Top Stories

LOS ANGELES — In less than one week, Corona, Calif.-based Watermarke Properties has acquired two major Los Angeles apartment properties for a total of $158 million. Most recently, Watermark purchased 705 West Ninth Street for $110 million. The 35-story tower, originally a condo tower later converted to apartments, was acquired from Meruelo Maddux Properties, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year. All of the tower's 214 units were vacant at the time of closing. Watermarke has already commenced a leasing campaign, renaming the property Watermarke Tower in the process. Prior to the closing of 705 West Ninth Street, Watermarke closed on the $48 million acquisition of The Gardens at Wilshire Center, which is located in the Wilshire Center/Koreatown submarket. The six-story, 159-unit property was sold by a joint venture between Burbank, Calif.-based Chandler Properties — which developed the property in 2008 — and Denver-based Amstar Group. The deal was brokered by the Irvine, Calif., office of Moran & Co. Both communities feature an extensive amenity package. The two properties contain resort-style swimming pools, fitness centers, movie screening rooms, lounges and landscaped outdoor areas. Both buildings also feature ground-floor retail space. The purchases are part of an long-term acquisition program …

ROCKVILLE, MD. — BioMed Realty Trust has acquired the life sciences campus that houses the J. Craig Venter Institute for $53 million. The campus, which comprises five buildings and 218,000 square feet of space, is located at 9704-9714 Medical Center Drive in the DNA Alley corridor of Rockville. The Venter Institute, which previously owned its campus and occupies all of its space, will lease the facility back from BioMed for a 10-year term. In a statement, J. Craig Venter, the Institute's founder and president, said, “We are pleased to be working with BioMed as a real estate partner, as it will enable us to remain financially sound for the foreseeable future and ensure that we can continue our groundbreaking genomic science.” This most recent purchase increases BioMed's Maryland portfolio to six properties, which comprise 15 buildings and 1.4 million square feet of space. Most recently, BioMed acquired two life sciences buildings in Gaithersburg, Md., also within DNA Alley, for $14.4 million. The buildings total 83,400 square feet and are occupied by GenVex and an affiliate of AstraZeneca. — Coleman Wood

WESTON, FLA. — RREEF has acquired a 679,918-square-foot industrial portfolio on behalf of an institutional client. Weston Business Center is located approximately 30 miles northwest of Miami in Weston. It consists of four Class A warehouse and distribution buildings situated along Weston Road and West Corporate Lakes Boulevard. The complex is fully leased. The seller in the transaction was a joint venture between Industrial Developments International and a group of institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management. The acquisition price was not disclosed. — Coleman Wood

TULSA, OKLA. — Tulsa-based Stan Johnson Co. has brokered the sale of a 20-property CVS/pharmacy portfolio for $62.7 million. The portfolio contains more than 248,000 square feet of retail space. The pharmacies are located in Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia. Jeff Hughes of Stan Johnson's Tulsa office and Brandon Duff of the firm's Chicago office represented the buyer and seller, both undisclosed, Texas-based parties. –Coleman Wood

SAN JOSE, CALIF. — Walker & Dunlop has originated $138.93 million in Freddie Mac funds for the refinancing of a San Jose apartment community. Elan at River Oaks is a 941-unit community that also contains 23,000 square feet of commercial space. The undisclosed borrower recently completed a $15 million renovation of the property that included unit upgrades, a clubhouse renovation, elevator upgrades, new exterior paint and a fountain upgrade. The borrower plans to use the proceeds to retire $120 million in existing debt. Verne Murray, III, and Jeff Burns led the Walker & Dunlop team that originated the loan. Last year, Walker & Dunlop also arranged a $151 million Freddie Mac loan for Ritz Plaza, a 43-story residential tower located in New York City's Times Square. — Coleman Wood

GLENVIEW, ILL. — Japanese pharmaceutical company Astellas Us Holding has broken ground for the construction of its new U.S. headquarters. The complex will be located in Glenview, less than 10 miles away from its current headquarters in Deerfield. Construction will include two buildings totaling 425,000 square feet of space. Astellas plans to move approximately 1,000 employees to the complex, which can accommodate up to 1,700. The site also contains space for a future third building that could total up to 175,000 square feet. Completion of the project is slated for 2012. It is applying for LEED certification. MB Real Estate assisted Astellas in acquiring the 8-acre site, which was formerly held by Culligan Water. MB's Project Services division will partner with Chicago-based GlenStar Properties to provide development management services. The project architect is Goettsch Partners. — Coleman Wood

HUTCHINS, TEXAS — The Dallas office of Duke Realty Corp. has leased a 626,100-square-foot warehouse/distribution building located in the Dallas suburb of Hutchins. American Standard Brands, a kitchen and bath products manufacturer, will occupy the building and use it as a distribution center for its south and central U.S. regions. Known as Intermodal I, the building features immediate access to the Union Pacific Railroad Intermodal Facility as well as nearby access to interstates 45 and 20. “Intermodal I's Triple Freeport inventory tax exempt status and location in a foreign trade zone also offers benefits to American Standard, as do the additional incentives that the city of Hutchins was willing to provide American Standard to help facilitate the move,” says Curt Hefner, a senior leasing representative for Duke Realty who represented his company in lease negotiations. Dave Anderson of CB Richard Ellis represented American Standard in the transaction. The tenant plans to take occupancy in June and will be consolidating its multiple San Antonio locations into the new facility. – Coleman Wood

CHICAGO — Chicago-based JRM Technology has received city approval for the development of a 315,000-square-foot data center on Chicago's Near South Side. The project will be located at 111 E. Cermak Road, just two blocks away from an existing 1.1 million-square-foot data center located within the former RR Donnelly printing plant at 350 E. Cermak Road. “With 350 East Cermak approximately 95 percent leased, firms that need very fast fiber optic transmission speeds are seeking data center space close by,” said James McHugh, principal of JRM Technology, in a statement. “The new center's location helps ensure a large amount of fiber providers with high-volume and low-latency fiber optic lines.” The new data center will be powered by up to 40 megawatts of electricity, and two ComEd substations are planned to service it. The six-story building will also contain 143,000 square feet of raised floor space, 18-foot ceiling heights, space for full-generator backup and heavy duty cooling systems. In addition, the project will be applying for LEED-Gold certification. James McHugh Construction Co. is serving as design/build contractor. Environmental Systems Design is serving as lead architect/engineer, and Archideas will be the consulting architect. The project is anticipated to break ground this fall, …