Top Stories

BOSTON — CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) Capital Markets has arranged a $166.65 million loan for the refinancing of a seven-property apartment portfolio. The borrower is a fund managed by Eaton Vance Management. The seven properties contain a total of more than 2,100 units. They are located in Riverside, Calif.; Phoenix; Houston; Atlanta; and Alltamonte Springs, Boynton Beach and Pembroke Pines, Fla. The loans were underwritten individually on a non-crossed basis. The debt was originated through Freddie Mac's Capital Markets Execution program. The loans carry 10-year terms and fixed interest rates. Details about the properties were not disclosed. Paul Donahue of CBRE's Boston office led the team that arranged the financing. He was assisted nationally by CBRE team members Charles Foschini, Robert LaChapelle, Rocco Mandala, Holly Minter and Troy Tegeler. “CBRE created a stellar team with senior finance professionals located in each market, assisted by investment sales and valuation teams, that provided timely analysis and underwriting to support Freddie Mac in providing attractive debt to the borrower,” Donahue said in a statement. — Coleman Wood

CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — A joint venture between Rockwood Capital and The Beal Companies has refinanced the One Kendall Square life sciences campus in Cambridge. The $175 million mortgage contains a floating interest rate and was provided by KBS Real Estate Investment Trust II. One Kendall Square is located on 9 acres just north of the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It comprises nine buildings containing 661,141 square feet of space. Also included in the campus are two storage facilities, a 1,530-space parking garage and a nine-screen movie theater. Cushman & Wakefield Sonnenblick Goldman helped arranged the loan on behalf of the owners. The team included Steve Kohn, Richard Swartz, Alex Hernandez, Jay Wagner and Michael Henry. “The strong lender response we received reinforces the notion that in today's economic environment there exists a deep well of liquidity for core properties such as One Kendall,” said Kohn in a statement. Swartz added, “The financing further highlights an evolving trend that we are seeing since the start of the financial crisis. Namely, the rise to prominence of a new breed of lenders, debt funds and mortgage REITs that have stepped into the capital markets, providing much needed liquidity in the …

NEW YORK CITY — Alexandria Real Estate Equities is filling a void in the New York City office market with the completion of Phase I of a life science campus in Manhattan. The first building at the Alexandria Center for Life Science – New York City is a 15-story structure containing 310,000 square feet of space. The building is located at 450 E. 29th St. and already has leases signed or commitments for almost all of its space. ImClone Systems, an Eli Lilly & Co. subsidiary, will be headquartered in the new building. Other named tenants include Kadmon Pharmaceuticals and Firmenich. Alexandria Real Estate also gave indication that other tenants at the building will include a neuroscience translational research entity as well as a scientific collaboration unit for therapeutic innovation that is being sponsored by a large pharmaceutical company. The building will also house pharmaceutical company representatives as well as traditional venture capital firms. In addition to the office space, the LEED-Silver certified building contains Appella, a state-of-the-art conference and event center. It also features two restaurants by famed chef Tom Colicchio — Riverpark and an artisanal sandwich shop named wichcraft. Alexandria anticipates the life science campus will contain three …

SAVANNAH, GA., AND LOGAN, N.J. — Reno, Nev.-based developer Dermody Properties has sold two Class A industrial buildings in its development portfolio in two separate transactions. The properties, located in Georgia and New Jersey, total approximately 1.28 million square feet of distribution space. In the first transaction, Dermody sold a 689,400-square-foot building in Savannah to JLA Home, a company that specializes in home furniture products. The buyer will use the facility, which is located within Dermody's LogistiPort Industrial Park, as its East Coast assembly and distribution center. The building, which is LEED certified, benefits from close proximity to the deepwater Port of Savannah. Dermody developed the building in partnership with the Savannah Economic Development Authority. LogistiPort Industrial Park contains a total of 1.03 million square feet of industrial space with room for expansion. According to Dermody, the project was the first multi-building industrial park in the Southeast to achieve LEED certification. In the second transaction, Dermody sold a 599,500-square-foot property in Logan to an undisclosed financial institution. The building is located at 1150 Commerce Blvd. within the developer's Logisticenter at Logan industrial park. The LEED-Silver facility was originally developed in 2007 as a Northeast distribution center for Kimberly-Clark. Dermody Properties' …

LISLE, ILL. — Navistar, a heavy truck and diesel engine manufacturer, has purchased an 87-acre office/R&D campus in Lisle for use as its new corporate headquarters. The campus is situated at the intersection of Warrenville and Naperville roads in Chicagoland's I-88 Corridor. The seller in the deal was Alcatel-Lucent, which formerly occupied the 1.2 million-square-foot campus. In creating its new headquarters and R&D facility, Navistar plans to retain or create an estimated 3,100 jobs. The Chicago and Atlanta offices of UGL Services joined to broker the deal on behalf of Alcatel-Lucent. The brokerage team included Christopher Wood and Art Waldrop, managing directors of the Chicago and Atlanta offices, respectively. Other participating UGL brokers included David Stefanic, Scott Goldman, William Tom and Rick Nash. “UGL Services is very pleased to have been in a position to partner with Alcatel-Lucent in this significant facility disposition effort,” said Wood in a statement. “The successful close of this transaction is a very positive event for Alcatel-Lucent, Navistar, the Chicago region and the State of Illinois.” John Musgierd of Jones Lang LaSalle's Chicago office represented Navistar in the deal. The acquisition price was not disclosed. — Coleman Wood

INDEPENDENCE, MO. — Phillips Edison & Co. has acquired a shopping center in Independence from Centro Properties Group. The purchase was made on behalf of the company's Fund IV and represents its entry into the greater Kansas City market. Marketplace Shopping Center totals 241,682 square feet and is located at the interchange of Noland Road and Interstate 70. Tenants include anchor Price Chopper and discount retailer Big Lots. Ingrid Long and Drew Quinn of Grubb & Ellis represented the seller in the deal. The acquisition price was not disclosed. “The acquisition of Marketplace Shopping Center is consistent with Phillips Edison's strategy of acquiring core and value-add shopping centers anchored by dominant grocers across the country,” said Hal Scudder, chief investment officer for Phillips Edison, in a statement. This most recent purchase is a familiar one to Phillips Edison. The company currently owns grocery-anchored shopping centers in Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma. This year alone, the company has also purchased shopping centers in Fort Smith, Ark.; Aurora, Ill.; and Clackamas, Ore. — Coleman Wood

SAN BERNARDINO, CALIF. — A joint venture between Dallas-based Behringer Harvard and Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based CT Realty Investors has completed its third acquisition. The joint venture purchased four buildings within Interchange Business Center in San Bernardino. The properties are situated on 41 acres and contain a total of more than 800,000 square feet of warehouse and distribution space. Occupancy was 29 percent at the time of the sale. “Interchange Business Center provided us with an attractive opportunity to capitalize on current market stress by acquiring Class A industrial space in a recovering market at a significant discount to replacement cost,” said Samuel Gillespie, COO of Behringer Harvard Opportunity REIT II, in a statement. “With its strong Inland Empire location and superior quality of construction, we believe this property offers strong upside.” Earlier this year, the joint venture acquired Archibald Business Center, a 231,000-square-foot property located in Ontario, Calif. Recently, the joint venture partnered with two other parties to acquire El Cajon Distribution Center, a 1.4 million-square-foot property located in El Cajon, Calif. — Coleman Wood

BROOKVILLE, OHIO, AND LEBEC, CALIF. — Chicago-based Venture One Real Estate has brokered the $70 million sale of a distribution center portfolio. The sale included two properties totaling approximately 1.15 million square feet of space. The first property is located just outside of Dayton, Ohio, in Brookville. The distribution center totals 801,711 square feet and is situated on 58.5 acres less than a half mile from the interchange of Interstate 70 and Arlington Road. Payless ShoeSource is the building's sole tenant. The second building is located within Tejon Indsutrial Complex, the industrial component of the Tejon Ranch master-planned community, which is north of Los Angeles in Lebec. The building contains 351,723 square feet and is situated on 24.4 acres. Its sole tenant is a subsidiary of Brown Shoe Co., which operates the building as a fulfillment center for Famous Footwear. Roy Splansky and Mark Goode of Venture One represented the seller, entities controlled by St. Louis-based Clayco Realty Group. Clayco was also the original developer of both properties. The buyer was a New York City-based institutional party. The Colliers International team of John DeGrinis and Thomas Taylor provided additional assistance for the California portion of the deal. — Coleman Wood

NASHVILLE, TENN. — The Mathews Company has announced plans to develop a 180-acre assemblage it owns in Nashville. Known as Buchanan Point, the shovel-ready project could accommodate as much as 2.7 million square feet of Class A office and mixed-use space. The site benefits from easy access to both downtown Nashville and Nashville International Airport. It is situated 7 miles from the former and 1 mile from the latter. It is immediately adjacent to Interstate 40 and provides 4,000 feet of frontage along the highway. The site's location near the Airport North submarket puts it in the company of several large office users including Bridgestone, Kroger and Genesco. Office space will make up a large portion of Buchanan Point. The developer has approvals in place to develop single-story flex space all the way up to seven-story office buildings. The site is also zoned for hotel space as well as 120,000 square feet of retail. The hotel space will be constructed as the amount of office space increases, and the retail space will follow later. According to Bert Mathews, president of The Mathews Company, a proposal is currently being a drawn up that would develop 2 acres of the project, kicking …

NEW YORK CITY — Stellar Management has completed its second big acquisition of the month with its $68 million acquisition of The Winderemere in New York City. Situated at 666 West End Ave., the 23-story building contains 374 apartments. It had been owned by the Zarucki family since 1973. Stellar plans to maintain the building as a rental property. In the near term, it will invest $10 million in renovations. The tower's limestone and brick façade will be maintained. In addition, the new owner will provide several amenities to residents including wireless Internet access, a lobby lounge, a fitness center and a rooftop deck. Sustainable elements will also be added to the building. The project architects for the renovations are N-Plus Architecture and RSVP Architecture Studio. “This is a welcomed addition to Stellar's growing portfolio,” said Ryan Jackson, vice president of Stellar, in a statement. “Once renovations are complete, the property will juxtapose the quintessential 1920s, pre-war essence with modern amenities.” Earlier this month Stellar acquired Tivoli Towers, a 33-story, 320-unit affordable housing community located in the Crown Points neighborhood of Brooklyn. The company also plans to renovate this property as well as maintain its status as affordable housing under …