ATLANTA — Jones Lang LaSalle has arranged a 49,293-square-foot lease with Axiall Corp., a chemical and buildings product firm, at Northpark Town Center in Atlanta’s Central Perimeter submarket. Axiall will establish its corporate headquarters in the 586,256-square-foot 400 Northpark building and will move in December. The relocation and expansion is expected to create between 50 and 100 jobs. Eric Vayle and Keene Reese of Jones Lang LaSalle represented the tenant in the lease deal. Richard Nash of CBRE represented the landlord.
BROWNSBURG, IND. — Eastern Union Funding has arranged a $20.7 million loan for the refinancing of the 250-unit Legacy Park Apartments in Brownsburg, located about 17 miles northwest of Indianapolis. Completed in 2011, the Class A apartment community is fully leased. Greystone Servicing Corp. provided the 35-year HUD loan, which features an interest rate of 4.05 percent and a loan-to-value ratio of 83.3 percent. The borrower plans to use part of the proceeds from the loan to pay off the construction loan. Shaya Ackerman, senior managing director, and Ira Zlotowitz, president of Eastern Union, arranged the loan.
CHICAGO — HREC Investment Advisors has arranged $20.3 million in financing for the 162-guestroom Hotel Blake in the Printers Row neighborhood of Chicago. The lender was a debt fund. The borrower plans to use proceeds from the loan to reposition the hotel. Hotel Blake is located at 500 S. Dearborn St. in Chicago. Amenities at the hotel include a 24-hour fitness and business center and complimentary Wi-Fi.
CHICAGO — Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc. has sold its Lakeshore Athletic Club property in downtown Chicago for $10.5 million to the owner of Lakeshore Sport & Fitness. The property is located on N. Stetson Ave. and is adjacent to the Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park Hotel. The buyer plans to reopen the facility as a health club as soon as possible. Strategic Hotels & Resorts will use the proceeds from the sale to reduce debt on its revolving credit facility.
INDEPENDENCE, MO. — Fresh Warehousing has signed a 108,926-square-foot industrial lease at 1600 N. State Route 291 in Independence, an eastern suburb of Kansas City. Woodmen of the World Life Insurance Society, based in Omaha, Neb., owns the property. Cameron Duff and Doug Hedrick of Colliers International represented Fresh Warehousing in the transaction. John Smith of LS Commercial Real Estate represented the landlord. Fresh Warehousing is a third-party logistics company that owns and operates more than 3 million square feet of warehouse space in the greater St. Louis and Indianapolis metropolitan areas.
NEW YORK CITY — Vornado Realty Trust has acquired the land and air rights above a development site at 220 Central Park South in Manhattan for $194 million. Extell Development Co., builder of the nearby One57 luxury-condo tower, was the seller, according to Bloomberg. Vornado says the deal will enable the company to begin work on a 920-foot luxury residential condominium tower at the site. Robert A.M. Stern Architects will design the 472,000-square-foot tower, which will have unobstructed views of Central Park.
HOPEWELL, N.J. — Cushman & Wakefield has arranged the $90.8 million sale of 1100, 1150 and 1200 Merrill Lynch Drive, a trio of Class A office buildings in Hopewell. A partnership including Fortress Investment Group, Sansome Pacific Properties, Normandy Real Estate Partners and Skyline Pacific Properties sold the 380,000-square-foot complex to American Real Estate Partners. The buildings are part of Merrill Lynch’s 12-building, 1.8 million-square-foot Hopewell campus and house the firm’s global wealth and investment management division. Cushman also arranged $60 million in acquisition financing for the office portfolio. Andrew Merin, David Bernhaut, Gary Gabriel, Brian Whitmer and Grace Braverman of Cushman & Wakefield's metropolitan capital markets group represented the sellers in the transaction. Mark Ehlinger and John Alascio of Cushman & Wakefield's equity, debt and structured finance team arranged acquisition financing on behalf of the American Real Estate Partners.
NEW YORK CITY — RFR has unveiled a $65 million capital improvement plan for its 530,000-square-foot office tower located at 285 Madison Ave. in Manhattan. RFR plans include redesigning the office tower as a green building and achieving LEED-Silver certification. The tower’s infrastructure will get a boost with new elevators and HVAC system, and the entrance and lobby of the 1920s-era building will be redesigned. Additionally, 40,000 square feet of retail space will be offered.
NEW YORK CITY — HFF has arranged a $62.4 million construction loan for the redevelopment of 12 East 13th Street, a residential condominium project in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village neighborhood. HFF worked on behalf of the borrowing team of DHA Capital, Continental Properties and Ramius. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance provided the non-recourse loan. Proceeds of the loan will be used to redevelop an eight-story parking garage into a 12-story, luxury residential condominium property called 12 East 13th Street. The building is located south of Union Square between University Place and Fifth Avenue. The project is slated for completion by spring 2015. Michael Gigliotti, associate director, and Andrew Scandalios, senior managing director, led the HFF team representing the borrower.
HOUSTON — Hanover Real Estate Partners, a Greenwich, Conn.-based investment company, has sold the Marathon Oil Tower in Houston’s Galleria submarket. The 41-story, 1.2 million-square-foot office building is located at 5555 San Felipe Street and includes an attached 13-story parking garage. CBRE Strategic Partners U.S. Value 6, a fund sponsored by CBRE Global Investors, purchased the asset, which is LEED Silver certified. Hanover assumed management and oversight duties at the tower in 2003, at which time Marathon Oil Co. leased the entire building. Marathon has since reduced its footprint to 650,000 square feet. Other tenants, including Aon Corp., Kanaly Trust Co. and Baker Hughes Oilfield Operations Inc., currently lease space vacated by Marathon.