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CHICAGO — Brennan Investment Group and a client of Arch Street Capital Advisors (Arch Street), a Greenwich, Conn.-based real estate investment advisory firm, have formed a joint venture to own and manage a portfolio of industrial properties throughout the United States. The joint venture will have a purchasing capacity of $300 million. According to a news release, the joint venture will focus on purchasing individual industrial assets in major markets in the United States that are critical facilities to tenants and leased on a long-term basis. “We are pleased to launch this venture at a time when we see opportunities to invest in mission-critical facilities throughout the country,” says Michael Brennan, chairman and managing principal of Brennan Investment Group. “The objective of the venture's investment criteria remains the same: generate strong risk-adjusted returns, derived from both cash flow and appreciation.” In conjunction with the creation of the venture, PNC Bank NA provided the venture with a financing line of credit facility to increase the venture's efficiency in closing purchases. Also simultaneous with the venture's formation, the Brennan/Arch Street venture acquired its first assets, a three-building 174,170-square-foot industrial complex in Hamilton, Ohio, near Cincinnati, leased to Matandy Steel and Metal Products …

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SAN FRANCISCO — TIAA-CREF and joint venture partner Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), manager of the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global, have purchased The Orrick Building in San Francisco’s South Financial District for a reported $390 million, according to Reuters. The two organizations will own and operate the 10-story, 521,555-square-foot property, also known as Foundry Square II. TIAA-CREF will own a 50.1 percent interest while NBIM will own 49.9 percent. “Today’s announcement enhances TIAA-CREF’s existing real estate portfolio and demonstrates our ability to source premium properties on behalf of the joint venture,” says Suzan Amato, head of strategic joint ventures for TIAA-CREF. “These acquisitions are reflective of our real estate investment goals — to take a long-term investment approach with an emphasis on large, high-quality assets in gateway cities.” The Class A, LEED Platinum-certified property is located on the corner of Howard and First streets within one block of the future Transbay Transit Center, a $4 billion regional transit hub that will connect eight Bay Area counties through 11 transit systems. The property is 100 percent leased to 12 tenants, with law firm Orrick Herrington as the asset’s largest tenant. Other major tenants include Moody’s Analytics, BlackRock and FitBit. “We …

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DALLAS — HFF (NYSE: HF) has closed the sale of a 12-property SunnyBrook seniors housing portfolio totaling 680 units located across Iowa. HFF marketed the property on behalf of the seller, SunnyBrook Senior Living. American Realty Capital Healthcare Trust II (ARC) purchased the assets for $164.2 million, which represents a cap rate near 7.2 percent based upon 2014 pro forma financials. A 13th asset is under contract and will close at a later date. The housing in the portfolio was built between 2003 and 2009, with 544 assisted living units and 136 memory care units featuring studio, one- and two-bedroom floor plans. The properties are located in Burlington, Carroll, Fairfield, Fort Madison, Mt. Pleasant, Muscatine, Cedar Rapids, Clinton, Des Moines, Independence, Ottumwa and Tipton. Average occupancy of the buildings was 93 percent at the time of close.Ryan Maconachy and Chad Lavender with HFF represented the seller. Whit Roberts and Janis Loegering with the Dallas office of Locke Lord LLP provided legal representation for SunnyBrook. Taylor Pancake with the Orlando office of law firm Foley & Lardner represented ARC. “The SunnyBrook Portfolio represented a great opportunity for ARC and their new operating partners for this portfolio, Provision Living and Frontier Management, …

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TALLAHASSEE, FLA. — A joint venture between Calidus, Pebb Capital and Pragma Investments has acquired 3,155 beds near Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee for $43.5 million. The university is located at 600 W. College Ave. The beds are situated throughout four complexes surrounding FSU. The City of Tallahassee contains more than 70,000 students. There are about 10,000 on-campus student beds, and about 30,000 off-campus beds set aside for students. The joint venture, known as Collegium Capital Partners, plans to carry out a multi-million-dollar renovation at the properties. “This acquisition will bring the Collegium student housing portfolio to approximately 6,000 beds with three additional closings scheduled for the second half of this year,” says Todd Rosenberg, Pebb’s CEO. “Our plan is to help Collegium achieve its goals with a sophisticated, dedicated capital source to grow its holdings into one of the largest privately held student housing portfolios in the country.” Peak Campus Management will manage the beds. CCRE, an affiliate of Cantor Fitzgerald, provided the acquisition financing. “This acquisition not only makes us one of the largest student housing providers in the Tallahassee market, it also is indicative of our willingness to tackle extremely complicated value-add projects,” says Benjamin Macfarland, …

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NEW YORK CITY— Meridian Capital Group LLC and Eastdil Secured have arranged $700 million in CMBS financing for the purchase of the leasehold position in New York City’s Mobil Building. The property is located at 150 E. 42nd St. The financing was arranged on behalf of a partnership that includes David Werner and Mark Karasick. Morgan Stanley Mortgage Capital Holdings LLC provided the 10-year, fixed-rate, full-term interest-only CMBS loan. The financing allowed the borrower group to acquire the leasehold interest in the Mobil Building from Hiro Real Estate LLC, which acquired the leasehold in 1987. In conjunction with the acquisition, the Goelet family, who holds the fee position, extended the lease to run for 99 years. The Mobil Building, a recognized jewel in the Manhattan skyline, is a 42-story, 1.8 million-square-foot Class A office tower. Harrison & Abramovitz designed the building, which was constructed in the 1950s. The property features a stainless steel façade. Tenants include the New York headquarters of Wells Fargo & Co. and the Mount Sinai Health System. ?? Founded in 1991, Meridian Capital Group LLC is a commercial real estate finance and advisory firm. Meridian is headquartered in New York with offices in New Jersey, Maryland, …

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NEWTON, MASS. — The board of directors of Select Income REIT (NYSE: SIR) has unanimously approved a definitive merger agreement to acquire Cole Corporate Income Trust (CCIT) for approximately $3 billion. CCIT will provide SIR with 64 office and industrial properties with approximately 16.1 million rentable square feet. As part of the transaction, SIR has entered an agreement to sell 23 of CCIT’s healthcare properties to Senior Housing Properties Trust (NYSE: SNH) for approximately $539 million. The transaction will be payable in a combination of cash and SIR common shares, plus the assumption of approximately $298 million of mortgage debt. The merger is subject to approval by SIR and CCIT shareholders and is expected to close during the first quarter of 2015. Among the CCIT properties that will become SIR’s are distribution centers for Amazon.com and headquarter facilities for companies such as Tesoro Corp., Noble Energy Inc., F5 Networks, United Launch Alliance and Compass Group PLC. The purchase of CCIT’s portfolio will expand SIR’s footprint from 21 U.S. states to 35 states. The percentage of rental income from the combined company’s top five tenants will decline from 28 percent to 18 percent. The combined company will have an increased weighted …

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PHOENIX AND SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. — Carter Validus Mission Critical REIT (CVMC) has acquired two data centers in Phoenix and Scottsdale through a sale-leaseback with IO, a software-defined data center technology, services and solutions provider. The combined transaction was valued at $125 million. IO will continue to use the space to deliver colocation and cloud services across its global data center footprint. “This transaction is aligned with IO’s long-term strategic plan,” says Anthony Wanger, IO’s president. “Partnering with Carter Validus allows IO to concentrate its focus on what we do best: Operating world-class IO data centers for our customers.” CVMC REIT is a Kansas City, Mo.-based real estate investment trust (REIT) that specializes in mission-critical real estate assets throughout the United States. Mission-critical real estate assets are purpose-built facilities designed to support the most essential operations of tenants. CVMC focuses on mission-critical assets in the data center and healthcare sectors. — Nellie Day

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PHOENIX — Newquest-Epic Investments LLC has acquired nine retail properties in six states from Phillips-Edison Shopping Center Fund IV REIT LLC, for $150 million. Known as the Phillips-Edison Fund IV portfolio, the properties total more than 1.35 million square feet. Jesse Goldsmith and Steve Julius of CBRE’s Phoenix office, along with Christian Williams and Gleb Lvovich of CBRE’s National Retail Investment Group, negotiated the transaction between Austin-based Newquest-Epic and Cincinnati-based Phillips-Edison. Goldsmith and Julius focused on the portfolio’s Phoenix asset, the Village Center, located at 4304 E. Cactus Road in the Paradise Valley submarket. The 159,425-square-foot retail center is anchored by a Target and sits directly west of Paradise Valley Mall. Goldsmith describes The Village Center, developed in 1986, as a “high-performing property.” “I anticipate that center will only become more successful in the future,” says Goldsmith. “The property is highlighted by a high-performing Target store anchor on a below-market ground lease. Village Center is a Class A asset, as were two other properties in the portfolio, which makes this offering unique as there is a lack of Class A product currently on the market.” — Haisten Willis

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CHICAGO — Thor Equities has secured a $420 million refinancing deal for the Palmer House Hilton, a landmark hotel located in the heart of downtown Chicago. Thor acquired the 1,642-room, 23-story luxury hotel, which is located at 17 E. Monroe St., in 2005. JLL represented Thor Equities in refinancing the existing $365 million loan, moving to a more favorable $420 million loan with a lower interest rate. JP Morgan provided the five-year, floating-rate CMBS loan. The refinancing deal provides Thor Equities with a significantly more flexible loan structure. “Taking advantage of attractive interest rates and flexible loan terms is critical to creating a long-term successful business model in today's hyper-competitive real estate market,” says Michael Schurer, CFO of Thor Equities. The Palmer House Hilton is located near the Art Institute of Chicago, Millennium Park and State Street Shopping, a destination shopping strip including retailers such as Puma, H&M, Nordstrom Rack, Urban Outfitters and Forever 21. State Street draws millions of shoppers annually with an annual retail sales volume approaching $1 billion. The hotel was rebuilt in 1873, after it burned down in the Great Chicago Fire days after its grand opening. In recent years, the hotel has undergone a $170 …

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OAKVILLE, ONTARIO AND MIAMI — Burger King Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: BKW) has entered into a definitive agreement to buy Canadian restaurant chain Tim Hortons Inc. (NYSE: THI) for a reported $11.4 billion. According to a release, this merger will create the third-largest quick-service restaurant company in the world. The combined company will have more than 18,000 restaurants in 100 countries, and approximately $23 billion in annual sales. The new company will be based in Canada, where the majority of Tim Hortons’ stores are located. Under the terms of the transaction, which was unanimously approved by the board of directors of both companies, Tim Hortons shareholders will receive C$65.50 ($59.79 USD) in cash and 0.80 common shares of the new company per Tim Hortons share. Based on Burger King’s closing stock price as of Aug. 25, 2014, this represents total value per Tim Hortons share of C$94.05 ($85.78 USD). Alex Behring, executive chairman of Burger King and managing partner at 3G Capital, the Brazil-based investment firm that controls Burger King, will lead the new global company as executive chairman and director. “By bringing together our two iconic companies under common ownership, we are creating a global quick-service restaurant powerhouse,” says Behring. …

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