Top Stories

NEW YORK CITY — A joint venture, in conjunction with institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management, has acquired 650 Madison Avenue, a 27-story, 594,000 square foot Class A office tower located on the full western blockfront of Madison Avenue between 59th and 60th streets in New York City. The purchase price for the property is approximately $1.3 billion, which was financed with a new $800 million, 4.4 percent interest-only loan with a seven-year term. The joint venture is led by Oxford Properties, Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO), Crown Acquisitions and Highgate Holdings. 650 Madison Avenue contains 523,000 square feet of office space and 71,000 square feet of retail space. The office space is the world headquarters for Polo Ralph Lauren, which occupies 274,000 square feet. The retail space is primarily leased to Crate & Barrel for its flagship Manhattan store (61,400 square feet) and to Tod’s, a shoe and leather goods specialty store (7,900 square feet). The greater New York City office market had nearly $8 billion in deals either under contract or which closed in the second quarter, according to Jones Lang LaSalle. A new record was established in the second quarter with the average Class A office …

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

MENLO PARK, CALIF. — St. Anton Partners and Facebook have teamed up to build Anton Menlo, a 394-unit, $120 million multifamily community in Menlo Park, a city within the San Francisco Bay Area. Facebook will fund 15 low-income units in the upscale apartment complex, which is located near the social media giant's headquarters at Bayfront Expressway and Willow Road. St. Anton Partners has included an additional 38 low-income units so the residences can be rented at affordable rates. In doing so, St. Anton Partners was able to increase the project's density under the city's density bonus law. Anton Menlo is the city's first significant new apartment building in more than 20 years. “It is a strategic collaboration,” says Ardie Zahedani, vice president of development at St. Anton Partners. “Facebook is getting involved because it is within walking distance to its campuses and there is a major housing shortage.” Facebook is paying Sacramento, Calif.-based developer St. Anton Partners to provide the below-market-rate apartments. Menlo Park requires commercial developers to contribute to its affordable housing stock because the low-income developments create jobs and a demand for housing, according to the San Jose Mercury News. The units will be income restricted for 55 …

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

ROCKVILLE, MD. — Washington Real Estate Investment Trust (WRIT) (NYSE: WRE) has entered into four separate contacts with a single buyer to sell a 100 percent interest in its medical office portfolio and two office assets for nearly $501 million. The purchase price for the portfolio, which contains approximately 1.5 million square feet, equates to $329 per square foot. “Over the past decade, we have methodically grown our medical office portfolio into becoming one of the largest landlords of institutional-quality medical office properties in the Washington, D.C., metro area,” says George “Skip” McKenzie, president and CEO of Rockville-based WRIT. “With the completion of the medical office portfolio sale, we will be successfully exiting this business line, which has been extremely profitable for us over the past decade.” The portfolio includes 17 medical office buildings and two suburban office properties, 6565 Arlington Blvd. and Woodholme Center. Also included is a parcel in Alexandria, Va., which is being used as off-site/overflow parking for one of the medical office assets in the portfolio. In January, WRIT announced the proposed sale of the portfolio as a strategic opportunity to streamline the company’s business operations. With the disposition of the medical office portfolio, WRIT will …

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

NEW YORK — Iron Hound Management Co. LLC has completed more than $400 million in loan modifications and refinancing for two New York properties, a pair of Midtown office towers and a Brooklyn industrial complex. In the case of the Midtown towers, Iron Hound structured the payoff of a $106 million defaulted securitized loan and the placement of new debt with Starwood Capital for sponsors Joe Stavrach and Faraj Srour. The buildings include 2 W. 46th St., which totals 150,000 square feet of office space and 17,000 square feet of retail space; and 369 Lexington Ave., which totals 108,000 square feet of office and 20,000 square feet of retail. For the industrial complex — a 6.1 million-square-foot asset in the Greenwood Heights neighborhood known as Bush Terminal — Iron Hound restructured a $300 million securitized loan with LNR. The property, which is home to a diverse mix of businesses including apparel manufacturing and warehousing, is in the midst of a 10-year modernization and preservation program and will use the influx of cash for post-Hurricane Sandy repairs and other improvements. “This is the second modification that Iron Hound arranged on this asset for sponsor Ruby Schron,” says Robert Verrone, Iron Hound …

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS — Texas A&M University has selected Balfour Beatty to develop its new $200 million student housing project on the main campus in College Station. Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions will act as lead developer on the project, and Dallas-based Balfour Beatty Construction will serve as construction partner. The university will finalize contract details with Balfour Beatty in the coming months. Upon approval, the project will be developed through a public-private partnership on a long-term ground lease managed by Texas A&M University Housing and Residence Life. The proposed 4,000-bed development will offer both apartment and traditional residence hall options on the western side of campus. In addition to the residences, plans call for a community support building for dining services and other amenities. “West Campus is an integral part of the future for Texas A&M, and it is vital that we have services available to meet the needs of the students, faculty and staff,” says John Sharp, chancellor of the Texas A&M University System. “This project is our first step in creating a new environment for our students and doing it in accordance with our new policy, without new debt or new cash outlays.” Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions recently …

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

PHILADELPHIA — Hersha Hospitality Trust (NYSE: HT), a hospitality REIT and owner of upscale hotels in urban gateway markets, has entered into a definitive agreement to sell 16 hotels to an affiliate of Blackstone Real Estate Advisors for $217 million, or approximately $125,000 per room. Hersha’s disposition of assets marks the company’s exit from Long Island, suburban Philadelphia, Connecticut and Rhode Island. “The anticipated sale of these non-core portfolio hotels completes our transformation into a pure play, urban transient portfolio with exposure to some of the highest demand gateway markets in the United States,” says Jay Shah, CEO of Hersha. The 16 hotels include: the 133-room Holiday Inn Express in Hauppauge, N.Y. the 161-room Hampton Inn in Brookhaven, N.Y. the 98-room Hampton Inn in West Haven, Conn. the 101-room Hampton Inn in Smithfield, R.I. the 118-room Courtyard by Marriot in Langhorne, Pa. the 100-room Residence Inn in Langhorne, Pa. the 88-room Holiday Inn Express in Langhorne, Pa. the 155-room Holiday Inn Express & Suites in King of Prussia, Pa. the 130-room Courtyard by Marriot in Ewing, N.J. the 128-room Hyatt House in Bridgewater, N.J. the 78-room Courtyard by Marriot in Wilmington, Del. the 71-room Inn at Wilmington in Wilmington, Del. …

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

CALABASAS, CALIF. — Marcus & Millichap Inc. (M&M) has filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering of common stock as the commercial real estate brokerage looks to expand. The company has not determined the number of shares and the price range for the offering. M&M is looking to raise up to $103.5 million in its initial public offering. The Calabasas, Calif.-based brokerage firm intends to use the proceeds of the offering for general corporate purposes, including buying real estate businesses or companies, capital expenditures and working capital to expand its markets and services. The move comes amid signs of a rebound in the commercial real estate market. Total sales of commercial real estate properties priced at $1 million and above jumped to more than $340 billion in 2012, an increase of 41 percent over 2011, according to research by CoStar and Real Capital Analytics. The total value of U.S. commercial real estate assets was estimated to be $12 trillion at the end of 2012. M&M is a national brokerage firm focusing primarily on the private client segment, consisting of transactions with prices under $10 million. The company has more than …

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

NAPA, CALIF., AND SAVANNAH, GA. — Inland American Lodging Group Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Inland American Real Estate Trust Inc., has acquired two Andaz hotels in Napa and Savannah for approximately $115 million. The properties mark the second and third Andaz hotels in Inland American’s portfolio, following the $53 million purchase of Andaz San Diego earlier this year. The hotels are part of Hyatt Hotel Corp.’s boutique lifestyle brand. A Hyatt affiliate will continue to manage the properties, both of which were built in 2009 and branded as Andaz hotels in 2012, but will not retain its ownership interest. “We are very pleased to be expanding our relationship with Hyatt through the acquisition of these boutique lifestyle hotels, operating under the exciting and growing Andaz brand,” says Marcel Verbaas, president and CEO of Inland American Lodging Advisor Inc. “The purchase of these hotels further exemplifies our strategy of seeking continued improvement in the quality and performance of our portfolio through targeted acquisitions, selective dispositions, superior asset management and thoughtful capital improvements.” The five-story Andaz Napa is located in downtown Napa’s West End district. The project includes 141 rooms, including 89 lofts and suites. The hotel offers 6,800 square …

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

PHOENIX— Cole Corporate Income Trust (CCIT) Inc. has acquired 12 single-tenant office and industrial properties for approximately $386.1 million, including corporate facilities in North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Texas, New Jersey, Nevada, Arizona, California and Colorado. The assets include “mission-critical” facilities leased to corporate tenants. CCIT, a non-traded real estate investment trust (REIT), invests primarily in single-tenant, income-producing, corporate properties leased to creditworthy tenants under long-term net leases. Cole Corporate Income Advisors LLC, a subsidiary of Cole Real Estate Investments Inc. (NYSE: COLE), serves as external advisor to CCIT. “The diversified industries, geographic locations, remaining lease terms and strategic importance of the properties for the tenants made these solid acquisition targets,” says Thomas Roberts, executive vice president and head of real estate investments at Phoenix-based Cole Real Estate Investments. “We continue to identify opportunities that meet our stringent acquisitions criteria and satisfy our rigorous underwriting processes, while building a high-quality portfolio of net-leased office and industrial assets for CCIT,” adds Roberts. The 12 office and industrial properties CCIT acquired include: • two Amazon distribution warehouses totaling more than 2 million square feet combined in Murfreesboro, Tenn., and Chester, Va. The build-to-suit properties serve as regional distribution centers for the world's largest …

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

WASHINGTON, D.C.— HFF has arranged $99.2 million in construction financing for Atlantic Plumbing, a 375-unit, Class A mixed-use project under development in the U Street/North Shaw submarket of Washington, D.C. HFF worked on behalf of entities owned by The JBG Cos. and Walton Street Capital LLC to place the four-year loan, with extension options for an additional three years, with Capital One. The development is situated at the intersection of 8th Street and V Street N.W., two blocks from the U Street metro station. Slated for completion in early 2015, the property will include 375 units and 23,785 square feet of ground-floor retail, as well as artist studios in two separate buildings. Designed by New York architect Morris Adjmi, the project will feature one- and two-bedroom units averaging 716 square feet each. Community amenities include a state-of-the-art fitness center with yoga and spin area, lounge with bar and theater and electric car charging stations. Also, the rooftop of the property will feature gardens, a pool with panoramic city views, grilling stations and a movie screening area. Sue Carras, Walter Coker and Brian Crivella led the HFF debt placement team in the transaction. Headquartered in Chevy Chase, Md., The JBG Cos. …

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail