VICTORIA, TEXAS — Marcus & Millichap has announced the sale of Point Royale Apartment Homes, a 120-unit apartment complex in Victoria. Terms of the sale were not released. Joe James, Kent Myers and J. Patrick Burke, senior associates in Marcus & Millichap’s Austin office, represented the seller, developer and buyer, a limited liability company. Built in 2012, the complex is located at 4106 North John Stockbauer Drive in Victoria, approximately 30 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. The apartments are near the Citizens Medical Center, the Caterpillar Hydraulic Excavator plant, Victoria College and the University of Houston-Victoria. Apartments at Point Royale feature one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans. Amenities include gated entry, covered parking, a swimming pool, fitness center, clubhouse and business center.
PORTLAND, ORE. — Pebblebrook Hotel Trust has acquired The Nines Hotel in Portland for $127 million. The 331-room hotel is located on SW Morrison Street, across from Pioneer Square downtown. The Nines is in close proximity to Pioneer Place Mall, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, Nike Town, the Pearl District and the Portland Center for the Performing Arts. Nearby employers include US Bank, Deloitte, NRC, Wells Fargo, Intel and Nike. Pebblebrook acquired a fee simple condominium interest in the hotel. The historic building was originally constructed in 1909. Back then it was the Meier & Frank Building. The property underwent a $140 million adaptive reuse renovation and reopened as The Nines in October 2008. “This hotel represents our third hotel investment in Portland’s central business district, and the property’s desirable location across from Pioneer Square ideally places it near many of downtown Portland’s most notable demand generators,” says Jon Bortz, Pebblebrook’s chairman and CEO. “The hotel’s excellent downtown location and strong operating fundamentals, including its position as the market’s rate leader, make this acquisition an outstanding addition to our high-quality portfolio.” The hotel occupies floors six through 15 of the building, as well as portions of the first floor and basement. …
For Cincinnati residents and businesses, the ongoing revitalization of the city’s urban core is an exciting example of how the traditional live, work and play dynamic can set in motion a cycle of positive reinforcement whereby new housing spurs new commercial development, which in turn encourages additional residential growth. While the Queen City’s renewed civic connections and commercial synergies are making headlines and garnering justified attention, it is precisely this residential spark that has fanned the retail flame. Like so much development — and redevelopment — it is all about “chasing rooftops,” responding to demographic shifts and finding new ways to meet the needs of a changing urban populous. In today’s rapidly evolving Cincinnati market, those changes are evident, and the resulting development is literally and figuratively altering the Cincinnati cityscape. City Living Cincinnati’s recent urban residential development can be broken down into two categories: downtown development in and around the central business district (CBD), and the development in the first-ring communities just outside of that urban core. Both areas are seeing a great deal of high-end multifamily coming online. Typically, this new housing stock is amenity-driven and priced at a premium. The tight rental market for this product has …
NEW HYDE PARK, N.Y. — Kimco Realty Corp. (NYSE: KIM) has acquired a portfolio of 10 shopping centers from its joint venture with SEB Asset Management for $275.8 million, including the assumption of $193.6 million of mortgage debt. Kimco, which previously held a 15 percent ownership interest in these properties, paid approximately $69.8 million for the remaining 85 percent equity interest held by SEB Asset Management, the group´s specialist real estate manager. The 1.4 million-square-foot portfolio is located in markets in the Mid-Atlantic region. The predominantly grocery-anchored portfolio is 95.4 percent occupied and its anchors include Giant Food, Harris Teeter, Weis Markets, Safeway, Food Lion with Kroger and Sam’s Club as shadow anchors. The properties also feature a well-known lineup of national retailers including Ross Stores, Bed Bath & Beyond, Marshalls, Kohl’s, PetSmart, and Michaels with Target and Lowes as shadow anchors. This transaction represents the third joint venture portfolio acquisition by Kimco in 2014. Year to date, the company has added 25 joint venture properties with a gross value of $776.9 million and 3.2 million square feet to its wholly owned portfolio. These properties boast occupancy and average rent per square foot of 96.3 percent and $16.71, respectively. Kimco …
ORLANDO, FLA. — Cuhaci & Peterson Architects Engineers Planners has completed design work on the retail component of The Grove at Isleworth in Orlando. The mixed-use development, developed by Tavistock Group, is located on Apopka Vineland Road near Conroy-Windermere Road and features roughly 125,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space. The Grove’s tenant roster includes Fifth Third Bank, LA Fitness, Panera Bread and Walgreens.
CHICAGO — Aviv REIT Inc. (NYSE: AVIV) has acquired several seniors housing properties and land parcels in Massachusetts for $94.2 million. The Chicago-based REIT acquired two assisted living facilities and one post-acute and long-term care skilled nursing facility for $82 million. Aviv also purchased two parcels of land and the entitlements for the construction of two new assisted living facilities and a 50-unit addition to an existing assisted living facility for $12.2 million. The acquired properties include a 126-unit assisted living facility and a 72-unit skilled nursing facility located in West Yarmouth; and a 93-unit assisted living facility located in Weston, a suburb of Boston. The new construction projects include two assisted living facilities in West Yarmouth and an assisted living facility in Brewster. “This deal demonstrates our ability to opportunistically acquire high-quality seniors housing properties at attractive valuations, complementing our primary investment strategy of acquiring post-acute and long-term care skilled nursing facilities,” says Craig Bernfield, chairman and CEO of Aviv. The properties will be triple-net leased to existing Aviv operator Maplewood Senior Living, an operator of 12 facilities in three states that are triple-net leased from Aviv. “We further diversified our high-quality portfolio, adding best-in-class private pay healthcare properties …
LOS ANGELES — Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO) has completed the previously announced sale of Beverly Connection, a power shopping center in Los Angeles, for $260 million. The property’s tenants include Old Navy, Nordstrom Rack, Men’s Wearhouse and Marshalls. The 335,000-square-foot center is located at La Cienega and Beverly boulevards across the street from the Beverly Center, an upscale shopping mall with 160 retailers and dining options. The sales price is comprised of $239 million in cash and $21 million in 10-year seller financing. The sale resulted in a net gain of approximately $44 million for Vornado, which will be recognized in the third quarter. Vornado did not disclose the buyer, but the Los Angeles Times reported that the buyer is Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp., a New York-based private real estate investment firm. Michael Alpert, president of Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp., revealed that the company plans to invest an additional $500 million in the greater Los Angeles area in the near term. The company owns more than 100 retail, office and residential properties in the United States and Canada valued at $5 billion. Vornado Realty Trust is a fully integrated equity real estate investment trust (REIT) based in Paramus, New Jersey. Vornado’s …
By Scott Reid Demand for office space nationwide accelerated in the second quarter of 2014, according to research reports by several commercial real estate services firms that track data throughout the United States. CBRE Group Inc. found that office vacancy rates declined in seven out of 13 major metro office markets during the second quarter of the year. The firm also reported that average asking rents increased during this period. In its quarterly report, CBRE found that Atlanta led in vacancy declines, with a vacancy rate drop of 60 basis points (bps) during the quarter. Chicago posted a fall of 50 bps in its office vacancy rate, and Seattle’s rate dropped 30 bps due to the expansion in its office stock of high-tech occupiers. Increases in vacancy occurred in Boston (40 bps), Dallas and Washington, D.C. (both 30 bps). Vacancy rates in markets such as San Francisco and Houston are now near pre-recession levels. San Francisco saw a 3.7 percent increase in its average asking rents, and Houston experienced a 3.5 percent increase. Boston and Washington, D.C., saw decreases in average asking rents — 0.2 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively. Click on the image above to view a larger version. …
INDIANAPOLIS — Kite Realty Group Trust (NYSE: KRG) has completed a $2.1 billion merger with Inland Diversified Real Estate Trust Inc. The shareholders of Kite Realty and the stockholders of Inland Diversified approved the transaction at special meetings held on June 24. The combined company will continue to trade under Kite Realty’s existing ticker symbol, KRG, on the New York Stock Exchange. As a result of the merger, each former share of Inland Diversified common stock has been converted into 1.707 newly issued Kite Realty common shares. “We are extremely excited to close the merger with Inland Diversified, which represents a transformative event in the history of our company. This transaction creates a $4 billion company and provides a number of significant financial and operational benefits,” says John Kite, chairman and CEO of Kite Realty. “We expect to realize numerous financial benefits from the merger, including a substantial increase in cash flow and liquidity, a lower cost of capital, and a strengthened balance sheet. Operational opportunities include improved synergies from an expanded platform and the leveraging of Inland Diversified’s high-quality portfolio with strong demographic profiles in dynamic new markets. This will provide profitable redevelopment opportunities and the ability to enhance …
NEW YORK — Newcastle Investment Corp. (NYSE: NCT) has purchased a portfolio of six seniors housing communities for $186 million. The portfolio was purchased with unrestricted cash. The six rental continuing care retirement communities in the portfolio are all located in Texas and consist of a total of 1,265 beds. Concurrent with the acquisition, Newcastle has entered into a triple-net master lease agreement with a subsidiary of Lifecare Cos. LLC. The lease has an initial term of 15 years with two 5-year renewal options. The initial cash lease yield is 7.6 percent with 3.75 percent increases in years two to four and 2.5 percent in years five to 15. Lifecare Cos., established in 1971, is a manager of continuing care retirement communities throughout the United States. Newcastle has invested more than $700 million of equity in the past 24 months to acquire 95 seniors housing properties with more than 11,900 beds, totaling more than $1.8 billion in assets. The company is managed by an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group LLC. Newcastle also recently created a spin-off company, New Senior Investment Group Inc. (NYSE:SNR), a publicly traded REIT focused on the seniors housing sector. The stock price of Newcastle closed at …