ATLANTA — Confirming rumors that have been circulating for months, San Diego-based OliverMcMillan has announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire The Streets of Buckhead project in Atlanta and plans to re-start construction this year. Financial closing is expected in the next 60 days on the six-block, luxury mixed-use project located in the heart of Atlanta's affluent Buckhead submarket. “The Streets of Buckhead represents a prime example of our core focus, which is transforming urban properties into highly attractive and special pedestrian-oriented mixed-use developments that complement the neighboring community,” said Dene Oliver, chief executive officer of OliverMcMillan. “We are working closely with [Atlanta] Mayor Kasim Reed, who has pledged his support for restarting and finishing the stalled development.” Located at the intersection of Peachtree and West Paces Ferry roads, The Streets of Buckhead started as the legacy project of Ben Carter, a local developer and owner of Ben Carter Properties. Carter assembled the site by purchasing 34 properties comprising the former Buckhead Village, sometimes paying as much as $500 per square foot. Carter referred to the $1.5 billion project as “The Rodeo Drive of the South” and imagined 375,000 square feet of ultra-luxury retail, hundreds of multifamily residences, …
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TYSONS CORNER, VA. — Cityline Partners is continuing the development of the Tysons Corner market with its new plan to redevelop the former Westgate Office Park into an 8.5 million-square-foot mixed-use project. Currently known as Scotts Run Station, the project will contain a mix of office, residential, retail, hotel and civic uses. The project will be divided into two sections. Scotts Run Station South will total 30 acres and will be situated on the south side of Route 123, bounded by the Capital Beltway (I-495) on the west and Dulles Airport Access Road on the east. Scotts Run Station North will total 10 acres on the north side of Route 123 adjacent to the Tysons East Metro Station. Initial plans call for the construction of 21 buildings, comprising 11 office buildings, nine multifamily buildings, a full-service hotel and approximately 120,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. At the center of the project will be the improved Scotts Run Stream Valley Park, a linear urban park with a trail system. “We don't want to turn this area into a 'concrete canyon,'” said Tom Fleury, executive vice president of Cityline Partners, in a statement. “We are looking to redevelop the property into …
MIAMI — Canyon Capital Realty Advisors has provided a $130 million senior construction loan to fund the completion of a Miami office tower. Local developer Foram Group will use the funds to complete construction of 600 Brickell and lease it up. The 40-story, Class A tower topped out in February 2009 and is currently 80 percent complete. 600 Brickell will total 600,000 square feet and will be ready for occupancy this fall. Original plans for the Brickell site also included the construction of a 68-story mixed-use building that would be built as Phase II. Near-term plans only call for the completion of the 40-story building. Foram plans to use the proceeds from the loan to complete the building's core and shell as well as fund tenant improvements and leasing costs. Noël Steinfeld and Chris Dekker of CB Richard Ellis' Miami office are leasing the project's retail component. Foram is handling leasing for the project's retail component and will manage the building upon completion. CGI Capital Holdings arranged the financing, terms of which were not disclosed. — Coleman Wood
INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis-based Duke Realty Corp. has closed on two significant deals in the Southeast. The REIT closed on its purchase of a majority of the properties in a $450 million South Florida portfolio. It also sold a five-property office portfolio in Cincinnati and Nashville, Tenn., for $97 million. In the first deal, Duke closed on 43 of the 56 properties it acquired from Pompano Beach, Fla.-based Premier Commercial Realty. The portfolio consists of 51 bulk warehouse/distribution buildings and five office buildings located in Broward and Palm counties. The combined occupancy is 85.7 percent. Once the remaining properties close, which is expected by the end of the first quarter, Duke will control more than 7 million square feet of real estate in South Florida and will be the largest owner of commercial/industrial space in Broward and Palm counties. In the second deal, Duke sold five Class A office buildings to a joint venture between Nashville-based Smith/Hallemann Partners and Birmingham, Ala.-based Harbert Management Corporation. Two of the buildings are located at 312 Elm St. and 312 Plum St. in Cincinnati's central business district. They total 609,275 square feet and were 90 percent leased at the time of closing. The other three …
ANN ARBOR, MICH. — After struggling to maintain market share and meet its debt obligations, Borders Group has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In its filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the Ann Arbor-based bookstore chain lists debts of $1.29 billion and assets of $1.28 billion. Borders Group operated the Borders chain of bookstores as well as Waldenbooks, Borders Express, Borders Outlet and Bordders.com. In a statement Mike Edwards, president of Borders Group, said, “It has become increasingly clear that in light of the environment of curtailed customer spending, our ongoing discussions with publishers and other vendor-related parties, and the company's lack of liquidity, Borders Group does not have the capital resources it needs to be a viable competitor and move forward with its business strategy to reposition itself successfully for the long term.” Borders will continue to operate its business normally. However, the statement reads that 30 percent of the chain's locations will close by April 30. On the list of the 190 stores to be closed — subject to court approval — are many high-profile locations including Biltmore Fashion Park in Phoenix; Union Square in San Francisco; Santana Row in San Jose, Calif.; The Domain in Austin, …
NEW YORK CITY — The management team of ING Clarion Partners has partnered with Lightyear Capital to acquire the U.S. private market real estate investment management business of ING Group. The acquisition was made for $100 million. New York City-based Clarion Partners was purchased by Netherlands-based ING Group in 1998 and became the American presence of the company. ING Clarion Partners currently has more than 250 employees in markets throughout the United States as well as a presence in Mexico and Brazil. It controls assets worth more than $22 billion. Steve Furnary, the current chairman and CEO of Clarion Partners, will continue in his present role and will serve on the board of directors for the firm. Don Marron, chairman of New York City-based Lightyear, will serve as director of the board for the company. “Lightyear is the perfect partner for Clarion Partners,” Furnary said in a statement. “The Lightyear team members are specialists in the financial services industry and have great insights into our business. Lightyear understands and relates well to our strong fiduciary culture. The partner with firms that share their commitment to integrity and to producing superior investment results for their investors.” — Coleman Wood
ORANGE, CALIF. — CalOptima has purchased a mid-rise office building located at 505 City Parkway in Orange. The provider of health coverage to low-income families to occupy a majority of the building's 203,462 square feet. According to local reports, the company had outgrown its previous offices near St. Joseph Hospital-Orange. The company could lease as much as 130,000 square feet of the building by 2014. The purchase price was reported to be $30.2 million. The Jones Lang LaSalle team of Grant Freeman, Ronda Clark and Joe Bevan represented CalOptima in the deal. The seller, The Abbey Company, was represented by the CB Richard Ellis team of Rickey Warner, Peter Wells and Mark Friend. 505 City Parkway is one of three buildings that make up the City Parkway office complex. The complex contains twin 10-story buildings and a four-story building that total 460,000 square feet. The Abbey Company purchased the property from Maguire Properties in May 2009. — Coleman Wood
Washington, D.C. — The White House released a report on Friday advocating the end of agency lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In “Reforming America's Housing Finance Market,” the Obama administration calls for the gradual exit of both lenders from the financial market. The report outlines four steps to reducing the market share of the agency lenders, which, when combined with the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Ginnie Mae, currently account for more than 90 percent of new mortgages issued today.The steps include increasing guarantee fees to reduce the capital advantages the agency lenders had over private lenders, requiring larger down payments for mortgages, letting the temporary increase in conforming loan limits expire this October, and reducing the investment portfolios of the two lenders at the rate of no less than 10 percent per year. The report says that future government lending should be reduced to the current FHA loan program and current lending services provided by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The White House outlines three options for the future role of the government in residential mortgage lending. The first is for the government to only provide …
NEW YORK CITY — The City of New York has selected the team of Phipps Houses, Related Companies and Monadnock Construction to develop the residential portion of Phase I of Hunter's Point South, a new mixed-use community located in Queens' Long Island City neighborhood. The team will construct two buildings containing more than 900 housing units and 20,000 square feet of retail space. The projected cost of this portion of the project is $360 million. The two buildings are being designed by SHoP Architects and Ismaek Leyva Architects. Additional pieces of Phase I include a 5-acre, waterfront park and a 1,100-student intermediate and high school. Infrastructure work will begin this month and will be complete by spring 2013. The two buildings will begin construction in 2012 and will take approximately 24 months to complete. The park will begin construction this summer, and the new school will open by fall 2013. Hunter's Point South is a massive undertaking by the City of New York. The currently vacant site totals 30 acres along the waterfront and is bounded by 50th Avenue to the north, 2nd Street to the east, Borden Avenue to the south and Center Boulevard to the west. At full …
GARDEN GROVE, CALIF. — A joint venture between Phoenix Realty Group and MG Properties Group has purchased a Garden Grove apartment community for $53 million. The acquisition was made on behalf of a Phoenix institutional real estate fund. Crystal View was built in 1968 and remodeled over the last decade. It contains 402 units, 20 percent of which are set aside for households making 50 percent or less of the area media income. Amenities include a swimming pool, tennis and basketball courts, a fitness center, a movie room and a clubhouse. Phoenix and MG financed the purchase partly from assumable tax-exempt bonds. The seller's name was not released. “Crystal View is a great fit for our investment strategy — value-oriented rentals for the middle-market workforce in an ideal location close to major freeways and some of the region's biggest employers including Disneyland and the University of California's Irvine Medical Center,” said Alex Saunder, managing director of Phoenix, in a statement. Phoenix has been active in the multifamily sector. Last year, it purchased more than 2,100 apartment units worth $250 million. MG currently operates a portfolio consisting of 69 communities and more than 10,900 units, 8,000 of which are located in …