NEW YORK CITY — Newcastle Investment Corp. has agreed to acquire a 52-property portfolio of seniors housing properties from affiliates of Holiday Retirement for approximately $1 billion. The 5,885-unit portfolio includes communities located across 24 states and was 91 percent occupied as of the end of the third quarter. The deal is expected to close in December. New York City-based Newcastle plans to invest approximately $300 million of equity to acquire the Holiday Retirement Portfolio and to fund the remainder of the purchase with non-recourse mortgage debt. Holiday will continue to manage the communities to be acquired by Newcastle, which have been split into two identical triple-net master leases. Lake Oswego, Ore.-based Holiday Retirement operates 333 independent living properties around the country.
SAN ANTONIO — Steel Castle Capital LLC has purchased Sevona Westover Hills, a 296-unit multifamily complex in San Antonio. Located near the intersection of Highway 151 and Loop 1604 and in close proximity to Christus Santa Rose Westover Medical Center, the property includes a fitness center, swimming pool and 5,000-square-foot clubhouse. The apartments feature private balconies, 9-foot ceilings, crown molding, walk-in closets and ceiling fans. Steel Castle Capital is based in Anaheim, Calif. and Philadelphia.
The last quarter of 2012 indicated signs of overall market improvement including increased activity in the office sector, according to most New Castle County owners and leasing brokers. Most professionals anticipated a good start to 2013 based on this performance. Although there are a few bright spots, early reports for 2013 are not yet meeting the expectations that stemmed from the continuing improvement seen last year. It seems most activity so far this year represents smaller deals, which are not resulting in positive absorption. Most tenants are moving to take advantage of the opportunity to upgrade or resize their space. One favorable aspect of the market has been demand for medical office space. A new four-building medical office project that was started last year at Becks Woods on Route 40 in Bear, Del., is nearly fully leased or sold with the last building coming out of ground a few weeks ago. Additional medical projects are planned on Churchman’s Road near Christiana Hospital and on Lancaster Pike at Little Falls although groundbreaking has not yet occurred on either site. Christiana Hospital is nearing completion of its new Emergency Center at Route 1 in Middletown, Del., and we expect there will be …
LEWISVILLE — Bright Realty has begun development of the Castle Hills Village Shops, located at 2540 King Arthur Blvd. in Lewisville, that will add approximately 18,543 square feet for retail and restaurant space and 29,943 square feet of office space. The new phase is scheduled for spring 2013 completion.
HOUSTON — Orange County, Calif.-based Steel Castle Capital has purchased the 390-unit Carrington Park Apartments, a Class A multifamily property located in Houston's Energy Corridor. The complex is 95 percent occupied and features a business center, 24-hour emergency maintenance, security gates, clubhouse, billiards room, fitness center, barbecue grills and a swimming pool. Steel Castle acquired the property through Steel Castle Property Partners, an investment vehicle. Carrington Park is the company's second Houston acquisition.
PEARLAND — Steel Castle Property Partners has purchased the 212-unit Club at Tranquility Lake, a Class A multifamily property located in Pearland. Steel Castle acquired the property through an REO auction at the time of foreclosure, closing in just 30 days. Steel Castle will continue to reposition and make capital improvements to the property, which already features a swimming pool and views of Tranquility Lake.
NEW CASTLE, DEL. — Mishimoto Auto Performance has signed a 17,353-square-foot lease for industrial and office space at 18 Boulden Circle in New Castle. Mishimoto manufactures cooling components for race cars, motorcycles and other vehicles, and will occupy the new facility in July. Rich Dudek of Patterson-Woods/CORFAC International represented the tenant in the transaction. Dave Cook of The Flynn Co. represented the property owner, RREEF.
MAYWOOD, ILL. — A London-based private investor has purchased a triple-net leased White Castle property in Maywood for $838,700. White Castle is the sole occupant of the 1,400-square-foot retail building, which is located at 211 W. Roosevelt Rd. The company has 10 years remaining on its lease. Randy Blankstein and Jimmy Goodman of the Northbrook, Ill. office of The Boulder Group represented the seller, a Chicago investment firm.
CHULA VISTA, CALIF. — Castle Park, an 87,103-square-foot, grocery-anchored shopping centerin the San Diego submarket of Chula Vista, has received $8.5 million in first-mortgage financing. Notable tenants at Castle Park include Save-A-Lot, Auto Zone, DD’s, Factory 2-U and Union Bank. The loan features a five-year term and a 25-year amortization schedule. Doug Austinof NorthMarq‘s San Diego regional officearranged the financing for Palomar Partners, PLthrough the firm’s relationship with Wells Fargo Bank.
LEWISVILLE — Cinetopia has signed a letter of intent with Bright Realty to open a 70,000-80,000-square-foot theater at The Bridges at Castle Hills, a master-planned community being developed in Lewisville by Bright Realty. The Castle Hills Cinetopia will be the first Cinetopia location in Texas and will offer 16-18 screens. The theater will include a restaurant, a wine bar with indoor and outdoor seating and conference rooms for business meetings.