BALTIMORE — HREC Investment Advisors has brokered the sale of the 104-room Wyndham Baltimore in Baltimore’s Mt. Vernon district. Kevin Hanley, Ketan Patel and Geoff Davis of HREC represented the seller, Mt. Vernon Square Inc., in the transaction. The property is situated adjacent to the Walters Art Museum, Peabody Institute of Music at The John Hopkins University and the Washington Monument.
It’s safe to say that the recent drastic drop in oil prices is a hot topic everywhere, and it certainly dominates the discussion in Houston real estate. As we read market predictions of how long it will take for the price of oil to rebound and the impact it will have on the economy, we must try to predict on a micro level what the consequence will be to tenants and landlords. With the price of oil below $50 per barrel and still declining, it is understandable why the uncertainty of the market is causing many tenants to put their space requirements on hold or reconsider their occupancy plans altogether. Despite the Greater Houston Partnership’s projection for 63,000 new jobs to be added in Houston in 2015 and the countless construction cranes that can be seen all over the city, the daily announcements of layoffs, reduced capital expenditure plans and mergers leave considerable room for doubt and uncertainty about the market. Although the Houston economy is more diverse today than it was 30 years ago, a strong correlation between the price of oil and office rental rates remains. The Houston employment and real estate market will, however, benefit from its …
SAN FRANCISCO — HCP has broken ground on the first phase of The Cove at Oyster Point, a new life science development in South San Francisco. The 884,000-square-foot project will be located on Oyster Point Boulevard. The campus will contain seven buildings that range in size from 102,000 square feet to 158,000 square feet. It will also feature 5.5 acres of outdoor green space, an amenity center, and retail and hotel entitlements. The first phase will contain two buildings totaling 253,000 square feet. They are scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2016. The Cove will be South San Francisco’s first ground-up, multi-tenant life science development in nearly a decade, according to CBRE life sciences experts Chris Jacobs and Rick Friday, who are serving as the project’s exclusive leasing agents.
DENVER — A joint venture between AB Real Estate Group and Sage Hospitality has acquired the TownePlace Suites Denver Portfolio for an undisclosed sum. The portfolio contains five properties throughout the Denver metro region, for a total of 584 rooms. Properties included in this acquisition are the TownePlace Suites Denver Downtown, the TownePlace Suites Denver West Federal Center, the TownePlace Suites Denver Southeast, the TownePlace Suites Denver Tech Center and the TownePlace Suites Boulder Broomfield. The hotels’ guestrooms and public spaces underwent significant renovations in 2013. The TownePlace Suites-branded properties are members of the Marriott franchise system. They will continue to be managed by Sage Hospitality. The sale was executed by JLL’s Mark Fair, Mark Fraioli and Chris Dewey.
FREMONT, CALIF. — Healthcare Realty Trust has acquired Civic Center Place, a 110,679-square-foot medical office building in Fremont, for $39.2 million. The center is located at 39141 Civic Center Drive. Civic Center Place was built in 1999. It is situated on 3.9 acres on the east side of the San Francisco Bay. The center was 98 percent leased at the time of closing. It is mostly occupied by healthcare-related tenants, as the center sits adjacent to the Washington Township Hospital Campus and Kaiser Permanente Fremont Medical Center. The facilities are situated along the future “Gateway” to the city’s downtown district. The transaction was executed by Marcus Muirhead, Greg Guglielmino and Steve Gonzalez of the Colliers Muirhead-Guglielmino-Gonzalez Investment Team. The seller was Berkeley Land Company.
PHOENIX — A partnership between Wood Partners and American Realty Advisors has acquired the 350-unit Pinnacle Towne Centre apartments in Phoenix for an undisclosed sum. The community is located at 1601 E. Highland Ave. The partnership plans to renovate the property into an upscale townhome community called Altera Highland. Altera Highland will include a luxury clubhouse, a fitness center and two resort-style pools with spas. The community fits with Wood’s strategy of acquiring and renovating well-located assets in growing markets. The seller, a REIT controlled by Essex Property Trust, was represented by Tyler Anderson of CBRE Group.
PORTLAND, ORE. — NBP Capital and Provenance Hotels have teamed up to develop a new hotel in Downtown Portland. The duo plan to invest $30 million to renovate two adjacent historic buildings they recently purchased on the corner of SW Alder and SW Park. The acquisition included the Woodlark Building, which was built in 1912, and the former Cornelius Hotel, built in 1908. The adaptive reuse will connect the two buildings, which have spaces for two food and beverage outlets. Both properties are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The new lifestyle hotel will include 150 rooms. This is the first joint acquisition by NBP Capital and Provenance Hotels. NBP is the majority partner in the project. Developer Arthur Mutal has also invested alongside NBP and Provenance Hotels. This is Provenance’s fifth hotel project in Portland. The company owns the Westin Portland. It also owns and manages Portland’s Hotel Lucia, Hotel deLuxe and Sentinel, as well as Hotel Max and Hotel 1000 in Seattle, and Hotel Murano in Tacoma, Wash. Provenance will also manage this hotel when it opens in 2016. The new project will be designed by R&A Architecture & Design, Freier Architekt and MCA Architects.
CLEVELAND — Westcore Proprieties has sold a historic, Class C office building in downtown Cleveland for $6 million to Millennia Cos., an apartment developer and property manager. The 11-story, 160,000-square-foot Garfield Building, a masonry and steel-frame building, is located at 1965 E. Sixth St., on the corner of Euclid Avenue and East Sixth Street. Originally built in 1893, the building is the former home of National City/ PNC Bank. Westcore Properties purchased the property in 2008. Millennia Cos. plans to develop the building into multifamily rental housing. Eliot Kijewski and Rico Pietro with CRESCO Real Estate, a member of the Cushman & Wakefield Alliance, represented Westcore Proprieties in the transaction. Allegro Reality represented Millennia Cos.
WARRENVILLE, ILL. — Quantum Real Estate Advisors Inc. has brokered the $5.7 million sale of a dual-tenant retail building and a freestanding building in Warrenville, 12 miles northeast of Aurora. The property is located at 28231-28251 Diehl Road. Chipotle and Specialty’s Café have long-term leases at the dual-tenant retail building and a McDonald’s occupies the freestanding building. The seller was a local real estate investor based in Lake Bluff, Ill. An Eau Claire, Wis.-based private real estate investor purchased the property. Chad Firsel and Conor Bossy of Quantum were the sole brokers in the transaction.
FORT WAYNE, IND. — Nadmar Realty Group has sold a 190,000-square-foot shopping center in Huntington, 25 miles southwest of Fort Wayne. Huntington Plaza is located at 2000 N. Jefferson St. Tenants at the property include Aaron’s, Hibbett Sports, JC Penney, Dollar General, Big Lots, Peebles and several other national and regional retailers. Joel Gorjian led Namdar in the disposition. A New York-based private investor purchased the property for an undisclosed sales price.
