NEW YORK CITY — Richmond, Va.-based Media General Inc. has leased the entire 62nd floor of the Empire State Building in New York City. The company plans utilize the 26,782-square-foot space to centralize its six digital media companies and national sales headquarters into one location. Fred Posniak provided in-house representation for the landlord, Empire State Realty Trust, along with William Cohen, Jonathan Tootell and Shanae Ursini of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank. James Gross and Peter Gross of Douglas Elliman Commercial represented Media General in the deal.
YAPHANK, N.Y. — United Baking Co. has signed a leased for 38,500 square feet of storage space at 95 Horseblock Road in Yaphank. Situated in Eastern Suffolk County, the 181,000-square-foot property offers close proximity to the Long Island Expressway, Sunrise Highway and multiple other transportation routes. United Baking Co. is the manufacturing and parent corporation of Shirley, N.Y.-based Uncle Wally’s, a baked goods company. Tommy Tsiolis provided in-house representation for the landlord, Long Island Industrial, while Jack O’Connor of Newmark Knight Grubb Frank represented the tenant in the transaction.
NEWPORT NEWS AND VIRGINIA BEACH, VA. — Berkadia has brokered the sale of two apartment communities in Newport News and Virginia Beach totaling $29.8 million. The assets included the 156-unit Windsor Crossing at 23 Cedarwood Way in Newport News and the 288-unit Plaza Apartments at 124 Palm Beach Place in Virginia Beach. CJEHN Alpha LLC of Yorktown, Va., purchased Windsor Crossing from Denver-based NHP Windsor Crossing LP for $14.9 million. Patriot Pointe Apartments LLC of Charlottesville, Va., purchased Plaza Apartments from Newport News-based KVB Realty Co. for $14.9 million. Alan Meetze and David Hudgins of Berkadia represented the sellers in both transactions.
JACKSONVILLE, FLA. — NorthMarq Capital has arranged a $14.7 million acquisition loan for Park South at Deerwood Apartments, a 240-unit multifamily property located at 7932 Southside Blvd. in Jacksonville. Ory Schwartz of NorthMarq Capital’s Los Angeles office arranged the 10-year loan with five years of interest-only payments and a 30-year amortization schedule. Schwartz arranged the loan through an unnamed CMBS lender on behalf of the borrower, a private investor based on the West Coast.
STATESBORO, GA. AND WILMINGTON, N.C. — Progress Student Living has sold two luxury student housing communities that it developed recently in North Carolina and Georgia. Sold in the portfolio transaction were Progress910, a 168-unit rental community with 528 bedroom/bathroom suites near the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) in Wilmington, and Monarch301, a 180-unit rental community with 546 bedroom/bathroom suites near Georgia Southern University in Statesboro. Progress 910 was completed in August 2014, while Monarch301 was finished in August 2013. Each property is currently 97 percent occupied. Ryan Reid and Ryan Lang of CBRE’s national student housing group in Dallas brokered the two transactions. According to media reports, Santa Barbara, Calif.-based Phillips Acquisitions was the buyer. The transaction price was not disclosed.
ST. CLOUD, FLA. – The SRS Southeast Investment Sales team has brokered the $7.7 million sale of Canoe Creek Plaza, a 61,333-square-foot neighborhood shopping center in St. Cloud. The Winn Dixie-anchored property is located at 3318 Canoe Creek Road, which is situated just north of the intersection of Canoe Creek and Old Canoe Creek roads. The seller, Miller Group Development, sold the property to Canoe Creek SC LLC, an affiliate of Tricon Development. Kyle Stonis and Pierce Mayson of SRS represented the seller in the transaction. The buyer did not have brokerage representation.
ARLINGTON, VA. — LCOR, a real estate company specializing in property development, investment and management, has received final site plan approval from the Arlington County Board for The Altaire, located at 400 Army Navy Drive in Arlington. The multifamily project is slated to break ground by mid-year 2015, with completion planned for the second quarter of 2018. The project will consist of two towers, with the first tower including 150 condominium units and the second tower offering 300 rental units. Located on 1.7 acres of land at the border of Crystal City and Pentagon City, the 20-story building will be LEED Gold-certified. Amenities will be shared by the two towers and will include a landscaped courtyard with an outdoor pool area and fire pits, a fitness center, club room and a sky lounge. Both buildings will also feature rooftop terraces overlooking D.C. Each residential tower will have a separate entrance, but they will share access to the common reception area with 24-hour security, concierge services and staffing.
SAN FRANCISCO — Ivanhoé Cambridge and partner Veritas Investments have acquired 11 multifamily properties in San Francisco for a total of $190 million. These acquisitions are part of Ivanhoé’s ongoing residential property aggregation strategy in San Francisco through the exclusive partnership it created with Veritas in 2014. Though the addresses were not divulged, Ivanhoé says the properties are located “in some of the most favorable neighborhoods in the center of San Francisco, ranging from the traditional exclusive districts of Lower and Upper Nob Hill and Russian Hill, to the trend-setting lifestyle neighborhoods of NOPA, Noe Valley and the Mission.” The partnership now owns 20 properties in San Francisco, for a total of 580 housing units. The initial nine properties the partnership had previously acquired are valued at nearly $50 million. Ivanhoé cites the demand for space among technology and creative companies as the driving force behind its strategy to snatch up multifamily properties in the city’s favorable neighborhoods.
LOS ANGELES — The 299-unit Sunset and Gordon apartment community has debuted in Los Angeles. The luxury high-rise community is located at the northeast corner of Sunset Boulevard and Gordon Street in Hollywood. In addition to the residential units, the $76.2-million project contains 36,688 square feet of office space, 12,229 square feet of retail and restaurant space and a 523-space parking garage. The 547,500-square-foot tower features office space on the third and fourth floors, with rental units on floors five through 22. Residential amenities include a pool deck, media room and fitness center. Sunset and Gordon was developed by CIM Group, built by Balfour Beatty Construction and designed by GBD Architects. The project came in about $21 million under budget, which was largely attributed to a complete re-design of the structure’s mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) systems. Its reconfiguration will save CIM more than 500,000 gallons of water a year, on average. The cast-in-place structures also allowed the team to reduce construction cycle times and accelerate project delivery by several months. The 1.7-acre site has been home to many legendary establishments, including the Peerless Motor Car Showroom and The Motion Picture Hall of Fame in the 1920s; KNX Radio and …
WALNUT CREEK, CALIF. — Decron Properties has acquired a two-property multifamily portfolio in the San Francisco Bay Area submarket of Walnut Creek for a total of $63 million. The portfolio includes the 152-unit Creekside Glen complex and the 99-unit Cypress Creek complex, which are both located in the city’s downtown area. Decron plans to invest up to $16 million to upgrade the properties, which were built in the early ‘60s. The Walnut Creek portfolio is in keeping with Decron’s strategy of acquiring assets that have upside potential in attractive suburban areas near markets with strong job growth. Decron plans to renovate the interiors with luxury finishes, providing full-size washers and dryers to each unit, enhancing community facilities and modernizing the exterior. The upgrades will include the installation of high-quality flooring, new cabinets, stone countertops, stainless steel appliances and six-panel doors, creating a resort-style swimming pool and barbecue areas and adding resident lounges and leasing offices. The Walnut Creek purchase falls on the heels of Decron’s recent acquisition of a 187-unit, garden-style apartment community in nearby Mountain View for $86 million. The company also just announced its disposition of a Southern California-based shopping center portfolio for $108.5 million. Decron says it’s …