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RBC-Gateway-Tower

MINNEAPOLIS — CBRE has arranged the $225 million sale of the office component of RBC Gateway Tower, a newly constructed mixed-use development located at 250 Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis.  The portion acquired by San Francisco-based Spear Street Capital includes 525,000 square feet of office space, a ground-floor office lobby and 296 below-grade parking spaces. Ryan Watts, Tom Holtz, Brandon McMenomy, Steven Ward, Greg Greene and Harrison Wagenseil of CBRE represented the seller, United Properties, in the transaction.  The office portion of the property was 99 percent leased at the time of sale to six tenants including RBC Capital Markets, United Properties and Pohlad Cos. The 1.2 million-square-foot tower also includes the 222-room Four Seasons Hotel Minneapolis — Minnesota’s first five-star hotel, according to CBRE — and 34 luxury Four Seasons Private Residences on the uppermost floors. Three restaurants are also on-site, including a full-service restaurant and bar, Mara, and Socca Café. “RBC Gateway Tower is a crown jewel in the Gateway District, with unmatched location and amenities,” says Watts of CBRE. “Premier properties like this offer exceptional workspaces that cater to the needs of modern employees, making them highly desirable as companies adapt to new workplace trends.” Minneapolis-based United Properties …

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NEW YORK CITY — Canyon Partners Real Estate LLC and J.P. Morgan have provided a $193 million senior construction loan to East End Studios for the ground-up development of Sunnyside Campus, a media and content production studio in Queens. Construction is underway, and completion is slated for the first quarter of 2025. Sunnyside Campus will total 275,000 square feet and feature three full-service, ground-floor sound stages spanning 75,000 square feet. The stages will feature clear heights of 37 feet and may be subdivided. Plans additionally call for a 15,000-square-foot rooftop flex stage with views of the Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan skylines along with ample outdoor gathering space. The stages will be supported by 125,000 square feet of production, office and mill spaces, 225 below-grade parking spaces, and eight enclosed loading bays for full-size trucks. Mill space can be utilized for set construction, welding, props, special effects and more. Like all East End Studios projects, the Sunnyside facility will be fully integrated with extended reality and virtual reality infrastructure. Positioned on a full city block between Queens Boulevard and the Long Island Expressway, the Sunnyside campus offers cast and crew members convenient public transportation options. The New York City Industrial Development …

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WILLIAMSBURG, VA. — Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions, a developer and operator of college and university real estate and infrastructure projects, has released plans for on-campus student housing options at William & Mary, a public research university in Williamsburg. The developer formed a public-private partnership with the school to bring the $240 million project to fruition. The new student housing accommodations will exceed 1,200 new beds. The general contractors, which includes Balfour Beatty’s buildings division and Richmond-based Kjellstrom+Lee, plan to break ground this month and open for student occupation in 2025. The first phase will deliver 935 beds at West Woods on the west side of William & Mary that will feature modern living units and community spaces, as well as a 50,000-square-foot dining hall. The second phase will feature 269 beds in a new facility adjacent to the school’s Lemon and Hardy Halls along Jamestown Road. The residence halls will be heated using geothermal heating and air conditioning in support of the school’s Climate Action Roadmap, which aims for a carbon-neutral campus by 2030. Lemon and Hardy Halls will also be transitioned to geothermal heating and cooling as part of the project. The design-build team includes VDMO Architects and CMTA. …

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Public-Storage-Houston

GLENDALE, CALIF. AND NEW YORK CITY — Self-storage REIT Public Storage (NYSE: PSA) has agreed to acquire Simply Self Storage from New York City-based Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc. (BREIT) for $2.2 billion. The deal is scheduled to close during the third quarter. Simply Self Storage is an owner-operator that was founded in Orlando in 2003. The company owns 127 facilities and operates 25 more on a third-party basis for a total of more than 11 million net rentable square feet across 18 states. Roughly 65 percent of Simply Self Storage’s portfolio, which has a collective occupancy rate of 91 percent, is concentrated in Sun Belt markets. “This acquisition reflects the continued execution of our multi-factor external growth platform, which includes acquisitions, development, redevelopment, expansion and third-party management,” says Joe Russell, CEO of Public Storage. “We are pleased to complete this transaction with Blackstone, which has done a tremendous job of growing and improving the quality and operations of the Simply portfolio over the past few years.” “Where you invest matters, and this transaction demonstrates the strong investor demand for the high-quality assets and platforms we have assembled within BREIT,” adds Nadeem Meghji, head of Blackstone Real Estate Americas. …

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SAN DIEGO — French investor Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) has sold Westfield Mission Valley, a 1.1-million-square-foot retail center in San Diego, for $290 million. Spread across two separate parcels, URW sold the eastern portion to Lowe and Real Capital Solutions, while Sunbelt Investment Holdings Inc. bought the smaller western portion. The Westfield Mission Valley shopping mall, the eastern part of the property, was originally built in 1960 on a 41-acre site. The center currently offers 73 shops, including Target, Nordstrom Rack, Macy’s Home, Michael’s, Bloomingdale’s Outlet and a 24-Hour Fitness, as well as restaurants such as Yard House, Outback and Buffalo Wild Wings. The center also includes the AMC Mission Valley 20 movie theater. The western portion of the asset features a Trader Joe’s, Marshalls and variety of smaller restaurants and retailers. The property is located opposite the San Diego Trolley’s Mission Valley Center Station. The mall is also accessible to thoroughfares such as I-8, I-805 and Highway 163.  Lowe and Real Capital Solutions plan to redevelop their portion of the property into a walkable, transit-oriented, mixed-use village. Lowe will lead the redevelopment project. The team plans to refresh the existing retail and add complementary uses such as multifamily residential to the …

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Dynamic-Star-One-Fordham-Landing

NEW YORK CITY — Dynamic Star has released details for One Fordham Landing, a 350,000-square-foot office building located in the University Heights neighborhood of The Bronx in New York City. The building will be the first of a larger mixed-use development, Fordham Landing, which is valued at $3.5 billion, according to Crain’s New York Business.  Located on West Fordham Road along the Harlem River, Fordham Landing will be developed in phases beginning with the segment Fordham Landing South. Alongside the recently announced office building, this initial phase will include 505 units of affordable and market-rate housing. The multifamily and office portions of the project will share a 20,000-square-foot amenity space featuring community gardening areas, a pickleball court, lap pool, basketball court and fitness center. Plans for Phase I also include a landscaped public waterfront esplanade overlooking the Harlem River.  One Fordham Landing, which is scheduled for completion in 2025, will target medical and educational tenants. The building’s base will feature 28,000-square-foot floor plates with 18-foot ceiling heights, and the upper floors of the project will feature 10,000-square-foot floor plates. The development is also set to include a new entrance and pedestrian bridge to the adjacent North University Heights Metro station. …

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JACKSONVILLE, FLA. — The NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars have opened the Miller Electric Center, a $120 million practice facility in downtown Jacksonville. The 125,000-square-foot facility comprises an indoor practice field, offices, locker rooms, a draft room, shaded viewing area, concessions, team retail store and medical facilities. The Miller Electric Center is a public-private partnership between the Jaguars and the City of Jacksonville. The city also owns TIAA Bank Field, the Jaguars’ home stadium that is in the planning stages for a roughly $1 billion overhaul. The city and Jaguars owner Shad Khan would share the expense if they can reach an agreement on the stadium and accompanying extension of the team’s lease, according to The Florida Times-Union. The Jaguars organization plans to begin its training camp at the new practice facility Wednesday, July 26. The team hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Miller Electric Center yesterday that featured Khan, along with newly inaugurated Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan, Jaguars president Mark Lamping and Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson, among others. Stadium of the Future In June, the Jaguars unveiled conceptual designs for its “Stadium of the Future,” a design project nearly three years in the making intended to spark a transformation of the city’s …

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FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. — A partnership between PMG, a development and investment firm with offices in New York City and Miami, and Toronto-based private equity firm Greybrook has received a $226 million construction loan for a high-rise apartment tower in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Related Fund Management and Lubert-Adler provided the financing to the developers. Located at 140 S.W. 2nd St., the 42-story building represents Phase II of Society Las Olas, the first phase of which opened in May 2020 and sold in 2021. Phase I’s retail component, which spans 17,000 square feet, was sold separately to PMG and Greybrook in early 2022 for $17 million. Phase II of Society Las Olas will add 563 new luxury apartments to the local supply, as well as 1,652 square feet of ground-floor retail space. Units will comprise apartments with traditional rental arrangements as well as co-living/rent-by-bedroom options. Amenities will include a coworking lab with private meeting rooms, pool deck, yoga lawn and a modern fitness center. Residents will have access to a proprietary mobile app that will enable keyless entry and allow residents to manage guest lists, adjust smart thermostats, send notifications about packages, manage payments, request maintenance and register for community events. …

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1520-First-Ave.-Manhattan

NEW YORK CITY — Locally based firm Extell Development Co. is underway on construction of a 435,000-square-foot medical office project at 1520 First Ave. on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Designed by Perkins Eastman Architects, the 30-story building will occupy a full city block between East 79th and East 80th streets and house ambulatory care and surgical facilities. Foundation completion and vertical construction are scheduled to occur during the third quarter of this year, and full completion is slated for the second quarter of 2025. According to the development team, the facility will be the first privately built medical office tower to be developed on the Upper East Side. Additional building features will include multiple outdoor terraces and mechanical systems to enhance comfort and energy efficiency, as well as ground-floor retail space. The Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) has preleased eight floors totaling 195,580 square feet to serve as the facility’s anchor tenant. Newmark has been tapped to lease the remainder of the space. HSS will house orthopedic and rheumatology physician’s offices, as well as ancillary services for treatment of musculoskeletal conditions. The space will complement the expansion of HSS’ main campus, which will house the newly announced Lauder Family Spine …

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DEKALB, ILL. — The Kraft Heinz Co. plans to invest more than $400 million in an automated consumer packaged goods (CPG) distribution center in DeKalb, approximately 60 miles west of Chicago. The facility, which will be located along I-88 with national railway access, will total 775,000 square feet, making it one of the largest automatic distribution centers in North America, according to the company.  The facility’s design includes a 24/7 automated storage and retrieval system, which will distribute more than 60 percent of Kraft Heinz’s foodservice products and approximately 30 percent of all dry goods. Kraft Heinz also expects the facility to contribute to the company’s broader environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals. More specifically, the company plans to implement sustainable technology to reduce the waste produced at the facility and minimize its overall environmental impact.  Kraft Heinz says the plant will generate more than 150 jobs in the region. “As we continue on our journey to lead the future of food, our talented North America teams and collaborative external partners are innovating at a rapid pace to expand our supply chain capabilities,” says Carlos Abrams-Rivera, executive vice president and president of North America at Kraft Heinz. “The DeKalb distribution center …

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