AURORA, COLO. — KeyBank has provided a total of $36.3 million in financing for the construction of Elevate at Aurora, an affordable apartment community in Aurora. Columbia Ventures is the sponsor, with the Housing Authority of the City of Aurora serving as special limited partner. KeyBank Community Development Lending and Investment (CDLI) provided $30 million in Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) equity, including $5.5 million of Colorado State tax credit equity and $292,744 of solar tax credit equity. KeyBank CDLI also provided a $6.3 million equity bridge loan. KeyBank Commercial Mortgage Group placed $31.2 million in private activity bonds through one of its capital markets investors, structured as a construction-to-permanent, tax-exempt loan. Elevate at Aurora will feature 137 apartments in a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units for households earning between 30 percent and 70 percent of area median income. The project will also include construction of a new community service facility that will primarily serve as the Aurora location for CrossPurpose, a nonprofit provider of workforce development services, and Living Hope Community Church, a bilingual church that provides before- and after-school programming. Kortney Brown and Sara Geis of KeyBank CDLI structured the balance sheet financing. Hector Zuniga of …
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Crescent Communities Opens 202-Unit NOVEL White Fence Farm Apartment Community in Denver
by Amy Works
DENVER — Crescent Communities has opened NOVEL White Fence Farm, a multifamily property located at 6273 W. Jewell Ave. in Denver’s Lakewood neighborhood. Situated on the site of the former White Fence Farm restaurant, the community features 202 apartments in a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom layouts spread across three- and four-story elevator-served buildings. Community amenities include a restored barn clubhouse; fitness studio with an Echelon Reflect Mirror and Echelon Smart Bike; and a resort-style, four-season pool with adjacent open-air outdoor kitchen and prep area that includes grills, a pizza oven and smoker. The property also offers secure private garages, conditioned residential and bike storage, flexible work-from-home spaces, pet spa, dog park and a hospitality bar featuring Land of a Thousand Hills coffee. The project team includes KTGY, CID Design Group, LandDesign, Kimley-Horn and CSI Construction.
SONOMA, CALIF. — Milestone Housing Group will host a grand opening this week for Siesta Senior Apartments, an affordable housing community for seniors in Sonoma. Located on a 2.3-acre site, the three-story community offers 92 one-bedroom units. Housing Trust Silicon Valley, a nonprofit community loan fund, provided financing for the project.
Dedeaux Properties Entity Purchases Distribution Facility Near Los Angeles in $190M Sale-Leaseback with 99 Cents Only
by Amy Works
COMMERCE, CALIF. — A Dedeaux Properties entity has acquired a distribution facility in the Los Angeles suburb of Commerce. 99 Cents Only Stores sold the asset for $190 million in a sale-leaseback transaction. Situated on 24 acres at 4000 Union Pacific Ave. and 4040 Noakes Ave., the asset features 882,000 square feet of distribution space. The property is immediately adjacent to the Hobart Intermodal Railyard and located within a gated and guarded campus. Jack Cline of Lee & Associates, in collaboration with Eastdil Secured, facilitated the sale.
AZUSA, CALIF. — JLL Capital Markets has arranged $84 million in post-close acquisition financing for Azusa Industrial Center in Azusa, approximately 20 miles east of Los Angeles. The borrower was IDS Real Estate Group. Built between 1986 and 1987, the three-building, 432,500-square-foot asset is fully leased to four tenants. Spanning 23.6 acres, the property features a total of 73 dock doors, seven grade-level doors, truck courts ranging from 130 feet to 160 feet and clear heights ranging from 24 feet to 30 feet. Matt Stewart, Ace Sudah and Daniel Skerrett of JLL Capital Markets secured the four-year, floating-rate loan through PGIM Real Estate’s debt fund focused on transitional bridge lending. Jace Bertegs led the PGIM Real Estate team.
Brixton Capital Buys 143,217 SF Pacific Town Center Retail Asset in Stockton, California
by Amy Works
STOCKTON, CALIF. — Brixton Capital has purchased Pacific Town Center, a value-add retail property in Stockton. A Sacramento-based private seller sold the asset for an undisclosed price in an off-market transaction. Located at 718-769 W. Hammer Lane, Pacific Town Center features 143,217 square feet of retail space that was 42 percent leased at the time of sale. Existing tenants include Smart & Final, Aaron’s, Panda Express, Subway and other neighborhood-serving retailers and restaurants. Brixton plans to re-tenant a former Toys ‘R’ Us space and the recently vacated T.J.Maxx storefront. Hanley Investment Group represented the seller in the deal.
Longpoint Partners Acquires 275,000 SF John Reed Commerce Center in City of Industry, California
by Amy Works
CITY OF INDUSTRY, CALIF. — Boston-based Longpoint Partners has acquired John Reed Commerce Center, an industrial park located at 1200-1316 John Reed Court in City of Industry, just east of Los Angeles. A global investment advisor sold the asset for an undisclosed price. Situated on 16 acres, the 15-building property features a total of 275,000 square feet of industrial space. The asset was originally built in the late 1970s and has undergone renovations and upgrades. The freestanding buildings range from 12,400 square feet to 24,800 square feet and have a minimum divisibility of 3,800 square feet. All units feature ground-level loading, while select units also offer dock-high loading. Jeffrey Cole, Jeff Chiate, Rick Ellison, Bryce Aberg, Mike Adey, Brad Brandenburg and Matthew Leupold of Cushman & Wakefield’s national industrial advisory group in Southern California represented the seller in the deal. Longpoint Partners retained Chris Tolles, Erik Larson and Robin Dodson of Cushman & Wakefield to handle project leasing.
SANDY AND DRAPER, UTAH — Senior Living Investment Brokerage (SLIB) has arranged the sale of two assisted living and memory care communities in Utah. The properties are located just a few miles from each other in the southern Salt Lake City suburbs of Sandy and Draper. The communities were built in 2001 and consist of a total of 140 units. The properties total 35,334 and 53,255 square feet and are situated on approximately 1.5 and 2.1 acres of land. The seller is a private equity group divesting to focus on its core assets. The buyer is a Utah-based private equity group with a Utah-based operator expanding its existing footprint in the state. The price was not disclosed. The new owners plan to invest in capital expenditures and marketing to rejuvenate the communities and enhance their overall performance. Vince Viverito and Jason Punzel of SLIB handled the transaction.
UC Berkeley, SKS Partners Unveil Plans for $2B Innovation Hub at NASA Research Park in California
by Katie Sloan
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF. — A joint venture between SKS Partners and the University of California, Berkeley has unveiled plans for a $2 billion innovation hub at NASA’s Ames Research Center in the Silicon Valley city of Mountain View. Plans for the 36-acre development, dubbed Berkeley Space Center, currently include 1.4 million square feet of Class A office and research and development space; wet and dry labs; conference space; academic facilities; retail space; and 18 acres of open green space, including outdoor working yards and a central green for community gatherings, activations and exhibitions. The focus for the development is to provide research space for companies interested in collaborating with the university and NASA scientists to create future innovations in aviation and space exploration. Later phases of the project are set to include short-term stay facilities and student and faculty housing. While the development has not yet received municipal approval, the environmental entitlement process has commenced and is expected to last approximately two years. Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin in 2026. The development team for Berkeley Space Center includes design, architecture and engineering firm HOK and urban design and landscape architecture firm Field Operations. The joint venture has also tapped …
— By Ted Evans — The white hot, logistic-based real estate market in Southern California has cooled off. This is due to a combination of factors, including the end of COVID-based buying. Labor disputes, interest rate hikes and slower absorption rates are pushing business back to normal in a Western market segment supported by strong fundamentals. Returning to Normal As the crazed days of pandemic-induced buying slip into the past, we are seeing vacancy levels returning to pre-pandemic conditions. This may not be what some real estate investors want to hear, but the supply chain is certainly not as constricted as it was two years ago. The days of ordering products that were unavailable for weeks or months are over. The numbers we’re seeing back up our on-the-ground assessments. According to Savills, the warehouse vacancy rate in the logistics-heavy Inland Empire jumped to 3.8 percent in the second quarter. This was compared to 1.2 percent a year earlier, which was largely driven by reduced tenant demand over this period. The national vacancy rate for the sector clocks in at 4.7 percent, proving that the logistic sun is still shining in California. However, the increased vacancy rate is also …