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DALLAS — Sealy & Co., a sponsor of Sealy Strategic Equity Partners (SSEP), a private equity offering and diversified limited partnership, has purchased Southwest Properties, a 2.23 million-square-foot industrial portfolio. The portfolio consists of 149 buildings located in three markets: Dallas; El Paso, Texas; and New Orleans. The seller was an undisclosed fund. “The Southwest Properties transaction demonstrates the ability of SSEP to capitalize on an opportunity to acquire a critical mass of functional industrial product in three of SSEP’s target markets using our enterprise financing structure,” says Scott Sealy Sr., chairman of the board of Dallas-based Sealy. “SSEP is positioned to continue to acquire and enhance industrial distribution properties to provide stable, improving portfolio performance and enhance equity value.” The assets were purchased at a significant discount to replacement cost and are currently 94 occupied. The Southwest Properties portfolio contains assets that feature an average office finish of 18 percent and are functional with respect to clear height, loading areas, parking and access. The portfolio consists of two sub-portfolios: the Class B portfolio of 12 traditional warehouses in Texas and Louisiana; and Mustang Creek in Forney, Texas, which consists of two master-planned business parks featuring buildings that are functional …

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DALLAS — Luminant has acquired NextEra’s La Frontera portfolio, a pair of natural gas power plant facilities in Northeast Texas, for $1.5 billion. The portfolio consists of Forney Energy Center and Lamar Energy Center. La Frontera can generate power for about 1.5 million homes during normal conditions. The acquisition is expected to close next spring. The Forney Energy Center is located in Forney. It has a capacity of 1,912 megawatts (MW) and started commercial operation in 2003. Lamar Energy Center is located in Paris. It has a capacity of 1,076 MW and started commercial operation in 2000. The acquisition represents a total purchase of 2,988 MW of capacity within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) market. ERCOT manages the flow of electric power to 24 million Texas customers, representing about 90 percent of the state’s electric load. “These plants are strategic investments that enhance our asset portfolio while building on our existing operations in ERCOT,” says Mac McFarland, Luminant’s CEO. The two combined-cycle gas turbine power plants will join Luminant’s energy portfolio, which already includes coal, natural gas and nuclear power. The portfolio also includes significant purchases of wind-generated electricity and a recently announced solar power purchase agreement. The …

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REBusinessOnline.com is conducting a brief online survey of brokers, lenders and the owner/developer/manager community to gauge market expectations for 2016, and we welcome your participation. This survey should only take a few minutes to complete. The results will appear as a news feature story in the January 2016 issues of the regional publications. Questions cover a variety of topics, ranging from the outlook for investment sales and leasing activity in 2016 to development and lending opportunities to interest rates. Note: We prefer to attribute comments we quote from open-ended responses, however you may respond anonymously if you prefer. To take our 2016 broker survey, please click here To take our 2016 developer/owner/manager survey, please click here To take our 2016 lender survey, please click here Thanks for your participation!   Matt Valley Editorial Director of Regional Real Estate Publications France Media, Inc.

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fairmont-san-francisco-hotel

SAN FRANCISCO — Affiliated companies of Mirae Asset Global Investments, a financial services company based in Seoul, South Korea, have acquired the Fairmont San Francisco Hotel for $450 million. A partnership of funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management and Woodridge Capital along with Kingdom Holding Co. were the sellers of the historic hotel located in San Francisco’s Nob Hill neighborhood. Mirae is a financial services company that introduced the first mutual funds to Korea in 1998. Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, with more than 70 hotels globally, will continue to operate the property under a long-term management agreement. Oaktree and Woodridge purchased the hotel in May 2012 and made improvements through a renovation plan. The Fairmont San Francisco opened in 1907. Over its 108-year history, it has hosted every U.S. President since William Howard Taft as well as several foreign dignitaries, heads of state and entertainers. Tony Bennett’s first performance of the song “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” was performed at the hotel. New York architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, along with Julia Morgan, designed the building in the Beaux-Arts architectural style. With 592 guest rooms and over 55,000 square feet of conference and function space, the hotel …

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PETCO Storefront

SAN DIEGO — Funds affiliated with CVC Capital Partners and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) have agreed to jointly acquire San Diego-based Petco Animal Supplies Inc. for approximately $4.6 billion. A group of investors led by TPG and Leonard Green & Partners is selling the pet supplies retailer, which operates more than 1,400 locations across the United States, Mexico and Puerto Rico. “This investment aligns well with CPPIB’s strategy to invest in leading retail businesses with strong omnichannel capabilities,” says Shane Feeney, managing director and head of direct private equity for CPPIB. “Petco has long-term relationships with leading pet food vendors and a significant presence in the fast-growing e-commerce channel.” The acquisition is expected to close in early 2016. Goldman Sachs & Co. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC are acting as financial advisors, and Ropes & Gray acted as legal counsel to Petco. Barclays, Citigroup and Moelis acted as lead financial advisors to CVC and CPPIB. Barclays, Citigroup, Royal Bank of Canada, Credit Suisse, Nomura and Macquarie provided committed debt financing to CVC and CPPIB. Gibson Dunn acted as legal counsel to CVC and CPPIB. Torys LLP also separately advised CPPIB. Founded in 1981, CVC is a private equity …

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New construction starts in October advanced 13 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $591.1 billion, according to Dodge Data & Analytics. Much of October’s gain for total construction was due to a sharp rebound by nonresidential building, with additional support coming from a moderate upturn for housing as the result of further strengthening by multifamily housing. During the first 10 months of 2015, total construction starts on an unadjusted basis were $551.9 billion, up 10 percent from the same period a year ago. October’s data raised the Dodge Index to 125, compared to 111 in September. “The healthy increase for construction starts in October alleviates concern about a stalling expansion that may have arisen with the sluggish activity in August and September,” stated Robert Murray, chief economist for Dodge Data & Analytics. Nonresidential building in October jumped 32 percent to $200.7 billion after a weak September. The commercial building categories as a group soared 49 percent in October. Store construction surged 56 percent, pushed upward by the $561 million expansion and renovation of the Westfield Century City Mall in Los Angeles. Office construction advanced 45 percent, helped by the start of two large data center projects — the …

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BOSTON — A joint venture between Oxford Properties Group and institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management has received $648 million in acquisition financing. The funds will be used to purchase two interconnected, Class A office properties located at 500 Boylston and 222 Berkeley streets in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood. The seller is Blackstone Group LP. The portfolio includes a total of 1.3 million square feet of office and retail space. The properties are situated between Copley Square and the Boston Public Garden. They are also near the Massachusetts Turnpike, the Green Line subway and Back Bay Station. Hines developed the 25-story 500 Boylston property in 1989. The 22-story 222 Berkeley was completed in 1991. New York Life Real Estate Investors and co-lender TIAA-CREF Global Real Estate provided the seven-year loan. Eastdil Secured arranged the financing. “We are very pleased to provide financing for this outstanding asset,” says Eric Becher, senior director at New York Life Real Estate Investors. “The properties’ street presence combined with their flexible floor plates, panoramic views, floor-to-ceiling windows and high level of finishes makes them two of the most desirable office buildings in Boston.” Toronto-based Oxford Properties Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of …

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CBRE Global Investors has acquired Midtown I & II on behalf of Korea Post. According to Real Capital Analytics, CBRE acquired the property from a joint venture between VEREIT and American Realty Construction Inc. for $260 million. Midtown I & II, also known as AT&T Midtown Center, are two Class A office buildings located in the Innovation District of Midtown Atlanta. The buildings total 794,110 square feet and are fully leased to AT&T. “Atlanta boasts a diverse economy and continues to attract major corporate users,” said Jeffrey Torto, senior managing director of the U.S. Managed Accounts Group of CBRE. “Atlanta is quickly becoming a technology and data center hub for companies looking to relocate or expand outside of the traditional technological hubs such as Silicon Valley and Austin, Texas.” AT&T Midtown Center includes the 512,101-square-foot, 16-story Midtown I building at 754 Peachtree St. N.E. and the 282,009-square-foot, eight-story building at 725 W. Peachtree St. N.E. The office buildings feature a conference and training center, restaurants, a coffee shop and a fitness center. The property also includes a nine-story, 2,459-pace parking garage, which also offers 13,257 square feet of ground-floor retail space and AT&T’s 5,000-square-foot Drive Studio. The Drive Studio is …

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McCormick Place Event Center

CHICAGO — DePaul University and the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority have broken ground on a 10,000-seat, $165 million basketball arena in Chicago known as the McCormick Place Event Center. The 300,000-square-foot Event Center will serve as a key component of the McCormick Place Entertainment District, and, in addition to hosting home games by the DePaul Blue Demons, will also host entertainment, large-scale conventions and trade shows. Both DePaul and the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority are contributing $82.5 million to the construction of the arena, while the city contributed approximately $40 million in tax increment financing funds to acquire the land, according to Crain’s Chicago Business and The DePaulia, DePaul’s student newspaper. The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority awarded New Haven, Conn.-based Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects the $7.2 million design contract in 2013, according to Crain’s. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Pelli Clarke Pelli CEO Lori Healey, Chairman Jack Greenberg of Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, DePaul University President Rev. Dennis Holtschneider, and Chicago Alderman Pat Dowell all attended the groundbreaking. The arena occupies a full Chicago city block, with landscaped setbacks at the corner of Cermak Road and Indiana Avenue, and a spacious plaza for spectators to congregate before and after events. The arching roof with rising arcs will be lit in the evenings. The fully transparent main entrance is comprised of lightweight glass walls. DePaul has used Allstate Arena in suburban …

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Cushman & Wakefield Main Streets Across the World

New York City’s 5th Avenue has once again topped the list of most expensive retail rents in the world with an average of $3,500 per square foot annually, according to research by Cushman & Wakefield. Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay placed a distant second, with rents averaging $2,400 per square foot. The research comes from “Main Streets Across the World,” a research report that Cushman & Wakefield releases annually. It tracks over 500 of the top retail streets in the world by prime rental value. Across the U.S., retail rents increased 6.9 percent year-over-year. Seattle experienced the sharpest increase at 27 percent, though at $70 per square foot, is still the least expensive U.S. market tracked by the report. Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles also saw a dramatic rent spike — 23 percent — which maintained the street’s second-place finish in the U.S. with rents of $800 per square foot. Other U.S. markets singled out for strong growth were Chicago (Michigan Avenue), Miami (Palm Beach) and San Francisco (Union Square). “In San Francisco, a combination of a bustling tourism market — the city is one of the top international destinations — and an improving local economy has led to strong luxury …

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