HAYWARD, CALIF. — Department store Mervyn’s filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Tuesday, citing the state of the economy as one of the chief reasons. The company has also received a $465 million debtor-in-possession facility from a lender group led by Wachovia Capital Finance Corp. as the agent. Under Chapter 11 bankruptcy, companies continue to operate while they reorganize business operations and finances. Hayward, Calif.-based Mervyn’s operates 176 mid-tier department stores in seven states.
JACKSONVILLE, FLA. — Schafer Development has acquired the former Jax Raceways site with plans for a 1.5 million-square-foot industrial business park. “We’ve been working on it (acquiring the property) for two years,” said Steve Schafer, president of Schafer Development. “It’s ideally located near the airport, the seaport area and Interstate 95. There’s a lot of great activity in Jacksonville,” Schafer said. Between 1968 and 2004 the property operated as Gator Speedway, New Jacksonville Speedway and JAX Dragstrip, and most recently had been owned in partnership with Lennar Homes and GMAC. It is situated on Pecan Park Road. “It was mostly vacant land. The grandstands and everything had already been removed because the owner was going to proceed with a residential development. Partway into the project, they stopped,” Schafer said. Over the past two years, Schafer Development, based in Farmington Hills, Mich., has developed other sites in Jacksonville including New Berlin Commerce Park (860,000 square feet); Main Street Commerce Park (810,000 square feet); and Faye Road Commerce Park (350,000 square feet). The newly acquired land will connect with Main Street Commerce Park. Schafer said that they are already in discussions with one potential user. “We’ve rezoned it back to industrial,” Schafer …
LOS ANGELES — Maguire Properties has sold Main Plaza to Shorenstein Properties LLC for approximately $211 million. The transaction includes nearly $10 million of cash reserves and assumption of approximately $161 million of project level financing. The sale is subject to the assumption of the existing project financing and customary closing conditions. The transaction is expected to close third quarter 2008. Main Plaza is located in the heart of the Airport Area submarket of Irvine. It features two 12-story, Class A office buildings and two free-standing buildings totaling approximately 607,000 square feet. “This transaction demonstrates our commitment to our stated objective of disposing of certain Orange County properties to accomplish our balance sheet objectives,” said Nelson C. Rising, president and CEO of Maguire Properties. “We are extremely pleased with the timing and the results of this disposition.”
BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF. — Kennedy Wilson, in a joint venture with its sponsored funds KW Property Fund II and KW Property Fund III, has acquired 6100 Wilshire in Beverly Hills. The 213,961-square-foot, 16-story office building is located on the southwest corner of Wilshire and Fairfax, and is adjacent to the Broad Contemporary Museum and Peterson Automotive Museum. Built in 1986, the building has full height, floor-to-ceiling glass bay windows and usable balconies. The property is currently 85 percent occupied and tenants include CBS, Ovation, World Link, Fulfillment Fund, Idea Asylum and City National Bank. General Electric Capital Corp. provided financing for the transaction. Additionally, Kennedy Wilson Multifamily Management Group (KW Multifamily) has acquired Avalon Redmond and Indigo Springs, two multifamily properties in Washington. Avalon Redmond is a 400-unit property located in Redmond and was acquired from Avalon Bay for $81.25 million. It consists of 71 two and three-story buildings situated on 24 acres. The community offers a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom units ranging from 710 to 1,488 square feet. Amenities include a swimming pool, two saunas, a fitness center, and indoor spa, two tennis courts and a cyber café. A $4.5 million renovation is planned for the property. …
NEW YORK — The Carlyle Group, Extell Development Co. and RREEF have secured $613 million in financing for the development of two residential buildings at Riverside South on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The financing is the largest construction loan in the U.S. in 2008. Deutsche Bank led the consortium of nine banks that provided the financing. Totaling 880,000 square feet, the buildings will be located on West 62nd and West 63rd between Riverside Boulevard and Freedom Place South. The 38-story building will have sale and rental product and the 23-story building will be entirely rental product. Riverside South is a 13-ace tract of land purchased by Carlyle and Extell for $1.8 billion in 2005. “Our ability to secure financing in this challenging market environment is testament to the great location and success of the two residential towers we’ve already built and 70 percent sold at Riverside South, as well as our highly regarded partners, Extell and RREEF,” said Robert Stuckey, head of Carlyle’s U.S. Real Estate Team. “Since we began selling units at Riverside South in 2006, we have sold 437 luxury condominium units for a total value of $788 million,” Stuckey said. According to Extell, the project’s location continues …
DALLAS — The Hilton Dallas Lincoln Centre has traded hands for $72.25 million in Dallas. AP VEF Hilton Dallas Owner’s LLC, an affiliate of Apollo Real Estate Advisors LP, acquired the property from Ashford Hospitality Trust. Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels (JLLH) provided brokerage advisory services to the seller. The 20-story, glass façade high-rise features 500 units and 35,000 square feet of meeting space. “This sale demonstrates there is both debt and equity liquidity for quality hotel assets in major markets,” said Romy Bhojwani, senior vice president with Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels. “Ashford was interested in selling the hotel it had recently acquired in a large portfolio due to its existing concentration of hotels in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex, and the high capital expenditures required to renovate the property. JLLH located several interested buyers seeking to spend the capital and take the longer term view to implement a new strategic capital plan for the property,” Bhojwani said. “Apollo will implement a significant capital improvement plan that will result in a complete renovation of the guestrooms, meeting space and public areas, and the addition of a branded restaurant,” said Evan Stone, managing director for JLL. “The implementation of this capital plan will …
CHICAGO — A change in height for two luxury residential towers in the Museum Park neighborhood of Central Station in Chicago has been approved by the planning commission. The first tower, Grant Park 3, will be a 73-story building. Permission was granted to raise the height from 620 to 790 feet. The second tower, Grant Park 4, will be an 83-story building. Permission was granted to raise its height from 750 to 900 feet. Central Station LLC, the joint venture of The Fogelson Companies and Forest City Enterprises, is developing project. Demand and an effort to strive for a sleek design contributed to the increase in height. “We are moving forward because our closings and traffic demonstrate there is still a strong demand for quality lakefront developments of this caliber,” said Gerald Fogelson of The Fogelson Companies. Approximately $420 million sales have closed or are projected to close in 2008 at Museum Park, a co-development of Central Station LLC and The Enterprise Companies. The towers will feature one-, two-, and three/four-bedroom units as well as penthouses. Chicago-based architectural firm, Papageorge Haymes LLC, designed both buildings. They will be located at the corner of East Roosevelt Road and South Indiana Avenue …
TEMPE, ARIZ. — A 12-story office tower in Tempe has traded hands for $92.5 million. The 299,540-square-foot, Class A tower is located within Hayden Ferry Lakeside, a 43-acre mixed-use development of office, commercial, retail and residential space. SunCor Development Co. has sold the building to HF Lakeside II LLC, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Corporation of America. “SunCor has done a superb job attracting blue-chip companies to this mixed-use development,” said Robert Obringer, vice president of HF Lakeside II LLC. “This waterfront property and the overall vision for Hayden Ferry Lakeside are extremely impressive and the quality architecture, construction and central location are what drove us to be a buyer,” he said. The property is currently 83 percent leased to tenants such as KPMG, MetLife, and Fidelity National Title Insurance. “Hayden Ferry Lakeside is well on its way to achieving the ultimate vision created by SunCor,” said Randy Levin, vice president of commercial/urban development and design for SunCor. “Vibrant commercial and residential aspects of the development are flourishing. Clearly, the central live-work-play theme of Hayden Ferry Lakeside is striking a chord in this market,” Levin said. The sale transaction was negotiated by executive director Chris Toci and director Ted Harrison of …
Care Investment Trust announced its subsidiary, Care YBE Subsidiary, purchased 12 senior housing facilities from affiliates of Eby Realty Group for $100.8 million. The 12 assisted living, independent living and Alzheimer’s facilities are located in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Nebraska. An affiliate of Bickford Senior Living Group master-leased the facilities from Care YBE for 15 years with four 10-year renewal options. Bickford is managing the 12-property portfolio. F. Scott Kellman, president and chief executive officer of Care, is pleased with the transaction. “Bickford’s dedication to quality care has garnered the Eby family an unparalleled reputation in senior housing,” Kellman says. “We are extremely gratified that the Ebys have chosen to partner with Care to drive their growth strategy.” Care funded the investment with cash and approximately $74.6 million of mortgage financing from Fannie Mae. These mortgages will mature in 7 years, are interest-only for the first year and carry a fixed annual interest rate of 6.845 percent. Red Mortgage Capital arranged the financing with Fannie Mae. The portfolio contains five facilities in Illinois, one facility in Indiana, five facilities in Iowa and one facility in Nebraska. The properties were all constructed in the last 11 years, with six of the …
CHICAGO — A change in height for two luxury residential towers in the Museum Park neighborhood of Central Station in Chicago has been approved by the planning commission. The first tower, Grant Park 3, will be a 73-story building. Permission was granted to raise the height from 620 to 790 feet. The second tower, Grant Park 4, will be an 83-story building. Permission was granted to raise its height from 750 to 900 feet. Central Station LLC, the joint venture of The Fogelson Companies and Forest City Enterprises, is developing project. Demand and an effort to strive for a sleek design contributed to the increase in height. “We are moving forward because our closings and traffic demonstrate there is still a strong demand for quality lakefront developments of this caliber,” said Gerald Fogelson of The Fogelson Companies. Approximately $420 million sales have closed or are projected to close in 2008 at Museum Park, a co-development of Central Station LLC and The Enterprise Companies. The towers will feature one-, two-, and three/four-bedroom units as well as penthouses. Chicago-based architectural firm, Papageorge Haymes LLC, designed both buildings. They will be located at the corner of East Roosevelt Road and South Indiana Avenue …