IRVINE, CALIF. – Freedom National Insurance has acquired a 9,900-square-foot office/R&D building at the Irvine Spectrum for an undisclosed sum. The building is located at 8855 Research Drive. Freedom National plans to use the property to house its technology research and development division. The company was represented by Cushman & Wakefield’s Blake Garrett. The seller, Research Property LLC, was represented by Bob Reiden of Lee & Associates.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Kendra Scott Design (KSD) is consolidating its corporate headquarters and moving to a new home at Lamar Central, a Class-A, mixed-use development located at 38th Street and Lamar Boulevard in Austin. Highland Resources, the project’s developer, has signed the jeweler to a 10-year lease. KSD will lease Lamar Central’s entire fourth floor, spanning 43,500 square feet, for its headquarters, and an additional 1,500 square feet on the ground floor to open a flagship Austin retail location. The company plans to relocate to its new home by the end of the year. Cushman & Wakefield/Oxford Commercial, on behalf of Highland Resources and JLL, represented KSD in the transaction. CBRE and JLL negotiated the retail lease. Lamar Central is a four-story, 165,000-square-foot mixed-use development featuring more than 132,000 square feet of office space with an additional 33,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space. Construction is slated for completion in the third quarter of 2015. On-site amenities include floor-to-ceiling windows, garage parking with a direct connection into each tenant floor, a landscaped courtyard with patios for outdoor dining, car-charging stations, bike storage, showers and changing rooms.
ROUND ROCK, TEXAS — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of Christian Brothers Automotive, a 4,945-square-foot, net-leased property located in Round Rock. Jason Vitorino of Marcus & Millichap’s Dallas office marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a private investor. Robb Johnson of the firm’s San Diego office procured the buyer, an out-of-state private investor. The transaction was part of a 1031 exchange. The buyer sold a manufactured home community asset on the West Coast and acquired three single-tenant, long-term, net-leased properties. Chad O’Connor of Marcus & Millichap Capital Corporation’s San Diego office arranged financing. Christian Brothers Automotive is located at 413 Louis Henna Blvd., just southeast of the I-35 and State Highway 45 interchange.
NEW YORK CITY — TerraCRG has arranged the sale of a commercial property located at 340 Wythe Ave. in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. The 8,633-square-foot property sold for $7.5 million. The property site is zoned M3-1, which allows for approximately 17,266 gross buildable square feet of commercial development, including office or retail space. Ofer Cohen, Melissa Warren, Peter Matheos, Dan Marks and Michael Hernandez of TerraCRG represented the seller in the deal.
NEW YORK CITY — Ariel Property Advisors has brokered the sale of a five-story multifamily building, located at 309 West 111th St. in New York City’s Morningside Heights section. The 12,310-square-foot property sold for $6.5 million. The 16-unit property offers a mix of two- and three-bedroom units. Shimon Shkury, Victor Sozio, Michael Tortorici, Josh Berkowitz and Marko Agbaba of Ariel Property Advisors represented the seller and procured the buyer, both real estate investment groups, in the deal.
NEW YORK CITY — Richmond, Va.-based Media General Inc. has leased the entire 62nd floor of the Empire State Building in New York City. The company plans utilize the 26,782-square-foot space to centralize its six digital media companies and national sales headquarters into one location. Fred Posniak provided in-house representation for the landlord, Empire State Realty Trust, along with William Cohen, Jonathan Tootell and Shanae Ursini of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank. James Gross and Peter Gross of Douglas Elliman Commercial represented Media General in the deal.
YAPHANK, N.Y. — United Baking Co. has signed a leased for 38,500 square feet of storage space at 95 Horseblock Road in Yaphank. Situated in Eastern Suffolk County, the 181,000-square-foot property offers close proximity to the Long Island Expressway, Sunrise Highway and multiple other transportation routes. United Baking Co. is the manufacturing and parent corporation of Shirley, N.Y.-based Uncle Wally’s, a baked goods company. Tommy Tsiolis provided in-house representation for the landlord, Long Island Industrial, while Jack O’Connor of Newmark Knight Grubb Frank represented the tenant in the transaction.
NEWPORT NEWS AND VIRGINIA BEACH, VA. — Berkadia has brokered the sale of two apartment communities in Newport News and Virginia Beach totaling $29.8 million. The assets included the 156-unit Windsor Crossing at 23 Cedarwood Way in Newport News and the 288-unit Plaza Apartments at 124 Palm Beach Place in Virginia Beach. CJEHN Alpha LLC of Yorktown, Va., purchased Windsor Crossing from Denver-based NHP Windsor Crossing LP for $14.9 million. Patriot Pointe Apartments LLC of Charlottesville, Va., purchased Plaza Apartments from Newport News-based KVB Realty Co. for $14.9 million. Alan Meetze and David Hudgins of Berkadia represented the sellers in both transactions.
STATESBORO, GA. AND WILMINGTON, N.C. — Progress Student Living has sold two luxury student housing communities that it developed recently in North Carolina and Georgia. Sold in the portfolio transaction were Progress910, a 168-unit rental community with 528 bedroom/bathroom suites near the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) in Wilmington, and Monarch301, a 180-unit rental community with 546 bedroom/bathroom suites near Georgia Southern University in Statesboro. Progress 910 was completed in August 2014, while Monarch301 was finished in August 2013. Each property is currently 97 percent occupied. Ryan Reid and Ryan Lang of CBRE’s national student housing group in Dallas brokered the two transactions. According to media reports, Santa Barbara, Calif.-based Phillips Acquisitions was the buyer. The transaction price was not disclosed.
ST. CLOUD, FLA. – The SRS Southeast Investment Sales team has brokered the $7.7 million sale of Canoe Creek Plaza, a 61,333-square-foot neighborhood shopping center in St. Cloud. The Winn Dixie-anchored property is located at 3318 Canoe Creek Road, which is situated just north of the intersection of Canoe Creek and Old Canoe Creek roads. The seller, Miller Group Development, sold the property to Canoe Creek SC LLC, an affiliate of Tricon Development. Kyle Stonis and Pierce Mayson of SRS represented the seller in the transaction. The buyer did not have brokerage representation.