Top Stories

Cushman & Wakefield Arranges $113M Construction Loan for Skyglass Tower Multifamily Project in Seattle

by Taylor Williams August 2, 2021

SEATTLE — Cushman & Wakefield has arranged a $113 million construction loan for Skyglass Tower, a 29-story multifamily project located at 222 Dexter Ave. N. in Seattle’s South Lake Union submarket. The total project cost is $196 million, according to the borrower and developer, Gemdale USA Corp. The location puts the building within close proximity of several of Seattle’s largest employers, including tech giants Amazon, Google and Facebook. South Lake Union is also located in the heart of the city’s life sciences hub, according to Cushman & Wakefield. Skyglass Tower will consist of 338 apartments in various floor plans, 2,260 square feet of ground-floor retail space and 128 underground parking spaces. The building will also feature an expansive amenity package and unobstructed water views. Hewitt Architects is designing the project, with completion slated for October 2023. Insurance giant AIG provided the loan to Gemdale, a national development firm based in the Los Angeles area. Dave Karson, Chris Moyer and Keith Padien of Cushman & Wakefield arranged the debt. “Seattle is benefiting greatly from regional job creation, and South Lake Union is still a prime location for new developments,” says Karson. “Strong developers like Gemdale are getting great attention from debt …

August 2, 2021

Acquisitions Georgia Office Southeast Top Stories

Cousins Acquires 725 Ponce Office Property in Midtown Atlanta for $300.2M

by Kristin Harlow July 30, 2021

ATLANTA — Cousins Properties (NYSE: CUZ) has acquired 725 Ponce, a 372,000-square-foot office property in Midtown Atlanta, for $300.2 million. The seller, New City Properties, completed development of the 12-story asset in late 2019. Located on the Atlanta BeltLine and directly across from popular mixed-use development Ponce City Market, 725 Ponce is fully leased to tenants such as BlackRock, McKinsey & Co. and Chick-fil-A. The $140 million development includes an adjacent 60,000-square-foot Kroger grocery store, which replaced a former Kroger that was built in 1986. As part of the transaction, Cousins also acquired a 50 percent ownership interest in an adjacent land site for an additional $4 million that can accommodate 150,000 to 200,000 square feet of development. Atlanta-based Cousins is a self-managed REIT that primarily invests in Class A office buildings within Sun Belt markets. The company’s stock price opened at $40.04 per share Friday, July 30, up from $30.49 per share one year ago. Cousins recently sold One South at the Plaza, a 40-story office tower in Uptown Charlotte, for $271.5 million. Additionally, Cousins and New City recently unveiled plans to develop a mixed-use project known as Neuhoff in the Germantown submarket of Nashville. Plans call for 448,000 …

July 30, 2021

Office Top Stories Washington Western

Boston Properties to Acquire Safeco Plaza Office Tower in Seattle for $465M

by Katie Sloan July 29, 2021

SEATTLE — Boston Properties Inc. (NYSE: BXP) has entered into an agreement to acquire Safeco Plaza, a 50-story, Class A office tower located at 1001 Fourth Ave. in Seattle’s Central Business District, for $465 million. The seller in the transaction was undisclosed. The REIT is acquiring the 800,000-square-foot property through a joint venture with one of the participants in its recently announced co-investment program with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) and GIC. Boston Properties will own a 51 percent interest in the building. Safeco Plaza was developed in 1969 by the Howard S. Wright Construction Co. and features a two-story lobby, five-level subterranean parking garage, a large outdoor plaza and 15,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. The LEED Platinum-certified property offers views of the Seattle skyline, Puget Sound and Olympic Mountains and is located adjacent to stops for Seattle’s Link light rail and Metro bus lines. Safeco Plaza was 90 percent leased at the time of sale to tenants including Safeco Insurance, Bank of America, Corr Cronin LLP, Fox Rothschild, Helsell Fetterman and Interior Architects. Hines has managed the asset since 2016. Boston Properties is one of the largest publicly traded developers, owners and managers of Class A …

July 29, 2021

California Development Multifamily Office Retail Top Stories

Urban Catalyst Reveals Plans for $600M Icon/Echo Towers in Downtown San Jose

by Julia Sanders July 28, 2021

SAN JOSE, CALIF. — Urban Catalyst has revealed plans to build the Icon/Echo mixed-use project, which will include office, residential and retail components in downtown San Jose. The development will cost around $600 million to build, according to the Silicon Valley Business Journal. The construction timeline for the project has not been disclosed. The Icon/Echo towers will feature 300 apartment units and 420,000 square feet of Class A office space. The office tower portion of the project will be 282 feet tall, while the apartment complex will be 267 feet tall. The apartment units will sit above 8,500 square feet of ground-floor retail. The project’s two towers will include over 50,000 square feet of outdoor amenities, including rooftop gardens, as well as interior common areas. Additionally, the towers will have four levels of parking that will hold up to 1,134 cars. Located at 147 E Santa Clara St., Icon/Echo encompasses about two acres of land and is located close to City Hall and a future Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station. The Icon/Echo towers will be located half a mile from the San Jose Museum of Art and about 0.4 miles from San Jose State University. One of the sites …

July 28, 2021

Acquisitions California Company News Multifamily Northeast Pennsylvania Top Stories Western

Independence Realty Trust and Steadfast Apartment REIT to Merge, Creating $7B Multifamily Owner

by John Nelson July 27, 2021

PHILADELPHIA AND IRVINE, CALIF. — Independence Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: IRT), a publicly traded apartment REIT based in Philadelphia, has agreed to acquire Irvine-based Steadfast Apartment REIT Inc. On a pro-forma basis, the combined company is expected to have a total enterprise value of approximately $7 billion and be equally owned by shareholders of both firms. Post-merger, the company will operate under the Independence Realty Trust banner and trade under the same stock symbol. The portfolio will total 131 apartment communities comprising approximately 38,000 units across 16 states. The combined company’s 10 largest markets by unit count would be Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, Oklahoma City, Louisville, Columbus, Indianapolis, Raleigh-Durham, Houston and Memphis. According to an investor presentation, the portfolio averages $1,231 in effective rent per month and is 96.2 percent occupied. The combined company would rank at No. 26 on the National Multifamily Housing Council’s (NMHC) 2021 ranking of the top 50 apartment owners. Neither Independence Realty Trust nor Steadfast Apartment REIT is on the NMHC Top 50 Owners ranking for 2021. Both companies expect the transaction to close during the fourth quarter of 2021, subject to customary closing conditions, including approval of both companies’ stockholders. The boards of directors …

July 27, 2021

Development Industrial New York Northeast Office Retail Self-Storage Top Stories

L&L, Columbia Receive $1.2B Construction Loan for Redevelopment of Historic Manhattan Warehouse

by Taylor Williams July 26, 2021

NEW YORK CITY — A joint venture between L&L Holding Co. and Columbia Property Trust (NYSE: CXP) has received a $1.2 billion construction loan for the redevelopment of the historic Terminal Warehouse building in Manhattan’s West Chelsea neighborhood. The property was originally built in 1891 as the first major New York City facility with direct access to the river, streets and rail lines. A set of twin rail tracks runs through the center of the facility and originally offered a direct connection from the Hudson River’s docks to the freight lines operating at street level along 11th Avenue. Today, Terminal Warehouse consists of 1.2 million square feet of office, retail and self-storage space. The partnership plans to develop the property’s 550,000 square feet of self-storage space into modern, Class A office property and reimagine the ground-floor retail common areas. COOKFOX Architects is leading the design of the redevelopment. In addition, as part of the project plan approved by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, the floor area will be removed to make room for a new courtyard, a series of double-height interior spaces throughout the western portion of the building and six new office levels with floor-to-ceiling glass overlooking …

July 26, 2021

Acquisitions Arizona Multifamily Top Stories

IPA Arranges Sale of Parc Roundtree Ranch Apartments in Metro Phoenix for $88.8M

by Julia Sanders July 23, 2021

PEORIA, ARIZ. — Institutional Property Advisors has arranged the sale of Parc Roundtree Ranch, a 275-unit apartment property in Peoria, approximately 13 miles north of Phoenix. The property sold for $88.8 million, or $322,909 per unit. Gebing and Cliff David of IPA represented the seller, Evergreen Devco Inc., and procured the buyer, Bridge Investment Group. Completed in 2021, Parc Roundtree Ranch is located northeast of the Westgate Entertainment District, a mixed-use development in Glendale with more than 20 restaurants, retailers and entertainment venues including Yard House, Saddle Ranch, Buffalo Wild Wings and a 20-screen AMC movie theater. The Westgate district is anchored by Gila River Arena, which is the home to the National Hockey League’s Arizona Coyotes. Additionally, the apartment property is located next to Roundtree Park, a public community park with grills, a picnic area, a playground and a soccer field. The apartment community is close to the Loop 101 freeway and U.S. 60, and has access to employment hot spots such as Southwest Valley, Midtown and downtown Phoenix. Additionally, there are approximately 7,300 businesses within a 10-mile radius of the property. “The West Valley’s combination of durable jobs and growth in the distribution and industrial sectors has provided …

July 23, 2021

Illinois Midwest Mixed-Use Top Stories

City of Chicago Approves $3.8B Mixed-Use Project at Former Michael Reese Hospital Site

by Katie Sloan July 22, 2021

CHICAGO — The Chicago City Council has given approval for the development of Bronzeville Lakefront, a $3.8 billion mixed-use project located in Bronzeville, a South Side neighborhood. Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center, which closed in 2008, formerly occupied the 48-acre development site. The City of Chicago acquired the property in 2009 and cleared most of the land over the ensuing months. A team of local developers known as GRIT was selected to purchase the site for $96.9 million through a redevelopment agreement. GRIT comprises Farpoint Development, Loop Capital Management, McLaurin Development Partners, Draper & Kramer, Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives and the Bronzeville Community Development Partnership. Upon completion, Bronzeville Lakefront will offer 7 million square feet of commercial and institutional space, as well as mixed-income housing, and will create up to 20,000 temporary and permanent jobs. The development team will break ground on the $600 million first phase of the project in late 2021 or early 2022. The site is bounded by 31st Street, 26th Street, Vernon Avenue and Lake Shore Drive. Phase I will include a 500,000-square-foot Chicago Arc Innovation Building; retail space; a community center; a mixed-income seniors housing building; a new park; and the reuse of an existing building named …

July 22, 2021

Development Massachusetts Mixed-Use Northeast Top Stories

Joint Venture Breaks Ground on $2B USQ Mixed-Use Project in Metro Boston

by Kristin Harlow July 21, 2021

SOMERVILLE, MASS. — US2, a joint venture between Magellan Development, RAS Development LLC, Cypress Equity Investments and USAA Real Estate, has broken ground on a $2 billion mixed-use project known as USQ in Somerville, just northwest of Boston. The 15-acre, transit-oriented development is situated in the city’s historic Union Square neighborhood at the southeast corner of Somerville Avenue and Prospect Street. An official groundbreaking ceremony took place this morning. Totaling 2.4 million square feet, USQ has been in the making for decades, according to the development team. Plans call for 1.2 million square feet of office and life sciences space, 1,000 apartment units and 140,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. There will also be 3.6 acres of public space encompassing 11 new parks and two new Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) stations. The first office building, 10 Prospect Street, is slated for completion in the fourth quarter of 2022. Rising seven stories and spanning 194,000 rentable square feet, the LEED Gold building will include an outdoor terrace and onsite parking. Leasing is currently underway. In the Somerville community, there are 18,000 residents who work in the scientific, technology or healthcare industries, according to the project website. Of the current …

July 21, 2021

Company News Development Healthcare Life Sciences New York Northeast Office Top Stories

Life Sciences Firm Regeneron to Invest $1.8B for Campus Expansion in Tarrytown, New York

by John Nelson July 20, 2021

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. — Regeneron (NASDAQ: REGN), a medicine manufacturer known for its COVID-19 antibody cocktail, plans to invest $1.8 billion over the next six years to support the expansion of its life sciences headquarters in Tarrytown, about 25 miles north of Manhattan. Located in Westchester County on the east bank of the Hudson River, the project will expand Regeneron’s research, preclinical manufacturing and support facilities, while creating an estimated 1,000 new full-time jobs. “The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of continued and long-term investment in the biopharmaceutical industry, and Regeneron is proud to pursue life-changing science and technology from our labs and manufacturing facilities in New York State,” says Leonard Schleifer, president and CEO of Regeneron. The project is expected to encompass up to eight research and development buildings, three parking garages and a central utility plant totaling approximately 900,000 square feet. Regeneron has indicated that road infrastructure improvements will be necessary to support the new buildings, which will come on line in two phases. Construction planning will begin this summer and project construction is scheduled for completion in 2027. No members of the project team were disclosed. The life sciences firm chose to expand in Tarrytown following site …

July 20, 2021

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