CHICAGO — Chicago-based Equity Capital Management (ECM) has entered into an agreement to sell a portfolio of net-leased office, industrial and retail properties for $625 million. The buyer or buyers were not disclosed, but reports indicate the portfolio was sold to two parties, an institutional firm and a REIT. The portfolio contains properties that are a part of two ECM investment funds: Diversified Income & Growth Fund and Income & Growth Fund III. The properties in the poirtfolio are institutional quality and subject to long-term leases. A majority of them are office and industrial buildings comprising corporate/regional headquarters as well as regional/critical hub distribution facilities. The tenants are primarily investment grade. The portfolio is expected to close during the first half of the year. “The corporate real estate market is a large, fragmented and growing market,” said Shelby E. L. Pruett, co-founder and managing partner of the company, in a statement. “Corporations and build-to-suit developers have reduced access to capital, and the investment-grade net-lease sector is underrepresented in the public and private markets, all of which we believe will create significant opportunities in the future.” — Coleman Wood
SECAUCUS, N.J. — Hartz Mountain Industries has procured an $85 million permanent mortgage from German lender Post Bank that will allow it to refinance an 828,000-square-foot mixed-use portfolio in Secaucus. The portfolio comprises five properties within Harmon Meadow, a 175-acre campus located at the interchange of the New Jersey Turnpike and Route 3 that is part of the Hudson Meadowlands. The properties include: • 100 Plaza Drive – a 264,973-square-foot, multi-tenant office building that is anchored by NBA Entertainment. • The ground lease for a 161-room Holiday Inn located at 300 Plaza Drive. • Atrium II – a 255,000-square-foot, multi-tenant office building located at 400 Plaza Drive that is also home to Hartz Mountain Industries' corporate headquarters. • 600 Plaza Drive – a 140,000-square-foot commercial property containing retail and restaurant space. • 700 Plaza Drive – A 27,000-square-foot data center. CB Richard Ellis Capital Markets arranged the financing. The Debt & Equity Finance group of James Gunning, Donna Falzarano and Michael Sherman worked on behalf of two Hartz Mountain subsidiaries, Harmon Meadow Plaza Inc. and 400 Plaza Drive Inc., though the financing is a single loan. The mortgage carries a 7-year term, a 25-year amortization schedule and an interest rate …
DES MOINES, IOWA — The Des Moines office of Opus Development Corp. has completed a long-term lease for a 300,000-square-foot build-to-suit industrial project in Des Moines. Opus will construct the building at 3440 Gannett Ave. for an undisclosed Fortune 100 company. The building will include 40-foot clear ceilings, 25 dock positions, 25 trailer parking spaces, 7,000 square feet of office space and 150 car parking spaces. The groundbreaking will occur this spring, with completion anticipated in February 2012. Opus Design Build and Opus AE Group will serve as the project's design-build team. “We are very pleased to be selected as a landlord and to build this project, which taps into our team's local presence and depth of experience in the industrial sector, said Mike Yungerman, vice president of real estate development for Opus, in a statement. “The industrial market is seeing signs of improvement as evidenced by projects of this type and companies making long-term real estate commitments.” — Coleman Wood
DALLAS — Dallas-based Ashford Hospitality Trust has formed a joint venture with an institutional partner to acquire the 28-hotel Highland Hospitality portfolio. The purchase and restructuring were completed through a mutual foreclosure for a total consideration of $1.277 billion. The total consideration of the portfolio, which includes 19 full-service hotels and nine select-service hotels, equates to an acquisition price of $158,000 per key. At closing, Ashford invested $150 million in the acquisition and will own 71.74 percent of the portfolio. Monty Bennett, CEO of Ashford, stated in a company release, “We are pleased to complete this strategic and accretive transaction. Of all the hotel transactions we have seen completed, we believe it would be hard to match the many benefits of this investment. We believe there is substantial opportunity to improve the hotels' performance with an aggressive asset management strategy similar to what we have accomplished with our existing hotels.” The 8,084-room portfolio consists of a variety of hotel brands, including Ritz-Carlton, Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, Renaissance, Sheraton and Westin, scattered across Georgia, Florida, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, Texas, Nebraska, California, Tennessee, Washington, D.C., Maryland and Illinois. Remington Lodging will manage 17 of the hotels, with Marriott managing six …
VIRGINIA — Harbor Group International has entered into an agreement to acquire an eight-property multifamily portfolio from Great Atlantic for $165.9 million. The portfolio contains 2,508 units and is located in the Hampton Roads submarket of Virginia. The portfolio includes: • Chase Arbor, a 430-unit property located in Virginia Beach; • Hampton Center, a 418-unit property located in Hampton; • The Birches, a 312-unit property located in Chesapeake; • The Oaks, a 300-unit property located in Norfolk; • Pembroke Lake, a 300-unit property located in Virginia Beach; • Aurburn Chase, a 272-unit property located in Newport News; • Bancroft Hall, a 244-unit property located in Virginia Beach; and • Heatherwood, a 232-unit property located in Newport News. Harbor Group plans to invest approximately $11 million in capital improvements to the properties. Two of the properties have already closed, and the remainder of the portfolio is expected to close in the coming weeks. The Cushman & Wakefield team of Drew White and Mike Marshall is representing Great Atlantic, a locally based apartment owner, in the deal. The buyer already has a significant presence in Southeast Virginia. Harbor Group currently owns more than 1,700 apartments in Hampton Roads as well as 1.5 …
NEWTON, MASS. — Newton-based REIT Senior Housing Properties Trust (NYSE: SNH) has entered into an agreement to acquire a senior housing portfolio for $304 million. The portfolio comprises 20 communities located in the South. The portfolio includes seven communities located in North Carolina, five in South Carolina, four in Florida, two in Virginia and two in Georgia. The communities contain a total of 2,111 units, which include 939 assisted living suites, 814 independent living apartments, 311 Alzheimer's care suites and 47 skilled nursing beds. SNH will lease 15 of the properties to one of its subsidiaries. Five Star Quality Care, a former SNH subsidiary in which SNH maintains a 9 percent stake, will manage the communities under a long-term agreement. The 15 communities currently have an average occupancy rate of 85 percent. The remaining five communities will also be leased to Five Star and will be added to one or more of the combination leases currently in effect between the management firm and SNH. The five communities have an average occupancy rate of 97 percent. SNH will fund the acquisition, which is expected to close in the second quarter, with a combination of $79 million in mortgage debt assumption, cash …
ESCONDIDO, CALIF. — Escondido-based REIT Realty Income Corp. (RIC) has signed a definitive agreement to purchase a portfolio of single-tenant, net-leased properties for approximately $544 million. The portfolio contains 33 properties totaling 3.8 million square feet that are located in 17 states. While the vast majority of RIC's holdings are retail properties, a majority of this portfolio contains other property types. Distribution properties make up 34 percent of the portfolio's lease revenue, with tenants that include Aviall Services, Caterpillar, FedEx Corp. and International Paper. Manufacturing properties make up 8 percent of the portfolio's revenue, with tenants that include Coca-Cola and MeadWestvaco Corporation. Office properties make up 25 percent of the leasing revenue, with tenants that include Fiserv Inc., Novus International, Solae and T-Mobile USA. The final one-third of the portfolio comprises retail properties, with tenants that include AMC Theatres, Cinemark Theatres, Regal Cinemas and Walgreens. The portfolio has an average remaining lease term of more than 11 years. RIC will fund the purchase with cash on hand as well as through its revolving credit facility. The majority of the properties will close during the first half of the year. In a statement, Realty Income CEO Tom Lewis states that the …
NEW YORK CITY — Spanish retail giant Inditex Group has acquired a Fifth Avenue retail condominium for a whopping $324 million. The 38,750-square-foot condo, which is located at 666 Fifth Ave., traded for $8,361 per square foot — reportedly one of the highest prices ever paid for retail space in the United States. The seller was a joint venture between The Caryle Group and Crown Acquisitions, which purchased the entire 90,000-square-foot retail portion of the building from Cushner Cos. in 2008 for $525 million. With the condo's prime location, it is easy to see why it could fetch such a steep price. It is located near Rockefeller Center, the Museum of Modern Art and St. Patrick's Cathedral. It is on the same block as the flagship stores for Uniqlo and Hollister. New York-based real estate investment banking firm Savills helped arranged the deal on behalf of Inditex. The transaction included negotiating an early lease termination for the condo's tenant, the NBA Store, so Inditex could bring its apparel brand Zara into the location. “There is no better retail in Manhattan and our client has reinforced this through their acquisition,” said Borja Sierra, CEO of Savills Europe, in a statement. “Rather …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A joint venture between Dune Real Estate Partners and Pantzer Properties has acquired the Magazine Portfolio for $460 million. The portfolio comprises eight apartment communities totaling 2,580 units that are located in the Washington, D.C., metro area. The Class A/B+ properties were constructed between 1975 and 1991. They include: • Barton's Crossing, a 532-unit property located in Alexandria, Va.; • Carlyle Station, a 408-unit property located in Manassas, Va.; • Fox Run, a 218-unit property located in Germantown, Md.; • Glen at Leesburg, a 134-unit property located in Lessburg, Va.; • Lionsgate at Herndon, a 328-unit property located in Herndon, Va.; • University Heights, a 467-unit property located in Ashburn, Va.; • Village at McNair Farms, a 283-unit property also located in Herndon; and • Watkins Station, a 210-unit property located in Gaithersburg, Md. Dune and Pantzer made the acquisition on behalf of Panco Strategic Real Estate Fund I, a 50-50 joint venture between the two companies. The transaction included the assumption of the properties' existing debt. Panco Management, the in-house management division of Pantzer Properties, will manage the communities under the brand name “The Point.” The Mid-Atlantic office of Jones Lang LaSalle brokered the deal. Law …
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis City-County Council has approved plans for the construction of a $155 million mixed-use project near Lucas Oil Stadium. The City also agreed to issue $86 million in bond financing to help fund the project. This is in addition to the $15 million the City and State have already committed to fund infrastructure improvements. North of South will be constructed on a 10-acre parking lot located along South Street between Delaware Street and Virginia Avenue. The parking lot had formerly been used by Eli Lilly & Co., which maintains its corporate headquarters nearby. Eli Lilly is partnering with local developer Buckingham Cos. to redevelop the site. At full build-out, North of South will contain 320 upscale apartments, 40,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space, a hotel operated by Dolce Hotels & Resorts, and a new flagship YMCA. The project's residential component will contain a mix of studio to three-bedroom apartments and townhomes. Eli Lilly plans to use some of the units as corporate housing that will provide easy access to its 15,000-employee campus. Apartment amenities will include a swimming pool and clubhouse, rooftop terraces and structured parking. Dolce plans to construct a 158-room hotel that will …