MIAMI — GrayRobinson, a law firm with 280 attorneys and 11 offices in Florida, is relocating its Miami office to Wells Fargo Center in downtown Miami. Wells Fargo Center is a 750,000-square-foot, Class A office tower located near Interstate 95 and Brickell Bridge. Taylor & Mathis signed the law firm to a 35,358-square-foot office lease on the 31st and 32nd floors. GrayRobinson is expected to move into its new office space in January 2015. Brian Gale and Ryan Holtzman of Taylor & Mathis represented the landlord, MetLife, in the lease transaction. Barbara Liberatore Black of Cresa South Florida represented GrayRobinson.
Southeast
ATLANTA — CBRE Group Inc. has hired Bernard Haddigan to join the company’s capital markets group as its senior managing director. Haddigan, who is based in Atlanta, will work with Kevin Aussef to lead CBRE’s private capital group. Haddigan has more than three decades of experience in the commercial real estate industry. He spent 28 years with Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Services, launching its national retail group in 1998. Haddigan is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers and co-chairs its Open Air Committee webinar series.
NEW ORLEANS — Lowe Enterprise Investors has acquired the Royal St. Charles, a 143-room hotel in New Orleans, on behalf of an investment client. The hotel is located at 135. St. Charles Ave., between the city’s French Quarter and the New Orleans Convention Center. Destination Hotels & Resorts, an affiliate of Lowe Enterprise Investors, will manage the property as an independent, boutique hotel. The 10-story hotel features 2,610 square feet of meeting space, a fitness center and a PJ’s Coffee and Café eatery. The hotel also features balconies overlooking St. Charles Avenue, which is on the primary Mardi Gras parade route. Russell Munn of Lowe Enterprise Investors and Rick Rush of Lowe Hospitality Group led the acquisition team in the transaction. Larry Wolfe and Adam Etra of Eastdil Secured represented the seller, a joint venture between Clearview Hotel Capital and WHI Real Estate Partners.
RALEIGH, N.C. — ARA has arranged the $46.8 million sale of Woodlands at Wakefield Plantation, a Class A, 360-unit multifamily community located in Raleigh. The property was 95 percent occupied at the time of sale. Blake Okland, Dean Smith, John Heimburger and Sean Wood of ARA represented the seller, Boca Raton, Fla.-based Altman Development, in the transaction. Investors sponsored by Greensboro, N.C.-based Bell Partners purchased the asset.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A joint venture between Mack-Cali Realty Corp. and Fisher Brothers has acquired a 50 percent interest in a luxury multifamily project under construction at 701 2nd St. in Washington, D.C., for $46.5 million. The 377-unit project will feature 25,000 square feet of retail space, a fitness center, clubroom, demonstration kitchen, swimming pool, hot tub, grilling stations, rooftop garden, dog run, landscaped gardens, outdoor projection screening area and a 309-space underground parking garage. The joint venture has a 20-year debt in-place totaling $100.7 million. The apartment building is expected to be completed in mid-2015, with leasing beginning in the first quarter of 2015. Mack-Cali’s Roseland subsidiary will operate the new luxury apartment community. The project team developing and designing the community includes Hickok Cole Architects, Rockwell Group, COOKFOX and Handel Architects.
OLIVE BRANCH, MISS. — Inland Real Estate Income Trust Inc. has acquired Wedgewood Commons Shopping Center, a 159,258-square-foot shopping center in Olive Branch, a suburb of Memphis, Tenn. Inland purchased the asset for $33.9 million. The property is fully leased to TJ Maxx, HomeGoods, Michaels, Rack Room Shoes, AT&T, TCBY, GNC and Sports Clips. Lou Quilici of IREIT Business Manager & Advisors Inc. assisted Matthew Tice of Inland in the acquisition. David Disney of The Disney Group represented the seller in the transaction.
ORLANDO, FLA. — KBS Strategic Opportunity REIT, a public non-traded REIT based in Newport Beach, Calif., has purchased Maitland Promenade II, a 230,366-square-foot, Class A office building in Orlando’s Maitland submarket. The REIT acquired the five-story property, located at 495 N. Keller Road, for $31.2 million. The building is 77.2 percent leased to tenants including Star Networks, United Healthcare, Zurich Insurance, Akerman, Senterfitt and Edison and New York Life.
BALTIMORE — Cushman & Wakefield of Maryland Inc. has arranged the sale of a 1.2 million-square-foot distribution center located at 4000 Principio Parkway in Baltimore. Cole Real Estate Investments purchased the Class A industrial property from Weeks Robinson, a private real estate investment and development firm. The center is fully leased to Restoration Hardware. The property includes 32-foot clear ceiling heights, 234 docks and 294 trailer storage spaces.
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA. — Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust Inc., a Virginia Beach-based REIT that owns 23 properties in eight states, has purchased five grocery-anchored shopping centers in South Carolina for a combined $15.8 million, equating to about $60.38 per square foot. The portfolio spans 261,689 square feet and has an average occupancy rate of 91 percent. The properties include the 45,575-square-foot Clover Plaza in Clover, the 44,350-square-foot South Square in Lancaster, the 59,279-square-foot St. George Plaza in Dorchester County, the 49,750-square-foot Waterway Plaza in Little River and the 62,735-square-foot Westland Square in West Columbia.
RICHMOND, VA. — CBRE has arranged the sale of the Lar Don Portfolio, a three-building office portfolio in Richmond consisting of the Vistas I, Vistas II and One Holland Place. Real Estate Value Advisors LLC purchased the 153,762-square-foot portfolio for $13.1 million. Vistas I and Vistas II are two three-story, Class B office buildings located at 5516-5540 Falmouth St. in the Glenside/I-64 submarket. One Holland is a four-story, Class B office building located at 2235 Staples Mill Road. David Wilkins, Will Bradley and Joe Marchetti of CBRE | Richmond represented the seller, Lar Don Realty LLC, in the transaction.