MCLEAN, VA. — Hilton Hotels Corp. has signed a lease with B.F. Saul Real Estate Investment Trust for space in its 323,000-square-foot Park Place II office tower. The property is located at 7930 Jones Branch Dr. in McLean. The 10-year lease secures a third of the LEED Gold-certified building for Hilton’s new global headquarters. Hilton will relocate its operations from Beverly Hills, Calif., during the third quarter.
Southeast
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Choate Construction has broken ground on the 28,000-square-foot SCRA MUSC Innovation Center – Charleston, a renovation and expansion of an existing historic property in Charleston’s industrial area. The center, which is located 2 miles from the Medical University of South Carolina campus, will feature biomedical research and lab space, administrative offices and a police substation. Choate will replace the roof, outfit the interior with new fixtures and fire-suppression systems and restore the façade to its original brick. The development is part of a larger plan to create a biomedical research hub in the city. Completion is expected this winter.
MACON, GA. — The Atlanta-based hotel management firm Hotel Equities has added the 83-room Candlewood Suites in Macon to its portfolio. The property, located at 3957 Riverplace Dr., is owned by Ashok J. Patel and Shree Ji Swamibapa Ji LLC. The extended-stay hotel features an exercise room and an outdoor pool.
MT. JULIET, TENN. — Memphis, Tenn.-based Boyle Investment Co.’s Phil Fawcett has secured a construction loan for the first phase of the company’s 200,000-square-foot Providence Commons shopping center. U.S. Bank, represented internally by Scott Miler, financed the loan. The property, located on Mt. Juliet Rd. in Mt. Juliet, will feature a 54,000-square-foot Publix, three to four additional anchor and junior-anchor stores and 35,000 square feet of small-shop space. Franklin, Tenn.-based Civil Constructors and Nashville, Tenn.-based JE Crain are working toward a fall completion date.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Association of American Railroads has signed a 33,619-square-foot lease with Bethesda, Md.-based Clark Enterprises for space in its Capitol View office building. The Class A property is located at 425 3rd St. in Washington. The association will move into the building in September, occupying 15 percent of the property. Scott Frankel, Art Santry and Doug Mueller of CB Richard Ellis’ Washington office represented the landlord. Bruce McNair and Josh Hartman of Grubb & Ellis’ Washington office represented the tenant.
RALEIGH, N.C. — Poway I has acquired a 10,200-square-foot Raleigh office/flex building for an undisclosed amount through a 1031-exchange with 1648 North Market Drive LLC. The property is located at 1648 N. Market Dr. Branham Stovall, II, of Raleigh-based Drucker & Falk Real Estate represented the buyer.
DORAL, FLA. — The San Antonio-based apartment management firm The Lynd Co. has acquired a 50 percent interest in Doral-based Easton Management, which focuses on industrial management and development. The transaction creates a new company, Easton Lynd Management. The Lynn Co. already has an office in South Florida, and the transaction strengthens its presence in the region and underscores its decision to branch out to different property types.
The Memphis industrial market, comprised of 176 million square feet of warehouse space and 7.7 million square feet of flex space, reached a total of just more than 184 million square feet at the end of 2008. Deliveries during that time included just more than 2.8 million square feet in nine new buildings, including the 1.1 million-square-foot Nike Footwear Distribution Center in the Northwest submarket. In the DeSoto County, Mississippi, submarket the 800,000-square-foot Building F in the Crossroads Distribution Center and the 600,000-square-foot Building 3 in the Olive Branch Distribution Center were added as well. Annual deliveries have been in steady decline since hitting a 5-year peak of 6.9 million square feet in 2005. More than 1 million square feet of industrial space is currently under construction in the market, and more than half of the space is pre leased. Virtually all speculative building deliveries in the market have been occurring in DeSoto County, where the business environment is friendly and tax incentives are healthy. During the second quarter of 2008, 16 buildings were delivered in DeSoto County, driving the vacancy rate in the submarket to a high of 23.4 percent, as of the end of the quarter. Three straight …
URBANA, MD. — Banner Life Insurance Co. has leased 115,000 square feet in a new building in the Urbana Corporate Center from Natelli Communities. Akridge Development will finish construction on the building by the summer of 2011, at which point Banner will occupy the Urbana property. Gaithersburg, Md.-based McShea & Co. represented the landlord in the lease, and Banner Life was represented by Robb Johnson of Jones Lang LaSalle’s McLean, Va., office and Jim Cahill and Pete Briskman of the firm’s Baltimore office.
ORLANDO, FLA. — Harland Financial Services has signed a 10-year, 80,000-square-foot lease for space at Primera Building III in Orlando for $18 million. The office property is located at 605 Crescent Executive Court. Richard Solik of Cushman & Wakefield’s Orlando office represented Harland.