Top Stories

Citizens Commercial Provides $435M Construction Loan for Boston Office, Retail Project

by Taylor Williams June 17, 2019

BOSTON — Citizens Commercial Banking has provided a $435 million construction loan for a 500,000-square-foot office and retail project in Boston’s Seaport District. The new building at 111 Harbor Way will feature two floors of retail space and 15 floors of office space that Amazon will fully occupy. Construction of the project is scheduled for completion by 2021. The borrower, a partnership between locally based investment firm WS Development and Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board, officially broke ground on the building May 28. The partnership is the lead developer of the Boston Seaport, a 23-acre waterfront project that will eventually span 7.6 million square feet of residential, retail, office and hospitality space. The project also includes 8.8 acres of open public space. Citizens, a Rhode Island-based lender with more than $160 billion in assets under management, is also the lead arranger and administrative agent for the loan, which officially closed June 7. — Taylor Williams

June 17, 2019

Acquisitions Georgia Office Southeast Top Stories

Investcorp Sells Former Home Depot Headquarters in Atlanta’s Vinings District for $120M

by John Nelson June 14, 2019

ATLANTA — Investcorp has sold an office campus in Atlanta’s Vinings district that formerly housed the world headquarters of The Home Depot back in the 1990s. The global asset management firm sold the property, known as Paces West, to a joint venture between Farallon Capital Management LLC and Crocker Partners for $120 million. Crocker Partners served as the asset and property management team in partnership with Investcorp since late 2015. Situated along Paces Ferry Road in Atlanta’s Cumberland/Galleria office submarket, the 646,471-square-foot property comprises two buildings connected via a pedestrian bridge. Amenities include two full-service cafes, a renovated fitness center, conference facilities, dry cleaners, a car wash service, onsite ATM and electric car charging stations. Paces West has served as the administrative headquarters for Piedmont Healthcare, an Atlanta-based health system with 11 hospitals and 650 facilities, since 2002. Jay O’Meara, Justin Parsonnet, Will Yowell, and Ryan Reethof of CBRE represented Investcorp in the sale. Since acquiring Paces West in 2015, Investcorp has boosted its occupancy from 85 percent to 93 percent, according to CBRE. “Paces West has withstood the test of time due to its quality, amenities, large flexible floor plates, and location in one of Atlanta’s most authentic and …

June 14, 2019

Leasing Activity North Carolina Office Southeast Top Stories

BB&T-SunTrust Pick Charlotte’s Hearst Tower as Corporate Headquarters Location

by Alex Tostado June 13, 2019

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The 965,000-square-foot Hearst Tower in Charlotte, which is owned by Cousins Properties, will be the new corporate headquarters for BB&T Corp. and SunTrust Banks Inc. once the merger between the two banks is complete. BB&T-SunTrust confirmed in a press release that the combined bank is expected to begin occupying 651,000 square feet of office space in phases from August 2019 to June 2021. Up to 2,000 employees of the proposed new company will be housed in the space. The lease term is for 15 years. The space is currently occupied by Bank of America and other tenants, all of which will move out to make room for BB&T-SunTrust. Bank of America has signed a 550,000-square-foot lease within Lincoln Harris’ Legacy Union in Uptown Charlotte. Winston-Salem, N.C.-based BB&T agreed to acquire Atlanta-based SunTrust in a $66 billion deal announced in early February. Details have not yet been released on future plans for the banks’ existing corporate offices. BB&T-SunTrust will have the option to purchase the 47-story building from Cousins Properties for $455.5 million through the fourth quarter of this year. If the company exercises that option, the sale will close in the first quarter of 2020. On Wednesday, …

June 13, 2019

Development Illinois Industrial Midwest Top Stories

Elion Unveils $2B Expansion Project for Logistics Park in Wilmington, Illinois

by Kristin Harlow June 12, 2019

WILMINGTON, ILL. — Elion Partners has renamed RidgePort Logistics Center to Elion Logistics Park 55 (ELP 55) and planned a $2 billion development project at the site in Wilmington, approximately 40 miles southwest of Chicago. Following the expansion, ELP 55 will become the largest rail-served industrial park in the Midwest, according to the real estate investment firm. Elion began acquiring land for the park in 2016. To date, 6.3 million square feet of multi-tenant and build-to-suit space exists. Some of the tenants include Post, Lineage and Batory Foods. The master plan comprises up to 2,500 acres, which includes an existing, full-service TA Petro Travel Plaza and up to 140 acres for planned commercial development. Current projects underway include an on-site first responders’ station, interconnectivity via planned pedestrian walking paths and an on-site helipad. ELP 55 features two miles of frontage along the BNSF’s Transcontinental Mainline with up to 12 million square feet of potential rail services, and three miles of I-55 frontage with a complete interchange. The park is located in a regional distribution hub that reaches 27 percent of the U.S. population within a one-day drive, according to Elion. “The goal is to develop a mixed-use logistics park that …

June 12, 2019

Acquisitions California Multifamily Retail Top Stories Western

Douglas Emmett Acquires Apartment, Retail Complex in Los Angeles for $365M

by Jeff Shaw June 11, 2019

LOS ANGELES — Douglas Emmett Inc. (NYSE: DEI) has acquired The Glendon, a multifamily and retail complex in the Westwood Village neighborhood of Los Angeles, for $365 million. Built in 2008, The Glendon features 350 apartment units and 50,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space on a 4.3-acre plot. The multifamily and retail components combined were 97 percent occupied at the time of sale. The Glendon common areas were recently upgraded and the property is midway through a total unit renovation, which DEI plans to complete. Westwood Village is located approximately 12 miles west of downtown Los Angeles. The neighborhood is home to UCLA’s main campus, and abuts popular locations such as Los Angeles National Cemetery and Bel-Air Country Club. The Glendon is also located within walking distance of more than 2.1 million square feet of DEI-owned office space. DEI is a Santa Monica-based real estate investment trust. Although the seller was not officially disclosed, Clarion Partners purchased the property in 2014, according to Los Angeles Business Journal. With the acquisition of The Glendon, DEI has grown its total multifamily portfolio by over 20 percent in the last two years to more than 4,000 units in West Los Angeles and …

June 11, 2019

Acquisitions Florida Georgia Midwest Missouri Multifamily Northeast Pennsylvania Southeast Top Stories

Investcorp Acquires 11 Multifamily Properties Across U.S. for $370M

by Taylor Williams June 10, 2019

NEW YORK CITY — Global asset manager Investcorp, which is based in Bahrain and has its U.S. office in New York City, has acquired 11 multifamily properties totaling 2,615 units across the United States. The sales price was $370 million. The properties are located throughout six primary markets: Orlando, Tampa, Raleigh, Atlanta, Philadelphia and St. Louis. Madison Apartment Group, an affiliate of the seller, Philadelphia-based Equus Capital Partners, will continue to manage the communities after overseeing capital improvement programs at each property. The portfolio was approximately 95 percent leased at the time of sale with an average construction date of 1994 and an average unit size of 1,020 square feet. Equus acquired the properties between 2013 and 2015 and collectively spent about $20 million upgrading them. “The portfolio is positioned to deliver an attractive, stable and predictable cash flow for the new venture with Investcorp, while at the same time the markets continue to support further enhancement opportunities and ability to push rents higher,” says Christopher Locatell, senior vice president and director of dispositions for Equus. Investcorp executives noted that the deal marked the firm’s largest real estate acquisition in the United States in the last decade, and was appealing …

June 10, 2019

Development Loans Office Top Stories Washington Western

Capstone Partners Receives $154.7M Construction Financing for Office Building in Metro Seattle

by Amy Works June 7, 2019

REDMOND, WASH. — Capstone Partners has received $154.7 million in construction financing for One Esterra Park, a transit-oriented office development in Redmond, approximately 15 miles east of Seattle. The investment banking firm plans to break ground sometime this month. The Class A project is the next phase of the 3 million-square-foot Esterra Park live-work-play master-planned community. One Esterra Park will rise six stories and total 245,000 square feet. Being built to LEED Silver standards, the property will feature average floor plates of 40,000 square feet, robust amounts of power and mechanical infrastructure and collaborative common areas. The 2.2-acre site is immediately adjacent to Microsoft’s world headquarters and near many of the area’s large and expanding economic drivers such as Facebook, Amazon and Google. Additionally, the project is adjacent to the future Overlake Village Transit Station and the future State Route 520 off-ramp, providing connectivity to major area thoroughfares, including Interstates 405 and 90. Capstone expects One Esterra Park to be ready for occupancy in late 2020. Ben Bullock, Charles Halladay, Bruce Ganong, Zach Goodwin, Michael Leggett and Tom Wilson of HFF arranged the debt and equity for the project. US Bank provided the construction loan while a private equity investor …

June 7, 2019

Development Northeast Office Pennsylvania Top Stories

Discovery Labs to Develop $500M Coworking Campus in Metro Philadelphia

by Alex Tostado June 6, 2019

KING OF PRUSSIA, PA. — The Discovery Labs has unveiled plans for a $500 million healthcare, life sciences and technology coworking campus at the 1 million-square-foot GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Upper West Merion campus and the 640,000-square-foot Innovation at Renaissance Campus. The two campuses, which are located across the street from each other in the Philadelphia suburb of King of Prussia, will be known as The Discovery Labs. The collaborative lab, office and lifestyle space, will span 1.6 million square feet. The Discovery Labs called the campus the “world’s largest coworking community” in a press release. “The Discovery Labs is 20 times larger than the average coworking space, and provides the mission critical infrastructure needed to operate healthcare, life sciences and technology-enabled companies,” says Audrey Greenberg, chief financial officer of The Discovery Labs. “The size of each Discovery Labs enables enterprise level companies to work side by side with startup and emerging companies and enjoy the benefits of the coworking phenomenon.” IQ Connect, Discovery Labs’ 100,000-square-foot incubator project developed in partnership with The Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center, will sit at the center of the campus. The purpose of IQ Connect is to “bring together researchers, entrepreneurs and product development startups, along with human …

June 6, 2019

Acquisitions Maryland Multifamily Southeast Top Stories

Star Real Estate Ventures Acquires 2,566-Unit Multifamily Portfolio in Maryland for $500M

by Kristin Harlow June 5, 2019

MARYLAND — Star Real Estate Ventures LLC has acquired a five-property multifamily portfolio totaling 2,566 units in Maryland for approximately $500 million. Most of the communities are located in suburban Baltimore. The properties include Charleston Place in Ellicott City, Morningside Heights in Owings Mills, Top Field in Cockeysville, Tamarron in Olney and Village Square in Glen Burnie. All of the communities feature pools and playgrounds, while four of the five have tennis courts. Home Properties recently operated all five communities. Financing for the transaction included five separate Fannie Mae loans for a total of $320 million, as well as equity from Related Fund Management. David Webb, Maxi Leachman, Brynn Wendel and Robert LaChapelle of CBRE arranged the financing. Bill Roohan, Michael Muldowney, Robert Dean and Malcolm McComb of CBRE represented the seller, a global private equity firm. Star Real Estate Ventures is a real estate investment and management firm that owns and manages 14,500 apartment units in 11 states. The company is headquartered in New York City with offices in Boca Raton, Fla. and Okemos, Mich. This is the firm’s second acquisition of 2019, following the purchase of an 852-unit portfolio in Cincinnati in February. Star is actively looking for …

June 5, 2019

Acquisitions Massachusetts Net Lease Northeast Retail Texas Top Stories

Hospitality Properties Trust Buys National Net-Lease Retail Portfolio for $2.4B

by John Nelson June 4, 2019

NEWTON, MASS. AND DALLAS — Hospitality Properties Trust (NASDAQ: HPT) has purchased a portfolio of net-leased retail assets from Spirit MTA REIT (NYSE: SMTA) for $2.4 billion. The portfolio consists of 774 service-oriented retail properties in 43 states that are occupied by tenants including AMC Theatres, Academy Sports + Outdoors and CarMax. The portfolio was 98 percent occupied as of March 31 and has a weighted average remaining lease term of 8.6 years. The portfolio includes all of SMTA’s owned properties held in its “Master Trust 2014” segment and excludes approximately 100 assets leased to Shopko Stores Inc., a Wisconsin-based general merchandiser that filed for bankruptcy in January. The portfolio also includes three Pilot Travel Centers that are currently owned by Spirit Realty Capital Inc., a Dallas-based net-lease REIT that owns single-tenant retail assets subject to long-term leases. Spirit Realty externally manages SMTA after spinning off the REIT from its holdings last summer. “Ultimately, we concluded that a sale to Hospitality Properties Trust represented the best possible outcome for our shareholders,” said Richard Stockton, lead independent trustee of SMTA, in a statement. “We will continue our work to close the transaction in the coming months and realize cash value for …

June 4, 2019

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