Blackstone Buys $473M in Shopping Centers

Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII, a Blackstone Group LP fund, entered into an agreement with Equity One, Inc. to purchase 36 shopping centers comprising approximately 3.9 million square feet for $473.1 million according to a Boston Globe article. The assets in the portfolio were encumbered by mortgage loans having an aggregate principal balance of approximately $177.4 million as of June 30, 2011 Equity One said in a statement. Lazard Freres & Co. LLC acted as Equity One's financial advisor in the transaction while Eastdil Secured acted as Blackstone's financial advisor.

"We are very pleased to enter into this transaction with Blackstone," said Jeff Olson, Chief Executive Officer at Equity One. "Together with our $600 million purchase of Capital & Counties and other recent acquisitions, this sale significantly advances our strategic plan to concentrate our portfolio in the urban retail markets of New York, Miami, Boston, San Francisco and Los Angeles."

The shopping centers are predominately located in the Atlanta, Tampa and Orlando markets, with additional properties located in North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee and Maryland. A Businessweek article notes that retail centers with supermarkets are attracting investors because of the perceived safety of properties that consumers have to visit for necessities even in a slow-growing economy. Sales of U.S. grocery-anchored retail properties in the first half of this year exceeded the total for all of 2010, according to research company Real Capital Analytics Inc.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Greater Boston Office Market Has Best Quarter Since 2007

A new article from the Boston Business Journal came with good news: according to a new analytis by Richards Barry Joyce & Partners the office market in the Greater Boston area is closing on the best quarter its seen in four years, even nearing an all-time high occupancy rate. An excerpt from the article:

The region's impressive gains are rooted in its employment growth since early 2009 and run counter to the contraction and rising vacancy rates rippling throughout most other office markets nationally. The occupancy upticks also can be linked to the flood of major life sciences companies and "think tank economy" employers flocking to the Bay State, said Bob Richards, a partner at RBJ.

"There are only so many of them out there," said Richards, alluding to the major firms — Bain Capital, Forrester Research, Pfizer Inc. and Vertex Pharmaceuticals, in particular — who have locked up significant office and laboratory space in recent months. "But we expect that trend to continue."

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Boston has seen its employment expand by around 2.5 percent since February 2009, versus a 0.3 percent contraction in the United States as a whole. Demand for space has been especially acute in the technology and financial hubs of East Cambridge and the Back Bay, where double-digit rent growth is commonplace among Class A properties, according to RBJ.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Tysons West Breaks Ground

JBG Rosenfeld Retail (JBGR) and JBG Companies announced that they broke ground this week on their Tysons West development project in the Washington, DC area. The 247,000 square foot mixed-use development located on Route 7 in Arlington, Virginia is located on block from the Tysons Spring Hill Road Metro stop and near the bustling Tysons Corner Center area.

"JBGR is proud to be the first company to break ground on a true, transit-oriented, mixed-use development which is the embodiment of Fairfax County's vision for the future Tysons Corner," said Jay Klug, Principal at JBGR. "Our plan for Tysons West is to transform this car dealership, a space that represents the suburban era, into a quality, New Urban development. Even better, we are taking existing suburban structures, such as a parking garage, and repurposing them for an urban use."

The development reportedly will include modern smartly designed apartment living, a full service and newly renovated Sheraton Premiere Hotel, a new urban format Walmart grocery, a world-class fitness facility, class A office space, and great dining choices.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Is the CMBS Recovery Faltering?

The Wall Street Journal thinks so. A new article from Al Yoon at the Journal observed that the recovery in the commercial mortage-backed securities market has stalled out even though before the summer all indicators showed a favorable return on the horizon post-recession. An excerpt from the article:

Investment banks have sold four issues of the bonds, valued at about $6 billion, since the market hit the brakes this past summer because of investor skittishness about the souring economy and an 11th-hour decision by rating firm Standard & Poor's to pull its rating from a deal.

But to sell these issues banks had to structure them differently, providing buyers of the safest bonds more protection than usual. Now, weak investor demand is hampering the sale of the riskier parts of the new issues.

For example, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. has been trying to sell a quarter of its $1 billion issue for two weeks as investors have been balking at yields on lower-rated classes, according to two investors familiar with the deal. Sales have been slow even as J.P. Morgan raised the risk premiums—or the amount of yield above their interest-rate benchmark—at least twice for these riskier bonds, the investors said.

Meantime, the bank easily sold the senior, safest bonds within days of the deal's announcement. A spokesman for the bank declined to comment. Investors say J.P. Morgan has sold most of the high-risk bonds but took much longer than usual.

The difficulty means that banks may have to go even further to make commercial mortgage securities attractive to investors. "Everyone wants to be in a safe haven, but once you go down in the capital structure, it's not looking so good," said Julia Tcherkassova, a strategist at Barclays Capital in New York.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

JV Picks Up $215M in Defaulted Debt

A joint venture led by Area Property Partners with McDowell Properties has acquired a portfolio of defaulted loans worth $215 million according to a CoStar report. The JV assumed the portfolio of defaulted loans secured by 17 apartment complexes with 4,733 units in four states. Seven properties are in Austin, Texas with three other properties in Dallas, two properties in Phoenix, three in Tulsa, Oklahoma and one each in Tampa and Jacksonville, Florida. The overall occupancy rate for the portfolio is 84%, providing strong upside potential when leased to market occupancy.

"The transaction represents the rare opportunity to acquire a portfolio of assets in this dynamic high growth market at an attractive discount to the current debt basis," said Steve Wolf of Area Property Partners. "The business plan calls for taking fee title to the assets and repositioning each asset, including exterior renovations, landscaping improvements, amenity upgrades, and interior renovations. These assets will be able to compete with newer complexes in their submarkets while offering a much stronger value within their rent levels."

"These assets are being acquired at substantial discounts to replacement cost while multifamily fundamentals continue to improve. Under new ownership, we will implement a focused renovation plan combined with intensive asset management to maximize the value of the assets," said Patrick McDowell, president of McDowell Properties.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Bank of America Sells $880M CRE Loan Portfolio

Bank of America has agreed to sell a portfolio of commercial mortgages valued at roughly $800 million to a group of investors reported the Wall Street Journal. A venture of Square Mile Capital Management LLC , Invesco Ltd. and a fund managed by Canyon Capital Realty Advisors LLC is buying the portfolio, a mix of performing and nonperforming loans tied to 32 properties, at a discount of 20-25% off the face value. The loans in the portfolio are backed by buildings in 12 states, and reportedly about three-quarters of them are performing.

The deal is among the largest commercial mortgage portfolio sales of the year, coming as many banks continue to shed loans made during the market's peak reported the WSJ. The eight-story Renaissance Centre office building at 405 N. King Street in Wilmington, Delaware, and the Bank of America Tower in St. Louis are both included in the portfolio. The article also notes that this sale follows others that have Bank of America dropping assets that aren't part of its core businessnes; the bank recently sold an $8,6 billion Canadian credit card portfolio, a $8.3 bllion stake in China Construction Bank Corp. and a $1.5 billion stake in HCA Holdings Inc.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

ARC Healthcare Trust Acquires $60.9M Portfolio

American Realty Capital Healthcare Trust, a public REIT of American Realty Capital, has purchased a three building portfolio of medical office properties in Nevada and Arizona for $60.9 million according to a GlobeSt.com article. The portfolio was purchased from The Cirrus Group LLC for roughly $788 per square foot.

The properties include: one multi-specialty medical campus located in Carson City, Nevada, at a purchase price of approximately $29.0 million; one medical office building located in Las Vegas, Nevada, at a purchase price of approximately $22.9 million; and one inpatient rehabilitation facility located in Phoenix, Arizona, for approximately $9.0 million. The acquisitions total approximately 241,000 square feet, and are approximately 92% leased to 19 tenants. Approximately 11.5% of the tenants, based upon property revenues, have leases expiring prior to December 31, 2016. Nearly 32% of the tenants have lease terms beyond ten years from the closing date.

"It's hard to get zero leases expiring in a ten year period, so for us if only 10 percent of the leases expire over a ten year period we're quite happy with that," said Todd Jensen, chief investment officer at ARC Healthcare Trust."In this case, it's about 10% that expire over the next five years but more than 30% have lease terms beyond 10 years. Typically our lease term is going to be a little bit longer than what you see in this piece of the portfolio but this is still very acceptable to us."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Fund Investing $650M in US Green Retrofits

The Carbon War Room, an independent non-profit group founded by Sir Richard Branson, has launched a new consortium to unlock billions of dollars of investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies for US commercial real estate. The Carbon War Room has brokered the creation of a new consortium, the PACE Commercial Consortium (PCC), which promises to bring together Lockheed Martin, Barclays Capital, Energi and HannoverRe with Ygrene Energy Fund to unlock investment for retrofitting commercial properties. According to a CoStar report, the fund will provide up to $650 million for retrofit projects in Miami-Dade County, FL, and Sacramento, CA.

"The PACE Commercial and Industrial Program brings the Green Corridor a privately financed jobs program that will bend the emissions curve in Miami-Dade County and make the Green Corridor an example to the rest of country of what is possible, especially at a time when our construction trades so desperately need the work," said Steve Alexander, leader of Miami-Dade’s Green Corridor District.

"The PACE Commercial Consortium is the missing piece in the jigsaw puzzle for cities looking to implement green plans," said Branson. "The Carbon War Room has been working with its partners to solve this puzzle for over 18 months as part of our Green Capital Global Challenge operation. I’m thrilled by the news of this ground-breaking mechanism, and believe it will unlock a trillion dollar market for green retrofits, creating jobs and growth around the world. There is simply no other source of economic growth with these characteristics."

Launched in 2010 at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the Green Capital Global Challenge aims to mobilize billions of dollars of currently idle private capital into city-led energy efficiency initiatives. Green Capital Global Challenge Director, Murat Armbruster, conceived of the PACE Commercial Consortium and introduced the member companies to one another during the Carbon War Room’s Creating Climate Wealth North America Summit in May this year.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Highwoods Properties Acquires PPG Place

PPG Place in Pittsburgh, a six-building Class A office complex, has a new owner this week as Highwoods Properties acquired the property from Mark Associates LP, an affiliate of The Hillman Company, for $214.1 million according to a CoStar Group report. Highwoods will open an office in PPG Place and handle all onsite management functions and CB Richard Ellis will run point on leasing.

"We are thrilled to enter the dynamic Pittsburgh market through the acquisition of the iconic PPG Place office complex," said Ed Fritsch, President and CEO Highwoods Properties. "Pittsburgh has an enviable economy, and is home to eight Fortune 500 companies, two of which are headquartered in PPG Place. Unemployment is equal to that of Washington, well below the national average, and the city boasts a highly skilled, highly dedicated work force."

PPG Place takes up approximately 1.54 million square feet in the heart of downtown Pittsburgh and includes six towers on a three-block site. The buildings were 81% leased at the time of sale with major tenants including PPG Industries, H.J. Heinz, Deloitte & Touche, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, and Ernst & Young.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

New HQ for Primerica in Georgia

Primerica, Inc., a leading distributor of financial products to middle-income families in North America, has signed a long-term lease agreement with Duke Realty which will develop a 344,476-square foot, built-to-suit office facility for the company in Gwinnett County, Georgia. Cushman and Wakefield represented Primerica in the transaction, while Brown and Craig Flanagan, Vice President, Office Leasing, represented Duke Realty. Cushman & Wakefield will provide project management services for Primerica’s tenant construction.

The new Class A office building will be located in Legacy, a Duke Realty development park just off I-85 in Duluth. Primerica’s new headquarters will be comprised of two buildings, each of which will be three stories high. These buildings will be connected by a central structure that will house Primerica’s TV studio and corporate assembly area. "After 25 years in our existing location, the current economic environment provides an opportune time for us to move into a significantly improved facility with only a modest change in our underlying economics," said Primerica Chairman Co-Chief Executive Officer Rick Williams in a CoStar article.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Cassidy Turley Acquires FHO Partners

Cassidy Turley announced this month that it had acquired FHO Partners, a commercial real estate brokerage and advisory firms in the Greater Boston Metropolitan Area, according to a CoStar report. FHO firm completed transactions valued at $18 billion in 2010, and manages 455 million square feet on behalf of private, institutional, and corporate clients according to a Boston Globe article. Moving forward, FHO Partners will be formally known as Cassidy Turley FHO and will transition to the Cassidy Turley name over time. FHO Managing Partner Joe Fallon will continue to oversee the daily operations of the Cassidy Turley FHO office, while working closely with the Cassidy Turley leadership team to introduce new service offerings, including project management, property management and capital markets.

"We are excited to introduce the Cassidy Turley brand to the region by building on FHO Partners' foundation of excellence," said Joe Fallon. "Our clients have needs beyond our current geographic reach, as well as beyond our current scope of services. Cassidy Turley's expansive geographic coverage and ability to deliver core services that we do not currently offer will enable us to serve those needs while retaining and expanding our existing client relationships."

"We are very pleased to welcome FHO Partners to the Cassidy Turley family," said Mark E. Burkhart, CEO of Cassidy Turley. "We were attracted to FHO Partners' client-focused approach, strength in tenant representation and consulting, deep understanding of local commercial real estate submarkets and trends, excellent reputation and client roster. Securing a presence in greater Boston, one of the nation's strongest commercial real estate markets, is a critical component of our strategic growth plan. Boston's commercial real estate base is unparalleled given its cluster of businesses in technology, higher education, healthcare and professional services. With the acquisition of FHO, Cassidy Turley gains a presence in a premier market where we can provide clients with the geographic reach, critical market knowledge and complete services they require to remain successful."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Fenway Development Decision Expected This Week

The Boston Redevelopment Authority is deciding Thursday night this week whether or not to approve plans for a new $315 million project near Fenway Park in Boston. Samuels & Associates, led by real estate developer Steven Samuels, plans for the Boylston Street corridor would add two new buildings at 1325 Boylston Street and 132 Brookline Avenue replacing existing low-rise buildings and parking lots. The company would like be begin construction on the project in spring of next year.

The $250 million dollar Boylston Street development will feature two towers up to 168 and 178 feet, with one planned for commercial use and one for residential use with approximately 150 rental units. The plans include 25,000 square feet of ground floor retail, in addition to 140,000 square feet of anchor retail, and a maximum of 575 underground parking spaces.The $65 million dollar Brookline Avenue site proposal calls for a 17-story building with 5,000 square feet of ground floor retail space and approximately 150 rental units.

Peter Sougarides, executive vice president of development for Samuels & Associates, told the Boston Globe that the firm is in final discussions with Target about opening a store on two floors of the multitiered building, which would have offices in an 11-story brick section and residences in a 13-story glass part of the structure.

If approved, this project would be the company's third in the area in the past decade; Samuels also developed the shops and residences at 1330 Boylston Street and a larger mixed use complex call Trilogy. The company also recently purchased the Landmark Center retail and office complex, and, according to The Boston Globe, is considering an expansion on that property.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Orlando Magic Plans $100M Complex Downtown

The Orlando Magic are planning another multimillion-dollar real estate investment in downtown Orlando with aims to build a $100 million entertainment complex across the street from the $380 million Amway Center, which opened last October. According to a WFTV report, Orlando Magic owner, Rich DeVos has a plan to bulldoze a city-owned building on West Church Street and replace it with a $100 million entertainment complex of shops, venues and a hotel. In coordination with the City of Orlando, the Magic are undertaking a year-long feasibility study to examine the proposal pending City Council approval. The complex will estimatedly bring 1,000 construction jobs and 300 permanent jobs to downtown and be anchored by the Magic's own corporate headquarters.

Orlando Magic president Alex Martins said the Magic want to help spur downtown development that has lagged primarily because of the nation's sluggish economy. "With the research that we've done, the majority of these developments that have been placed next to downtown arenas have been quite successful and have spurred other development over time,'' Martins said Wednesday from the Amway Center. "Now, it doesn't happen overnight. Typically, it takes a decade. But study Columbus and Nashville and those are two great examples of how it starts with one development and blossoms out into an entire district being born. It starts with a downtown arena and is spreads out from there. It usually starts with these Sports and Entertainment districts that bring other forms of entertainment, bring other restaurants, retail and some office space."

Existing structures on the property — excluding the Orlando Police Department — likely will be demolished for the project reported the Orlando Business Journal. The city of Orlando owns the 4.3-acre property the Orlando Magic are envisioning for the project. City officials said the property would be sold to the Magic, but it’s too early to determine the value of the sale.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Live Nation HQ Sold for $20M

Tishman Speyer bought the office building at 9348 Civic Center Drive in Beverly Hills, CA this month for $20 million from Beverly Hills Ice House Investment Ltd., a group formed by Michael Ovitz and other partners. The property, also known as the Ice House, was previously sold for $3.3 million in 1993 and $10.5 million in 1989 according to CoStar Group information.

The Ice House serves as the world headquarters for Live Nation Entertanment, which merged with Ticketmaster last year. Live Nation will remain at the building under a long term lease until at least 2020. The 44,673 square foot building was originally built in 1925 as an ice storage plant and renovated in the 1990s for office space with design from Barton Myers. The Ice House is next door to Hilton Hotels' former 184,305-square-foot corporate office complex, a property Tishman purchased nine months ago and is currently renovating.

"We have confidence in the long-term strength of the market in Beverly Hills and elsewhere in Los Angeles, and we have assembled a group of attractive, strategically-located office properties that appeal to high-end users," said Mark Laderman, Tishman's regional managing director, in an LA Times article.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

CommonWealth REIT Picks Up Groupon HQ for $390M

The headquarters of Groupon at at 600 W. Chicago Ave. in Chicago traded hands this month for $390 million according to a Chicago Sun-Times article. Commonwealth REIT purchased the former Montgomery Ward catalog building from 600 West Chicago Associates LLC and assumed the existing financing. CoStar reports that affiliates of Angelo, Gordon & Co. sold 600 W. Chicago for $288.9 million or $184 per square foot in March 2007. HFF marketed the property on behalf of the seller, 600 West Chicago Associates LLC; HFF arranged the prior financing in 2007 and also arranged the $180 million in financing on the property for the previous owners in 2005.

600 West Chicago was originally built in 1908 and completely redeveloped in 2001 as a 1.5 million square foot mixed-use property. The property was reportedly 94% leased at the time of purchase with major tenants including Groupon, Wrigley, Fox Sports, Level 3, Japonais Restaurant and David Barton Gym.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Redwood City ISO Optimistic Developers

Redwood City, CA has been active in recent months in moves to draw new developers into the area to expand downtown and increase foot traffic. On January 24 the city approved the "Downtown Precise Plan" which included potential future City projects; now developers are beating a path to complete design proposals due October 17th to build large-scale projects with office space, market-rate housing or even an upscale hotel on a long strip of city-owned land now used for downtown parking near the Caltrain station according to a Mercury News article.

"People are more optimistic," said David Cropper, managing director for TMG Partners, a San Francisco based real estate development firm. "There's capital that wasn't there for real estate and demand that wasn't there two or three years ago. The city said we want a new downtown and it (the plan) makes it less difficult; they don't have to guess what the city wants," he said. "Redwood City is a county seat and it's got historic buildings and some charming buildings. It's the last great downtown on the Peninsula."

Despite a 25% vacancy rate in Redwood City, Dan Zack, Redwood City's downtown development coordinator, said he expects developers to submit project proposals that will be worth "tens of millions and may perhaps go past $100 million."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Cassidy Turley Closes Carter Acquisition

Cassidy Turley announced this week that it had finalized the acquition of the brokerage and property management businesses of Carter. While fincials of the deal were not disclosed, the St. Louis Business Journal notes that Carter has completed transactions valued at $4.6 billion in the past five years and manages 25 million square feet in 11 states on behalf of private, institutional and corporate clients and for its real estate funds.

"Our acquisition of Carter allows us to expand Cassidy Turley's service offerings, including investment sales, finance, tenant representation, project leasing and corporate services, and gives us a significant presence in two major markets, Atlanta and Florida, strengthening our geographic footprint in the Southeast," said Mark Burkhart, CEO, Cassidy Turley. "Our expansion is important, particularly in today's economy, as our clients are rethinking their financial, operational and growth strategies to improve their return on investment and are looking to firms like Cassidy Turley to deliver integrated services, economies of scale and geographic reach."

"This transaction with Cassidy Turley enables us to leverage our property leasing and management services for Class A product across the nation to better serve our clients," said Bob Peterson, Chairman and CEO of Carter. "Cassidy Turley's growth strategy is smart, selective, thoughtful and client-focused – they are one of the few firms today to recognize the level of service quality and sophistication that clients demand."

Peterson and Carter's President, Scott Taylor, will have dual roles providing leadership for both Carter and Cassidy Turley. The transaction adds about 270 new employees and 25 million managed square feet in 11 states to Cassidy's roster.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

PCCP Provides $23.75M Loan for PA Office Complex

Pacific Coast Capital Partners, LLC, (PCCP) provided a $23.75 million senior loan to Bala Cynwyd, PA-based Keystone Property Group for the recapitalization of a five-building Class A office complex according to a National Real Estate Investor article. John Randall, senior vice president of PCCP said "we see this property as one with strong growth potential over the coming years and believe Keystone, as a premier suburban office owner, will manage the property effectively and increase tenant interest."

Built in 1973, the property underwent a substantial transformation when Keystone invested more than $10 million to re-skin and modernize four of the five buildings and make other high-end enhancements. The complex totals just over 228,000 square feet within Sentry Park West in Blue Bell, PA, a suburb of Philidelphia. The property consists of five office buildings: Gwynedd Hall, Dublin Hall, Abington Hall, Merion Towle, and a PNC Bank branch. "This property appeals to small and mid-size tenants looking for a prestigious location and smaller floor plates that offer corner glass with superior light and air," said John Prete, vice president with PCCP.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Work Begins on $300M Times Square Hotel

Real estate developer Extell Development Company has begun construction on a new 54 story hotel in Times Square at 135 West 45th St. according to a CoStar report. The Hyatt Times Square is expected to be completed in 2013 and will be managed by an affiliate of Hyatt Hotels Corp. The property will include 487 guestrooms, including 49 suites, rooftop terrace, Sky-lounge and meeting space with an oversized adjacent terrace. The hotel will feature an innovative exterior design by renowned architectural firm SLCE and interior spaces by SPaN of New York.

For Gary Barnett, the president of Extell, who predicted that more new construction would begin as underwriting became less conservative, the choice to move ahead with construction projects was the only rational decision for his firm noted the New York Times. "We really didn't have a choice in the matter. We had to build," Barnett said, adding that construction had been moving forward despite what he described as extremely conservative underwriting. "It's what we do. It's what we've done."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Wells Fargo Expands CRE Lending

The end of August was busy for Wells Fargo with the Anglo Irish Bank deal, which followed the purchase of about $1.4 billion in U.S. loan holdings from the Bank of Ireland and roughly $500 million in loans bought from Allied Irish Banks PLC earlier this year. The Wall Street Journal has written an article looking at Wells Fargo's marked expansion in CRE titled Wells Fargo Jumps on Commercial Deals. An excerpt from the article:

Wells Fargo had emerged as the leading holder of commercial mortgages among banks, according to Trepp LLC, which tracks commercial property lending. During the second quarter, Wells Fargo's loan holdings grew by $3.3 billion, bringing its total to $100.2 billion, according to Trepp. The data exclude construction loans.

"We like the risk-return of the business," said David Hoyt, who heads wholesale banking for Wells Fargo.

The amount of commercial property loans held by the next five largest commercial real-estate lenders after Wells Fargo decreased by $1.3 billion, according to Trepp. While many of these banks are making new commercial real-estate loans, old loans have been maturing or have been sold off at a faster pace than new loans have been made.

Still, Wells Fargo has been far more aggressive than other banks, partly because it was less wounded by commercial real estate than many competitors, some of which virtually shut down lending in the sector through much of the downturn.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Chicago's Three First National Plaza Sold for $348M

Hines announced this week that its U.S. Core Office Fund sold the 57-story Three First National Plaza in Chicago for $349.3 million to a joint venture according to a GlobeSt.com article. The joint venture of the Korean Teachers Credit Union, the Korean Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives and Hong Kong-based Gaw Capital Partners has engaged Hines to continue as the property and leasing manager for the tower. Wells Fargo Securities Asia represented the buyer in the transaction, while Eastdil Secured represented Hines. Financials on the deal were not disclosed.

"Ongoing upgrades and enhancements to the property have enabled Three First National Plaza to continue to perform in the upper tier of Chicago buildings," said Hines Senior Vice President Tom Danilek. "We look forward to our new alliance with Downtown Properties as we continue our commitment to superior tenant service at the building."

"Three First National Plaza has been an excellent performer for our Hines U.S. Core Office Fund investors," said Charles Hazen, president of the fund. "We are pleased with this sale as we balance our portfolio holdings to meet future objectives."

Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Three First National Plaza at 70 West Madison Street was developed by Hines in 1981. In 2005 Hines sold the building for $245.3 million to its office fund, a partnership with Osaka, Japan-based Sumitomo Life. The 1.4 million square foot sawtooth tower is currently 92% leased with major tenants including Madison Dearborn Partners, K&L Gates, Kaye Scholer, The PrivateBank and Fitch Ratings.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.