An affiliate of Dunbar Real Estate Investment Management sold Cabot Business Center in Phoenix. Nicola Crosby Real Estate purchased the 109,805-square-foot industrial/flex property for $11.4 million. The company acquires and manages properties on behalf of SPIRE Real Estate Portfolios. This transaction marks SPIRE US LP’s first Phoenix acquisition.

Located at 3802-3922 E. University Drive, Cabot Business Center offers convenient access to Hohokam Expressway and interstates 10 and 17…

110 KSF Industrial Asset Trades in Phoenix

JLL closed on an $8.4 million sale of 45.2 acres of land at the Air Commerce Business Park, a prime industrial park in the heart of southern Orlando, Fla. Exeter Property Group purchased the parcel from Brian Mulvaney, managing member at Bogey Boggy Creek 08 LLC. The new ownership seeks to supply new industrial space to meet the recent demand in Orlando’s Airport submarket.

A joint venture between H.I.G. Realty Partners and Lincoln Property Co. has acquired Greenspoint Place, a six-property, mixed-use portfolio located in the North Houston District of Houston.

In total, the portfolio includes six office buildings totaling more than 2 million square feet and three adjoining retail centers…

Large Houston Mixed-Use Portfolio Changes Hands

JLL brokered a 37,715-square-foot lease transaction for INOVA Geophysical, a land seismic acquisition equipment and systems provider. The new office is located in the Houston suburb of Sugar Land, fewer than three miles from the company’s former headquarters, at 12200 Parc Crest Drive in Stafford, Texas. The new office’s proximity will allow for a quick transition and minimal disruption for employers.

Point B Inc. is bringing much-needed creative office space to the John’s Landing neighborhood of Portland, Ore. The HoodWORKS project is replacing an old house and a small warehouse with a new, 17,000-square foot, three-story mixed-use building, with retail on the first floor and offices on the second and third floors. The Point B Property Development team partnered with Koble Creative Architecture and Abbasi Design Works on the design of the building.

InvenTrust Properties Corp. acquired The Parke, a 404,000-square-foot, newly developed grocery-anchored power center located in Austin’s Cedar Park submarket. The company paid approximately $112.3 million to Austin-based developer Endeavor Real Estate Group.

The Parke is anchored by a new 365 by Whole Foods. The tenant roster includes national retailers such as Dick’s Sporting Goods, Field & Stream, Nordstrom Rack, Marshalls, DSW, Michaels, Old Navy, buybuy Baby, Cost Plus, F21, Petco, Ulta, and Tuesday Morning. The asset features ample parking, five points of ingress & egress and contemporary architecture…

PGIM Real Estate locked in $33 million in financing for Graceland Retail Center in Columbus, Ohio. The two-year loan is part of the company’s core-plus lending strategy, implemented to assist transitional commercial real estate properties with a value-add component. It includes three one-year extension options and a future funding facility for capital improvements.

Smithfield Foods Inc. intends to invest $100 million in a new distribution center at the company’s processing facility in Tar Heel, N.C. Smithfield will build a 500,000-square-foot plant and add approximately 250 new jobs. The project also includes the expansion of the facility’s blast cell cold storage capabilities.

EXPANDING NC FOOTPRINT

Smithfield will begin construction of the new distribution center this month. The facility will feature 47,000 pallet positions. The $45 million blast cell cold storage expansion, announced earlier this year, is underway and will increase the facility’s capacity by 140 million pounds…

Nearly seven years after opening in the former Continental & Commercial National Bank Building in Chicago’s downtown Loop, the JW Marriott Chicago Hotel has been refinanced with a $270 million loan provided by Natixis, a French corporate and investment bank.

KBS Capital Advisors expanded its KBS Strategic Opportunity REIT II portfolio with the acquisition of 505 14th St. and 1300 Clay St., two Class A office buildings in Oakland’s City Center totaling 367,357 square feet. NKF represented the sellers, Rubicon Point Partners and Canyon Partners Real Estate LLC.

Chesapeake Real Estate Group has acquired nearly 259 acres of land on Brandon Woods III, a site located in Anne Arundel County, from Exelon Corporation, and plans to develop up to 1 million square feet of industrial and warehouse space on the property.

“The demand in the industrial market continues to grow,” Matt Laraway, CREG company partner, told Commercial Property Executive. “This was a large block of available land and it is getting increasingly scarce around here. Just finding large tracks of industrial zoned land is becoming increasingly more difficult. That made it very appealing.”

There are jobs and then there are jobs, and Provident Realty Advisors just landed a big one in Plano, Texas. The real estate and investment firm has been tapped by the Baccus family of Plano to develop The Legacy at Spring Creek, a mixed-use project on a sprawling 37-acre site owned by the Baccuses since the mid-1800s.

Trammell Crow Co. and Clarion Partners acquired 54 acres of land for the development of The Center at Needham Ranch, a business park in Santa Clarita, Calif.

The project is the first phase of a larger development slated to rise on a 132-acre, fully entitled site approved for up to 4.2 million square feet of Class A industrial space. Phase one is scheduled to break ground in August 2017. Delivery is expected during the third quarter of 2018…

SAP will soon open its second location in metro Atlanta after signing a 43,800-square-foot lease at 800 Avalon, a new office building in Alpharetta, Ga. The agreement spans 10 years and will allow the software development company to consolidate its employees based in two other offices located in the same neighborhood. SAP will join other well-known tenants including Microsoft and co-working company Spaces.

MRP Realty completed the renovation and repositioning of two Class A office buildings in Washington, D.C. The company sold the assets in December 2015 to TA Associates Realty, shortly after purchasing them, but not before taking the property through the Historic Preservation Review Board and retaining property management through the sale.

The firm teamed up with architect Gensler Washington and contractor Davis Construction and partially reskinned the property’s southern façade. The complex currently features a spacious and reimagined lobby and a glass front…

Pacific Reach Properties purchased Sherman Plaza, a two-building, 270,000-square-foot office complex in Los Angeles. Majestic Asset Management sold the four- and five-story properties for $62 million. This marks the buyer’s first U.S. office deal…

Los Angeles Office Complex Trades for $62M

Does your property have everything your tenants need? CPE and Kingsley associates asked what would bring the most value to your asset.

“Some additional amenities I would like to see are better walking trails, modern vending machines that accept credit cards and more common-area seating in the hallways for breaks or casual meetings.” —Austin, Texas

“Maybe coordinate with the restaurants in the building to give discounts to tenants who eat at their restaurants.” —Chicago

Bonded Logistics opened its 371,000-square-foot facility at Metrolina Park in north Charlotte, N.C.  The company leased the remaining 124,000 square feet of available space in Building 2 of Beacon Partners’ new industrial park. Once fully operational, the new building will employ 75 full-time staff, including approximately 40 new employees.

CBRE Global Investment Partners has acquired a 95 percent interest in a 10-state, 25-building medical office portfolio from Kayne Anderson Real Estate Advisors and MB Real Estate Healthcare.

“We’ve been investing in what I’ll call the alternative sectors—medical office, student housing, senior housing, storage—for the past few years, and as we’ve gotten to know them better, we’ve continued to like the supply and demand fundamentals,” Matt Tepper, CBRE Global Investors’ managing director, told Commercial Property Executive. “With medical office specifically, with more people requiring health care, it’s a sector we certainly wanted to increase our exposure to.”

The Greenleaf at Union, a new 110,000-square-foot shopping center, is opening its doors this month in Union, N.J. Sun Equity Partners owns the property, and Bob’s Discount Furniture, which took up 31,400 square feet of space on the entire second floor and part of the first floor, is the anchor tenant. The other anchor tenant is LA Fitness, which signed a 37,000-square-foot lease and is expected to move in this fall.

Citing the popularity of Atlanta’s Buckhead submarket, developer OliverMcMillan is planning a 17-story, 330,000-square-foot Class A office tower that will feature a sustainable design and best-in-class amenities.

The Office Buckhead Atlanta will be built at 300 East Paces Ferry Road on the site of the HiFi Buys building at Peachtree Street and Bolling Way. Construction will begin with the demolition of the current building and is expected to be completed by 2020. The new tower will have 30,000 square feet of retail and restaurants on the ground floor. Other amenities will include state-of-the-art technology and a fitness center along with views of Buckhead, Midtown and downtown Atlanta from oversized windows…

Litigation firm Callahan & Blaine extended the lease term for its 32,000-square-foot office space in Orange County. The company is a long-standing tenant of the 10-story building at 3 Hutton Centre in Santa Ana, Calif.

DIVERSE TENANTS

The property is located just off Costa Mesa Freeway. Tenants include Psomas, Yardi and the U.S. Social Security Administration. Completed in 1985, the 198,000-square-foot asset underwent renovations in 2002. According to Yardi Matrix data, the building is currently 90.5 percent occupied…

Shortly after signing a lease agreement at River North Point, shopping mall owner GGP tapped Skender Construction to renovate its new headquarters. The developer will work together with design firms ARCHIDEAS and Environmental Systems Design as well as JLL to bring the project to completion by January 2018.

GGP, formerly known as General Growth Properties, decided to relocate its 700 employees from its current office at 110 N. Upper Wacker Drive to 350 N. Orleans because developers are planning to tear down the five-story building. At River North Point, the company will operate alongside Chicago Sun-Times…

Yelp has extended its Midtown Manhattan lease with SL Green Realty Corp., signing a 39,656-square-foot, 7-year expansion. The firm will occupy a total of 191,797 square feet of office space on the building’s entire 14th and 16th floors and on part of the 17th floor.

Creative co-working company Spaces chose Chicago to open its 14th location in North America. The company signed a 27,110-square-foot lease agreement with Newcastle Limited, the owner of the office building at 1500 N. Halsted St. in Lincoln Park. Spaces plans to move into the new location in early 2018…

Co-Working Firm Spaces Coming to Chicago

Stratus Development Partners LLC is developing two Cambria Suites in California which are slated for completion in 2019. Hall Structured Finance closed two new first lien loans totaling $42 million to finance the construction of the properties in Sonoma County and Napa Valley, which is scheduled to begin next month. Scott Silver, chairman of Hospitality Funding Inc. and Silver & Associates LLC, brokered the loans. The brand debuted in California in May of this year…

Ridge, Transwestern’s industrial development arm, broke ground on its newest facility at Brewster Creek Business Park, a 468-acre, master-planned industrial development in Bartlett, Ill.

Dubbed Ridge Brewster Creek II, the 186,000-square-foot building is slotted for completion by December 2017. Located at 1331-1337 Schiferl Road, the project will include 32-foot clear ceiling heights, an ESFR sprinkler system, two drive-in doors, 50-by-50-foot column spacing, 35 dock doors and 224 parking spaces. The park is located at the intersection of Stearns and Munger Road, within close proximity of Route 59, Interstate 90 and O’Hare International Airport via the planned I-390 expressway…

Co-developers Heidi Eckes-Chantré, Kim Tabet and Christopher Brown selected CBRE to handle the retail leasing for their forthcoming mixed-use project, Giralda Place. The nine-story property is located in Downtown Coral Gables, Fla., and is set for completion in early 2018.

The development is located at 2222 Ponce De Leon Blvd. and stretches throughout an entire city block. It will include 13,395 square feet of ground floor retail, 101,300 square feet of Class A office space, three luxury penthouses, one-, two-, three- bedroom suites and two-story town homes…

Tavistock Development Co. keeps busy in its hometown of Orlando, Fla., with the announcement of a new project at the Lake Nona Town Center mixed-use development within the company’s 17-square-mile Lake Nona master-planned community. The diversified real estate firm will erect a speculative office tower at the 100-acre town center, adding 155,000 square feet of space to a hungry office market.

Skyscrapers are a dominating presence on the skylines of many U.S. cities, having become a century-old staple of Americana. Although most cities boast at least one of these steel superstructures, New York City and Chicago are home to the country’s most representative commercial buildings, an enduring mark of their once-fiery architectural fight.

Shea Properties will soon have its hands full in Dublin, Calif. Dublin Land Co. has chosen to sell 76 acres of land to the diversified real estate company and SCS Development Co. for the creation of At Dublin, a sprawling mixed-use project for which Shea will spearhead the entitlement process and building activity.

The multifamily market is expanding in Columbus, which has been an economic standout in Ohio and the Midwest. The metro’s tight labor market is lifting average wages, attracting more residents and bolstering demand for apartments.

Government, energy, education and health services led job gains over the past year and contributed to wage growth in high-paying sectors. In addition to being the state capital of Ohio and home to The Ohio State University, Columbus is a corporate hub with national and regional headquarters of several major financial and consumer products companies…

Walker & Dunlop Inc. recently closed a $96 million loan package for a 1.6 million-square-foot industrial portfolio in Florida, and did so in a flash—just 45 days, to be precise. The firm orchestrated the financing for the assets, located in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, through one of its life company correspondents.

An investor group led by Five Point Holdings, LLC has acquired Broadcom Limited’s 73-acre corporate campus in Irvine, Calif., for $443 million and renamed the property Five Point Gateway.

The Orange County campus consists of nearly one million square feet of planned research and development and office space across four buildings. Broadcom will remain the property’s largest tenant, leasing approximately 660,000 square feet of R&D space pursuant to a 20-year lease…

Baltimore-based Merritt Properties has expanded its footprint in the Northeast with the recent acquisition of a five-story office building located in Baltimore’s Towson area. The company purchased the 121,414-square-foot property at 100 West Road from TA Associates Realty of Boston for an undisclosed price.

“Towson is a major employment center and a hub of a variety of businesses and corporate headquarters,” said Scott Dorsey, CEO of Merritt Cos., in prepared remarks. “In addition to representing a stable market, the area is growing rapidly as evidenced by many recent developments.”

The Meridian Group, developer of the $825 million The Boro mixed-use project in Tysons, Va., has brought aboard a new partner on a portion of the development. Meridian selected Rockefeller Group to co-develop Boro Tower, a 437,000-square-foot trophy office building, in a 50/50 joint venture.

Premier Realty Holdings Inc. acquired Wateridge Pavilion, a 62,427-square-foot office building in the Sorrento Mesa submarket of San Diego, for $16.3 million. The buyer plans to occupy space at the property. Fenway Properties sold the three-story asset, which was 97 percent leased at the time of the transaction.

Kimco Realty Corp. broke ground on the Phase I retail portion of its Dania Pointe development in Southern Broward County, Fla.

Slated to open for the 2018 holiday season, Phase I will feature 300,000 square feet and is currently 80 percent pre-leased to a variety of brands, including Ulta Beauty, Hobby Lobby, TJ Maxx, BrandsMart and several restaurants…

Kimco Breaks Ground on 1 MSF Retail Project

CIM Group has agreed to purchase, for a gross sale price of $171.0 million, the 317,600-square-foot vintage Class A office building at 16 Court St. in Brooklyn. SL Green Realty Corp. was the seller.

SL Green had acquired the 36-story building in 2007 for $107.5 million through a joint venture with Joseph P. Day Realty—according to information provided by Yardi Matrix—and in 2013 took full ownership.

Hines and Peterson Group have submitted an application for Central Plaza, a proposed mixed-use property in Dublin, Ireland, which will transform the former Central Bank headquarters as a new landmark destination in the city’s center.

“The Central Plaza proposal represents a significant investment by Hines and Peterson in the creation of an outstanding mixed-use scheme that will re-invigorate this iconic city center building located in the heart of our capital,” Brian Moran, Hines Ireland’s senior managing director, said in a prepared release. “Our application will include an exciting mix of retail shopping, cafés and restaurants at street and plaza level and in a newly created lower plaza area.”

After selling The Citadel in Denver earlier this year, KBS Realty Advisors teamed up with True North Management Group to acquire Sixth at Yamhill, a 109,725-square-foot office building in downtown Portland, Ore. Swift Real Estate Partners sold the 11-story asset for $29.4 million. The transaction was subject to a $26.8 million bridge loan arranged by CBRE. At the time of sale, the building was 30 percent occupied.

Lincoln Harris has revealed its plan for the former site of the Charlotte Observer in Charlotte, N.C., and it’s a big deal—literally. The 10-acre property will become home to Legacy Union, a mixed-use destination that will hold the distinction of being one of the largest development projects to be erected in the central business district’s Uptown neighborhood, the largest submarket of metropolitan Charlotte.

Denholtz Associates inked a new retail lease with Inside the Box Café & Catering at The Times Building, a 180,630-square-foot office building in downtown Tampa, Fla. The tenant will occupy the café space on the ground floor of the property’s newly renovated lobby.

Located at 1000 N. Ashley Drive, the 10-story Times Building features a collection of amenities including a new fitness center, on-site management team, shared conference facility, ample parking and downtown shuttle service. Availabilities range up to approximately 15,627 square feet of contiguous space. Inside the Box Café & Catering is expected to open this summer, making this the restaurant’s third location in the Tampa market…

Lincoln Property Co. Southeast completed a lease extension and space expansion at Preston Ridge IV, a 150,320-square-foot, Class A office building in Alpharetta, Ga. The tenant, HotSchedules, signed a lease renewal for 11,851 square feet and an expansion for 4,271 square feet, bringing its overall space to 16,122 square feet.

Lincoln Financial Group recently sold Intellicenter, a Class A office asset located in Northwest Houston, in a transaction valued at $28.6 million.

HFF negotiated the sale on behalf of the seller. The brokerage services firm also procured the buyer, Michigan-based Insite Commercial Real Estate. The property was sold free and clear of financing.

KTGY Architecture + Planning unveiled the planning and design for Bolsa Row, a new urban infill retail, hospitality and residential development in Westminster, Calif. Little Saigon is home to the largest Vietnamese community in the U.S. IP Westminster LLC, led by Joann and Bac Pham, is the project developer. The city is currently reviewing project plans.

Holder Properties completed the sale of Main & Gervais, a 186,605-square-foot, Class A office tower in downtown Columbia, S.C. Newport Beach-based KBS Realty Advisors acquired the asset in a $65 million deal, according to Yardi Matrix.

Located at 1221 Main St., the 18-story property was completed in 2009 and is ENERGY STAR-rated. Amenities at the property include an on-site management office, fitness center, The Oak Table restaurant and on-site banking. Additionally, Main & Gervais features ground floor retail space and an integrated seven-level parking deck…

A joint venture of Swift Real Estate Partners, GEM Realty Capital and Flynn Properties has sold One Concord Center, a Class A, 358,589-square-foot office tower and nine-story parking structure in Concord, Calif. NKF represented the sellers in the transaction.

“One Concord Center sits right on BART with a dense amenity base and more than 1,000 residential units along with retail space currently under construction in the immediate location,” Steven Golubchik, Newmark Cornish & Carey’s vice chairman and co-head of Northern California Capital Markets, told Commercial Property Executive. “There is a big push from tenants migrating along BART to three major locations including Oakland, Walnut Creek and Concord.”

Alliance Partners HSP, the East Coast operating platform of The Shidler Group, selected CBRE to oversee the property management of Golden Bear Plaza, a 245,673-square-foot office complex in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. The three-building property changed hands in July when the new owner acquired it from Equus Capital Partners in a $62.3 million deal.

The Dilweg Cos. has awarded Avison Young the exclusive leasing assignment for 250 E Ponce, a 141,582-square-foot, Class A office building in downtown Decatur, Ga. The leasing team led by Principal Kirk Rich, alongside Associates Jillian Woodliff and Callan Phillips, will spearhead marketing efforts at the property.

Located at 250 E. Ponce De Leon Ave., the eight-story asset sits on a 1.32-acre site and was completed in 1962. According to Yardi Matrix, the building underwent cosmetic renovations in 2013. Currently 84 percent leased, 250 E. Ponce features a full 13,440-square-foot floor of available creative and loft space. Notable tenants include Wells Fargo, ELS Educational Service Inc. and Utility Associates…

Newmark Realty Capital arranged a $75 million loan for TOPA Financial Center, a Class A office and retail asset in Honolulu’s central business district. Newmark negotiated the financing on behalf of Duesenberg Investment Co., the owner of the 508,000-square-foot property.

Carlino Commercial Development and the Rothman Institute completed a $6.3 million renovation at an 85,000-square-foot office building in Blue Bell, Pa. They joined forces with D2 Architects and general contractor MidAtlantic Construction to bring the Class C building to Class A after paying $4.6 million for it last year in March. In a  recent deal, Carlino disposed of a 236,719-square-foot shopping center in the area.

A joint venture between Thor Equities and AEW will acquire 100 New Oxford St., a mixed-use building in London’s West End from Tishman Speyer for $237 million.

“100 New Oxford St. is a prime asset located in one of the most desirable districts in London for office and retail properties, and with the opening of the nearby Crossrail Tottenham Court Road Station, demand for space in the area will only continue to grow,” Joseph Sitt, Thor Equities’ CEO, said in a prepared release. “Thor remains strongly committed to London as a key global market, and we have proven to be able to continue to extract value from assets in the City and other key markets throughout Europe.”

The United Methodist Children’s Home (UMCH) signed two leases that will provide The Children’s Home with a new residential services location, a new administrative office and a new space for the ministry’s historic flea market.

The new residential program will provide future housing for clients currently under UMCH’s care at the ministry’s Decatur campus, including those currently served in the Independent Living and Family Housing ministries…

UMCH Relocates Residents, Offices from Decatur

Renesas Electronics America has signed a 216,000-square-foot lease in Murphy Crossing, a five-building, 368,000-square-foot Class A office/R&D property in the heart of Silicon Valley, with the building’s owners, a joint venture between Embarcadero Capital Partners and True North Management Group.

The transaction represents one of Silicon Valley’s biggest leases of the year as Renesas Electronics America expands its existing premises by 90,000 square feet to include all of 915 Murphy Ranch Road, and extends the term of its existing lease on 126,000 square feet at 1001 McCarthy Blvd. and 933 Murphy Ranch Road.