CHICAGO — NelsonHill has brokered the $2.8 million sale of 1120 W. Exchange Avenue in Chicago’s Stockyard Industrial Park. Florock, an industrial flooring systems firm, purchased the property. The 63-year-old, global firm plans to consolidate its other locations into one site. The 87,982-square-foot property sits on nearly three acres and includes more than 40 parking spaces, 17-foot to 22-foot ceiling heights and a 4,000-square-foot office. The property also features two interior docks and two overhead doors. Michael Nelson and Mark Nelson of NelsonHill represented the seller, The Missner Group. Adam Tarantur, Corey Chase and Kyle McKechnie of Podolsky|Circle CORFAC International represented the buyer.
BETHESDA, MD. — LaSalle Hotel Properties has sold 7.6 million shares of common stock to Barclays, Deutsche Bank Securities and Morgan Stanley for $40.30 per share. LaSalle will use the net proceeds from this underwritten public offering to fund three hotel acquisitions out West. Though the properties were not named, LaSalle noted the hotels were located in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Portland, Ore. They will be purchased for a total of about $500 million. The company will also use some of the proceeds to reduce the amount of its outstanding $750-million senior unsecured credit facility, as well as for general corporate purposes. Barclays, Deutsche Bank Securities and Morgan Stanley are acting as the offering’s underwriters. LaSalle has also granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to 1.14 million additional shares. Bethesda, Md.-based LaSalle Hotel Properties is a multi-operator REIT that owns 44 hotels. The portfolio contains a total of 11,100 guest rooms in upscale, full-service hotels throughout 13 markets in nine states and the District of Columbia. LaSalle specializes in the ownership, redevelopment and repositioning of upscale, full-service hotels in urban, resort and convention markets.
PHOENIX — Stockbridge Funds has acquired St. Luke’s Medical Building, a 49,816-square-foot medical office building in Phoenix, for $8.4 million. The building is located at 555 North 18th Street in the downtown area. It sits adjacent to St. Luke’s Medical Center. The facility was built in 2006. It is currently 86 percent leased. Eric Wichterman and Mike Coover of Cassidy Turley represented both the buyer and seller.
STOCKTON, CALIF. – The Hammer & West Pad building, a 7,294-square-foot retail property in Stockton, has sold to a local private investorfor $3.7 million. The building is located at 7860 West Lane. It was built in 2008. Notable tenants at Hammer & Westinclude Western Dental, AT&T and Pizza Hut. The property is part of a larger retail center that is anchored by Walgreens. Jeff Conover of Faris Lee Investments represented both the buyer and seller, West Hammer Properties, in this transaction. The buyer was also represented by Mirna Gonzales of Green Banker.
SEATTLE AND SAN FRANCISCO – Zillow, an online real estate database headquartered in Seattle, has agreed to buy out its competitor, San Francisco-based Trulia, for $3.5 billion in a stock-for-stock transaction. Each company will maintain its individual brand following the merger. Both will continue to provide buyers, sellers, homeowners and renters free access to information about homes and real estate. They will also maintain their advertising and software solutions platforms. Pete Flint, Trulia’s CEO, will maintain his position once the deal closes in 2015. He will report to Spencer Rascoff, Zillow’s CEO. Flint will also join the combined company’s Board of Directors. Both Zillow and Trulia are primarily considered to be media companies, as the majority of their revenue is generated through advertising sales to real estate professionals. Zillow reported a record 83 million unique users across mobile and web this past June, while Trulia reported a record 54 million monthly unique users across its sites and mobile apps during the same time. Though both sites offer consumers relatively comparable products, the two brands have limited overlap. About half of Trulia.com’s monthly visitors do not visit Zillow.com, and about two-thirds of Zillow.com’s monthly visitors across all devices do not use …
NEW YORK — CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT), a provider of commercial lending and leasing services, will merge with IMB Holdco LLC, the parent company of OneWest Bank N.A., for $3.4 billion in cash and stock. The merger will increase CIT’s total assets to $67 billion. Following the close of the transaction, CIT Bank, CIT’s banking subsidiary, will merge with OneWest Bank under the CIT Bank name and CIT. Under the terms of the agreement, IMB Holdco LLC shareholders will receive $2 billion in cash and 31.3 million shares of CIT Group Inc. common stock currently valued at $1.4 billion, assuming a CIT stock price of $44.33. The boards of directors of both companies have approved the transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. CIT expects the transaction to be 20 percent accretive to earnings per share in 2016, generating an internal rate of return of 15 percent. John Thain, chairman and CEO of CIT Group, will continue to lead the company. Steven Mnuchin, chairman of IMB Holdco LLC, will join CIT Group Inc. as vice chairman and will also become a member of its board of directors. Alan Frank, an independent director from OneWest Bank …
STOCKBRIDGE, GA. — Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust Inc. has assumed the contract to acquire Freeway Junction, a 156,834-square-foot shopping center in Atlanta suburb Stockbridge, for $10.5 million. Wheeler REIT (NASDAQ: WHLR) is assuming the contract from Wheeler Interests LLC, an affiliated company. The shopping center, located along Georgia Highway 138, is 95.5 percent leased to tenants such as Northern Tool + Equipment, Goodwill, Ollie’s, Farmer’s Furniture, Cato Fashion, Citi Trends and Jackson-Hewitt.
SUGAR LAND, TEXAS — Stockdale Capital Partners has acquired Sugar Creek I and II, a 409,168-square-foot office complex in the Houston suburb of Sugar Land. The property was 96.1 percent leased at the time of the sale by tenants including Noble Drilling Corp. and United Healthcare. On-site amenities include a fitness center, deli and conference rooms. Rusty Tamblyn and Trent Agnew of HFF represented the sellers, Granite Properties and MetLife. Jeremy Womack of HFF arranged acquisition financing.
CYPRESS, CALIF. — Stockbridge has purchased the Cypress Distribution Center, a 543,431-square-foot industrial project, for $60 million. The Class A center is located at 6550 Katella Ave. and 11130 Holder Street in the Orange County suburb of Cypress. The project contains two buildings that are separately parceled. Notable tenants include Empire Warehousing, ILAD, VF Outdoor, Inc. (Vans) and Integrated Alarm Services. CBRE’s Kevin Shannon, Darla Long and Barbara Emmons represented the seller, Colony Realty Partners, alongside Cushman & Wakefield’s Rick Ellison and Tom Sheets.
NEW YORK CITY — Brixmor, which had been planning to go public since Blackstone Group acquired it in 2011, began trading Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “BRX” as part of an $825 million initial public offering (IPO). Brixmor’s stock price, which began trading at $20 per share, finished the day at $20.57 per share, a 2.85 percent increase. The retail landlord is selling 41.25 million shares, up from 37.5 million shares the company originally plan to offer as part of the IPO. The offering is expected to close on Nov. 4. With more than 520 properties in its portfolio, Brixmor has no immediate plans to expand. Michael Carroll, CEO of New York-based Brixmor, says the company’s investors support Brixmor’s strategy to continue to invest in its existing portfolio.