ATLANTA — Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), a customer relationship software and services provider, is set to expand its regional headquarters in Atlanta. The company will grow its current footprint in The Atlanta Plaza, located in the city’s Buckhead district, which will now be known as Salesforce Tower Atlanta. The lobby, and each new floor set for occupancy by the company, will be renovated as part of the expansion. Salesforce currently occupies four floors of The Atlanta Plaza totaling 85,722 square feet. Following the expansion, the company will occupy seven floors and 158,163 square feet. The top floor of the building will also be transformed into an, “Ohana Floor,” which will offer an open hospitality space for Salesforce employees, customers and partners. The space will also be available for use by nonprofits and local education groups on weeknights and weekends at no cost. The expansion will allow the company to nearly double its Atlanta-based workforce of approximately 600 employees. Employees will begin moving into the newly renovated floors in 2019. “Atlanta is a fantastic market for world-class talent and we’re thrilled to grow our presence in the region,” says Warren Wick, executive vice president of commercial sales at Salesforce. “Many of our top customers call …
HOFFMAN ESTATES, ILL. — Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD) has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. A $134 million debt payment was due today. Eddie Lampert will step down as Sears chief executive, but will remain the company’s chairman. The Hoffman Estates-based company oversees both Sears and Kmart-branded department stores. The company has negotiated $300 million in senior financing from its lenders and is also in the process of negotiating a $300 million loan with ESL Investments Inc., which is Lampert’s hedge fund. “While we have made progress, the plan has yet to deliver the results we have desired, and addressing the company’s immediate liquidity needs has impacted our efforts to become a profitable and more competitive retailer,” says Lampert. “The Chapter 11 process will give [Sears] the flexibility to strengthen its balance sheet, enabling the company to accelerate its strategic transformation, continue right-sizing its operating model and return to profitability.” Sears and Kmart stores will remain open for business, but the company plans to close 142 unprofitable stores by the end of the year. Liquidation sales at these stores are expected to begin shortly. This is in addition …
SAN JOSE, CALIF. — Republic Urban Properties has sold Meridian at Midtown in San Jose for $104 million. The luxury apartment community includes 218 units and 14,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. The property is situated at 1432 W. San Carlos St., less than one mile west of downtown and just north of I-280. The location is surrounded by restaurants and retail, as well as just a few blocks from a light rail station. Built in 2015, the mid-rise property offers amenities such as fitness centers, conference rooms, a resort-style pool, community lounge, dog park and playground. Retail amenities include The Breakfast Club and Starbucks. Floor plans average 875 square feet each. Scott Bales, Peter Yorck and Eric Bet of HFF arranged the sale on behalf of the seller, Republic Urban Properties LLC, a division of the Republic Family of Cos. The buyer was not disclosed. — Kristin Hiller
ATLANTA — Cortland has acquired Home at The Battery Atlanta, a 531-unit multifamily community, from a joint venture between Braves Development Co. (BDC) and Pollack Shores for $156 million. Walker & Dunlop brokered the transaction. The three-building property — to be renamed Cortland at the Battery Atlanta — offers 328 one-bedroom units, 195 two-bedroom units and eight three-bedroom units. The apartments were 92 percent occupied at the time of sale. Each building offers a range of shared amenities including swimming pools; a rooftop lounge and bar; an entertainment center with billiards, shuffleboard and an open kitchen; a poolside fitness center with cardio, CrossFit and yoga components; and a cyber café. The community opened in 2017 as part of The Battery Atlanta, a 1.5 million-square-foot mixed-use development surrounding SunTrust Park, home ballpark of the Atlanta Braves. The master-planned development features residential, retail, office and entertainment space. “We are pleased to add Cortland to The Battery Atlanta with their strong market leadership,” says Mike Plant, president and CEO of BDC. “This is an exciting next step in our master-planned development process by selling our residential component.” Cortland, an Atlanta-based multifamily real estate investment firm, owns and manages 140 communities in the United …
BAYONNE AND RARITAN, N.J. —Madison Realty Capital has provided $258 million in construction financing for a 1,161-unit multifamily development portfolio in Bayonne and Raritan. The portfolio consists of three large-scale, shovel-ready development sites. The financing will be used to complete site acquisitions and for the construction of all three projects. Jack Klugmann’s Accurate Builders and Developers of New Jersey owns the portfolio. Shaya Ackerman of Meridian Capital arranged the financing. Terms of the financing were not disclosed. “We’re financing three major transit-oriented development sites located in different towns, so clearly there are many moving parts,” says Josh Zegen, managing principal of Madison Realty Capital. “These are prime sites in communities with strong apartment demand based on demographics and transportation connections, and we believe they have great prospects for success.” Harbor Station South in Bayonne will consist of 651 units spread over two buildings. The project is located near the 34th Street Station of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail system, which provides connections to New York City. A ferry station is also being planned in the vicinity with service to Manhattan and Staten Island. Amenities will include a rooftop pool overlooking the Hudson River, concierge service, a pet center, and a bike …
SAN FRANCISCO — Hudson Pacific Properties Inc. (NYSE: HPP) and Allianz Real Estate have formed a joint venture to acquire the Ferry Building in downtown San Francisco. Located at the foot of Market Street along the San Francisco Bay waterfront, the landmark features 192,532 square feet of office space and 75,486 square feet of retail space. Equity Office, an affiliate of the Blackstone Group, sold the leasehold interest in the land and improvements to the Ferry Building to the joint venture for $291 million. The remaining term on the ground lease, which is owned by the Port of San Francisco, is 49 years. The Ferry Building is fully leased to companies including SS&C Technologies Inc., Meltwater Inc., Meritage Group LP and Niantic Inc., as well as restaurants and retail tenants such as The Slanted Door and Blue Bottle Coffee. The Ferry Building also plays host to the Ferry Building Marketplace, a public food market that is organized along an indoor street known as the Nave. The food market attracts more than 8.8 million annual visitors. Hudson Pacific owns a 55 percent interest in the joint venture and will serve as the managing member and day-to-day operator of the property, while …
BOCA RATON, FLA. — A trio of developers — Giles Capital Group, Rosemurgy Properties, Schmier Property Group — in partnership with Wheelock Street Capital have broken ground on Uptown Boca, a $200 million mixed-use project in South Florida. The development, which will be located at the corner of Glades Road and 95th Avenue South in Boca Raton, will feature 150,591 square feet of retail space. Lucky’s Market and Silverspot Cinema will anchor the project. In addition, Uptown Boca will offer 456 Class A apartments. Additional tenants will include Bolay, a healthy restaurant concept, and Chick-fil-A. Marc Wiener Architecture, a local firm, provided design services for the retail portion of the project. Roxanne Register and Nicole Fontaine of the Boca Raton office of Katz & Associates are the leasing agents for the retail portion of the project. Retailers are expected to open their doors in summer 2019, and multifamily units are projected to be available for occupancy by early 2020. “With no new significant development in over two decades, this type of lifestyle component is long overdue in West Boca,” says Alexander Rosemurgy, CEO of Rosemurgy Properties. “It will truly create the complete shop-dine-live experience that this area deserves.” — Taylor …
HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. — Internet entertainment service Netflix has signed a lease to fully occupy EPIC, a 327,913-square-foot office building currently under construction in Hollywood. Hudson Pacific Properties Inc. (NYSE: HPP) is developing the project. Netflix will occupy the 13-story building upon completion in January 2020. The lease ends in 2031. Netflix has also signed a coterminous lease extension for 325,757 square feet at ICON and 91,953 square feet at CUE, both of which are Hudson Pacific assets located on the Sunset Bronson Studios lot across the street from EPIC. “Netflix is part of an elite class of high-growth, high-innovation companies leading the revolution in content production and distribution that is reshaping the Los Angeles studio and office markets,” says Victor Coleman, chairman and CEO of Hudson Pacific. “With its growing presence at ICON, CUE and now EPIC, we have created a customized, state-of-the-art, creative urban campus that holistically supports Netflix’s unique culture and business needs.” Designed by Gensler, EPIC is a vertically stacked and terraced building. The development will have floor-to-ceiling windows and operable glass doors with direct access to exterior terraces, fire pits, collaboration areas and a rooftop deck with catering pantry. The property will offer more than 25,000 …
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. — A joint venture has acquired 1 East Broward, a 351,705-square-foot office tower in Fort Lauderdale, for $108.5 million. The joint venture, titled 1 East Broward Owner LLC, comprises affiliates of NAI/Merin Hunter Codman and PCCP LLC. The property is located on the northeast corner of Broward Boulevard and Andrews Avenue across from the new Brightline Rail Station in the heart of downtown Fort Lauderdale. The asset consists of a 19-story building and a five-story building connected by a covered sky bridge to a four-story parking structure, which provides 772 covered parking spaces to office tenants. The building recently underwent an extensive renovation — with over $4.9 million invested since the beginning of 2013 — and serves as the new U.S. headquarters for KEMET Corp., a publicly traded global supplier of electronic components. Additional tenants include Becker & Poliakoff; Quintairos, Prieto, Wood & Boyer PA; McGlinchey Stafford; and Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP. NAI/Merin Hunter Codman will take over property management and leasing at 1 East Broward. “With its strategic location adjacent to the Brightline Rail Station, the Federal Courthouse and within walking distance of both Las Olas Boulevard and all of the exciting new residential and cultural …
KAPOLEI, HAWAII — Gardena, Calif.-based Highridge Costa Cos., in partnership with Honolulu-based Coastal Rim Properties, has broken ground on Kulana Hale, a mixed-use and affordable seniors housing project in Kapolei, near Honolulu. Designed by SVA Architects, Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co. is building the property. Located at 1020 Wakea St., the $130 million project consists of three components — two 13-story towers and a single-story commercial space — to be built in three phases. The $64 million first phase will feature 154 affordable apartment units for seniors in a unit mix of 22 studio, 109 one-bedroom and 22 two-bedroom layouts, as well as a one-bedroom manager’s unit. All residential units are equipped with an oven, stove, microwave and refrigerator. Project amenities will include a community meeting room, picnic area, community workspace with high-speed internet access and neighborhood-serving retail space on the ground floor. The second phase will add a tower with 143 affordable units for families, as well as additional ground-floor retail space. Construction of the second phase is slated to start in 2019. The final phase will be a single-story retail space to serve the residents and larger community. “My administration has been working hard to expand affordable rental housing …