NEW YORK CITY — An international consortium that includes New York-based investment and development firm Youngwood & Associates and Korean bank Kumho Investment Bank has entered into an agreement to acquire the New York City headquarters of American Insurance Group Inc. (AIG). The two connected buildings, which are located at 70 Pine St. and 72 Wall St. in Manhattan’s Financial District, contain 1.4 million rentable square feet. AIG occupies the 66-story Pine Street tower. The office buildings was built in 1932, at the same time as 72 Wall Street, and was the tallest skyscraper in New York City until the construction of the World Trade Center. AIG has occupied the tower since the 1970s. The purchase was arranged by CB Richard Ellis. Terms of the transaction were not released pending the completion of the sale, but multiple sources have estimated the sale price at approximately $100 million. In a statement, Greg Carney, a partner with Youngwood & Associates, said,” We are pleased to announce this important transaction and view it as a key stepping stone in our long-range plan to establish a major presence for Korean institutions in the U.S. property and capital markets. According to a release issued by …
CONYERS, GA. — The Liquid Products Division of Golden State Foods has signed a 5-year lease with Ashley Capital for 100,952 square feet in the Rockdale Logistics Center, making it the center’s first tenant since Ashley bought the warehouse in 2007. The Conyers property spans 25 acres and encompasses more than 540,000 square feet. Golden State Foods currently occupies a manufacturing facility in Conyers across the street from Rockdale Logistics Center and will use the new space for storage. “They’ve grown recently in the liquid products division, and they needed to use more space in their existing plant for manufacturing,” says Bobby Mason of Atlanta-based Lavista Associates. Mason was the sole broker on the deal, representing Ashley Capital. “[GSF] is one of the few business that actually had a demand based on the growth in the business.” Even though the tenant needed more space and Rockdale Logistics Center is across the street from GSF’s manufacturing facility, the transaction still took some work. “There’s no easy deals anymore, unfortunately,” Mason says. “This is the first deal of this size that’s been done in a while.” — Jon Ross
NEW YORK CITY — Last week, a bankruptcy auction was held in Manhattan, New York City, for Burlington, Mass.-based Filene’s Basement. The off-price retailer was purchased following a 9-hour auction by K&G Acquisition Corp., an affiliate of retailer Men’s Wearhouse, for $67 million. The bid is subject to a hearing in Federal Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., on June 10. If the deal is approved, K&G will acquire 17 of the retailer’s 20 store leases; inventory from all 25 existing Filene’s Basement locations; the leases for the company’s Burlington headquarters and Auburn, Mass., distribution center; and the Filene’s Basement trade name. The purchase price also includes approximately $5 million for potential litigation associated with the retailer’s lease at Downtown Crossing, a currently inactive redevelopment project located in Boston. Stores that were not acquired as part of the auction — which include locations in Baltimore; Hyannis, Peabody and Saugus, Mass.; and Elizabeth and Paramus, N.J. — are expected to be closed by mid-June. FB Acquisition II, an affiliate of Agoura Hills, Calif.-based Buxbaum Group, purchased Filene’s Basement in April from Retail Ventures, then soon after filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to reorganize the company. In a statement, Scott Rusczyk, president …
ATLANTA — Larry L. Gellerstedt, III, has been appointed CEO of Atlanta-based Cousins Properties by the firm’s board of directors. On July 1, the former president and COO will succeed current CEO Thomas D. Bell, who is retiring from the company. S. Taylor Glover has been appointed as non-executive chairman of the board. Gellerstedt joined Cousins in 2005 when the firm acquired his company, The Gellerstedt Group. He has also previously worked as chairman and CEO of Beers Construction Co.; he has held the same role with American Business Products and The Integral Group. Bell was appointed CEO of Cousins in 2002 and was elected chairman in 2006. Cousins is currently developing the 10-acre Terminus project on the corner of Peachtree Street and Piedmont Avenue in Atlanta. “Just as it has for 50 years, our leadership team will continue to move Cousins forward, doing so with an unwavering commitment to our stakeholders, our communities and to excellence each day,” Gellerstedt says in a statement. — Jon Ross
DENTON, TEXAS — Feldman Mall Properties is currently negotiating with its lender for a forbearance on a loan that is partially secured by Denton’s Golden Triangle Mall. According to a release from the Great Neck, N.Y.-based shopping mall owner, the company has a $30 million line of credit, which is secured by some of its properties up to $24.6 million, and a guarantee by one of the company’s direct subsidiaries for any outstanding balance over that amount. The company states that its current outstanding balance is $27.8 million and it has also violated certain financial covenants. It is looking for a forbearance through the end of this year. Last year, Feldman attempted to complete a deal with Inland American Real Estate Trust in which Feldman would repurchase 2 million shares of preferred stock from Inland and receive $9.25 million from the company in exchange for Inland receiving the titles to Golden Triangle Mall; Stratford Square Mall, located in Bloomingdale, Ill.; and Northgate Mall, located in Cincinnati. Inland terminated the agreement in January 2009. At the time, Feldman state that it would need to find another way to raise the capital to retire $28.5 million in secured and unsecured, fixed and …
ATLANTA — Orinda Corp. is planning a $35 million upgrade at 222 Mitchell St. in Atlanta, transforming the former Nations Bank/Bank of America Operations Center into a mixed-use space. Atlanta-based Orinda and Charlottesville, Va.-based Octagon Capital Partners purchased the 350,000-square-foot property from Bank of North Georgia for an undisclosed amount. The firms are already moving ahead with a new look for the office building, outlining a project consisting of 205 lofts and more than 70,000 square feet of commercial space. Orinda has had previous success mixing residences with commercial condominium space at the Studioplex development in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward. “We think there’s an underserved small loft office need downtown,” says Dillon Baynes, president of Orinda, adding that 222 Mitchell St. is “the right project for the times.” In addition to downtown workers, the firms are expecting interest from area students. Georgia State University, Spelman College, Morehouse College, Clark Atlanta University and Georgia Tech are all located near the property. Baynes says Georgia State will increase its enrollment by 4,000 students during the next 4 years. Completion of the retooled tower is expected in January 2011. The first major task is finding construction financing for the project. Baynes says he’s …
ATLANTA — 100 Peachtree Street Atlanta LLC, an affiliate of Horsham, Pa.-based Capmark Bank, has purchased the 615,122-square-foot building at 100 Peachtree St. in Atlanta at auction for $29.5 million. Capmark Bank had foreclosed on the property, known as the Equitable Building, in early April. The owner, Equa-stone 100 Peachtree, had failed to pay back a loan of up to $52 million. The loan’s outstanding balance was $42 million, according to William Rothschild, an attorney with Sutherland who represented Capmark in the proceedings. 100 Peachtree Street Atlanta LLC was the sole bidder at the auction.
DETROIT — In the wake of General Motors filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday, the company has announced plans to close or place on standby several of its manufacturing and distribution facilities. Most notable was the company’s announcement that it will cease operations December 31 at three of its parts distribution centers located in Boston; Columbus, Ohio; and Jacksonville, Fla. As a result of lower demand and the inevitable reduction of the company’s size, GM will also close several manufacturing facilities over the next 2 years. Assembly plants in Wilmington, Del., and Pontiac, Mich., will both be closed by the fall, and plants in Pontiac, Mich., and Spring Hill, Tenn., will both be put on standby capacity in September and November, respectively. Several stamping plants will also be shuttered. This month will see the previously announced closing of a Grand Rapids, Mich., plant, followed by the Mansfield, Ohio, plant in June 2010 and the Indianapolis plant in December 2011. The Pontiac, Mich., stamping plant will be put on standby capacity in December 2010. Finally, five manufacturing plants for powertrain components will close in 2010, including the company’s engine plant in Livonia, Mich. The other facilities are located in …
MARIETTA, GA. — Marietta-based WellStar Health Systems will break ground on a $100 million hospital in Hiram, Ga., next year, part of $800 million to be spent in the next 10 years on systems upgrades and facility expansions in Georgia. The proposal calls for $120 million worth of information technology improvements across the company’s hospital system, including a new data center, and a $14 million outpatient campus in Cobb County. The plan will be implemented in three phases. “That’s not $800 million that we’re going to chunk out in one check,” says Gregory Simone, CEO of WellStar Health Systems. The 100-bed hospital in Paulding County will be constructed to replace the WellStar Paulding Hospital in Dallas, Ga., which is adjacent to a fully occupied medical office building owned by the company. The global architecture firm HKS will construct the hospital using LEED Silver standards with an eye toward future expansion. WellStar is hoping to submit a deed request by the end of the year, which would set up a potential groundbreaking for December 2010. If everything proceeds as scheduled, Simone says, the company will open the hospital in April 2013. “It’s a 10-year plan, so we’re looking at the growth …
CHICAGO — Developer ECD Company and architecture firm Koo and Associates have completed theWit, a Doubletree Hotel, on the corner of State and Lake streets in downtown Chicago. The hotel, which opened May 27th, features 298 guestrooms in a new 27-story, 250,000-square-foot building. Its location positions theWit at the gateway to the city’s Theater District, which led to its unique “lightning bolt” design, an element that has garnered the building much-needed buzz leading to its opening. “We really wanted a design that highlighted the corner of State and Lake and had an exciting, almost theatrical, quality to it,” says Jackie Koo, founder of Koo and Associates. “The now well-known zig-zagging chartreuse glass on the building came about more from a programmatic sense and from the constraints of the site, but it has been a great thing for the identity and branding of the building.” The lightning bolt is a sliver of angled, laminated yellow glass, mimicking a bolt of energy that extends the full length of the building. At least one guestroom on each floor will offer this unique design element from which guests can enjoy views of the city. The hotel is situated on a small 9,500-square-foot (68’ by …