Top Stories

DALLAS — The grand opening has been held for a new medical office building located in the heart of Dallas' medical corridor. Known as 10740 Medical Office Building, the project was developed by a joint venture among McShane Development Co., Glaucoma Associates of Texas and Cornea Associates of Texas. The four-story, 92,000-square-foot building is located at 10740 North Central Expressway, near Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital as well as Medical City Dallas. Ophthalmology Surgery Center of Dallas is the anchor tenant, occupying all 25,000 square feet of the fourth floor as an ambulatory surgery center. The project's co-developers, Glaucoma Associates and Cornea Associates, each occupy 10,000-square-foot suites. Other tenants include North American Spine, which occupies 8,000 square feet; Dr. Bradley Jost, who operates a 3,700-square-foot practice; and Dallas Laser Center, which is leasing 2,000 square feet. The facility can accommodate additional tenants ranging from 500 to 13,000 square feet. The Dallas office of Cadence McShane Construction provided design/build services for the project. The project architects were Marasco & Associates and Alliance Architects. — Coleman Wood

NEW YORK CITY — SL Green Realty Corp. has entered into an agreement to acquire 600 Lexington Avenue from an affiliate of Hines for $193 million. The Class A tower contains 303,515 square feet of space over 36 floors. Occupancy currently stands at 93.6 percent but approximately 54 percent of the leases are set to expire during the next 3 years. SL Green plans to use this opportunity to launch a targeting leasing and marketing campaign with the goal of repositioning the building. In a statement, SL Green CEO Marc Holliday said, “Recent improvements in New York City office fundamentals, coupled with improvements in the credit markets, have resulted in the New York City real estate market beginning to open up after 2 years, in which there has been a dearth of institutional-quality offerings. We have worked hard to build our cash position in order to be able to take advantage of opportunities quickly as the market recovers. With that in mind, we moved aggressively to lock up this opportunity, and there exists a strong likelihood that we will be able to attract a joint venture partner on this asset.” As part of the transaction, SL Green will assume $49.85 …

WEST BAY, FLA. — The St. Joe Company has commenced development of its proposed VentureCrossings Enterprise Centre in West Bay. Construction will begin later this year for an approximately 50,000-square-foot, Class A, multi-tenant office building. In addition, upon the building's completion in summer 2011. St. Joe will relocate its corporate headquarters from Jacksonville, Fla., to the VentureCrossings building. The developer will do so to give itself a central location to oversee the development of VentureCrossings. The master-planned project encompasses 1,000 acres, which will be used for a variety of property types. Approximately 100 acres will be set aside for retail, office and hotel projects, and approximately 300 acres will be for light industrial uses. The final 600 acres will take advantage of the park's prime location immediately adjacent to the new Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport to provide tenants with manufacturing, distribution and logistics space within sight of the new airport's runway. “VentureCrossings is an unparalleled greenfield site and a unique multi-modal opportunity for expanding businesses interested in air, land and sea access,” said Kevin Johnson, vice president of economic development for St. Joe. “Because of our region's strong military presence and transportation assets, West Bay is an ideal growth …

SAN DIEGO — The Unified Port of San Diego has authorized the transfer of 6 acres of land that will be used for the expansion of the San Diego Convention Center. The San Diego Convention Center Corp. (SDCCC) will pay $1 million of the $13.5 million purchase price at closing for the land, which is being transfered from Fifth Avenue Landing LLC. The SDCCC will then pay $500,000 per year toward the principal for 5 years and pay off the remainder of the loan at the end of the 5-year term. The expansion stands to add approximately 1.26 million square feet of space to the already 2.6 million-square-foot convention center. Tentative expansion plans include 200,000 square feet of exhibit space, 100,000 square feet of meeting rooms, 80,000 square feet of multi-purpose ballrooms and 40,000 square feet of bayfront retail. The project is estimated to cost $752.7 million. According to the SDCCC, the convention center expansion is something the city has needed for a long time. the organization estimates that San Diego has lost or has had to turn away 381 events in recent years due to lack of space at the convention center. The city is also at risk of …

NEW YORK CITY — Wells Fargo & Co. has closed on $100 million in Freddie Mac funds to assist with the refinancing of a New York City residential building. The Fairfax contains 313 apartment units as well as retail and office space on the lower two floors. Occupancy was 99.7 percent at the time of closing. The borrower, TF Cornerstone, plans to use the loan proceeds to help pay down a $66 million mortgage held by a life insurance company. The new loan carries a 10-year term and a fixed interest rate. According to a press release, TF Cornerstone plans to use the liquidity freed up by the financing to pursue new acquisition opportunities. Last December, Wells Fargo helped TF Cornerstone procured $121.43 million in Freddie Mac funds to refinance Chelsea Centro, a 356-unit apartment property also located in New York City. — Coleman Wood

DALLAS AND HOUSTON — Multi-Housing Capital Advisors (MHCA) has brokered the sale of a $113 million multifamily portfolio in Texas. The portfolio contains three properties in Dallas and one in Houston. All three Dallas communities are in the city's Uptown submarket and include Knoxbridge, a 334-unit property located at 4649 Cole Ave.; 3636 McKinney, a 103-unit property located at 3636 McKinney Ave.; and West Village, a 75-unit property located at 3839 McKinney Ave. The Houston property is Memorial Hills, a 308-unit community located at 4200 Scotland St. “In the current market, where transactions have been few and far between, especially involving core assets, we worked diligently to create a mutually beneficial transaction comprised only of highly desirable infill assets,” said Peter Sherman, a broker with MHCA that helped arranged the deal. Uptown Dallas has embraced New Urbanism principles, creating a pedestrian-oriented neighborhood that features retail, restaurant and entertainment options. The Houston property is located adjacent to the city's central business district as well as the River Oaks neighborhood. Sherman joined with MHCA brokers Curtis Palmer, Andy Sands and Herb Chase to completed the transaction. The seller was Los Angeles-based Gables Residential and the buyer was CIM Group, also of L.A. …

LITTLETON, MASS. — Norcross, Ga.-based Wells Real Estate Funds has acquired the IBM | Littleton campus from a joint venture between New York-based Angelo Gordon and Newton, Mass.-based National Development. The campus, which is situated on 41 acres at 550 King St., consists of two three-story buildings containing 490,000 square feet of office space. IBM occupies the entire property on a long-term basis and currently has more than 10 years remaining on its lease. The seller had previously completed a more than $50 million renovation of the property. “This is a great acquisition for our portfolio, and we are thrilled to add IBM | Littleton to the Wells family of tenants,” said Don Henry, Wells' chief real estate officer, in a statement. “IBM is one of the strongest names in international business, and we look forward to serving their real estate needs in Massachusetts for many years to come.” The Capital Markets Group of Cushman & Wakefield arranged the deal, with Robert Griffin and Edward Maher, Jr., representing the seller and procuring the buyer. The acquisition price was not released. – Coleman Wood