HOUSTON — CBRE has arranged a 25,000-square-foot office relocation lease for Hughes Watters Askanase (HWA). HWA, a full-service commercial law firm, has moved from Three Allen Center, located at 333 Clay St., to Total Plaza, located at 1201 Louisiana St. in downtown Houston. Kevin Kushner and Lucian Bukowski of CBRE’s Houston office represented the law firm in the lease transaction. The landlord, Brookfield Office Properties, was self-represented by Clint Bawcom, Jon Dutton and Margaret Sigur. Although the new space is smaller than their previous space, HWA will be able to accommodate more lawyers and staff than it did in its old space by taking advantage of a modern layout designed by Kirksey Architecture. Moderate changes, such as shrinking the size of individual offices, providing more access to natural light, creating spaces that encourage collaboration and interaction and reducing storage and library space will give HWA the ability to grow into their space as needed. CBRE also provided project management services, led by Erin Schultz and Ashley Ramos, which included vendor selection, budget management and timeline oversight to ensure the space was delivered on time and on budget. Total Plaza is a Class A, 843,533-square-foot office building located in downtown Houston. …
HOUSTON — Gill Dolan and Blake Willeford of Grandbridge Real Estate Capital have secured bridge financing for the acquisition and renovation of Monterra Park Apartments, a 392-unit apartment community in Houston. The financing was made on behalf of Tradewind Properties. The asset is located next to the White Oak Bayou Trail in northwest Houston, and planned improvements include a beautification initiative as well as amenity enhancements, rebranding and interior upgrades. The three-year loan includes two years of interest-only payments.
ADDISON, TEXAS — E Smith Realty Partners has secured a lease for Maxim Integrated at Tollway Center, a 200,000-square-foot, six-story office building located on six acres along the Dallas North Tollway in Addison. Jim Hazard, Sharon Morrison, Brad Struck and Saadia Sheikh with E Smith Realty Partners represented Maxim Integrated, while Jeremy Duggins and Addie Ludwig of Cawley Partners represented the landlord. Maxim Integrated will lease space on the first floor and the company will occupy the entire third and fourth floors. With the addition of Maxim’s lease, Tollway Center’s occupancy is 80 percent.
ELMHURST, ILL. — Welbic LLC has purchased 15 industrial buildings in the Midwest for approximately $50 million. Venture One Real Estate sold the assets, which total 900,000 square feet. There are 22 tenants that occupy the 15 buildings, which are located in Wisconsin and Illinois. Matthew Lewandowski of Darwin Realty worked with Venture One Real Estate on the purchase. Erin Cibula and Matthew Lewandowski of Darwin Realty also worked with Gabriel Silverstein of Angelic Real Estate LLC to secure an approximate $100 million loan which covered the 15 Venture One buildings plus 26 industrial properties already owned by Welbic.
CHICAGO — Chicago-based Cohen Financial has arranged $28.2 million in acquisition financing for LLJ Ventures LLC. The California-based buyer has purchased several properties in the state of Illinois and Wisconsin. In the first transaction, Dan Rosenberg of Cohen Financial arranged an $11 million loan with a 10-year term for The Armitage Collection, a portfolio of five retail buildings in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. The buildings in the portfolio are 100 percent leased. In the second transaction, Rosenberg arranged a $17.2 million, 10-year CMBS loan for a 57,000-square-foot medical office, Racine Dental, in Racine, Wis.
PRINCETON, MINN. — Lancaster Pollard has arranged a $6 million FHA loan to refinance Sterling Pointe Senior Living, a 57-unit independent living, assisted living and memory care community in Princeton, approximately 50 miles north of Minneapolis. The community was originally built in 2011. Ownership wanted to refinance its existing debt using FHA/HUD in order to benefit from the long-term low interest rates and nonrecourse feature, as well as pay off a TIF (tax increment financing) loan. Quintin Harris, senior vice president with Lancaster Pollard in Minneapolis, led the transaction.
GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. — Entre Commercial Realty LLC, along with First Cos. Inc., has completed the development of a 65,000-square-foot industrial building in Grand Rapids. The build-to-suit facility for Holland, a Michigan-based regional transportation company that is a subsidiary of YRC Worldwide, features a 110-door truck terminal, 6,000 square feet of office space and a separate 16,000-square-foot drive-thru maintenance facility. The building is located at 10151 S. Division St. and is situated on 25 acres of land. Holland has signed a 15-year lease for the facility. First Cos. acted as the construction manager, Dixon Architecture provided architectural services and Exxel Engineering performed civil engineering services. Ken Szady of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented the development group and procured the funding, which WP Carey Inc. provided.
CHICAGO AND NILES, ILL. — Wool Finance Partners has arranged $4.2 million in financing for two industrial properties in Illinois. In the first transaction, Wool Finance Partners arranged a $2 million refinancing loan for a 50,000-square-foot, net-leased property in the Fulton Market district of Chicago. The borrower was undisclosed, and a regional bank provided the capital for the non-recourse loan, which has a three-year term. Matt Lebenson of Wool Finance Partners brokered the transaction. In the second deal, Martin Siegel of Wool Finance Partners arranged a $2.2 million loan for the acquisition and redevelopment of a 78,000-square-foot property in Niles. The financing for the single-tenant, net-leased building was placed on behalf of an undisclosed local borrower. The non-recourse loan features a 10-year term.
Dallas is on a hot streak. This is the best market Dallas has seen in years. Companies are expanding and corporate relocations are driving new development in office, industrial and retail. Based on the healthy, active market of 2015, the momentum should carry over and remain strong through the first half of 2016. Office Dallas has become a headquarters hub in the past few years with companies like Toyota and Liberty Mutual putting down roots in the Metroplex. Companies are doing well financially and are growing, which is great news for the office sector. Leasing activity is at an all-time high with all sizes of companies experiencing growth. Office expansions and mid-term lease extensions are becoming the norm. In November, GEICO’s regional headquarters relocated to a larger facility with the goal of hiring nearly 200 employees before year’s end. The insurance company leased 224,000 square feet at 2280 Greenville Ave. in Dallas, brokered by Tom Lynn and Nick Lee, CCIM, of NAI Robert Lynn and Griff Bandy of NAI Partners in Houston. GEICO’s former headquarters building in the North Dallas area is now on the market. We’re also seeing the employment industry shift from focusing solely on clients to employee …
NEW YORK CITY — Sugar Hill Capital Partners has acquired a four-building multifamily portfolio located in Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Benjamin Hadar and Leonard Solomon of Upwest Co. sold the properties for $65 million, or $1,050 per square foot. Located at 471-476 Central Park West, the properties feature a total of 125 apartments, most of which are rent-regulated units. Additionally, the portfolio site allows for the development of a 92,000-square-foot structure, with an additional 30,000 square feet in air rights. Lazer Sternhall and Peter Vanderpool of Cignature Realty represented the buyer and seller in the transaction.