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Penn-2-Manhattan
DevelopmentNew YorkNortheastOfficeTop Stories

Vornado Realty Trust Nears Completion of $750M Repositioning of Manhattan Office Building

by Taylor Williams

NEW YORK CITY — Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO) is nearing completion of a $750 million repositioning of PENN 2, a 1.8 million-square-foot office building that sits atop the Penn Station transit hub in Midtown Manhattan. PENN 2 will sport architectural features such as a modern glass curtain wall, a triple-height lobby that opens onto a new plaza on 33rd Street and a six-story podium comprised of 105,000 square feet of column-free, double-height space.  Above the 33rd Street plaza is a 280-person town hall space with a flexible seating system that can support large-scale keynote talks, private media screenings, banquets, conferences, workshops and open-floor exhibitions. PENN 2 also offers 72,000 square feet of outdoor green space, including an outdoor terrace atop the podium and a landscaped 17,000 square-foot rooftop park that is available to all tenants. The building sits across the street from Madison Square Garden, which houses its global headquarters within the office space. The larger PENN District campus is home to major tenants such as Meta, Morgan Stanley, Amazon, The Hartford, Cisco Systems and Samsung. “The reimagined PENN 2 appeals directly to innovation-oriented companies seeking an ultra-premium, hospitality-infused office environment that offers a one-seat ride for workers throughout the …

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DevelopmentIndustrialKansasMidwestTop Stories

Flint Development Nears Completion of First Building at $390M Flint Commerce Center in De Soto, Kansas

by Jeff Shaw

DE SOTO, KAN. — Flint Development is nearing completion of the first building at Flint Commerce Center, a $390 million industrial park in the western Kansas City suburb of De Soto. At full build-out, the multi-phased project will include up to six buildings on a 370-acre site. Development of the first building, a 1 million-square-foot distribution center, is slated for completion this summer. Located at 10200 Edgerton Road, the cross-dock distribution center is being constructed with tilt-up concrete panels and 40-foot clear heights. The first facility — which is called Building C — will offer 98 dock doors and four drive-through doors, with the capacity to expand to 168 dock doors. The parking lot can accommodate 515 cars and 251 trailers. In August 2023, Panasonic Energy announced plans to lease half of the facility to support a nearby lithium ion battery manufacturing facility, which is currently under construction. “There is a lot of excitement surrounding the Panasonic factory and we are happy to see the amount of prospect activity for Flint Commerce Center,” says Mark Long, CEO of Newmark Zimmer. Newmark Zimmer is representing Flint Development in lease negotiations for Flint Commerce Center. “Together, this lease and the additional land …

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UCLA-Research-Park
AcquisitionsCaliforniaDevelopmentLife SciencesOfficeTop StoriesWestern

UCLA Acquires Former Westside Pavilion Mall in Los Angeles for $700M, Unveils Plans for Research Park 

by Katie Sloan

LOS ANGELES — The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has acquired One Westside and Westside Two, located two miles from its Westwood campus in Los Angeles. A joint venture between Hudson Pacific Properties (NYSE: HPP) and Macerich (NYSE: MAC) sold the assets for $700 million.  The 700,000-square-foot property — located at 10800, 10830 and 10850 W. Pico Blvd.— was formerly occupied by Westside Pavilion mall, a city landmark that served as the backdrop for a number of movies and television shows since its opening in 1985. Hudson Pacific and Macerich began redevelopment efforts at the property in March 2018, converting the mall into a Class A office campus. Google inked a lease in January 2019 to occupy the entire campus under a 14-year term, which was to commence upon completion of the project in 2022. Details of the termination of Google’s lease at the property were not disclosed.  The university plans to convert the property into UCLA Research Park, which will house the California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy at UCLA and the UCLA Center for Quantum Science and Engineering. The acquisition was made possible by a $500 million investment from the state of California, $200 million of which …

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DevelopmentFloridaMixed-UseSoutheastTop Stories

Bank OZK Provides $220M Construction Loan for Phase I of FAT Village Mixed-Use Project in Fort Lauderdale

by Kristin Harlow

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. — Bank OZK has provided a $220 million construction loan for Phase I of FAT Village, an 835,000-square-foot mixed-use development in Fort Lauderdale’s Flagler Village neighborhood. Plans for Phase I include 601 multifamily units, 180,000 square feet of creative office space and more than 70,000 square feet of retail space, including food-and-beverage offerings, shopping, entertainment, and art studios and galleries. FAT stands for Food Art Technology. FAT Village is located two blocks from the Brightline’s Fort Lauderdale high-speed commuter rail station, which connects Fort Lauderdale to Miami, West Palm Beach and Orlando. The developers say that this four-block creative enclave will serve as the reimagined epicenter of the city’s art-centric district. Hines and local partner Urban Street Development are developing the 5.6-acre project. “At a time when financing and construction starts have materially slowed, it’s gratifying to be in a position to move forward on FAT Village, which we believe will be a transformational development for Flagler Village and Fort Lauderdale,” says Alan Kennedy, managing director at Hines. “We look forward to creating a dynamic and engaging destination that honors and advances the neighborhood’s legacy while providing new living, working and recreational options to help the city …

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AcquisitionsCaliforniaOfficeTop StoriesWestern

Carolwood Equities Purchases 62-Story Office Tower in Downtown Los Angeles for $153.3M

by John Nelson

LOS ANGELES — Carolwood Equities LP, a real estate private equity firm based in Beverly Hills, Calif., has purchased Aon Center, a 62-story office tower in downtown Los Angeles. The 1.1 million-square-foot skyscraper is located at 707 Wilshire Blvd. in the city’s Financial District. The $153.3 million sale of Aon Center represents the largest office sale in fourth-quarter 2023 in the Western United States, according to Newmark. The deal is also the largest purchase in downtown Los Angeles last year but sold for 45 percent less than its last purchase price, according to the Los Angeles Business Journal. The media outlet reports that the seller, San Francisco-based Shorenstein Properties, had previously purchased the tower in 2014 for $269 million. Private investors Daniel Abrams and Adam Tischer are part of the new ownership group alongside Carolwood Equities. Tischer, vice president of Colliers’ Los Angeles office, was also part of the brokerage team for the buyer that also included Sean Fulp, vice chair of Colliers. “The ownership group’s acquisition of the iconic Aon Center exemplifies the flow of private capital into Los Angeles, seizing the opportunity created by market dislocation,” says Fulp. “With a new low basis and a well-capitalized owner, Aon Center …

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DevelopmentLoansMassachusettsMixed-UseMultifamilyNortheastRestaurantRetailTop Stories

Madison Realty Capital Provides $177.5M Loan to Refinance SCAPE Boylston Apartments in Boston

by Jeff Shaw

BOSTON — Madison Realty Capital has provided a $177.5 million loan to Scape, a London-based multifamily developer that opened its U.S. headquarters in Boston in 2018. The loan will refinance the $165 million construction loan for SCAPE Boylston, a 415-unit apartment development that opened earlier this month in Boston’s Fenway neighborhood. The 226,700-square-foot property offers a mix of furnished studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments with Class A retail space on the ground floor. The apartments are already 95 percent occupied, and the retail space is 80 percent leased. Retail tenants include a global bank; Immersive Gamebox; Carbon Health; Dave’s Hot Chicken; Halal Guys; and a 10,000-square-foot, 156-seat, LGBTQ-focused black box theater. Tenant amenities include a landscaped terrace, fitness center, yoga room, co-working space, lounge library and study. The site is located near prominent academic and medical institutions including Boston University and Northeastern University, as well as Fenway’s rapidly growing biotech and life sciences industries. The lights of Fenway Park, home of Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox, are visible from the community, which is a block away from a Red Line MBTA train station. “Fenway is a premier academic and employment hub within Boston with substantial demand for efficiently designed, …

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Willets-Point
Affordable HousingDevelopmentMixed-UseMultifamilyNew YorkNortheastRetailTop Stories

Related Cos., Sterling Equities Break Ground on 2,500-Unit Willets Point Affordable Housing Project in Queens

by Katie Sloan

NEW YORK CITY — Queens Development Group, a joint venture between Related Cos. and Sterling Equities, has broken ground on the first phase of a 2,500-unit affordable housing project in the New York City borough of Queens.  The project, named Willets Point, will be the city’s largest affordable housing development in 40 years, according to the joint venture. Wells Fargo has arranged a total of $360 million in financing for Phase I of the development, with a $236.5 million construction loan and $123.5 million Low-Income Housing Tax Credit investment. Phase I of the development will feature two mid-rise buildings offering a combined 880 units of affordable housing. Forty percent of units will be reserved for residents earning at or below 60 percent of the area median income, and 15 percent of units will be set aside for tenants that formerly experienced homelessness. Amenities will include a landscaped inner courtyard, laundry facilities, lounge space with access to outdoor terraces, bicycle storage and ground-floor retail space. The development will also include infrastructure investments like new streets, signage, sidewalks, trees, lights, drainage, stormwater management, water hydrants, sewers and utilities.  Future components of the development will include a 650-seat standalone public school, New York …

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DevelopmentMixed-UseNortheastPennsylvaniaRetailTop Stories

St. John Properties to Redevelop 1 MSF Harrisburg Mall in Pennsylvania into Swatara Exchange

by Kristin Harlow

HARRISBURG, PA. — St. John Properties Inc. has unveiled plans for the redevelopment of Harrisburg Mall, a 1 million-square-foot regional mall located in the Swatara Township section of Dauphin County. The company plans to build Swatara Exchange, a mixed-use development consisting of multi-use commercial space and supporting inline retail and retail pad sites. The mall will undergo an extended demolition program that is expected to conclude in 2025. The existing Bass Pro Shops and Applebee’s Grill + Bar restaurant will remain operational, and the former Toys ‘R’ Us building will be marketed for a new use. At full build-out, Swatara Exchange is expected to support up to 1,000 new jobs in its nearly 550,000 square feet of space and contribute approximately $1 million in additional tax revenue annually. Twelve new buildings, including two retail pad sites, will be constructed in total. “When formulating our long-term strategy for Harrisburg Mall, we factored in trends occurring throughout the retail industry, changing consumer shopping patterns, the local real estate landscape and the greater Harrisburg economic climate,” says Lawrence Maykrantz, president and CEO of St. John Properties. The developer plans to build 13,600 square feet of single-story office space and nearly 200,000 square feet …

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AcquisitionsLeasing ActivityNorth CarolinaOfficeSoutheastTop Stories

IBM Sells Portion of R&D Campus in Durham, North Carolina in $66M Sale-Leaseback Deal

by John Nelson

DURHAM, N.C. — IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) has sold a portion of the IBM 500 Campus in Durham, a city near Raleigh. The Armonk, New York-based computer hardware giant sold the property in a sale-leaseback deal. The price was not disclosed, but the Triad Business Journal reports it traded for $66 million. Located at 4205 S. Miami Blvd., the four-building property spans 774,000 square feet and is 100 percent leased to IBM. No plans were announced, but multiple media outlets report that the property is suited for future mixed-use redevelopment opportunities. The IBM 500 Campus sits on 146 acres next to Research Triangle Park (RTP), the largest research park in the United States. RTP is a district in the Raleigh-Durham metropolitan area that houses 375 private companies in technology and life sciences sectors who can draw talent from three established research universities: Duke University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University. IBM has had a presence in the RTP since the mid-1960s. Hines Global Income Trust Inc., a REIT managed by Houston-based Hines, purchased the IBM 500 facilities and leased them back to IBM. In addition to this acquisition, the firm is a partner developer on …

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UTMB-Health-Clear-Lake-Hospital-Webster-Texas
AcquisitionsHealthcareTexasTop Stories

Sila Realty Trust Sells Metro Houston Hospital for $258.1M

by Taylor Williams

WEBSTER, TEXAS — Sila Realty Trust, a nontraded real estate investment trust based in Tampa, has sold the 199-bed UTMB Health Clear Lake Hospital in Webster, a southeastern suburb of Houston, for $258.1 million. The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), which is part of the larger UT healthcare system, occupies the 373,000-square-foot, acute-care hospital. The buyer was the Board of Regents of the University of Texas, which exercised a purchase option in the lease agreement. In addition to multiple onsite dining options, a family lounge and a children’s play area, the hospital offers: Sila Realty Trust is using proceeds from the sale to pay down existing debt and to fund other general corporate costs. “We are pleased to have executed the sale of the UTMB Health Clear Lake Hospital, which was a significant asset within our portfolio and one of our few owned short-term, acute-care hospitals,” says Michael Seton, president and CEO of Sila Realty Trust. “We anticipate expanding our high-quality, diversified healthcare portfolio into more outpatient and post-acute healthcare assets.” — Taylor Williams

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