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SANTA CLARITA, CALIF. — Oxford Properties Group, a real estate investment and management firm based in Toronto, has purchased Santa Clarita Innovation Park, a 14-building campus situated on 118.5 acres in the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Clarita. Funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management and Intertex Cos. sold the property, which was formerly known as Mann Biomedical Park, for $133.5 million. The acquisition of Santa Clarita Innovation Park falls in line with Oxford’s investment strategy as it is leased to various distribution users and life sciences firms such as Boston Scientific and Bioness. Oxford aims to have 45 to 60 percent of its assets-under-management portfolio to be in life sciences, industrial and residential real estate by 2025. In addition to distribution and life sciences, Santa Clarita Innovation Park includes some offices, a childcare facility and Wolf Creek Brewery. Additionally, the acquisition includes development rights for approximately 40 acres within the park. “Substantially growing our life sciences and industrial businesses represents our highest conviction investment strategies and top priorities at Oxford,” says Chad Remis, executive vice president of North America at Oxford. “The acquisition of Santa Clarita Innovation Park, and its additional development capacity, uniquely provides us with flexibility to build …

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TALLAHASSEE, FLA. — Seefried Industrial Properties has broken ground on a 2.8 million-square-foot fulfillment center in Tallahassee. The developer did not disclose the tenant, but the Tallahassee Democrat reported that the occupant will be Amazon. Dubbed “Project Mango,” the development will be situated on 118 acres near the Mahan Drive and I-10 interchange. Seefried says that the four-story project is record-breaking in terms of its size and functionality, and that it will feature cutting-edge material handling and product retrieval systems. Equipped with advanced robotics technology, the property will assist in efficient package delivery. The facility will feature 49 dock doors, 1,250 car parking spaces, 265 trailer spaces and 100,000 square feet of office and break room space. The fulfillment center is expected to generate 1,346 full-time jobs and an economic impact of $451 million, according to Seefried. The Conlan Co. is serving as general contractor. Completion is slated for the fourth quarter of 2022. Amazon also recently unveiled plans for a new fulfillment center in Port St. Lucie, Fla., along with five new delivery stations in the Sunshine State. The e-commerce giant currently operates more than 50 sites in Florida that support customer fulfillment and delivery operations. Atlanta-based Seefried is …

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CapRock

PHOENIX, ARIZ. — CapRock Partners has broken ground on CapRock West 202 Logistics, a 183-acre speculative industrial project in Phoenix. The eight-building, Class A industrial warehouse complex will total 3.4 million square feet. The project will be developed in two phases. Phase I will start in November 2021, with completion and delivery anticipated by the end of 2022. The first phase will include the first five buildings, totaling approximately 2.5 million square feet. The timeline for Phase II was not disclosed. Estimated development costs were also not released. The project will feature buildings ranging from 228,000 to 1.1 million square feet, with clear heights between 32-feet and 40-feet. All buildings will feature dock-high and ground-level loading with secured concrete truck courts. Each of the buildings are designed with varying depths and are divisible to accommodate multiple tenants. The project is the largest speculative industrial development in the history of Phoenix, according to CapRock. Bob O’Neill, senior vice president of acquisitions at CapRock Partners, said the CapRock West 202 Logistics project will be bigger than any other industrial project in Phoenix by more than 1 million square feet. “Phoenix is now the fifth largest municipality in the United States, and also …

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Northstar-Sarasota

BOCA RATON, FLA. — DigitalBridge (NYSE: DBRG) has agreed to sell its entire wellness portfolio, consisting of 300 seniors housing, skilled nursing, medical office and hospital properties, in a deal valued at $3.2 billion. The buyers are Highgate Capital Investments and Aurora Health Network. Before announcing its rebrand to DigitalBridge in June, the Boca Raton-based real estate investment trust (REIT) was formerly known as Colony Capital. The sale is the final step of the company’s conversion of its portfolio to all digital infrastructure properties, such as cell towers and data centers. The $3.2 billion includes $226 million in cash, a $90 million seller note and the assumption of $2.9 billion in debt. “Having completed our digital transformation in less than two years, this final step will allow us to emerge as the pure-play, fast-growing digital infrastructure REIT we envisioned from day one,” says Marc Ganzi, president and CEO of DigitalBridge. The portfolio includes DigitalBridge’s equity interest in and management of its sponsored, non-traded REIT, NorthStar Healthcare Income Inc. The company merged with NorthStar in 2016, with the combined REIT valued at a total capitalization of $17 billion at that time. The sale is expected to close in early 2022, subject …

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AUSTIN, TEXAS — Stratus Properties Inc. (NASDAQ: STRS) has acquired land near the Texas State Capitol in downtown Austin with plans to develop Block 150, a 300-unit luxury apartment tower. Rising 400 feet at the corner of 12th and San Antonio streets, the project will span 420,000 gross square feet and include ground-floor retail space. Development costs are estimated at $185 million, according to the Austin American-Statesman. The scope of the project includes the historic A.O. Watson house, which will be renovated and expanded to offer resident amenities such as a restaurant, pool and garden. Built in 1894, the house was the personal residence of architect Arthur Osborn Watson. Construction on Block 150 is expected to begin in early 2023 with completion slated for mid-2025. Stratus Block 150 LP, a Texas limited partnership, will own the development. Financing for the land purchase and predevelopment is in place and includes a land acquisition loan in the amount of $14 million. The remaining predevelopment costs will be funded by approximately $21 million in equity contributed to the limited partnership by Stratus and private equity investors. Stratus will receive 25 percent of the limited partnership’s equity, in exchange for development costs to date …

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NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF. AND NEW YORK CITY — Pacific Investment Management Co. (PIMCO) has entered into a definitive agreement with Columbia Property Trust (NYSE: CXP) to acquire the New York City-based office REIT. Funds managed by PIMCO will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Columbia’s common stock in a deal valued at $3.9 billion, including debt. Columbia owns 15 office properties spanning more than 6 million square feet in the gateway markets of New York City, Boston, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. The firm’s portfolio also includes four office properties under development and 8 million square feet under management for private investors and third parties. The U.S. office sector has been severely impacted by the outbreak of COVID-19 and rise of the Delta variant as millions of office-using employees are currently working from home. According to The Wall Street Journal, New York City and San Francisco reported the lowest usage rates among the 10 major office markets tracked by Falls Church, Va.-based Kastle Systems, which monitors access swipes of office buildings. New York City had a usage rate of 22.3 percent and San Francisco had a 19.7 usage rate for the week ending Aug. 25. Despite the headwinds facing …

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Sunny Lake

LAUDERHILL, FLA. — Walker & Dunlop has arranged the $79.3 million sale of Sunny Lake Apartments, a 405-unit, garden-style community in Lauderhill. Still Hunter and Kaya Suarez of Walker & Dunlop represented the seller, Bar Invest Group. The buyer is a joint venture between East Hill Capital Partners, The Bascom Group and Leste Group, with Leste Group participating as the majority equity investor. Bridge Investment Group provided the debt financing for the acquisition, which Stuart Wernick of Walker & Dunlop arranged. Built in 1988, Sunny Lake Apartments offers one-, two- and three-bedroom units with an average of 719 to 1,129 square feet. Units feature double bathroom vanities; storage units; washers and dryers in unit; walk-in closets; patios and decks; and hardwood floors. Community amenities include a pet play area, car wash, fitness center, pool, clubhouse, business center, playground and tennis court. Located at 2360 NW 56th Ave. on nearly 27 acres, the apartment property is situated in the suburban Broward County area. The property is about 2.8 miles from Sunrise, approximately 7.9 miles from Fort Lauderdale and about 2.9 miles from Plantation. The property is less than two miles from Florida’s Turnpike, which provides fast connectivity to other areas of …

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TMC3-Aerial

HOUSTON — The Texas Medical Center (TMC) is set to break ground on Phase I of TMC3, a $1.8 billion life sciences campus in Houston.  The 37-acre TMC3 master plan, which will encompass approximately 6 million square feet of development, was designed by Boston-based Elkus Manfredi Architects. Groundbreaking is scheduled for the fourth quarter of this year.  Phase I of the campus will include 950,000 square feet of space dedicated to research, anchored by a 700,000-square-foot facility developed by Beacon Capital Partners and strategic partner Braidwell; a 521-room hotel; 65,000 square feet of conference space; a 350-unit residential tower; over 2,000 parking spaces; and 18.7 acres of public space, including six parks designed by Mikyoung Kim Design.  Upon full build-out, the development will also include six future industry and institutional research buildings and a mixed-use building with retail. The campus is expected to generate up to $5.4 billion in annual economic impact for the state of Texas, as well as 23,000 permanent jobs and 19,000 construction jobs.  “It is an unprecedented time for life sciences and innovation in the U.S. and Houston has all the factors that are required for explosive growth in this space,” says Steve Purpura, president of …

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KISSIMMEE, FLA. — Encore Capital Management has received a $98.4 million loan for the refinancing and expansion of Margaritaville Resort Orlando. Concord Summit Capital LLC arranged the loan with Starwood Property Trust. The loan refinances the existing construction senior and mezzanine debt and provides additional capital for the resort expansion. Encore plans to build 75 additional hotel rooms on the east wing of the resort, which is located in Kissimmee, just south of Orlando. Construction is expected to begin later this year, but a timeline for completion was not disclosed. The resort, which opened in January 2019, offers rooms, suites and cottage rentals. Resort guests can dine at Euphoria Fish House, an upscale seafood restaurant; Salty Rim Bar & Grill, a poolside grill; or On Vacation, a cocktail and comedian lounge. The property also offers space for hosting meetings, conferences and weddings. Kevin O’Grady, Justin Neelis and Daniel Rojo of Concord Summit arranged the loan on behalf of Encore. The team began marketing the opportunity to potential lenders in spring 2021. Concord Summit also arranged the original construction financing for Margaritaville Resort Orlando in 2017. “The owners have planned the resort’s expansion carefully and enhanced the brand significantly,” says O’Grady. …

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BETHESDA, MD. AND WOODLAND HILLS, CALIF. — Walker & Dunlop (NYSE: WD) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Alliant Capital Ltd., a privately held affordable housing asset management firm based in Woodland Hills. Under the terms of the purchase agreement, Walker & Dunlop will acquire Alliant and its affiliates, Alliant Strategic Investments and ADC Communities, at a total value of $696 million. Alliant is the sixth-largest syndicator of low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC) in the United States and has participated in the development of over 100,000 affordable units serving over 400,000 families. ADC Communities is the affordable housing development arm of Alliant, which has financed 29 developments and over 5,400 units in eight states since 2014. Alliant Strategic Investments focuses on non-LIHTC affordable housing preservation, workforce housing and opportunity zone investments. The acquisition will bring Walker & Dunlop’s total affordable housing assets under management to $16 billion, with $14 billion of those assets under management belonging to Alliant. The move is expected to be accretive to Walker & Dunlop’s existing $112 billion servicing portfolio. “Alliant is one of the largest and most respected tax credit syndicators and affordable housing developers in the country. The addition of their people, …

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