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Irvine Spectrum Center

IRVINE, CALIF. — Irvine Co., a private real estate investor and master planner, has announced a $150 million reinvestment in Irvine Spectrum Center, a high-profile shopping center in Southern California. Irvine Co. will build 20 new stores within two buildings on the current site of Macy’s, which earlier this week announced the closure of 40 stores nationwide, including the one at Irvine Spectrum Center. “The Macy’s closing has been contemplated for months and has provided us with a unique opportunity to rebalance Irvine Spectrum Center with additional retail stores to ensure that it continues as one of Southern California’s premier shopping, dining and entertainment lifestyle destinations,” says Easther Liu, chief marketing officer for Irvine Co. Retail Properties. “As a master-planning company and long-term owner, we are always exploring how we evolve Irvine Spectrum Center’s vibrancy and relevancy to marry with our customers’ evolving tastes.” In addition to the new stores, Irvine Co. will upgrade the shopping center’s landscaping, add outdoor seating and shade areas, improve the parking garage and implement new amenities. The new retailers joining the shopping center haven’t been announced, but Irvine Spectrum Center’s current tenant mix includes Nordstrom, Target, H&M, Apple Store, Anthropologie, lululemon athletica, Forever 21, …

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NEW YORK — The national apartment vacancy rate climbed 10 basis points in the fourth quarter to 4.4 percent, according to Reis. This marked the second consecutive quarter that vacancy ticked up for the multifamily sector, something that hasn’t happened since the third and fourth quarters of 2009. Ryan Severino, senior economist and director of research at New York-based Reis, believes that the two-quarter decline represents a turning point in the U.S. apartment market. “With construction outpacing demand, the national vacancy rate should slowly drift higher over the coming years,” writes Severino in the report. Reis reports that while demand and supply have been largely in balance between mid-2013 and mid-2015, that has started to change over the last two quarters. Construction exceeded absorption by 12,350 units in the third quarter and 15,263 units in the fourth quarter. For comparison, construction only exceeded demand by 3,471 units in the second quarter. “With construction continuing to increase and net absorption generally stabilizing, this rift should continue to widen over time putting further upward pressure on the national vacancy rate,” writes Severino. For 2015, the total number of units completed was 188,306, according to Reis. This is the highest figure since 1999 when the total was …

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MIRAMAR, FLA. — CBRE has brokered the sale of Modera Town Center, a new 487-unit, Class A multifamily asset located at 11575 City Hall Promenade in the Miami suburb of Miramar. CIP II/MRCT Miramar Town Center LLC, a joint venture between CrossHarbor Capital Partners and Mill Creek Residential Trust, sold the asset to Miramar Apartment Co. for $120 million. The property is located within the 54-acre, master-planned Miramar Town Center, which includes mix of 320,000 square feet of office, retail and civic buildings. “Anchored by the 6 million-square-foot Miramar Park of Commerce, the Miramar address represents one of Broward County’s largest and most sought-after office and industrial markets,” says Robert Given, vice chairman of CBRE Multifamily. The property is 88 percent leased with an average market rent of $1.78 per square foot. Modera Town Center consists of 353 units in two midrise buildings and a mix of 134 two- and three-bedroom townhomes. Interior finishes include granite countertops, ceramic tile flooring, espresso cabinets, stainless-steel GE appliances, accessories, tile backsplash, full-size washer and dryer and knockdown finishes on the walls and ceiling. All units feature covered parking via a parking garage for the midrise units or direct access garages in the townhomes. …

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KANSAS CITY, MO. — Highwoods Properties Inc. (NYSE: HIW) has agreed to sell the historic, 1.3 million-square-foot Country Club Plaza in Kansas City. A joint venture of Taubman Centers Inc. (NYSE: TCO) and The Macerich Co. (NYSE: MAC) will buy the mixed-use center for $660 million. Originally constructed in 1922, Country Club Plaza is a 15-block, 55-acre mixed-use retail and office property in downtown Kansas City. The retail portion of the property includes 804,000 square feet of gross leasable area, and features 45 retailers such as Apple, H&M, Coach, Burberry and Lululemon, as well as restaurants including The Capital Grille and The Cheesecake Factory. The 468,000-square-foot office portion of the property is comprised of the 10-story Valencia tower, which serves as the worldwide headquarters of Lockton Cos., an insurance brokerage firm, and additional office space located above the ground-level retail. Eastdil Secured is the agent for the sale of the property, which is 94 percent occupied. Highwoods acquired Country Club Plaza in 1998 when it purchased the J.C. Nichols Co. for $544 million. Annual attendance at the plaza is 15 million, according to Visit KC, an economic development organization. The Taubman and Macerich joint venture is known as Country Club Plaza …

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NORTHBROOK, ILL. — Cap rates in the fourth quarter of 2015 for the national single-tenant net lease retail sector remained unchanged from the previous quarter at their historic low rate of 6.25 percent. According to The Boulder Group, a Northbrook-based boutique investment real estate firm, cap rates for the office and industrial sector reached new historic lows of 7 percent and 7.4 percent, respectively. During 2015, cap rates for retail, office and industrial properties declined by 15, 35 and 26 basis points respectively as investor interest has increased due to the safe and stable returns this asset class generates, according to the report. Cap rates for all major sectors remained unchanged or declined in the fourth quarter. This can be attributed to the limited supply of product in a market with high demand despite a wide spread expectation of higher interest rates in the future. From the third quarter of 2015 to the fourth quarter of 2015, the overall supply of net lease assets decreased by more than 11 percent. Retail assets experienced the largest decline of 12.5 percent. Investor demand has continued for this asset class despite the decline in cap rates over the course of 2015. The increased …

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OAK BROOK, ILL. — UHC Acquisition Sub LLC has agreed to purchase University House Communities Group Inc., InvenTrust Properties Corp.’s student housing platform, for $1.4 billion. UHC is a subsidiary of a joint venture between Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, GIC and Scion Communities Investors LLC. InvenTrust created University House Communities in 2007 as a development, acquisition and management firm that focuses on student housing communities in university markets across the United States. The Dallas-based firm has communities in 15 states, including Florida, Oregon, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Alabama, California and Arizona. The company decided to divest the asset after refocusing its core retail business. The Oak Brook, Ill.-based company owns 128 multi-tenant retail properties in 24 states, as of Sept. 30, 2015. Its retail portfolio contains a total of 19 million square feet. “The sale of University House marks the culmination of our portfolio evolution strategy to focus our energies and investment capital into our multi-tenant retail platform,” says Thomas McGuinness, InvenTrust’s CEO and president. “While University House has been a valuable component of InvenTrust’s portfolio, we are very excited about this transaction, which represents the conclusion of a robust evaluation process to maximize the value we receive for the platform.” …

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Philadelphia Cira Square

PHILADELPHIA — Brandywine Realty Trust (NYSE: BDN), a Radnor, Pa.-based REIT, has entered into an agreement to dispose of its interests in Cira Square, a 29-story, 862,700-square-foot office tower in Philadelphia, for $354 million. The former U.S. Post Office complex is located in the University City submarket and was fully leased at the time of sale to the U.S. General Services Administration. The primary tenant is the Internal Revenue Service. “The sale of Cira Square reflects our ability to both create and harvest value and will generate a significant gain to our shareholders,” says Gerard Sweeney, president and CEO of Brandywine Realty Trust. The buyer is a South Korean fund sponsored by Seoul-based Korea Investment Management Co., according to the Philadelphia Daily News. Brandywine expects to close the transaction in the first half of the first quarter 2016. In connection with the anticipated sale, the REIT plans to prepay the current mortgage totaling $177.4 million. After the transaction, Brandywine will continue to provide management services at the property. In addition to the sale, the company anticipates prepaying the Cira Centre South Garage mortgage totaling $35.5 million, which will unencumber the 1,662-space facility. The REIT acquired the office building in 2007 …

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Consistent demand, low supply and supportive economic trends continued to improve fundamentals in the U.S. retail market through the third quarter, according to the Q3 U.S. Retail MarketView report by CBRE. The national availability rate for all retail properties declined to 8 percent in the third quarter — a 10 basis point drop from the second quarter, standing only 100 basis points above its 2006 low. Demand for space from food services and drinking establishments, smaller-format grocers, and healthcare and medical users remains very strong, while sales volume at department stores and mid-market general merchandisers has come under pressure. These new tenants are driving demand and diversifying the tenant base of many malls and shopping centers, and enhancing the attraction of retail destinations, according to CBRE. Despite early indications of lower GDP growth in the third quarter, U.S. employment levels continued to grow steadily and the outlook for economic growth is favorable. The forecast for 2016 is consequently very positive, with retail sales growing at their fastest pace since 1999. The decline in gasoline prices, a tightening labor market and increasing upward pressure on wages and income are supporting U.S. consumer activity in the market today. Year-over-year growth in nominal …

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NEW YORK CITY — Blank Rome LLP represented Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., in the closing of a $2.7 billion loan under the Fannie Mae DUS program for the acquisition of Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village, the largest apartment complex in New York City. The mixed-use apartment complex includes more than 11,000 units and was acquired by The Blackstone Group, in partnership with Ivanhoe Cambridge Inc., from CWCapital Asset Management for a total purchase price of $5.3 billion. As part of the financing structure, the City of New York and the purchaser agreed that 5,000 apartments be designated as affordable housing units for a period of no less than 20 years. Under the binding regulatory agreement entered into by the parties at closing, the majority of these units will be allocated to middle-income families. The transaction is part of the City of New York’s plan to build and/or preserve 200,000 affordable housing units over a 10-year period. It is the largest single transaction to support the preservation of affordable housing in New York City’s history, according to Blank Rome. Deborah Franzblau and Carmen Pagan led the Blank Rome team, and were assisted by Toni Jordan, Krishana Pleasant and Rhina Roberts. — Haisten Willis …

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ATLANTA — WellStar Health System, a Marietta, Ga.-based healthcare provider, has agreed to purchase five Atlanta-area hospitals and related operations from Tenet Healthcare Corp. (NYSE: THC). The purchase price is $575 million, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle. The five hospitals are North Fulton Hospital, Spalding Regional Hospital, Sylvan Grove Hospital, Atlanta Medical Center and its South Campus, as well as complementary physician practices and businesses. The transaction also includes 26 physician clinic locations. The facilities comprise 1,192 beds, 4,300 employees and 1,390 doctors, according to the Business Chronicle. Cain Brothers served as Dallas-based Tenet’s financial advisor to negotiate the terms of the transaction. In addition to the purchase price, WellStar will assume $86 million in debt related to the lease of North Fulton Hospital, the Business Chronicle reports. Earlier this year, Tenet detailed its plans to exit the Georgia market. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and other closing conditions and is expected to be completed the first quarter of 2016. Tenet’s stock price closed on Monday, Dec. 21, at $30.59 per share, down from $51.85 per share a year ago. — Scott Reid

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