Top Stories

Dropbox Signs 120,886 SF Lease at Spec Office Tower Under Construction in Seattle

by Kristin Harlow April 10, 2019

SEATTLE — Dropbox Inc. has leased four floors totaling 120,886 square feet at a speculative office tower currently under construction in Seattle’s central business district. Skanska is developing the 38-story building, known as 2+U. Dropbox, a San Francisco-based file storage and sharing company, is expected to occupy the space at 2+U in late 2020. With this new signing, 2+U is now 60 percent leased. Other tenants joining Dropbox include Indeed.com and coworking firm Spaces. The 686,000-square-foot tower is scheduled for completion this summer. Located at the corner of Second Avenue and University Street, the development is adjacent to the Seattle Art Museum and Benaroya Hall. The property is lifted 85 feet off the ground in order to create an outdoor “urban village” underneath the building. The village area will include nearly a half-acre of open space with 17,000 square feet of retail and arts space. Floor plates at 2+U will range from 18,000 to 30,000 square feet. In addition to a rooftop deck, tenants will enjoy unobstructed views of the Puget Sound and Olympic Mountains. Dropbox currently occupies space at the Columbia Center in the city. “We’re thrilled to expand in Seattle,” says Greg Conklin, engineering director and Seattle site …

April 10, 2019

Acquisitions Company News Restaurant Retail Texas Top Stories

Chuck E. Cheese to Trade on New York Stock Exchange Following $1.4B Merger

by John Nelson April 9, 2019

IRVING, TEXAS — Following a merger with the parent company of the Chuck E. Cheese brand, London-based Leo Holdings Corp. plans to rebrand itself and take the new company public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol “CEC.” The enterprise value of the combined company, which will be known as Chuck E. Cheese Brands Inc., is estimated at $1.4 billion. Leo Holdings, which is self-described as a special purpose acquisition firm, has entered into a “definitive business combination agreement” with Queso Holdings Corp., which is the parent company of CEC Entertainment Inc., the owner, operator and leading franchisor of the family dining and entertainment brand Chuck E. Cheese. The other principal in the merger agreement is Queso’s controlling stockholder, an entity owned by funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management LLC (NYSE: APO), a publicly traded equity firm based in New York. CEC Entertainment is based in the Dallas suburb of Irving and also owns, operates and franchises Peter Piper Pizza, a family dining concept. As of year-end 2018, CEC Entertainment and its franchisees operated a system of 606 Chuck E. Cheese venues and 144 Peter Piper Pizza restaurants, with locations in 47 states and …

April 9, 2019

Leasing Activity Retail Top Stories

Parent Company of Kay, Zales, Jared to Close 150 Jewelry Stores

by Taylor Williams April 8, 2019

HAMILTON, BERMUDA — Signet Jewelers (NYSE: SIG), which owns jewelry retailers Kay, Zales and Jared, will close approximately 150 North American stores after the 2019 holiday shopping season, the company said in its latest earnings report. These store closings follow Signet’s previous shuttering of 262 stores, most of them in North America, and are part of a larger downsizing program that will reduce the Bermuda-based retailer’s total store count by 13 percent over a three-year period. According to the earnings report, Signet’s same-store sales declined by 2 percent during the fourth quarter of the most recent fiscal year, which ended on Feb. 2, 2019. Same-store sales were projected to drop by another 2.5 percent during the current fiscal year. In a statement, Signet CEO Virginia Drosos pointed to several factors behind the company’s struggles, including increased competition in the jewelry space and weak demand from the United Kingdom market. Drosos also noted that sales of select merchandise for the holiday season fell below projections. A Signet spokesperson also told Business Insider that the broader struggles of American malls, in which many Signet stores are housed, contributed to the decision to close this wave of stores. “Signet is too highly exposed …

April 8, 2019

Acquisitions District of Columbia Hospitality Southeast Top Stories

Metrovest Equities, BLDG Management Acquire 343-Room Hotel in Capitol Hill for $111M

by Kristin Harlow April 5, 2019

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A partnership between Metrovest Equities Inc. and BLDG Management has acquired the Liaison Washington Capitol Hill, a 343-room hotel in the Capitol Hill submarket of Washington, D.C., for $111 million. Located at 415 New Jersey Ave., the property is the closest hotel to the U.S. Capitol building. It is within walking distance of Union Station, the National Mall, Georgetown University Law Center and the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Amenities include an on-site restaurant, swimming pool, patio with fire pit, meeting and event space, and fitness center. The buyer plans to convert the hotel into the Yotelpad Capitol Hill. Yotel is a lifestyle-oriented hospitality concept. This will be the first Yotel extended-stay project in Washington, D.C. Daniel Peek and Cyrus Vazifdar of HFF marketed the property on behalf of the seller, Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (NYSE: PEB). Scott Aiese and Chris Hew of HFF arranged a bridge loan with a life insurance company for the acquisition. Pebblebrook is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires and invests in upscale, full-service hotels in urban markets. The Bethesda, Md.-based company owns 61 hotels totaling approximately 14,600 rooms. The company’s stock price closed at $31.60 per share on April …

April 5, 2019

California Leasing Activity Office Top Stories Western

Culver City to Become New Home for HBO’s West Coast Headquarters

by Alex Tostado April 4, 2019

CULVER CITY, CALIF. — HBO has signed a long-term lease to move its West Coast corporate headquarters from Santa Monica, Calif. to Ivy Station in Culver City in 2021. HBO will fully occupy the five-story, 240,000-square-foot office building at Ivy Station. HBO’s current lease at Colorado Center in Santa Monica, where it has been based since 2004, expires at the end of this year. The Los Angeles Times reports that the new lease is for 15 years. A joint venture between Lowe, AECOM-Canyon Partners and Rockwood Capital broke ground on the $350 million, 5.2-acre mixed-use project in September 2017. Completion is scheduled for mid-2020. Ivy Station is situated adjacent to the Culver City station stop along the Los Angeles Metro Expo Line. The transit-oriented development will include 200 apartment units, a 148-room hotel, 50,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, two acres of outdoor space and 1,500 parking spaces, 300 of which will be designated for metro transit riders. “HBO is an ideal business anchor for Ivy Station, bringing to the property creative professionals that will enjoy access to public transit, host out of town guests at the hotel, and frequent the shops and restaurants that will populate the …

April 4, 2019

Loans Multifamily New Jersey Northeast Top Stories

New York Life Provides $115M Refinancing for Multifamily Community in New Jersey

by David Cohen April 3, 2019

SECAUCUS, N.J.— New York Life Real Estate Investors, on behalf of New York Life Insurance Company, has provided a $115 million loan to refinance The Harper at Harmon Meadow, a 469-unit multifamily community in Secaucus, across the Hudson River from Midtown Manhattan. Located at 100 Park Plaza Drive, the newly constructed community is part of the master-planned Harmon Meadow mixed-use development, which includes apartments, dining, hotels, shopping and entertainment. Amenities at The Harper at Harmon Meadow include club lounges, fitness facilities in each building, saltwater swimming pool, outdoor athletic course and yoga studio. The community features studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments. Rents at the community start at $1,975 for studio units, $2,255 for one-bedroom units and $2,910 for two-bedroom units. New York Life Real Estate Investors provided the financing to property owner Hartz Mountain Industries Inc. Terms of the financing were not disclosed. “The property’s location in the mixed-use Harmon Meadow development and the nearby transportation links create an outstanding live-work-play environment with excellent access,” says Keith Duane, director in New York Life Real Estate Investors’ Northeast office. — David Cohen

April 3, 2019

Acquisitions Company News Industrial Michigan Midwest Top Stories

Kellogg to Sell Cookie and Snack Businesses for $1.3B, Including Seven Food Manufacturing Facilities

by John Nelson April 2, 2019

BATTLE CREEK, MICH. — Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K) has agreed to sell select businesses in its cookie, snack and pastry lines to Italian candy giant Ferrero Group for $1.3 billion. The sale also includes six Kellogg-owned food manufacturing facilities across the United States, as well as a Kellogg-leased facility in Baltimore. The six food plants include two assets in Chicago; two in Florence and Louisville, Ky.; one in Allyn, Wash.; and another in Augusta, Ga. Ferrero and its affiliated companies will acquire Kellogg brands such as Keebler, Mother’s, Famous Amos, Murray’s and Murray’s Sugar Free, as well as cookies manufactured for Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. by Little Brownie Bakers. The sale also includes Kellogg’s fruit and fruit-flavored snacks, pie crusts and ice cream cones businesses. In 2018, these combined businesses recorded net sales of nearly $900 million and operating profit of approximately $75 million, according to Kellogg. The Battle Creek-based food manufacturer will retain the rest of its North American snacking businesses, including its crackers, salty snacks, healthy snacks and toaster pastries brands such as Pop-Tarts, Eggo, Cheez-It and Pringles. Kellogg and Ferrero expect the transaction to close in July. Evercore was lead advisor to Kellogg on the transaction, …

April 2, 2019

Development District of Columbia Mixed-Use Southeast Top Stories

PN Hoffman, Madison Marquette Break Ground on Phase II of $2.5B Mixed-Use Project in Washington, D.C.

by Taylor Williams April 1, 2019

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Locally based developers PN Hoffman and Madison Marquette have broken ground on Phase II of The Wharf, a $2.5 billion, mixed-use project fronting the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. At full build-out, Phase II will feature 625,000 square feet of Class A office space, 255 apartments, 96 condominium units, 131 hotel rooms and a 109,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space. Phase II will also include a 1.5-acre park, two underground parking garages with more than 1,000 spaces, and additional dockage totaling 223 slips at The Wharf Marina. Phase I of The Wharf, which spans a mile and is the largest private development in the city, opened in October 2017. Phase I included three hotels, two multifamily and condominium buildings, and 210,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment space. The design team behind Phase II includes more than a dozen architects. Cianbro is the general contractor for construction of the marina component, and Balfour Beatty is handling construction of the office buildings and below-grade parking garages. Other project partners include ER Bacon Development, City Partners, Paramount Development and Triden Development. Madison Marquette, which is owned by international investment firm Capital Guidance and merged with PMRG last …

April 1, 2019

Development Georgia Industrial Leasing Activity Southeast Top Stories

Red Rock Completes 1 MSF Distribution Center in Metro Atlanta, Signs Apparel Giant PVH as Tenant

by Kristin Harlow March 29, 2019

PALMETTO, GA. — PVH Corp., a global apparel company, has signed a 1 million-square-foot lease for a new distribution facility in Palmetto, about 27 miles southwest of downtown Atlanta. The newly delivered facility is located within Shugart Farms, which Red Rock Developments built in partnership with Wharton Industrial and Starwood Capital Group. Brad Pope of JLL negotiated the 20-year lease transaction. Built on a speculative basis, the developers are underway on $77.6 million in tenant improvements for PVH. Formerly known as Phillips-Van Heusen, PVH manages a portfolio of clothing brands, including Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Van Heusen, Izod, Arrow, Speedo, Warner’s, Olga, Geoffrey Beene and True&Co. By the end of the year, the new distribution center will create approximately 575 jobs once fully operational. PVH’s new facility is located along I-85, near to the CSX Fairburn Intermodal terminal and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The site is also about 250 miles from the Port of Savannah, a key factor in the selection of the facility, according to the developer. “When we began development on this spec building, we knew we had the key ingredients to meet the needs of a modern bulk tenant,” says John Barker Jr., president and chief development …

March 29, 2019

Development Office Texas Top Stories

Amazon to Expand Austin Tech Hub, Create 800 New Jobs

by Alex Tostado March 28, 2019

AUSTIN, TEXAS — Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) will expand its Austin Tech Hub and create 800 new jobs by 2020, the company announced today. The tech giant will move into a 145,000-square-foot office space within The Domain, a 304-acre mixed-use development by Austin-based Endeavor Real Estate Group. Dallas-based TIER REIT is the project partner behind The Domain’s office buildings, which will eventually total 2.1 million square feet of Class A space. Amazon’s space will be housed within Domain 10, a 15-story, 299,673-square-foot building. The Austin Tech Hub is one of 17 such North American facilities operated by Amazon. More than 20,000 people are employed across the 17 hubs; Austin employees focus mainly on developing Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon Business, Amazon devices, video game designing and advertising. Amazon already employs approximately 6,600 workers in the Austin area. This employee base includes more than 1,000 corporate-level employees, 3,000 employees in the nearby San Marcos warehouses and 2,600 workers through Whole Foods, according to The Austin American-Statesman. Amazon has created more than 22,000 jobs in Texas since 2011, including more than 1,000 in the past four years, according to Terry Leeper, general manager of Amazon’s Austin Tech Hub. During that same period, the …

March 28, 2019

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