MALDEN AND EVERETT, MASS. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of two apartment buildings in Malden and Everett. The properties are the six-unit building at 78 Florence St. in Everett and the seven-unit building at 23-27 Cedar St. in Malden. The properties sold for $1.85 million total. Evan Griffith of Marcus & Millichap’s Boston office represented the sellers, two private investors, and procured the buyers, also private investors, in the transaction.
ROCKVILLE, MD. — GI Partners has acquired a 290,000-square-foot life science facility in Rockville for $322.5 million. The facility is located at 9911 Belward Campus Drive, roughly 20 miles northwest of Washington, D.C. The property is situated along the Interstate 270 corridor that is commonly referred to as “DNA Alley”. The manufacturing facility is fully occupied by Human Genome Sciences Inc. (HGSI). The global healthcare company, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of GlaxoSmithKline, has leased the space through June 2026. “We are very pleased to own 9911 Belward, an institutional-quality property with state-of-the-art life science improvements,” says Mike Armstrong, GI’s vice president. “The facility’s location in one of the nation’s largest biotechnology clusters, coupled with its robust infrastructure, makes it an attractive property for life science and biotechnology use.” BioMed Realty (NYSE: BMR) acquired the facility in 2006 as part of a sale-leaseback transaction with HGSI. The company’s board of directors declared a special dividend of $0.30 per share of common stock, reflecting a return to stockholders of a portion — about $61 million — of the sale proceeds. BioMed plans to use the remaining proceeds to pay down the balance of the company’s unsecured revolving credit facility. BioMed …
CHESTERFIELD, MO. — The new $150 million Reinsurance Group of America (RGA) global headquarters will open this month in Chesterfield, a suburb of St. Louis. Fox Architects designed the 405,000-square-foot stone, glass and steel building, which is one of the largest projects in the St. Louis region since Centene Plaza was completed in 2010, and the largest local headquarters project in at least 20 years. The headquarters’ two five-story towers are linked by a two-story atrium lobby and amenities bar, which features 10,000 square feet of training facilities; a 7,500-square-foot fitness center; a 20,000-square-foot café, kitchen and barista; and a 500-seat cafeteria that can function as a 700-seat auditorium. The complex also includes 580,000 square feet of parking. Built on a 17-acre site, the complex will accommodate RGA’s workforce expansion over the next several years, and is master planned to include a third building for long-term growth. Fox Architects designed the interiors and was RGA’s consultant to international architectural firm Gensler on core and shell design. Clayco was the design-build contractor.
EAGAN AND PRIOR LAKE, MINN. — KeyBank Real Estate Capital has secured $31.7 million in Fannie Mae loans for two seniors housing communities. The properties included Keystone Communities of Eagan, which includes 129 units; and Keystone Communities of Prior Lake, which includes 107 units. Charlie Shoop of KeyBank secured financing for the borrower, Toronto, Ontario-based BayBridge Seniors Housing, in conjunction with local operator and joint venture partner Keystone Communities. The financing allowed BayBridge to refinance existing debt at low long-term, fixed interest rates and provided additional growth capital for the sponsor.
MINOOKA, ILL. — An 83-room Hampton Inn & Suites is set to open in Minooka, located approximately 12 miles southwest of Joliet. Blair Road Hotel Associates LLC is developing the $12 million project, which is a collaboration between Kinseth Hospitality, American Construction Services, Doug Bean Development and Marquette Properties Inc. The Hampton Inn & Suites, located at 621 Bob Blair Road, is the first hotel in Minooka and is expected to be open in fall 2015.
HALTOM CITY, TEXAS — ALDI, a low-price grocery store chain, has opened a new location in Haltom City. The new store is located at 3173 Denton Hwy. ALDI has more than 1,300 total stores in 32 states. The chain is averaging 80 new stores each year. The Haltom City location was constructed with recycled materials and uses energy-efficient refrigeration and light bulbs.
HOUSTON — Tanglewood Property Group has acquired 2000 Bering Drive in Houston. The 192,000-square-foot office building is located in the Tanglewood area just west of the Galleria. The property is 97 percent leased. This is Tanglewood’s second office building acquisition in 2014, the company purchased 5300 W. Sam Houston Pkwy. N., earlier this year. Henry Hagendorf and Cliff Rudolph represented Tanglewood in the acquisition. Houston-based Tanglewood Property Group owns and manages more than 1.4 million square feet of commercial office space, mostly in the uptown Galleria submarket of Houston.
FRISCO, TEXAS — Dallas-based Venture Commercial Real Estate represented Fitness International LLC in lease negotiations for a new LA Fitness club in Frisco. A new 38,000-square-foot LA Fitness gym will be built in the Frisco Market Center, which is located at the northwest corner of Main Street and the Dallas North Tollway. Other tenants in the mixed-use development include Main Event Entertainment, Elite Care, Pei Wei Asian Diner, Pie Five Pizza Co. and Mooyah Burgers, Fries and Shakes. John Zikos and Jonathan Cooper of Venture represented LA Fitness in negotiations. Walt Brown Jr. and Tim Dollander of Diversified Partners brokered the lease on behalf of LA Fitness. Darrell Hernandez of United Commercial Realty represented the landlord, Dallas-based Hermansen Land Development Inc.
AUSTIN — Velocis has arranged the sale of Springdale Shopping Center in Austin. Tampa-based Forge Real Estate Partners III LP purchased the 163,677-square-foot retail center. Velocis purchased Springdale Shopping Center in 2012 and invested in a new roof, pylon signage updates and parking lot repairs. H-E-B anchors the center, which is located off of Highway 183. Other tenants include Fashion Outlet, Carousel Pediatrics, Family Dollar and O’Reilly Auto Parts. CBRE’s Chris Cozby, Chris Gerard and Kevin Holland brokered the sale on behalf of Velocis.
BETHESDA, MD. — LaSalle Hotel Properties has sold 7.6 million shares of common stock to Barclays, Deutsche Bank Securities and Morgan Stanley for $40.30 per share. LaSalle will use the net proceeds from this underwritten public offering to fund three hotel acquisitions out West. Though the properties were not named, LaSalle noted the hotels were located in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Portland, Ore. They will be purchased for a total of about $500 million. The company will also use some of the proceeds to reduce the amount of its outstanding $750-million senior unsecured credit facility, as well as for general corporate purposes. Barclays, Deutsche Bank Securities and Morgan Stanley are acting as the offering’s underwriters. LaSalle has also granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to 1.14 million additional shares. Bethesda, Md.-based LaSalle Hotel Properties is a multi-operator REIT that owns 44 hotels. The portfolio contains a total of 11,100 guest rooms in upscale, full-service hotels throughout 13 markets in nine states and the District of Columbia. LaSalle specializes in the ownership, redevelopment and repositioning of upscale, full-service hotels in urban, resort and convention markets.