives to connect residents with a range of health, education and social services. As of July 2017, the fund has deployed more than $64 million equity investments. Among the fund’s initial investments is a portfolio of more than 3,300 apartment units across 18 assets in eight states and the District …
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ., AND NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF. — Cadence Senior Living, a Scottsdale-based owner, developer and operator, and Emerald Real Estate Partners LLC, an investment management firm based in Newport Beach, have formed a strategic partnership for investing in seniors housing. According to the companies, the partnership will allow Cadence to expand its portfolio of boutique senior living. Emerald will provide additional acquisition capital, working capital and expertise in increasing scale, due to the company’s experience in other real estate sectors. Emerald principal Josh Martin stated that Emerald “had been searching for a senior living operator with which to grow a platform in this sector.” The Cadence and Emerald partnership is seeking opportunities to acquire existing senior housing communities, develop new communities and leverage Cadence’s management team by operating senior living communities for third-party owners.
PAOLI, PA. — KeyBank Real Estate Capital has arranged a $28.5 million Freddie Mac floating-rate mortgage loan for Daylesford Crossing in Paoli, a northwest suburb of Philadelphia. Built in 2015, the Class A property features 64 assisted living and 14 memory care units, as well as commercial space occupied by Ciao Bella Salon and Spa. Carolyn Nazdin of Key’s Healthcare Group arranged the financing, which features a seven-year term, three-year interest-only period and a 30-year amortization schedule.
SEASIDE HEIGHTS, N.J. — The Walters Group has started construction of Cornerstone at Seaside, an age- and income-restricted apartment community in Seaside Heights, a coastal borough southeast of Trenton. The 91-unit property will be restricted to residents over the age of 55 and making less than 60 percent of the county’s median income. The community is a redevelopment of an area that formerly featured a motel, lumber yard, hardware store and small apartment building, all of which were demolished in March. The property is slated for completion in November 2018. The Walters Group has several planned and ongoing income-restricted housing developments throughout the state of New Jersey.