Top Stories

RXR Realty Breaks Ground on $1B Waterfront Redevelopment on Long Island

by Nellie Day December 7, 2016

GLEN COVE, N.Y. — RXR Realty has broken ground on Garvies Point, a $1 billion waterfront redevelopment in the Long Island city of Glen Cove. The project will restore 56 acres of Glen Cove’s waterfront, creating more than 1,100 LEED-certified residences and 75,000 square feet of shops and restaurants. The project will also feature approximately 28 acres of public open spaces with parks, playgrounds, esplanades, marinas, an amphitheater and dog park. The residential units will include 569 condominiums and 541 apartments for lease. Garvies Point will also feature thee separate marinas with a total of 120 boat slips. Garvies Point is a partnership between RXR Realty and the City of Glen Cove. The project represents the culmination of a 20-year, $120 million effort to transform Glen Cove into a sustainable community. The first phase of Garvies Point, which includes 28 acres of public open space and amenities, is scheduled for completion in 2018. The entire project will take between five and seven years to build, according to RXR. RXR Realty is a private real estate company that specializes in investment management, property management, development, design, construction, leasing and financing. RXR’s growth strategy is focused on New York City and the …

December 7, 2016

California Office Top Stories Western

Equinix to Acquire Portfolio of 24 Data Center Sites from Verizon for $3.6B

by Katie Sloan December 6, 2016

REDWOOD CITY, CALIF. — Equinix Inc. (NASDAQ: EQIX) has agreed to acquire a portfolio of 24 data center sites and their operations from Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) for $3.6 billion. The portfolio consists of 29 buildings across 24 sites in North and South America, including Atlanta and Norcross, Ga.; Bogotá, Columbia; Boston; Chicago; Culpeper, Va.; Dallas, Houston and Richardson, Texas; Denver; Los Angeles, Santa Clara and San Jose, Calif.; Miami and Doral, Fla.; New York City; São Paulo, Brazil; Seattle; and Washington, D.C. The NAP of the Americas facility in Miami was formerly a flagship facility for Verizon, and will become a strategic hub and gateway for Equinix customer deployments servicing Latin America. Approximately 250 Verizon employees, primarily in the operations functions of the acquired data centers, will become Equinix employees. The all-cash transaction is expected to close by mid-2017. Evercore, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP advised Equinix in the acquisition. At the close of the transaction, Redwood City, Calif.-based Equinix’s total global footprint will be 175 data centers in 43 markets with approximately 17 million gross square feet across the Americas, Europe and Asia. Equinix’s stock price closed at $332.08 per share …

December 6, 2016

Conference Coverage Features Georgia Multifamily Southeast Top Stories

Multifamily Industry Needs to Adapt to the Sharing Economy, Say InterFace Panelists

by John Nelson December 6, 2016

How are apartment communities adapting to the sharing economy? That’s the central question that multifamily developers need to ask themselves going forward, according to Wes Taubel, co-founder and managing partner of TWO Capital Partners, a private multifamily developer and investor based in Atlanta. The sharing economy is a term given to the online-driven practices of consumers shopping and ordering food online, renting out their apartment or house via AirBNB and uploading their experiences via social media. “From a development perspective, the biggest thing is a holistic assessment of how you design your community to incorporate the renters’ lifestyle. We’re working with hotel and office interior designers to think about how do we authentically design our amenity and community offerings that work with how this group lives their lives,” said Taubel, who spoke at the seventh-annual InterFace Multifamily Southeast conference on Thursday, Dec. 1 at the Westin Buckhead. Taubel served as a speaker on the development panel entitled “Walking the Tightrope: Will New Development Stay in Balance or Is There Too Much Supply Coming? An Overview of Today’s Development Environment,” which was moderated by Ron Cameron, senior vice president and principal of Colliers International. The sharing economy also includes co-working office …

December 6, 2016

Colorado Office Top Stories Western

Franklin Street Properties Buys Dominion Towers in Downtown Denver for $154M

by Jeff Shaw December 5, 2016

DENVER — Franklin Street Properties Corp. (NYSE: FSP), a Massachusetts-based REIT, has acquired the Dominion Towers office property in downtown Denver for $154 million. The property includes a 19-story tower and a 28-story tower that are connected. The Class A buildings total 613,527 rentable square feet, resulting in a purchase price of $251 per rentable square foot. Dominion Towers is situated in the center of downtown Denver, within one block of light rail access and adjacent to the 16th Street Mall. The towers are 89 percent leased, and EOG Resources Inc., an oil and gas company, is the largest renter, taking up 29 percent of the property through December 2026. FSP funded the acquisition of Dominion Towers with cash on hand and the proceeds of a $150 million unsecured, two-year bridge loan with JPMorgan Chase Bank NA as administrative agent. FSP plans to implement $3 million in capital improvements to the property. “We believe that the acquisition of Dominion Towers will provide additional opportunities for value creation by growing our presence in downtown Denver to almost 2 million rentable square feet,” says Jeffrey Carter, president and chief investment officer of FSP. FSP’s stock price closed at $12.25 per share on …

December 5, 2016

Colorado Hospitality Top Stories Western

CBRE Arranges $121M Sale of Four Seasons Resorts and Residences in Vail, Colorado

by Kristin Harlow December 2, 2016

VAIL, COLO. — CBRE Hotels has arranged the sale of the Four Seasons Resort and Residences in Vail for $121 million. The 134-room resort is located at 1 Vail Road, and includes 121 hotel guestrooms and 13 condominiums. The resort offers slope-side ski-valet facilities located adjacent to Gondola One in Vail Village. Additional amenities include a 14,935-square-foot spa, over 7,000 square feet of flexible meeting and event space, dining and retail space. Bernard Van der Lande of CBRE Capital Advisors, along with Mark Darrington and Larry Kaplan of CBRE Hotels, represented the seller, Barclays. Barclays acquired the property out of bankruptcy when it was under construction in 2009. New York City-based Extell Development Co. was the buyer. — Kristin Hiller

December 2, 2016

University Hospital, Charlottesville, Va.

Healthcare Southeast Top Stories Virginia

Skanska USA to Renovate, Expand University Hospital in Virginia for $142M

by Jeff Shaw December 1, 2016

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. — Skanska USA, a division of the Sweden-based construction company, has been chosen for a $142 million renovation and expansion of University Hospital, located on the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville. The main part of the expansion will be a 425,000-square-foot, 15-story tower on a plot adjacent to the current hospital, a helipad that is no longer in use. The expansion includes a new emergency department, surgical suites, a six-story inpatient section and expanded ancillary services. The project also includes 95,000 square feet of renovations to the existing buildings, including new drop-off and entry points for the ambulances. The project will be completed in phases. The tower is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of 2019, and the renovations are scheduled for completion in the fourth quarter of 2020. The hospital is part of the University of Virginia Health System. International architecture firm Perkins+Will designed the project. — Jeff Shaw

December 1, 2016

Features Hospitality Top Stories

Group Bookings Brighten Hotel Outlook for 2017

by Kristin Harlow December 1, 2016

NEW YORK CITY — Committed occupancy and average daily rates (ADR) for the first quarter of 2017 are showing major signs of growth in the hotel sector. Group travel is leading the way despite the continuing lag in transient booking pace in the fourth quarter of 2016, according to new data from TravelClick’s November 2016 North American Hospitality Review (NAHR). TravelClick defines a transient traveler as an individual business or leisure traveler. Transient booking pace is the rate by which these travelers book their reservations. Committed occupancy is defined as the sum of transient rooms and group rooms committed divided by capacity. The November NAHR looks at group sales commitments and individual reservations in the 25 major North American markets for hotel stays that are booked by Nov. 1, 2016, from the period of November 2016 to October 2017. Across all travel segments in the first quarter of 2017, occupancy and ADR are up 6.7 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively. Occupancy for the group segment is up 6.8 percent. “Even with the slowing transient reservation pace this month, especially within the business segment, hoteliers should look to the New Year for a promising outlook,” said John Hach, TravelClick’s senior industry …

December 1, 2016

Florida Office Southeast Top Stories

Lingerfelt CommonWealth Sells Riverplace Tower in Downtown Jacksonville for $53.4M

by John Nelson November 30, 2016

JACKSONVILLE, FLA. — Lingerfelt CommonWealth Partners LLC has sold Riverplace Tower, a 441,000-square-foot office tower located at 1301 Riverplace Blvd. in downtown Jacksonville. The undisclosed buyer purchased the 28-story tower, which is situated along the St. Johns River, for $53.4 million. The new owner has retained Richmond, Va.-based Lingerfelt CommonWealth to operate the asset, which the company purchased in 2014 for $29 million. Ameris Bank has signage on the office tower and occupies the entire 26th floor. The bank also operates a branch in the lobby. Commonwealth Commercial Partners, Lingerfelt CommonWealth’s property management affiliate, will handle day-to-day asset and property management responsibilities at Riverplace Tower. JLL will continue to handle the leasing and marketing of Riverplace Tower on behalf of the new owner. Lingerfelt CommonWealth Partners is a full-service real estate investment management firm with additional offices in Nashville, Jacksonville, Tampa, Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro and Hampton Roads. Together with its predecessors in the private sector and public REIT sector, its partners have built, acquired and managed nearly 20 million square feet of commercial real estate valued at approximately $2 billion across the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. In addition to Riverplace Tower, Lingerfelt CommonWealth recently sold the Bank of America Plaza, a …

November 30, 2016

Multifamily New York Northeast Top Stories

ACORE Capital Provides $156M Construction Loan for The Ritz-Carlton Residences in New York

by Katie Sloan November 29, 2016

NORTH HILLS, N.Y. — ACORE Capital has provided $156 million in construction financing for Phase II of The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Long Island, North Hills, located 20 miles east of Midtown Manhattan on Long Island’s North Shore. Mike Tepedino, Michael Gigliotti and Geoff Goldstein of HFF worked on behalf of RXR Realty LLC to place the construction loan with ACORE Capital. HFF previously secured construction financing on the borrower’s behalf for the first phase of the condominium project in 2013, which is now more than 90 percent sold. The first 120-unit phase of the property was recently completed, and offers two- and three-bedroom units. The second phase of the project will consist of an additional 120 units totaling approximately 270,211 square feet. Each unit will have a minimum of two indoor parking spaces available. Community amenities include indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a fitness center and yoga studio, resident lounge, private reception rooms, boardroom, billiards room, coffee and espresso bar, and movie theater. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company manages the property and offers the full array of Ritz-Carlton’s services, including concierge, doormen, porters and membership in The Ritz-Carlton’s worldwide reservations network. The community also offers a number of a-la-carte services such as housekeeping, …

November 29, 2016

Features Industrial Top Stories

Self Storage: The Strong, Stable REIT Investment

by Jeff Shaw November 29, 2016

The self storage REIT industry is sizzling hot. Last year, when stocks were flat and REITs generated a mere 2.8 percent return on average, self storage REITs returned a whopping 40 percent, far surpassing all other REIT sectors. Occupancy rates at the 51,000 self storage facilities in the United States have grown by 11 percent from the first quarter of 2012 to the first quarter of 2016. The need for storage facilities continues to increase as Baby Boomers retire and downsize, while millennials flock to rental apartments without garages and basements. In fact, the growth in the inventory of self storage facilities mirrors recent increases in apartment occupancy. Although net absorption of apartments is slowing, self storage REITs remain a solid investment. That’s because the existing inventory of storage facilities is relatively low due to a slowdown of construction during the recession. This lack of sufficient supply prompted Integra Realty Resources to predict record-level prices and continued demand for this strong investment type into 2017. One of the advantages of self storage is that it involves so little capital outlay when compared to other kinds of commercial real estate, such as malls, offices or apartments. Indeed, it requires less capital …

November 29, 2016

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