Defending claims of lien recorded by tenant improvement contractors can be costly, time consuming and lead to protracted litigation. However, with a little planning and the right contract language, landlords can protect their properties from such liability. Below is a summary of various strategies a landlord can implement to avoid liens from its tenant’s improvements. Include No-Lien Language in all Leases and Record A Notice Thereof Under Florida law, when a lease between a landlord and a tenant requires the tenant to make improvements to the tenant’s premises, if the tenant ends up failing to pay its contractor for the tenant improvement work, then the contractor can file a claim of lien (and eventually foreclose) against both the tenant’s leasehold interest and the landlord’s fee simple interest in the property in an attempt to recover payment. However, under Section 713.10, Florida Statutes, the landlord can prevent such claims of lien and foreclosure actions, even if the improvements are the “pith of the lease,” by taking a few proactive steps. First, the landlord must include express “no-lien language” in its lease that states that the interest of the landlord shall not be subject to liens for improvements performed in the premises …
SAN FRANCISCO — A European investor has purchased the iconic Tiffany & Co. building in San Francisco. The 11-story property is located at 360 Post St. on Union Square. The San Francisco Business Times reported the purchase price at approximately $135 million, or $1,400 per square foot. The 96,882-square-foot building features luxury retail and office space, including 75 feet of prime retail frontage on Post Street. The sellers, Greenstone Realty Advisors LLC and 360 Post LP, acquired the building in 1995 for $22 million. The property has served as one of Tiffany’s flagship locations for nearly 20 years, as well as the U.S. headquarters for Chinese airline Cathay Pacific. The space is situated near the Powell Street BART/MUNI station. The Powell Street cable car and Central Subway line, scheduled for completion in 2019, are also within walking distance. Kazuko Morgan and Seth Siegel of Cushman & Wakefield represented the sellers in the deal. — Nellie Day
PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh-based HFF has arranged $210 million in first lien financing for a 10-property retail portfolio totaling 973,985 square feet in Arizona, California, Kansas, North Carolina and Texas. Kevin MacKenzie, Jim Curtin, Cory Fowler, Jamie Kline and Lauren LaFever of HFF worked on behalf of the borrower, Westwood Financial Corp., to place a 10-year, $110 million, fixed-rate portfolio loan with a life insurance company and a $100 million senior credit facility with Wells Fargo Bank’s Real Estate Capital Markets Group. The loans were secured in correlation with Westwood’s recent $1.2 billion consolidation and reorganization. The $110 million loan was secured against six retail assets including the 79,575-square-foot Village Plaza in Phoenix; the 65,054-square-foot Plaza Del Rio in San Juan Capistrano, Calif.; the 103,124-square-foot Stateline Village in Prairie Village, Kan.; the 46,789-square-foot Hebron Parkway Plaza in Carrollton, Texas; the 226,414-square-foot Old Town Shopping Center in Dallas; and the 79,226-square-foot Steelecroft Shopping Center in Charlotte, N.C. Tenants at the 91 percent-leased portfolio include Harris Teeter, Sprouts, Hy-Vee, Tom Thumb, Vons, PetSmart, LA Fitness and Michaels. The assets included in the Wells Fargo credit facility included the 77,031-square-foot Camelback Village anchored by AJ’s Fine Foods in Phoenix; the 89,506-square-foot Mercado Del Rancho …
CHATSWORTH, CALIF. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the $72.5 million sale of Waterstone Apartment Homes, a 348-unit multifamily community located in Chatsworth, roughly 30 miles outside Los Angeles. The property was built in 1971 at 9901 Lurline Ave. The community is located one block south of the 615,400-square-foot Westfield Topanga shopping mall and approximately one mile away from the Chatsworth Metrolink station. Waterstone offers studio, one- and two-bedroom units with community amenities including lighted tennis courts; barbecue and picnic area with fire pit; clubhouse with billiards; a fitness center; pool and hot tub; and laundry facilities. Greg Harris, Ron Harris, Kevin Green, Joseph Grabiec and Paul Darrow of Marcus & Millichap’s IPA division represented the seller and procured the buyer in the transaction. Both parties were undisclosed. “The acquisition gives the new ownership the ability to complete a strategic renovation in a market where there is a significant affordability gap to home ownership, and strong demand for high-end rental housing,” says Green. — Katie Sloan
For 35 years, the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980 (FIRPTA) has provided a pathway for foreign investment into American real estate development. Changes are coming from the implementation of the Protecting Americans From Tax Hikes Act of 2015, which are the first reforms in more than three decades that affect the status of foreign investment. FIRPTA reforms are designed to spur investment from foreign investors by modernizing some exemptions of the law, making foreign investment into American real estate more appealing. On December 18, 2015, President Obama signed into the law the Act to extend certain tax relief provisions that were expiring at the end of 2014. The Bill was written to create legislative reforms to FIRPTA designed to bring in additional investment into a struggling marketplace. There are a few major changes provided for in the reforms. The new Act exempts certain foreign pension funds and their subsidiaries from FIRPTA taxation. This will hopefully spur on more participation from these groups. It also increases the amount of Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) stock participation available to foreign investors from 5 percent to 10 percent. The new rule creates a FIRPTA tax exemption for foreign investors …
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CA Ventures Delivers Eight Student Housing Communities for 2016/2017 School Year
CHICAGO — CA Student Living, the student housing investment and development division of Chicago-based CA Ventures, has completed eight student housing communities comprising nearly 4,000 beds across the U.S. Located in eight states, the properties are about 95 percent occupied and represent nearly 10 percent of the 47,700 off-campus student housing beds slated to deliver nationwide in 2016, according to the developer. Valued at more than $460 million, the new communities boost the size of CA Student Living’s portfolio to $1.5 billion. All offer fully furnished apartments with in-unit laundry and a 1:1 bed-to-bath ratio in most units. The newly delivered communities include: Uncommon Athens — Uncommon Athens is a five-story building located at 165 E. Dougherty St in Athens, Ga. It is within walking distance to both downtown Athens and the University of Georgia. The property’s 210 beds include a mix of one-, two- and four-bedroom floor plans, and the development contains 10,600 square feet of street-level retail space. Indoor amenities include a 24-hour fitness center, golf simulator, business center, study lounge, group meeting space, club room and coffee bar. Uncommon Charlottesville — Uncommon Charlottesville, a six-story building located at 1000 W. Main St. in Charlottesville, Va., is within …
ALPHARETTA, GA. — Rubenstein Partners LP, along with a minority equity partner, has purchased Sanctuary Park, a 1.6 million-square-foot office park complex located in the northern Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta, for $265 million. The joint venture purchased the asset from J.P. Morgan. (NYSE: JPM), according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Sanctuary Park has been institutionally owned, developed and maintained for nearly 20 years. The property comprises nine mid-rise buildings within a 152-acre, master-planned campus, which features three zoned development sites that can accommodate an additional 750,000 square feet of build-to-suit office space. Sanctuary Park is currently 96 percent leased to tenants that include Delta Dental Insurance, Coca-Cola, Ernst & Young, Ciena Corp., LeasePlan and Verizon Wireless. Verizon is expected to vacate its office space at the campus in the near future, which will lower Sanctuary Park’s occupancy to approximately 75 percent. “Sanctuary Park is exactly the kind of unique value-add opportunity Rubenstein Partners seeks out,” said Taylor Smith, regional director of the Southeast for Rubenstein Partners. “The Class A property is generally regarded as the top office park in North Fulton, and we are thrilled to complete the acquisition of this asset. We believe Verizon’s departure created an opportunity for …
It actually has become clockwork at every major retail event, be it Back to School, Christmas/Hanukkah, even July 4th. We see the inevitable “Mall is Dead” story in some newspaper or television report. Twenty years ago, catalogs and big box power centers were the killers; today, it’s e-commerce, market saturation and debt-laden millennials who will kill the mall. Only the most famous, highest-end centers in the major markets will survive, according to the doomsayers, with the remainder to be turned into any other use you can think of, from warehouses to office buildings to hotels to, yes, prisons. Except the statistics — and our experience at 30 mid-market malls and lifestyle centers at Starwood Retail Partners — don’t support that argument at all. Industry research shows that mall visitation has bounced back well after the Great Recession, that customers are shopping, eating and enjoying the growing number of experiences our centers can offer, and that our industry is finding new life at all economic tiers. This article will dispel some myths with solid fact. We’re not all just sitting at home ordering from Amazon. Myth: No one shops at malls any more. Fact: If that were so, it would only …
NEWARK, N.J. — The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) and developer Dranoff Properties have started construction of One Theater Square, a $116 million high-rise multifamily complex in Newark. One Theater Square will be the first new ground-up, upscale residential high rise in the city since 1960, according to the developers. The 22-story project will be situated on 1.2 acres across from NJPAC and Military Park. It will contain 245 units, most of which will be one- and two-bedroom apartments that will range in size from 585 to 1,700 square feet. The project includes 24 affordable housing units that will be marketed as artist residences, though they will be available to anyone who meets the financial criteria. The ground floor will include 12,000 square feet of retail space. One Theater Square will have a 24-hour concierge, rooftop community gathering space, fitness facility and multiple club rooms. Developers plan to complete the project in the summer of 2018. The public-private partnership includes contributions from the City of Newark; the State of New Jersey; Prudential Financial; Fifth Third Bank; Dranoff; and NJPAC. Philadelphia-based Dranoff Properties develops, builds, finances and/or manages multifamily developments in and around the Northeast. Carl E. Dranoff founded the …
ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. — Unilever has chosen a joint venture between OVG Real Estate and Normandy Real Estate Partners to acquire and redevelop the company’s 23-acre, 325,000-square-foot North American headquarters. The site is located at 700 Sylvan Ave. in Englewood Cliffs, just across the Hudson River from New York City. The agreement provides that upon closing, the land and the building will be leased back to Unilever via an 18-year triple-net lease. The sale is expected to close prior the end of 2016. The renovated headquarters will be both LEED- and WELL-certified and benefits will include reducing CO2 emissions, reducing energy consumption by 50 percent, reducing water demand via low-flow plumbing and diverting 75 percent of construction waste from landfills. OVG plans to increase the size of the property by 28 percent to accommodate 1,600 employees. Unilever expects the new campus to be largely finished by the fourth quarter of 2017. Cushman and Wakefield advised in the partnership formation. Other partners include Perkins + Will Architects; Unilever’s legal advisor Robinson Cole; Drinker Biddle & Reith and AKD Advocaten, both serving as legal advisors to the OVG-Normandy joint venture; general contractor StructureTone; and insurance advisor Parallel. — Jaime Lackey