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SEATTLE, WASH. AND PORTLAND, ORE. — TruAmerica Multifamily has acquired a five-property multifamily portfolio in the Pacific Northwest for $104.7 million. TruAmerica partnered with its institutional equity investors, including Allstate and The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, to complete the off-market transaction. The seller was undisclosed. The assets are located in the metro submarkets of Seattle and Portland. The properties include The Hanover, V7 Apartments, Constellation Apartments, Park 120 and The Commons. The acquisition adds 829 units to TruAmerica’s portfolio. “This is an extremely diversified portfolio of affordable and desirable assets, which are in demand by middle-class households, the greatest percentage of renters in the United States,” says Robert Hart, president and CEO at TruAmerica Multifamily based in Los Angeles. “It exemplifies our investment philosophy and our favorable outlook on the Class B rental sector.” TruAmerica plans to invest more than $10 million across the portfolio to extensively renovate the properties. Unit improvements will include new faux wood flooring and carpet, countertops, appliance packages and washers and dryers at specific properties. The scope of work also will include site-specific upgrades to existing clubhouses, pool areas and fitness centers. “The addition of this portfolio underscores our commitment to identify, acquire …

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Chanel 400 North Rodeo Drive Beverly Hills

LOS ANGELES — Chanel S.A., a Paris-based fragrance and fashion house, has purchased its 11,500-square-foot store at 400 N. Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills for $152 million. The price sets a Southern California record of $13,217 per square foot. “It is a regional record price, and sets a new standard for Los Angeles-area retail space,” says Scott Kalt, partner at Elkins Kalt Weintraub Reuben Gartside LLP, which represented the seller and landlord, Rodeo-Brighton LP, in the transaction. “This is a premier retail location for world-class luxury-goods purveyors, and we were very happy to have obtained such an aggressive price for our client.” Kalt, Ron Goldie, an attorney based in Los Angeles, and Jeff Reuben, partner with Elkins Kalt, negotiated the sale. “This was an incredibly challenging transaction that spanned almost 18 months of negotiation that resulted in a successful conclusion for all parties,” says Goldie. The previous record sales price for retail space in Southern California was set in 2013, when billionaire Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton S.A., purchased a 7,100‑square-foot building at 319-323 N. Rodeo Drive for $85 million, or $11,971 per square foot. Chanel is also the owner and tenant of an adjacent retail …

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Speakers at the "State of the Industry" panel at the InterFace Seniors Housing Texas conference

Development booms have come and gone in the U.S. seniors housing industry over the past 20 years. In the late 1990s, the construction wave was fueled by Wall Street investors. Another building boom occurred from 2004 to 2007 when all forms of real estate were awash in capital just prior to the Great Recession. Now the seniors housing industry is in the midst of another burst of construction activity, most notably in Texas. So, how does the sharp upturn in new construction over the past few years compare with previous boom times? “I would say it’s quite similar,” said Patricia Will, founder and CEO of Houston-based Belmont Village Senior Living. “That is to say in places where it’s relatively easy to develop, there is lots of open land. When you combine that with the kind of liquidity we see now and we saw in the mid-2000s and in the late 1990s, you are going to get what I would characterize as oversupply. This cycle is no different in that respect. There isn’t sufficient institutional memory to discipline both equity and debt when it comes to putting capital out. “ Will’s remarks came before an audience of over 240 industry professionals …

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LOS ANGELES — Starting in March, the historic Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles will temporarily close to make way for a $2.5 billion redevelopment of the hotel and surrounding area. Woodridge Capital Partners and Next Century Associates are spearheading the project, which will include two 46-story residential towers, restaurants, retail shops and a remodeling of the five-star hotel. The developers expect the hotel to reopen in early 2018. Situated in the heart of Century City at the intersection of Avenue of the Stars and Constellation Boulevard, the 1.5 million-square-foot hotel and mixed-use development will be the centerpiece of a vibrant renaissance occurring in Century City. This includes the $800 million expansion of the Westfield Century City Mall and over 10 million square feet of offices, residences, restaurants, retail and entertainment venues. The hotel, designed by Minoru Yamasaki, will be restored with 394 guest rooms and suites along with 63 residences. Design firm Yabu Pushelberg will redesign the open-air lobby, connecting public plazas and fountains to a central two-acre garden surrounded by restaurants and retail. In total, there will be 100,000 square feet of retail on the site. The two 46-story towers designed by Pei Cobb Freed will feature 290 luxury …

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NEW YORK CITY — Treetop Development has purchased an eight-building apartment portfolio located in the Flushing and Elmhurst sections of Queens, N.Y., for $138.8 million. Seven of the buildings are located in Flushing, and one is in Elmhurst. Featuring more than 600 apartments, the properties — 132-25 Maple Ave., 132-40 Sanford Ave., 133-17 Sanford Ave., 41-40 Denman St., 132-48 41st Road, 132-45 Maple Ave., 132-57 Sanford Ave. and 132-61 Sanford Ave. — are primarily situated within a three-block radius. Nearly all of the units are rent stabilized. “The housing market for middle-income individuals in New York City is massively underserved, and this acquisition allows us to create an attractive, enhanced living experience for residents while sustaining the neighborhood’s affordability,” says Adam Mermelstein, principal of Treetop. The seller was Algin Management, and ACORE, a lender, is financing the purchase with an approximately $100 million mortgage, according to Crain’s New York Business. The portfolio is currently 99 percent occupied. Each of the eight buildings features six stories with elevator access, as well as an onsite indoor parking garage and a laundry facility. Treetop plans to invest a reported $10 million in capital improvements, Crain’s says, geared toward modernizing the properties, including upgrades …

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Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s New Year’s resolution has a familiar ring to it: The two agencies will continue to focus on providing liquidity to the marketplace in the form of unconventional loans. Rich Martinez, vice president of production and sales at Freddie Mac Multifamily, and Michael Keeney, credit risk manager of Fannie Mae Multifamily’s credit division, each indicate their respective agencies will emphasize building out the affordable housing, workforce housing and small business loan production in 2016. “There’s a crisis of affordable housing in the country, it’s pretty much everywhere,” said Martinez, speaking at the sixth-annual InterFace Multifamily Southeast conference held in Atlanta last Thursday. “We want to be in all sectors of the market, and we’re particularly focused on our affordable business, which was a record year this year,” said Martinez, who also runs the Southeast and seniors divisions for Freddie Mac. Freddie Mac’s multifamily business is on pace to exceed $46 billion for 2015, far surpassing the $29 billion total in 2014. The agency has pivoted in recent months to produce more loans for niche sectors of the multifamily continuum, including seniors and student housing. “We rolled out a new small balance loan program, and year-to-date we expect to …

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Stockbridge Capital Group and Trinity Capital Advisors have sold Toringdon Office Park, a 519,698-square-foot office park in Charlotte, to an unnamed buyer for $114.4 million. The six-building park is located at 3420, 3430, 3440, 3426, 3436 and 3530 Toringdon Way in the Ballantyne submarket, about 10 miles south of Charlotte’s Central Business District. The buildings were constructed between 2001 and 2008. The park is 87 percent leased. Notable tenants include Selective Insurance, Crown Castle, Heartland Payment Systems and TIAA-CREF. HFF’s Ryan Clutter represented the seller in the transaction. HFF’s Travis Anderson and Cory Fowler also arranged a $79 million acquisition loan through CIBC Capital Markets for the buyer. Clutter notes this was the first core office asset to be marketed and sold in the Ballantyne area since its inception more than 18 years ago. “The Toringdon transaction is a compelling sale for the Charlotte market as larger, non-CBD office trades have been less frequent in most U.S. office markets since the downturn in the economy,” he says. “Institutional capital was drawn to the compelling growth of the area, the considerable rise in rents and the strong leasing activity currently taking place in the park.” San Francisco-based Stockbridge …

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VIRGINIA BEACH, VA. — Armada Hoffler Properties Inc. (NYSE: AHH) has agreed to acquire a portfolio of 11 retail centers, totaling approximately 1.1 million square feet, for $170.5 million from an undisclosed seller. The properties are located throughout the Mid-Atlantic and South Central United States and were 94 percent occupied as of Oct. 31. The agreement provides that Armada will acquire all of the interests in each of the 11 properties in the portfolio. The core of the portfolio, which represents approximately 75 percent of the in-place net operating income, consists of six retail centers positioned along the I-85 corridor between Raleigh-Durham, N.C. and Greenville, S.C. These shopping centers feature major anchor tenants including Harris Teeter, PetSmart, T.J. Maxx, Bed Bath & Beyond, Ross Dress for Less, Hobby Lobby and Petco. The remaining five properties in the portfolio are each Kroger-anchored retail centers located in Nashville and Oakland, Tenn.; Waynesboro, Va.; South Bend, Ind.; and Pasadena, Texas. Virginia Beach-based Armada Hoffler Properties intends to fund the $170.5 million acquisition with the net proceeds from the sale of the 154,000-square-foot Oceaneering International facility in Chesapeake, Va., and the 15-story, 206,969-square-foot Richmond Tower office building in Richmond, Va., as well as borrowings under …

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Stone Mountain Industrial Park

STONE MOUNTAIN, GA. — Ackerman & Co., a private real estate investment firm based in Atlanta, has partnered with global finance firm Investcorp to purchase Stone Mountain Industrial Park, a 4.1 million-square-foot development spanning 69 buildings in the Tucker/Stone Mountain submarket of Atlanta. Ackerman and Investcorp purchased the portfolio for $135 million. The seller, Pattillo Industrial Real Estate, originally developed and master-planned the properties. “Both Ackerman and Pattillo have long and successful histories in Atlanta real estate,” says Kris Miller, president of Ackerman & Co. “Investcorp and Ackerman are fortunate to now own these well-built and strategically located properties.” The portfolio of shallow-bay industrial warehouses includes single- and multi-tenant configurations of front-, rear- and side-load designs ranging from 5,000 to 200,000 square feet. Most spaces offer outside storage. Stewart Calhoun, David Meline, Samir Idris and Casey Masters of Cushman & Wakefield brokered the sale on behalf of Pattillo. “We congratulate Ackerman and Investcorp on their bold new investment. They are committed to an area that has a Community Improvement District, a newly incorporated city of Tucker and a sterling location that has served a strong business community for many years,” says Larry Callahan, CEO of Pattillo Industrial Real Estate. Brett …

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One-LifeWay-Plaza-downtown-nashville

NASHVILLE, TENN. — DPG Investments LLC has provided advisory services to the buyer group in the $125 million sale of a downtown Nashville property. LifeWay Christian Ministries had occupied the nearly 15-acre property for decades, but the company plans to relocate, which left the downtown campus open for alternative uses. Southwest Value Partners, a real estate investment firm based in San Diego, was the buyer, according to the Nashville Business Journal. The company was co-founded in 1990 by Robert Sarver, who remains a partner and is also majority owner of the Phoenix Suns, according to the newspaper. The nine-building campus includes 1 million square feet of office, warehouse and parking space. LifeWay is the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention. The property could be redeveloped into a mix of hotel, entertainment, commercial, office and residential uses, according to The Tennessean. “Nashville is one of the most dynamic markets in the southeast, experiencing significant real estate development,” says Joe Joseph, managing director of real estate finance at DPG. DPG Investments and its affiliates provide investment management and advisory services. The company was founded in 2004 and has offices in Arizona, California, Connecticut and Georgia. DPG’s private investor base is comprised of …

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