Top Stories

Fortune International, Château Receive $119M Refinancing for Oceanfront Condo Development Site Near Miami

by Kristin Harlow May 6, 2020

SUNNY ISLES BEACH, FLA. — Fortune International Group and Château Group have received a $119 million loan for the refinancing of La Playa de Varadero, an oceanfront condominium development site in Sunny Isles Beach, a barrier island about 20 miles north of Miami. Located at 18801 Collins Ave., the 4.7-acre site boasts beach frontage of 435 feet directly on the Atlantic Ocean. Plans call for 490 residential units across two condominium towers. Construction of the 1.2 million-square-foot project will be completed in two phases. In 2015, the developers received site plan approval from the City of Sunny Isles Beach. The team recently secured final approval for the last set of modifications to the original design. To date, a portion of the predevelopment work has been completed, including the demolition of an existing structure and a structural build-out of the sales center. Dustin Stolly, Jordan Roeschlaub, Nick Scribani, Chris Kramer and Dominick Calisto of Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) arranged the refinancing, with Bank OZK as the lender. The loan covers some predevelopment costs and land carry costs, according to NKF. Fortune International Group is a real estate development firm located in Miami that is known for its luxury condo projects. Fortune’s …

May 6, 2020

Development New York Northeast Office Top Stories

SL Green Forms Partnership for $2.3B One Madison Avenue Redevelopment in Manhattan

by John Nelson May 5, 2020

NEW YORK CITY — SL Green Realty Corp. (NYSE: SLG) has formed a joint venture partnership with the National Pension Service of Korea (NPS) and Hines for the $2.3 billion redevelopment of One Madison Avenue in Manhattan. The 1.4 million-square-foot office project is situated in the borough’s Midtown South neighborhood facing Madison Square Park near the 23rd Street subway station. SL Green, which is self-described as Manhattan’s largest office landlord, has sold a 49.5 percent interest in One Madison Avenue to NPS and Hines, which have combined to invest “no less than $492.2 million” of equity into the redevelopment. SL Green and Hines are co-developing the project, and Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) is leading the design. The SL Green-NPS-Hines-KPF team is also working together to develop One Vanderbilt Avenue, an office project currently underway in Manhattan’s East Midtown neighborhood. The existing office building at One Madison Avenue will be demolished down to the ninth floor, and the development group will build 17 glass and steel, column-free floors above. The podium levels at the base of the existing building will have 90,000 square foot floor plates, while the new floors above will feature 36,000-square-foot floor plates. The 10th and 11th …

May 5, 2020

Company News New York Northeast Retail Top Stories

J.Crew Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, Expects to Eventually Reopen Stores

by Taylor Williams May 4, 2020

NEW YORK CITY — J.Crew Group Inc., which operates the J.Crew and Madewell fashion retail brands, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company hopes to restructure its debt while aiming to eventually reopen its stores in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Chinos Holdings Inc., the parent company of J.Crew, filed the voluntary petitions for protection on Monday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Eastern District of Virginia. In a statement, the New York City-based retailer said its lenders and stakeholders agreed to convert $1.6 billion of debt into equity. Typically in a debt-to-equity conversion, lenders receive ownership of a company in exchange for cancelling existing debt. With this conversion, creditors will now own about 82 percent of the company, per The Wall Street Journal. The company also said it has secured $400 million in debtor-in-possession financing to exit debt structures with existing lenders such as Anchorage Capital Group and GSO Capital Partners. Between these initiatives, the company believes it can reopen many stores that have been temporarily shuttered amid the COVID-19 outbreak. As of May 1, J.Crew Group Inc. operated 181 J.Crew retail stores, 140 Madewell stores and 170 factory stores. “This agreement with our lenders …

May 4, 2020

District of Columbia Loans Multifamily Southeast Top Stories Walker & Dunlop

Walker & Dunlop Provides $2.4B Fannie Mae Refinancing for Multifamily Portfolio in Metro D.C., Largest Loan in Company’s History

by Alex Patton May 1, 2020

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Walker & Dunlop Inc. has provided a $2.4 billion Fannie Mae loan to refinance a 67-property multifamily portfolio in the Washington, D.C., metro area. The borrower is Virginia-based multifamily owner and manager Southern Management Corp. (SMC). The portfolio includes 22,439 units in total, more than 60 percent of which qualify as affordable housing. The loan package features staggered maturities across a mix of fixed- and floating-rate, full-term, interest-only financing. “This $2.4 billion Southern Management transaction gave us the opportunity to partner with one of our top DUS lenders, Walker & Dunlop, using the credit facility, one of our most flexible financing products, to structure a winning solution for the borrower while delivering affordability to the Washington, D.C.,” says Jeffery Hayward, executive vice president of multifamily at Fannie Mae. The loan represents the largest transaction in Walker & Dunlop’s history, according to a statement from the company. “Walker & Dunlop’s creativity, tenacity and market knowledge resulted in a superior execution for this large and complex transaction amidst the uncertainty of a rapidly unfolding financial and health crisis,” says Suzanne Hillman, president and CEO of SMC. Brendan Coleman, Chris Forte and Connor Locke led a Walker & Dunlop team …

May 1, 2020

Acquisitions California Retail Top Stories Western

CIM Group Agrees to Acquire Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza Mall in Los Angeles for Over $100M, Plans Office Expansion

by Alex Tostado April 30, 2020

LOS ANGELES — CIM Group has agreed to purchase Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, an 869,000-square-foot mall in the Crenshaw/Baldwin Hills submarket of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Times reports the sales price at over $100 million. The seller is Chicago-based Capri Urban Investors, which took control of the property in 2019 from Capri Capital Advisors, the Times also reports. The mall is situated on 40 acres at 3650 W. Martin Luther King Blvd., eight miles west of downtown Los Angeles. The Walmart and Sears stores shuttered prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, leaving over one-third of the property vacant. Cinemark Theater is also a tenant. The Macy’s and IHOP locations at the mall were not part of the sale. A timeline for the sale closing was not disclosed. The asset is adjacent to the Crenshaw-LAX metro light-rail station, an eight-mile line that will connect the neighborhood to Los Angeles International Airport. The station is slated to open by the end of the year. CIM Group reportedly plans to add office space to the property, closing the door on rumors that residential units might go up at the mall. “We have the opportunity to bring a fresh perspective to the future of …

April 30, 2020

Acquisitions New Jersey Northeast Office Top Stories

American Real Estate Partners, Independencia Sell Merrill Lynch-Occupied Office Park in New Jersey for $95M

by Kristin Harlow April 29, 2020

HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP, N.J. — American Real Estate Partners (AREP) and Independencia Asset Management have sold 1100-1200 American Boulevard in Hopewell Township, approximately 10 miles west of Princeton, for $95 million. Originally built in 2000 as part of the Merrill Lynch corporate campus, the property consists of three Class A office buildings totaling 380,417 square feet. It is currently fully leased to Merrill Lynch, which Bank of America acquired in 2008. AREP purchased the property in 2013. Under terms of the new agreement, AREP will continue to lease and manage the asset. Cushman & Wakefield brokered the transaction. A New York City-based real estate investment firm was the buyer. “The deal offered positive cash flow from an investment-grade tenant for several years; desirable real estate centrally located between New York City and Philadelphia; and an opportunity to ensure management continuity by leveraging AREP’s operating platform,” says David Bernhaut, executive vice chairman of Cushman & Wakefield’s capital markets group. The Princeton/Route 1 Corridor has been one of New Jersey’s top submarkets for nearly two decades, according to AREP. Since 2004, the area has experienced a 20 percent increase in Class A asking rents. Headquartered in metro Washington, D.C., AREP is an institutional …

April 29, 2020

Company News Florida Retail Southeast Top Stories

CMX Cinemas Parent Company Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Amid Theater Closures

by John Nelson April 28, 2020

MIAMI — Cinemex Holdings USA Inc., parent company of CMX Cinemas, CineBistro and Cobb Theatres, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Miami-based company operates 41 movie theaters that have been temporarily closed since mid-March amid the outbreak of COVID-19. In a written statement, an undisclosed Cinemex Holdings USA spokesman said the Chapter 11 filing will help protect the company’s business viability and employees if and when the company’s movie theaters reopen. The spokesperson said that it’s impossible to forecast if and when ticket sales would ever reach pre-crisis levels. In the state of Georgia, movie theaters were allowed to reopen on Monday, April 27, and movie theaters in Texas can open at limited capacity on Friday, May 1. The spokesperson said that during its “total suspension of business” that landlords and creditors have proven unwilling to work out temporary solutions in terms of rent relief or repayment of debt obligations. The company spokesperson also said that the bankruptcy is a result of an uneven playing field as movie studios typically collect 60 percent of every ticket sold. The person said an equitable long-term “rebalancing” for movie theater operators would be for movie studios to cut their maximum revenue …

April 28, 2020

Development Midwest Top Stories Wisconsin

Zilber to Redevelop Former Race Track in Wisconsin to 240-Acre Mixed-Use Property

by Taylor Williams April 27, 2020

KENOSHA, WIS. — Locally based developer Zilber Property Group has unveiled plans to redevelop the site of the former Dairyland Greyhound Park into a 240-acre mixed-use property. The property was a dog-racing track and facility in Kenosha, located south of Milwaukee near the Illinois border. The track closed roughly a decade ago. California-based Majestic Property Co. acquired the site in late 2017 with plans to build a 2 million-square-foot industrial park that never materialized. The site was also the proposed location of a Hard Rock casino project that was rejected by the state in 2015, according to Kenosha News, a local newspaper. Zilber is partnering with the Forest County Potawatomi Community, a federally recognized Native American tribe and owner of the land, on the project. “Given our history and tribal ties to the area, the Dairyland property purchase made a lot of sense,” says Jeff Crawford, tribal attorney general for the Potawatomi. “It also meets our goals of economic diversification.” The new redevelopment will be branded Greeneway and will include office, retail, industrial and multifamily uses. Specifically, plans currently call for roughly 2 million square feet of industrial space across several buildings, a multifamily community with up to 360 units …

April 27, 2020

Acquisitions Midwest Office Ohio Top Stories

Zamir Equities Acquires 538,437 SF Columbia Plaza Office Building in Downtown Cincinnati

by Alex Patton April 24, 2020

CINCINNATI — Zamir Equities LLC, a private equity investment firm based in New York City, has acquired Columbia Plaza, a 538,437-square-foot office building in downtown Cincinnati. The 29-story tower is located at 250 E. 5th St. near the entertainment districts of Newport and Covington, as well as The Banks, the home stadium of the Cincinnati Bengals and Reds. The building was constructed in 1984. Columbia Plaza’s amenities include a fitness center with classes, a 3,000-square-foot tenant lounge, conference facilities, outdoor plaza, cafe, dry cleaning, car washing and detailing, art gallery and transportation services. The property also features a 494-space underground parking garage. The location in Cincinnati’s central business district offers convenient access to Interstates 71 and 75. The seller, New York City-based HighBrook Investors, acquired the property in 2015 and invested approximately $10 million in capital improvements during its ownership. Renovations included expansion of the lobby to 10,000 square feet, upgrading the building’s outdoor space and parking garage and renovations to the bathrooms and other common areas. At the time of sale, the property was approximately 76 percent leased. Western & Southern Financial Group anchor the tower with a 540,000-square-foot office lease across the top seven floors. The company moved into …

April 24, 2020

Company News Healthcare Michigan Midwest Top Stories

Henry Ford Health System in Michigan Loses $234.5M in First Quarter, to Furlough 2,800 Employees

by Alex Tostado April 23, 2020

DETROIT — Henry Ford Health System reported a net loss of $234.5 million in the first quarter due to the widespread COVID-19 pandemic. The Detroit-based company says it will furlough 2,800 employees across its six hospitals. In explaining the losses, the health system cited temporary closures, an increased need for caring for COVID-19 patients, and the postponement or cancellation of services and procedures. Additionally, the company expects losses in April and May to surpass the March total. The furloughed employees are those not directly involved in patient care and those from areas where workloads have been drastically reduced or operations have been temporarily closed. Henry Ford Health System employs more than 30,000 people. Executives at Henry Ford Health System will donate between 10 and 25 percent of their salaries to two funds meant to help furloughed employees. The two funds are the newly created COVID-19 Emergency Needs Fund and the Bob and Sandy Riney Helping Hands Fund, which was created in 2012 to help support employees experiencing unexpected hardships. The health system lost $43 million in net operating income (NOI) in March, and net operating loss for the first three months of 2020 was $36.2 million. The company had a …

April 23, 2020

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