WOODSTOCK, GA. — Grandbridge Real Estate Capital has closed a $27 million first mortgage loan to refinance a 308-unit apartment community in Woodstock, a northern suburb of Atlanta. Alan Tapie of Grandbridge’s Atlanta office originated the loan. The apartment community features a pool, fitness center with a yoga studio, cabanas, fire pits, business center, coffee bar and greenway access to downtown Woodstock.
UNIVERSITY PARK, ILL. AND STREETSBORO, OHIO — W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE: WPC), a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT), has completed two acquisitions on behalf of CPA:18 – Global, one of its managed non-traded REIT affiliates. The total investment in the two assets, which are located in Illinois and Ohio, was approximately $92 million. The Illinois property is a distribution facility located on a 90.2-acre site outside Chicago in University Park. The property is leased to an affiliate of Solo Cup Co. The total acquisition price of the approximately 1.6 million-square-foot facility was $85 million. Solo Cup, founded in 1936 and recently acquired by Dart Container Corp., is the manufacturer of single-use products used to serve food and beverages for the consumer/retail, foodservice and international markets. The Ohio property is a 178,180-square-foot facility located less than 25 miles from Cleveland's central business district in Streetsboro. The facility is leased to Air Enterprises for a period of 15 years. The total acquisition price was approximately $7 million. Air Enterprises, founded in 1964, assembles and produces custom aluminum air handling equipment for commercial customers. “The two transactions closed on behalf of CPA:18 – Global demonstrate how W. P. Carey can …
LOS ANGELES — Kilroy Realty Corp. (NYSE: KRC), a publicly traded REIT, has acquired an approximate four-acre parcel near the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood for $46 million. Kilroy purchased the site from The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). Encompassing a full city block, the Academy site is one of the few remaining mixed-use development sites that exist in Hollywood. Shimoda Design Group has been tapped to design the project under the direction of executive architect House Robertson. The parcel was once intended for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. The site is located two blocks from the Red Line Metro stop, the subway line that runs between downtown Los Angeles and Hollywood. Kilroy plans to seek approval and obtain entitlements to develop a creative media mixed-use campus that will include approximately 475,000 square feet of low- and mid-rise office space, apartments, stores and restaurants with a total investment between $250 million and $300 million. “Hollywood will always be the entertainment capital of the world, yet for it to continue to attract and retain production, digital media and technology companies, we need to create environments that the modern work force wants and needs,” …
TAMPA, FLA. — Mall owner and developer Taubman Centers Inc. (NYSE: TCO) has sold a 49.9 percent interest in International Plaza in Tampa to a joint venture that includes TIAA-CREF and APG for $499 million. International Plaza is located adjacent to the Tampa International Airport at the center of the Tampa metroplex. The 1.2 million-square-foot upscale retail center, which opened in September 2001, includes anchors Dillard's, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom. The mall contains approximately 200 specialty stores and several restaurants.Taubman will continue to lease and manage the center and maintain an ownership interest. In December 2012, Taubman bought out CSAT LP’s stake in the shopping center for $437 million, according to the Tampa Bay Business Journal, making Taubman the sole owner of International Plaza. The $499 million purchase price for the 49.9 percent interest in the center consists of $337 million of cash and approximately $162 million of beneficial interest in debt. Proceeds will be used to pay off Taubman’s loan on Stony Point Fashion Park in Richmond, Va., and for general corporate purposes. “We’re delighted to align ourselves with two great institutional partners,” says Robert Taubman, chairman, president and CEO of Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based Taubman Centers. “This transaction strengthens …
PALO ALTO, CALIF. — Morgan Stanley Real Estate has paid $65 million for a full leasehold interest in a 75,875-square-foot office building in Palo Alto. The building is located at 1117 South California Ave. within the Stanford Research Park. Its main tenant is Paul Hastings law firm, among others. Morgan Stanley acquired the building for its commingled fund, The Prime Property Fund. This is the fund’s first Palo Alto investment. Northern California is one of seven markets preferred by the fund. Additional markets include Southern California, Chicago, South Florida, New York, Boston and Washington, D.C. About 9 percent of the fund’s portfolio is based in Northern California. This includes a mix of office and industrial properties throughout San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Jose, Hayward and Stockton. The fund’s counsel was provided by Doug Praw and Lewis Feldman of Goodwin Procter LLP.
By J.C. Pelusi It’s no secret that the millennial generation is becoming an integral piece of our nation’s workforce. Millennials will dominate the workforce by 2015 and will comprise 75 percent of the workforce by 2030, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consequently, millennial lifestyle preferences and work habits will continue to transform economic activity and, more specifically, shape commercial real estate demand. This up-and-coming generation is the primary driver behind workforce urbanization. Following a recent influx to U.S. urban cores, it’s clear that young professionals (born between 1980 and 1997) prefer downtown living, working and shopping. We’re already seeing the economic impact in major metros and in our secondary markets. In fact, space availability is low across the region as a whole, and The Atlantic magazine recently featured Cleveland and Pittsburgh among the top nine U.S. cities “Where Millennials Can Make It Now.” The Atlantic noted that Detroit was already established among those “deemed magnets for young, creative people.” The commercial real estate implications are unique to the young generation of professionals, including the evolution of the collaborative office space, new retail structures that cater to online shopping and, subsequently, more demand for downtown residential space. But, …
Low vacancy persists in the Fairfield and New Haven county apartment sector behind respectable job growth and the accompanying creation of new rental households. Multifamily rentals also continue to derive support from the region’s pricey single-family home market. In New Haven County, rentals remain the most cost-effective housing option for many households and younger residents. An acutely low level of single-family home affordability also exists in the most sought-after neighborhoods in Fairfield County, driving many residents to apartments for extended tenures. With high single-family prices posing a barrier to homeownership for many households and creating a large pool of renters, multifamily developers are ramping up production, especially in Fairfield County. Thus far, new construction has been rather well received. Vacancy in recently built properties in Stamford/Norwalk was up slightly to the mid-3 percent range this year as complexes coming online stabilized, despite average rents in excess of $2,500 per month. Tight vacancy also persists in lower-priced 1990s-era rentals in the submarket. By the end of 2013, employers in the market are projected to create 11,500 jobs, marking a 1.5 percent expansion of payrolls. Gains in education and health services, and professional and business services primarily accounted for an increase of …
The Raleigh industrial market dipped slightly in the third quarter of 2013 with negative net absorption, yet overall it improved from a year earlier, in part because of the general health of the North Carolina economy. Four factors are pushing the state’s economic recovery: a manufacturing revival, a construction surge, a boost of college graduates who are attracting knowledge-based industries and an influx of retirees, according to Dr. Michael L. Walden, a North Carolina State University professor and author of a report on the North Carolina economy that was published in the summer of 2013. The combination of factors led Dr. Walden to forecast that North Carolina’s Research Triangle, which includes Raleigh, would have an unemployment rate below 6 percent by the end of 2014. Ironically, some of the positive news for the state’s economy is putting pressure on the region’s industrial marketplace and driving these trends in Raleigh: • Net positive migration and population growth, year-after-year • The loss of industrial development opportunities to the homebuilding industry • Local pressure to prioritize live/work/play environments and de-emphasize industrial development • Constrained land supply • A lack of institutional grade space Consistently ranked by Forbes as one of the best places …
NEW YORK — The shareholders of both American Realty Capital Properties Inc. (NASDAQ: ARCP) and Cole Real Estate Investments Inc. (NYSE: COLE) have approved the $11.2 billion merger announced in October. The deal, subject to customary closing conditions, will merge Cole with, and into, a wholly owned subsidiary of ARCP. Together the trusts will create the world’s largest net lease REIT with a value of $21.5 billion. A press release issued by Cole stated that the transaction was expected to close “promptly.” At ARCP’s stockholder meeting, approximately 98.2 percent of voting shares approved the transaction, representing 58.8 percent of all shares eligible to vote. At Cole’s stockholder meeting, approximately 94.9 percent of voting shares approved the transaction, representing 65.2 percent of all shares eligible to vote. “We are thrilled that stockholders from both companies have voted overwhelmingly to approve the proposals related to the ARCP-Cole merger,” says Nicholas Schorsch, chairman and CEO of ARCP. “[Due to] the two companies’ shared disciplined investment philosophy and systematic investment evaluation process that looks closely at credit as well as real estate, we are positioned to provide durable income to our stockholders through growth in property rents and asset appreciation.” Approximately 2 percent of …
MIAMI — Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: HOT) has sold the 207-room St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort in Miami for $213 million. The buyer, Al Rayyan Tourism Investment Co. (ARTIC), is the international hospitality subsidiary of Al Faisal Holding Co., a private diversified industry group based in Qatar. The 27-story hotel, located at 9703 Collins Ave., features three dining outlets, including Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s J & G Grill; a 14,000-square-foot spa; two ocean-view pools; and 11,200 square feet of indoor function space, as well as several outdoor venues. The property also includes the St. Regis Bal Harbour Residences, which are branded private residences and condo-hotel units. “We are proud to add this iconic resort to our growing property portfolio,” says Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani, chairman of ARTIC. “The St. Regis brand represents a symbol of uncompromising elegance and bespoke service. This acquisition complements our investment focus on world-class assets in prime locations as we continue to expand our presence around the globe.” Starwood Hotels will continue to manage the property, which will remain under the St. Regis brand. “The sale of this trophy asset marks another step forward in Starwood’s pursuit of an asset-light strategy as we …