UNION, N.J. AND LOS ANGELES — Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) has agreed to sell Cost Plus World Market, a specialty retail chain that sells home furniture, décor and international food products. The buyer, Los Angeles-based private equity firm Kingswood Capital Management, expects to continue operations under the Cost Plus World Market banner. The purchase agreement includes 243 brick-and-mortar locations, the World Market digital business, two distribution facilities and a corporate office located in Alameda, Calif. Both companies have agreed to a transition services agreement (TSA) following the close of the transaction to help ensure business continuity. The sales price was not disclosed. Cost Plus World Market opened its first store in 1958 on San Francisco’s famous Fisherman’s Wharf. Today the company operates stores in 39 states coast to coast, as well as one in Washington, D.C. Bed Bath & Beyond acquired Cost Plus World Market in 2012. The transaction is scheduled to close prior to the end of Bed Bath & Beyond’s fiscal year on Feb. 27, 2021, and is subject to customary closing conditions. Advisors to Bed Bath & Beyond on this transaction included B. Riley Securities Inc. and Bryan Cave. In addition to the sale …
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — Blackstone (NYSE: BX) has acquired a 2.3 million-square-foot life sciences portfolio in Cambridge, located across the Charles River from Boston, for approximately $3.4 billion. The seller was Brookfield Asset Management. The majority of the properties in the portfolio are located in East Cambridge, adjacent to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) campus, and are leased to investment-grade tenants with both traditional office and lab requirements. Following the closing of the deal, which is scheduled for the first quarter of 2021, Blackstone will be the largest owner of life sciences space in Cambridge. Blackstone is acquiring the portfolio through BioMed Realty, its $20 billion subsidiary that launched in 2018 and is focused on life sciences properties. “This transaction illustrates Blackstone’s continued conviction in the life sciences space, both broadly and within real estate, and in investing in best-in-class assets located adjacent to top-tier research and education institutions,” says Nadeem Meghji, head of real estate in the Americas for Blackstone. Cambridge continues to be a hub for development and leasing of life sciences properties. In November, locally based developer King Street Properties partnered with California-based Healthpeak Properties to break ground on a $170 million life sciences facility that will …
NASHVILLE, TENN. — General contractor James McHugh Construction and developer CA Ventures are celebrating the topping off of 2010 West End, a 500,000-square-foot multifamily development located near Vanderbilt University in Nashville’s Midtown neighborhood. Architectural firm Solomon Cordwell Buenz designed the 25-story project, which will include 358 residential units, 420 parking spaces and 5,700 square feet of ground-floor retail space. Communal amenities are set to include an outdoor deck with a swimming pool, spa, fire pits, grills and picnic areas; a fitness and wellness center with a yoga studio; a music performance lounge; and a dog run with a pet spa and lounge. “We are pleased to reach a key construction milestone with McHugh in the vibrant West End market,” says Matt Booma, president and global head of residential at CA Ventures. “Our contribution to the skyline will continue Nashville’s growth with a development that values individualism and self-expression with an exceptional design.” The development is on schedule to open in summer 2021. The total project cost was not provided. Chicago-based CA Ventures is a global real estate investment management company with over $13 billion of assets across North America, South America and Europe. The firm offers in-house investment, development and …
LOS ANGELES — Cityview will break ground on Adams & Grand, a 296-unit multifamily community situated within an Opportunity Zone in Los Angeles, this month. The Los Angeles-based developer secured $125 million for the project through Opportunity Zone investors. Communal amenities will include a two-story clubroom, business center, fitness center, pool, dog park, a pet washing station and two rooftop decks. The community will also feature 390 parking spaces and 332 bike spaces, as well as 5,000 square feet of ground-level retail space. The seven-story property will offer 125 studio, 87 one-bedroom and 84 two-bedroom floor plans. Unit interiors will include stainless steel appliances, Nest thermostats, vinyl flooring and quartz countertops. Select units will feature balconies. Three units will be reserved for moderate-income residents and 25 units will be designated for low-income residents. Adams & Grand will be situated at 2528 S. Grand Ave., one mile from the University of Southern California (USC) and three miles south of downtown Los Angeles. The property will not be reserved for college students but will cater toward many residents, including students at USC. “Catering to college faculty and staff, other professionals and students, the project will bring much-needed housing to this rapidly growing …
HARTWELL, GA. — Nestlé Purina PetCare Co. has unveiled plans to invest $550 million to expand its pet food manufacturing facility in Hartwell, located in Northeast Georgia. The expansion, which is expected to create up to 130 jobs, comes just one year after the factory opened in November 2019. By expanding the facility, Purina will add more processing, packaging and warehousing capacity. The expansion is also part of a broader growth plan for Purina, which includes new factories recently announced in Williamsburg Township, Ohio, and Eden, N.C. Purina brands feed 49 million dogs and 66 million cats each year, according to the company. The Hartwell location produces several of the company’s flagship brands, including Fancy Feast. When Purina first announced plans for the Hartwell facility in 2017, it committed to investing $320 million and employing 240 people. Purina will now combine $320 million of refinanced bonds to a new $550 million investment, according to local paper The Hartwell Sun. Purina now expects to employ up to 370 people by the end of 2025, and the new jobs in Hartwell will include positions in manufacturing and assembly. Purina expects to complete construction of the expansion by the end of 2021. Currently, …
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — Harrison Street and its investment partners The Bulfinch Cos. and National Real Estate Advisors have sold three life sciences buildings at Cambridge Discovery Park for a gross sale price of $720 million. Denver-based REIT Healthpeak Properties Inc. (NYSE: PEAK) purchased the properties, which are situated in Boston’s West Cambridge submarket. For Bulfinch, the master developer of Cambridge Discovery Park, the transaction with Healthpeak was a recapitalization of its stake in the development. The Boston-based firm entered into a joint venture transaction with Healthpeak whereby Bulfinch will retain a majority ownership stake in one of the buildings. Additionally, Bulfinch will continue to manage the property. The Cambridge Discovery Park acquisition, which also includes two parking garages, totals approximately 620,000 square feet. The buildings, called 100 CDP, 200 CDP and 400/500 CDP, were 94 percent leased at the time of sale to biotechnology, pharmaceutical and research companies with a weighted average remaining lease term of approximately 7.5 years. According to Healthpeak, the acquisition also includes an approximately 100,000-square-foot site for a future densification opportunity that the REIT plans to co-develop with Bulfinch. Cambridge Discovery Park includes six life sciences buildings and an AC Hotel by Marriott. The campus is …
INDIANAPOLIS — Elanco Animal Health Inc. (NYSE: ELAN), a pharmaceutical company that produces medicines and vaccinations for pets and livestock, has selected Indianapolis for its new $100 million global headquarters. Elanco is currently headquartered in Greenfield, approximately 25 miles east of Indianapolis. The company’s new headquarters campus will be located on a 45-acre site on the southwestern side of downtown Indianapolis that formerly served as a stamping plant for General Motors. The plant closed in 2011, and developer Ambrose purchased the site with plans to build a mixed-use community, according to The Indianapolis Star. Ambrose officially canceled those plans in September 2019. Project planning will begin immediately, with construction anticipated to last two to three years. Elanco’s new facility is expected to add as many as 570 permanent new jobs to the local economy. The move represents an effort to cut costs while consolidating Elanco’s global footprint after the company’s August acquisition of Bayer’s animal health business. The Star reports that the acquisition was valued at roughly $6.9 billion. Elanco’s new campus will feature a smaller, more flexible design as a result of COVID-19. The company says it envisions a more efficient campus with at least 25 percent less office space than its …
As with many other events and rites of passage, the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the holiday season. With concerns over the safety of in-person gathering top of mind, many have moved their normal brick-and-mortar holiday gift shopping online. Even Black Friday — a hallmark shopping event of the holiday season geared toward big sales for those willing to venture among heavy crowds — moved online this year in order to better suit the needs and safety of shoppers in the current environment. With an increase in online shopping comes an increase in need for logistics and industrial space in order to fulfill orders in a timely fashion. Against the backdrop of a predominantly online holiday shopping season, a flurry of big-ticket industrial acquisitions have filled news headlines during the first week of December. Today, news broke that Rexford Industrial Realty has acquired Van Nuys Airport Industrial Center in California, an 18-building portfolio of industrial properties within the Los Angeles submarket, for $154.6 million. Additionally, KKR acquired two industrial distribution properties in Texas totaling approximately 1.8 million square feet for $171 million. “As more consumers migrate to shopping online and expect a seamless delivery experience, the demand for modern logistics real …
BALTIMORE — A joint venture between Armada Hoffler Properties and Beatty Development Group has unveiled plans for T. Rowe Price’s new office headquarters in Baltimore’s Harbor Point for $250 million. Plans call for the property to span 450,000 square feet and include ground-level retail space, parking and expanded green spaces. T. Rowe Price expects to move its 1,700 employees into the space in the first half of 2024. The initial lease is for 15 years. T. Rowe Price was founded in Baltimore in 1963 and has been headquartered at 100 E. Pratt St. in downtown Baltimore since 1975. According to the Baltimore Sun, T. Rowe Price signed a 10-year lease renewal at 100 E. Pratt in 2017. The newspaper cited T. Rowe Price’s concerns over safety and traffic as the main reasons for the global investment management firm’s move away from downtown. Harbor Point is situated along Patapsco River, two miles south of T. Rowe Price’s current headquarters. Other Armada Hoffler projects within Harbor Point include office buildings Wills Wharf and Thames Street Wharf, and 1405 Point Apartments. “T. Rowe Price further validates Harbor Point as a top-tier destination for world-class companies,” says Lou Haddad, president & CEO of Armada …
SAN FRANCISCO, PALO ALTO AND LOS GATOS, CALIF. — Oxford Capital Group LLC has acquired five boutique hotels in San Francisco and Silicon Valley from Greystone Hotels for an undisclosed price. The company plans to reposition many of the assets. The properties include King George Hotel, Hotel Griffon and The Inn at Union Square in San Francisco, as well as Creekside Inn in Palo Alto and Hotel Los Gatos in Los Gatos. Dating back to 1914, the 53-room King George Hotel includes a lobby bar and 1,150 square feet of meeting space. Hotel Griffon, which opened in 1906, includes 62 rooms as well as 308 square feet of meeting space and Perry’s restaurant. The Inn at Union Square, which features 30 rooms, opened in 1980 and includes Chloe Gallery. Creekside Inn dates back to 1955. It features 136 rooms, 1,400 square feet of meeting space, CIBO restaurant, Driftwood Deli and a Metro PCS store. Opened in 2002, the 72-room Hotel Los Gatos features 2,000 square feet of meeting space, Dio Deka restaurant and a Verde Touch holistic massage center. “We have been value-oriented investors in the lodging sector for nearly 30 years,” says John Rutledge, founder, chairman and CEO of …