ST. PAUL, MINN. — Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq has arranged a 1,450-square-foot retail lease in St. Paul. Ehinger Schwarz 1876, an interchangeable jewelry maker, has opened its third location in the Oxford Square shopping center on Grand Avenue last week. Minneapolis-based RMF Group is the landlord. Tom Martin and Kim Meyer of Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq represented the tenant in the transaction.
KENNEDALE, TEXAS — Align Auto Collision & Painting has leased a 9,060-square-foot industrial building located at 7204 Mansfield Highway in Kennedale. The property will serve as a temporary location for the business following the sale of its previous location, 2235 Michigan Ave. in Arlington. Align will relocate by the end of March to the temporary location. The new site is zoned for industrial use and has a large parking area to accommodate Align Auto Collision’s customers. Coldwell Banker Commercial Alliance arranged the transaction. The temporary location was the only vacancy in a four-building complex situated 3.5 miles south of I-20. Jim Eaton of RDS Real Estate in Haltom City represented the landlord, Tarrant County-based investor Ron Sturgeon, in the lease transaction. Align Auto’s owner, Anastasio Favila, is concentrating the company’s permanent site search on the mid-cities between Dallas and Fort Worth.
CHICAGO — Beijing-based Anbang Insurance Group Co. has agreed to purchase Strategic Hotels & Resorts, which owns 16 hotels throughout the U.S. Several news outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, report the purchase price as $6.5 billion, citing anonymous sources involved in the not-yet-announced deal. Anbang is purchasing the portfolio from Blackstone Group, which acquired Strategic Hotels about three months ago. The Chinese insurer is paying about $450 million more than Blackstone paid for the assets. Properties under the Chicago-based Strategic Hotels & Resorts flag include the JW Marriott Essex House in New York City; the Montage in Laguna Beach, Calif ; the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego; Ritz Carlton properties in Moon Bay and Laguna Niguel, Calif.; InterContinental hotels in Chicago and Miami; and Four Seasons hotels in Washington, Austin, Texas, and Silicon Valley, Calif. Anbang purchased the famed Waldorf-Astoria in New York from Hilton Worldwide Holdings for nearly $2 billion in late 2014. The acquisition was one of the highest price-per-room hotel transactions ever, according to Fortune magazine. Anbang also submitted a $12.8 billion bid to takeover Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, which could disrupt a pending deal with Marriott International. The consortium offered to pay an …
Millennials are the largest and fastest-growing retail consumer segment in the nation. In Hampton Roads, this demographic represents 30 percent of a total population in excess of 1.7 million people. This tech-savvy and largely transient group spends approximately $3.4 billion on retail and dining every year in the local economy. It is widely acknowledged that Millennials are changing the retail industry. Developers and retailers alike, faced with rapidly changing spending patterns, more than ever must focus on the shopping, living and working trends of these consumers in order to ensure that future developments meet the needs and expectations of this demographic. The well-established, nationwide trend of shoppers migrating to walkable, mixed-use environments has led to the proliferation of multi-faceted, pedestrian-friendly developments that feature specialty retail as an integral part of a live/work/play theme in a more or less urban setting. Hampton Roads is no exception to this movement. This explains the growth of lifestyle centers in Hampton Roads, as well as the successful repositioning of some traditional malls in the region. The combination of these upscale projects and the purchasing power of the large population base has finally caught the attention of many upscale national retailers that heretofore had considered …
PHILADELPHIA — Radnor Property Group has received $53.4 million in preferred equity and construction financing for the development of 3201 Race Street, a 16-story apartment property located on Drexel University’s campus in Philadelphia’s University City neighborhood. HFF arranged $18 million in preferred equity from a commingled fund managed by American Realty Advisors and secured a $35.3 million construction loan for the newly created partnership through the Santander Commercial Real Estate office in Philadelphia. Slated for completion in 2017, the high-rise property will feature 164 one- and two-bedroom residential units, averaging 680 square feet, and 13,837 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, which will be occupied by Nobel Learning Communities, a childcare operator. Ryan Ade and Mark Thomson of HFF arranged the financing and equity for the borrower.
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — WinnCompanies has broken ground for the $15.4 million rehabilitation at Brunswick Estates in Jersey City. Slated for completion in early 2017, the top-to-bottom renovation will modernize the 131 apartments, grounds and safety systems at the project. Additionally, the renovation will address substantial deferred maintenance needs, including lingering damage from Hurricane Sandy and ADA compliance issues. The renovation work will modernize the kitchens, bathrooms and interiors of all apartments, as well the exteriors of the 14 buildings on the property. Additionally, the heating and plumbing systems will be upgraded and common areas will be created within an existing central structure and will include a management office, tenant lounge and multimedia area. The Architectural Team is serving as architect and DiMarco Constructors is the general contractor on the project. WinnResidential, the property management arm of WinnCompanies, will manage resident and maintenance services at Brunswick Estates. Public-private partners on the project include Greater Bergen Community Action, Jersey City Division of Community Development, New Jersey Economic Development Authority, New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development, Citi Community Capital, The Richman Group Affordable Housing Corp., New Jersey Community Capital and Boston Community Capital.
NEW YORK CITY — TerraCRG has brokered the sale of a residentially-zoned commercial building located at 283 Greene Ave. in Brooklyn’s Clinton Hill neighborhood. Kilroy Architectural Windows sold the 13,300-square-foot property to an undisclosed seller for $6 million, or $375 per existing square foot. The two-story building features 16,085 buildable square feet and can be converted into residential lofts or repositioned as an owner/user residential or office building. Ofer Cohen, Melissa Warren and Dan Marks of TerraCRG were the sole brokers in the transaction. The names of the seller and buyer were not released.
MANSFIELD, MASS. — SVN|Parsons Commercial Group|Boston has brokered the sale of a multifamily property located at 12 Pratt St. in Mansfield. Heartwood Realty LLC acquired the property for $3.2 million from Feck Properties LLC. The 24-unit property was 100 percent occupied at the time of sale. Marci Alvarado and Jake Parsons of SVN|Parsons Commercial Group represented the seller and buyer in the transaction.
WOODBURY, CONN. — Drubner Commercial Real Estate has arranged the sale of the former Carmen Anthony Fish House in Woodbury. Tony Ramadani and Kung Wei acquired the property for $1.2 million. The buyers, who are experienced restaurant operators, plan to open Max Prime Steak House – Seafood and Sushi. David Theroux of Drubner Commercial Real Estate represented the buyer and undisclosed seller in the transaction.
HOUSTON — Local investment group Quasar Galleria Ltd. has acquired 5433 Westheimer, an 11-story, 123,477-square-foot office building located in Houston’s Galleria area. Dan Miller and Martin Hogan of HFF marketed the asset on behalf of the seller, a joint venture partnership of funds managed by Songy Highroads LLC and Edens. The property, built in 1967, was acquired for an undisclosed amount free and clear of existing debt. On-site amenities include Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, an 11,000-square-foot common area with meeting space and an attached two-level structured parking garage. The building recently underwent a renovation program and was 81.2 percent leased at the time of sale.