LONGMONT, COLO. — U.S. Engineering has purchased a 106,180-square-foot industrial building in Berthoud for $7.7 million. The facility is located at 390 Mountain View Drive, just north of Longmont. It was built in 1999. The full-service mechanical contractor plans to occupy the entire building. Bruce Mawhinnie of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented the buyer. Matt Trone, Sam Slaton and Steve Hager represented the seller, PTI USA Manufacturing.
OAKLAND, CALIF. — Kaiser Center, a 975,000-square-foot office complex in downtown Oakland, has undergone a recapitalization. The transaction terms were not disclosed. The complex is located at 300 Lakeside Drive. It includes an 845,000-square-foot office tower, in addition to two low-rise retail/office buildings that total about 130,000 square feet. BART, the University of California and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan currently occupy the property. Affiliates of Rockpoint Group and the Swig Company plan to reposition the asset. This will include major renovations to the lobbies, common corridors, landscaping and retail amenities.
NEW YORK CITY — TerraCRG has arranged the sale of a 58-unit multifamily building located at 15-25 Crown St. in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood. Sterling Equities acquired the 51,000-square-foot multifamily building from BCB Property Management for $20.7 million, or $357,000 per unit. The six-story building features one four-bedroom unit, nine three-bedroom units, 19 two-bedroom units, 27 one-bedroom units and two studio apartments. Adam Hess, San Shalumov, Eddie Setton and Kirill Galperin of TerraCRG were the sole brokers in the transaction.
WILMINGTON, DEL. — Patterson-Woods Commercial Properties/CORFAC International has completed a 65,941-square-foot office lease at 824 N. Market St. in Wilmington for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the district of Delaware. The new 10-year lease has a gross value of $20.4 million. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court premises comprise the third, fifth, sixth floors, as well as a portion of the second floor of the 196,969-square-foot office building. Bart Mackey of Patterson-Woods represented the landlord, NNN 824 North Market Street LLC, while the General Services Administration represented the tenant in the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — GFI Realty Services has arranged the sale of two apartment buildings located at 684A and 684B Myrtle Ave. in Brooklyn’s Clinton Hill neighborhood. Local investors acquired the properties from Joseph Rizzuto for $3.8 million. The two four-story apartment buildings feature 12 residential units and a ground-floor retail unit. Isaac Moskowitz of GFI Realty Services represented the seller, while Yosef Katz, also of GFI, represented the buyers in the transaction.
YONKERS, N.Y. — QIC has extended its existing joint venture relationship with Forest City Realty Trust through the acquisition of a 51 percent stake in Westchester’s Ridge Hill shopping center in Yonkers. The 1.3 million-square-foot open-air shopping center is anchored by Lord & Taylor, Whole Foods Market, Legoland Discovery Center, The Cheesecake Factory, Dick’s Sporting Goods, REI, Showcase Cinema and approximately 70 specialty stores. This agreement with Forest City brings the total number of assets acquired by QIC on behalf of clients to 11.
WESTPORT, CONN. — Vidal Wettenstein has brokered the sale of a retail/restaurant building located at 1849 Post Road East in Westport. Fin-Max Realty acquired the property for $3.9 million. The 6,237-square-foot property is occupied by Shake Shack. Robert Lewis of Vidal Wettenstein was the sole broker in the deal.
NEW YORK CITY — Hersha Hospitality Trust (NYSE: HT) has signed definitive agreements to sell ownership interests in seven of its limited-service hotels in Manhattan for a total purchase price of $571.4 million. The Philadelphia-based hotel REIT sold its interests to joint venture partner Cindat Capital Management Ltd. Totaling 1,087 rooms, the hotels include Holiday Inn Express Times Square, Candlewood Suites Times Square, Hampton Inn Times Square, Hampton Inn Chelsea, Hampton Inn Herald Square, Holiday Inn Wall Street and Holiday Inn Express Wall Street. “Manhattan’s preeminence as a financial, cultural and technological hub, combined with the security and scarcity of its real estate, provides significant yield for a strategic, long-term partner such as Cindat,” says Neil Shah, president and chief operating officer of Hersha Hospitality. “We intend to utilize a portion of the sale proceeds to make hotel investments in Washington, D.C., and California, continue our share repurchase program and repay debt.” The proposed joint venture is structured with Cindat as the preferred joint venture partner holding a 70 percent ownership stake, while Hersha retains a 30 percent equity interest. Cushman & Wakefield represented Hersha in the transaction. Hersha will continue to fully own 10 hotels in New York City …
ORLANDO, FLA. — CBRE was Freddie Mac’s highest-producing multifamily mortgage seller in 2015, originating $6.96 billion in loans last year. Freddie Mac made the announcement at the Mortgage Bankers Association’s commercial real estate finance and multifamily housing convention in Orlando on Feb. 2. In total, Freddie Mac bought $47.3 billion in new multifamily loans in 2015, comprising 650,000 rental units. “CBRE had another terrific year placing loans with Freddie Mac and earning its top producer award for the seventh consecutive year,” says Mitchell Kiffe, a senior managing director of debt and structured finance at CBRE. “CBRE utilized Freddie Mac’s expanded product offerings, such as its small balance loan program, to achieve the number one ranking. We look forward to another big origination year as multifamily loan demand remains strong.” Freddie Mac securitizes about 90 percent of the multifamily loans it purchases, thus transferring the vast majority of the expected credit risk from taxpayers to private investors. “We have a tremendous partnership with our lender partners, who work tirelessly every day to provide apartment financing,” says John Cannon, senior vice president of Freddie Mac’s multifamily production and sales. “Support for this market is more important than ever, especially with the increased …
The hotel industry has gained momentum over the last few years, with impressive increases in revenue per available room (RevPAR) and a continuing development boom in virtually all major markets across the Midwest and the nation. In the Chicago hotel market, RevPAR increased 7.2 percent in 2014 on a year-over-basis, according to STR Inc., and RevPAR was up 7.7 percent through the first 11 months of 2015. With consumer demand so strong and the development pipeline quite active, it might feel like the challenges of the last recession are long in the past. The reality, however, is that in a cyclical market the next downturn is never too far away. There are some indications that the ride may be slowing down and that the good times the region and the industry have enjoyed in recent years may be coming to an end. Oversupply Concerns While Chicago’s construction pipeline is smaller than a number of other metropolitan areas, it is the Windy City’s most robust development pipeline in recent memory. In aggregate, there will be a 20 percent increase in the room supply over three years. That could easily balloon to 25 percent with projects recently announced. This is very likely …
