Top Stories

COCONUT CREEK, FLA. — Apartment Realty Advisors (ARA) has brokered the sale of the remaining 272 residential units at Olivine at the Township Condominiums in Coconut Creek. Ninety-five percent of the units involved in the broken-condo sale were occupied by renters at the time of closing. The purchase price of $22.5 million represents a per-unit price of $82,720. When condo sales were under way for the property, the average purchase price was $227,415. The bulk REO sale was complete in a short sale-style workout with the lenders. Hampton Beebe and Avery Klann of ARA's Boca Raton, Fla., office represented the seller, Prestige Builders Group. The buyer's name was not released, but the party was sourced through ARA's National Buyers list and was new to the South Florida market. “The transaction was challenging, because there were so many parties involved: seller, buyer, a lead lender and two participating lenders,” Beebe said. “Ultimately, the property sold because it's a high-quality asset in a great location. In terms of rental income, expenses and condition of the property, it is one of the healthiest fractured condo properties in South Florida.” — Coleman Wood

PHILADELPHIA — Brandywine Realty Trust has acquired a leasehold interest in a trophy office tower located in downtown Philadelphia. Formerly known as the Bell Atlantic Tower, the building is located at 1717 Arch St. The property rises 53 stories and contains 1.03 million square feet of Class A space. It also includes a 309-space parking garage. Occupancy for the property was 63 percent at the time of closing. Verizon holds a long-term land lease for it, which has been prepaid through August 2022. The company also recently signed a lease for floors two through seven of the building — a total of 121,945 square feet. To acquire the property from the seller, The Blackstone Group, Brandywine provided $51.2 million in cash as well as 7.11 million operating partnership units, which are part of its new Continuous Equity Offering Program. As part of the arrangement, Blackstone will receive 7.11 million shares of what Brandywine has designated Class F units. These units do not accrue a distribution for the first year after the property's closing. After one year, the units receive a payment equivalent to the dividend Brandywine pays on its common shares. The holder of the units will have the right …

SAN FRANCISCO — Forest City Enterprises has sold its interest in Metreon, a 279,000-square-foot mixed-use project located in downtown San Francisco. The $19 million deal involved Forest City selling a 50 percent interest in the property to Westfield Group, which acquired the property in a joint venture with Forest City back in 2006. “Metreon continues to be a great redevelopment property with significant potential,” said Charles Ratner, president and CEO of Forest City, in a statement. “Consistent with our strategy of reducing overall development activity, we made the decision, in consultation with Westfield, to focus on other West Coast assets and opportunities.” Forest City retains a large presence in the Bay Area. It and Westfield still own interests in the nearby Westfield San Francisco Centre/Emporium mixed-use project. Forest City also recently completed the adaptive reuse of Presidio Landmark Apartments at Presidio National Park. In Oakland, the company developed Uptown Apartments. It also has a project in the pipeline called 5M, which consists of the redevelopment of the former San Francisco Chronicle building into an innovation campus. — Coleman Wood

EXETER TOWNSHIP, PA. — A joint venture between Toronto-based RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) and Port Washington, N.Y.-based Cedar Shopping Centers has closed on the $53 million acquisition of Exeter Commons shopping center in Exeter Township. The 361,000-square-foot center was completed in 2009. Its anchors include a 171,000-square-foot Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse and an 82,000-square-foot Giant Food Stores, both of which are under 20-year leases. Other tenants include Staples, Petco, Famous Footwear, Five Below, Sleepy's, Five Guys Burgers & Fries, Hallmark, Red Robin, Affinity Bank and Sonic. Occupancy was 98 percent at the time of closing. The purchase was funded, in part, by a $30 million loan provided by New York Life Insurance Co. The loan carries a 10-year term, a 30-year amortization schedule and a 5.3 percent interest rate. Marcus & Millichap's Brad Nathanson represented the undisclosed seller. RioCan REIT holds an 80 percent stake in the joint venture, with Cedar Shopping Centers holding the other 20 percent. The partnership was formed last October with RioCan's $181 million acquisition of an 80 percent stake in a portfolio of seven grocery-anchored shopping centers located in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania that were previously wholly owned by Cedar. The portfolio contains …

CHICAGO — Behringer Harvard has acquired a Chicago apartment tower on behalf of its Behringer Harvard Multifamily REIT I. The community, known as Burnham Pointe, is located on the South Loop at 730 S. Clark St., in the historic Printers Row neighborhood. The 28-story high-rise was constructed in 2008. It contains 298 one- and two- bedroom residences above approximately 15,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. The units range in size from 735 to 2,256 square feet. Amenities include a fitness center, a club room with a full-service kitchen, a business center and a spa. A landscaped terrace offers a sundeck, a rose garden and gas-fired grills. The tower also contains an adjacent, six-story parking garage. “Burnham Pointe is a stabilized residential high-rise offering luxurious finishes and amenities in a desirable central Chicago location, said, Mark Alfieri, COO of Behringer Harvard Multifamily REIT I, in a statement. “We believe the community will benefit from its location in a submarket favored by educated, affluent renters that continues to demonstrate resilience in rental rates.” With this most recent deal, the portfolio of Behringer Harvard Multifamily REIT I includes investments in 28 properties containing a total of 7,894 apartment units. — Coleman Wood

CHICAGO — KBS Real Estate Investment Trust II (KBS REIT II) has acquired 300 North LaSalle, a trophy office tower located in Chicago's River North submarket. The 60-story, 1.3 million-square-foot building was 93 percent leased at the time of the sale. Its anchor, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, occupies 687,857 square feet. Other tenants include Boston Consulting Group, GTCR Golder Rauner, Aviva and Quarles & Brady LLP. Designed by Pickard Chilton, the tower was developed in 2009. It features a conference center overlooking the Chicago River, a fitness center, a restaurant, a riverfront café and underground parking. The building is also LEED-Gold certified. Sustainable features include a riverfront public garden, a 50 percent green roof and a river water cooling system. “The building's features, unmatched view corridors and LaSalle Street address resulted in a rapid lease-up even during the economic downturn,” said Bill Rogalla, senior vice president at KBS Realty Advisors and director of acquisitions for its Central Region. “We expect the building's Class AAA-quality and environmental attributes to contribute to significant tenant retention over the long term.” Glenn Whitmore of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler's New York City office partnered with Jamie Fink and Jeff Bramson of the firm's Chicago office to …

NEW YORK CITY — Brookfield Properties Corp. has announced a plan to reposition itself as a global office property company. As part of the plan, the company will acquire an interest in an Australian office portfolio and divest itself of its residential land and housing business. Brookfield Properties is acquiring its stake in the office portfolio from Brookfield Asset Management for$1.4 billion (US). The portfolio contains 16 office buildings totaling 8 million square feet of space. Ten of the properties are located in Sydney, four are located in Melbourne and two are located in Perth. Portfolio occupancy averages 99 percent. The estimated value of the portfolio is $3.4 billion (US). Brookfield Properties plans to fund the transaction from $1.3 billion in available liquidity and from a $750 million subordinate bridge acquisition facility, which will be provided by Brookfield Asset Management. Brookfield Properties already has a presence in Australia's office market. It currently has a development pipeline of 15.6 million square feet, which includes City Square, a 926,000-square-foot office tower under development in Perth. The company also has the right of first offer to develop or purchase three development sites: The Foundry in Melbourne, Bathurst Street in Sydney and Bishops See …

EAST LANSING, MICH. — Birmingham, Ala.-based Capstone Development Corp. is developing a new off-campus student housing project in East Lansing that will serve students at Michigan State University. Known as The Lodges of East Lansing, the community will feature 220 one- to four-bedroom units with a total of 683 beds. It will be constructed in a lodge style that, as the developer describes, “is a unique blend of urban infill and English Tudor architecture.” Parking will be located behind the buildings, and parks and community spaces will be spread across the grounds to encourage students to gather. Amenities will include a clubhouse that features a study room, a fitness center, a tanning salon and a resort-style spa. Outdoors will be a heated pool, a plaza with a fountain, and volleyball and bocce courts. The Lodges of East Lansing is expected to be open to students by fall 2011. Capstone's in-house construction division, Cottage Builders, will serve as construction manager for the project. Other members of the team include Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Wolverine Building Group and Birmingham-based Dungan-Nequette Architects. Upon completion, Capstone Properties will lease and manage the property. Construction financing consisted of a senior construction loan from Birmingham-based BBVA Compass …