FRAMINGHAM, MASS. AND BOCA RATON, FLA. — Staples Inc. (Nasdaq: SPLS) will acquire Office Depot Inc. (Nasdaq: ODP) for $6.3 billion. The deal comes a little more than a year after Office Depot Inc. and OfficeMax Inc. merged in 2013. Staples will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Office Depot. Under the terms of the agreement, Office Depot shareholders will receive, for each Office Depot share, $7.25 in cash and 0.2188 of a share in Staples stock at closing. Each company’s board of directors unanimously approved the agreement. Based on Staples closing share price on Feb. 2, the transaction values Office Depot at $11.00 per share. This represents a premium of 44 percent over the closing price of Office Depot shares as of Feb. 2, and a premium of 65 percent over the 90-day average closing price of Office Depot shares as of Feb. 2. “This is a transformational acquisition which enables Staples to provide more value to customers, and more effectively compete in a rapidly evolving competitive environment,” says Ron Sargent, Staples’ chairman and CEO. “We expect to recognize at least $1 billion of synergies as we aggressively reduce global expenses and optimize our retail footprint. These savings …
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NEW YORK — AvalonBay Communities Inc. (NYSE: AVB) has purchased the Manhattan home of the American Bible Society, located at 1865 Broadway in the Upper West Side, for $300 million. AvalonBay intends to raze the organization’s headquarters and use the 22,500-square-foot site to construct a 300,000-square-foot apartment tower, which will include retail at the base. The society will remain in the building through the third quarter of 2015. AvalonBay expects to begin construction on the tower in late 2016. The building currently located at 1865 Broadway is a 12-story, 156,000-square-foot Class C office building that was constructed in 1965. According to media reports, the American Bible Society, which has been located in the building since construction, will relocate to the Philadelphia area. The site is located within two blocks of iconic Manhattan locales such as Columbus Circle, Lincoln Center and Central Park. The retail component at the base of the tower could be comprised of nearly 60,000 square feet of leasable space, according to some media reports. AvalonBay has indicated that in the future it may enter into a joint venture or forward sale agreement with respect to the retail component. Helen Hwang, Nathaniel Rockett, Karen Widenmann and Brian Szczapa …
SAN DIEGO — The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) projects that originations of commercial/multifamily mortgages will grow to $414 billion in 2015, an increase of 7 percent over the prior year. Furthermore, MBA expects total loan originations will rise to $430 billion in 2016. The loan originations outlook was released Monday during MBA’s Commercial Real Estate Finance (CREF)/Multifamily Housing & Convention Expo 2015, which runs from Feb. 1-4. There are 3,100 attendees at this year’s conference at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego, up from 2,800 in 2014 and the highest attendance figure since 2008 when the conference drew 3,900 attendees. The MBA forecast is based on the expected level of deal volume among mortgage banking firms. “Commercial and multifamily real estate finance markets are strong,” says Jamie Woodwell, vice president of commercial real estate research for the MBA. “Rising property values, improving property fundamentals, lower interest rates and higher loan maturity volumes should all help boost mortgage borrowing and lending in the coming year.” Multifamily mortgages originated by mortgage bankers are forecast to total $152 billon in 2015. The commercial/multifamily mortgage debt outstanding is expected to continue growing in 2015, ending the year at $2.7 trillion, up more than …
MINNEAPOLIS — NorthMarq Capital has signed a purchase agreement to acquire 60 percent of AmeriSphere Multifamily Finance, a Fannie Mae DUS and FHA MAP lender, from founding partner Rodrigo Lopez and the investment firm McCarthy Capital. NorthMarq Capital previously owned a 40 percent stake in AmeriSphere, but will now operate it as a wholly-owned subsidiary. The acquisition is expected to close in 30 to 60 days pending agency and regulatory approvals. AmeriSphere will be then known as NorthMarq. Terms of the acquisition will not be disclosed. NorthMarq will continue to operate as an originator of multifamily loans for Fannie Mae under its DUS program and for FHA, including all underwriting, closing and asset management functions. No employee reductions or changes are anticipated except at the CEO/president level. The acquisition will allow for enhanced integration of operational support with NorthMarq and its platform of 35 production offices across the country. “Since we already had a strong partnership with AmeriSphere, this opportunity can only strengthen our platform and make our production experts more valuable to borrowers looking for multifamily acquisition financing or refinancing,” says Eduardo Padilla, CEO of NorthMarq Capital. Lopez will remain with the firm following acquisition as executive chairman. Jay …
LAGUNA BEACH, CALIF. — Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc. (NYSE: BEE), a hotel owner and management REIT based in Chicago, has purchased a luxury resort in Laguna Beach for $360 million. Strategic Hotels purchased Montage Laguna Beach from an affiliate of Ohana Real Estate Investors LLC (OREI), a hotel and resort investment and development firm. “We are thrilled to acquire Montage Laguna Beach, a truly iconic luxury hotel located on one of the best resort settings in the continental United States. The acquisition is consistent with our strategy of expanding our best-in-class portfolio of irreplaceable and world-class luxury hotels located in North America,” says Raymond Gellein, chairman and CEO of Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc. “The Southern California market generally, and the coastal Orange County market specifically, have been among the highest-rated markets in the country and are poised to continue their strong growth given the diverse set of demand drivers and no competitive supply in the current pipeline as the result of extremely high barriers to entry.” The 250-key Montage Laguna Beach opened in 2003 and features views of the Pacific Ocean, 16,000 square feet of indoor meeting space, a 20,000-square-foot spa and several on-site dining and beverage options. …
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Terreno Realty Corporation (NYSE:TRNO) has acquired an 820,000-square-foot industrial property in Washington, D.C., for $115.5 million. The 28.2-acre property is located at 3015-3535 V Street. The facility is situated one block from New York Avenue/Route 50, in the northeastern section of the District of Columbia. It is also near the Amtrak Northeast Corridor, the U.S. National Arboretum and the Anacostia River. Notable tenants in the area include Anchor Construction Corp. and Premium Distributors. The industrial facility includes 102 dock-high and eight grade-level loading positions, as well as parking for 470 cars. It is currently 87 percent leased to 22 tenants. The seller was not named. Terreno was represented by James Cassidy of DTZ. The firm also recently acquired a 107,000-square-foot industrial property in Doral, Fla., for $9.9 million. That property is located at 10100 NW 25th Street, in Miami’s Airport West market. San Francisco-based Terreno Realty Corporation acquires, owns and operates industrial real estate in six major U.S. coastal markets. The markets include Los Angeles, Northern New Jersey/New York City, the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Miami and Washington, D.C./Baltimore. Terreno’s stock price closed at $23.36 per share on Thursday, Jan. 29, up from $22.90 per share …
LOS ANGELES — Decron Properties Corp., a private, family-owned and operated real estate company based in Los Angeles, has sold a three-property portfolio comprised of neighborhood shopping centers located in Southern California markets. The gross sales price was $108.5 million. The portfolio consisted of grocery- and drugstore-anchored assets totaling 370,453 square feet. Properties included Mission Foothill Plaza located at 28721-28841 Los Alisos Blvd. in Mission Viejo; Park Oaks, located at 1640-1970 N. Moorpark Road in Thousand Oaks; and Ontario Plaza, located at 920-1070 N. Mountain Ave. in Ontario. Bill Bauman, executive vice president, and Kyle Miller, corporate managing director, of Savills Studley represented the seller in the transaction. Retail Opportunity Investment Corp. (Nasdaq: ROIC), a shopping center REIT, was the buyer. Initially, Mission Foothill Plaza was the only asset being marketed by the Studley Savills team. After the property was awarded to ROIC in a competitive bidding process, the buyer put in an offer on the additional two properties. “The terms were very compelling, with short due-diligence timeframes and significant non-refundable deposits,” says Miller. “Ultimately the seller was able to leverage market dynamics and a shortage of quality product to realize an excellent return on investment and achieve a strategic …
Business Tycoon Ted Turner Reflects on His Successes, Sacrifices at Annual Buckhead Coalition Luncheon
by John Nelson
ATLANTA — Billionaire entrepreneur and legendary media mogul Ted Turner, who along with Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines helped put Atlanta on the map, captivated a packed house at restaurant 103 West on Wednesday afternoon during the annual luncheon of the Buckhead Coalition. Business and political leaders from across Atlanta and Fulton County gathered to hear the 76-year-old, straight-talking Turner reflect on his life and career during a one-on-one interview with Sam Massell, president of the Buckhead Coalition and former mayor of Atlanta from 1970-74. Turner didn’t disappoint. He and Massell bantered back and forth for 20 minutes, leaving the audience hungry for more. The Background Turner began his career as an account executive with the Turner Advertising Co., which made a substantial profit selling billboard ads. In 1970, he entered the television business when he acquired an independent UHF station. In 1976, Turner purchased Major League Baseball’s Atlanta Braves and launched the TBS Superstation, originating the “superstation” concept. The following year, Turner Broadcasting System Inc. acquired the National Basketball Association’s Atlanta Hawks and in 1980 Turner launched CNN, the world’s first live, 24-hour global news network. Over the next two decades, the company built a portfolio of cable television …
SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD) plans to build a 900,000-square-foot distribution center in Spartanburg, S.C. The $90 million project will be Rite Aid’s first new distribution facility in 15 years. “Spartanburg is an ideal location for our new distribution center,” says John Standley, Rite Aid chairman and CEO. “We thank the state of South Carolina for its cooperation and support during our site selection process and we look forward to breaking ground on our new facility, which will help us to further optimize our supply chain and better serve our stores and customers across the Southeast.” Rite Aid is working with Johnson Development Associates, a leading real estate development firm based in Spartanburg, on build the project. Construction will begin in March and Rite Aid will start shipping to stores in March 2016. The new distribution center will employ nearly 600 people after it becomes fully operational and will support the inventory and fulfillment needs of approximately 1,000 Rite Aid stores in the southeastern United States. In April 2014, after a comprehensive review of its supply chain and logistics network, Rite Aid announced it would consolidate three of its existing distribution centers, located in Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Charlotte, …
SAN FRANCISCO — LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE: LHO) has purchased The Westin Market Street hotel in San Francisco for $350 million. At closing, LaSalle renamed the hotel Park Central San Francisco. LaSalle funded the purchase with cash on hand and borrowings from its senior unsecured credit facility. “We are thrilled to have acquired this prominent hotel with such a fantastic location,” says Michael Barnello, president and CEO of LaSalle. “The San Francisco lodging market remains very strong, with demand at peak levels and limited supply growth on the horizon, and we are excited about increasing our presence in San Francisco for the second time within 10 months — marking our seventh hotel in the city. Approximately 17 percent of our EBITDA is now generated in San Francisco.” Highgate Hotels will continue to manage the property as an independent hotel on behalf of LaSalle. The 681-room Park Central San Francisco is located in the SoMa District, which includes the Moscone Convention Center, the Yerba Buena Gardens, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, AT&T Park and headquarters for companies such as Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. The hotel is also located three blocks from Union Square, an iconic plaza and upscale shopping …