Mack-Cali Sells New Jersey Office Building for $72.3M

Mack-Cali Realty Corporation announced this week that is had sold 55 Corporate Drive in Bridgewater, New Jersey in an all cash deal for $72.3 million. The four-story, 205,439-square-foot class A property was sold to a subsidiary of Cole Corporate Income Trust, Inc., an entity managed by Cole Real Estate Investments. Adam Spies, Kevin Donner and Neill Wessell with Eastdil Secured in New York represented the seller.

Mack-Cali developed the building in 2011 as a build-to-suit for Sanofi-Aventis. Building IV sits on 154 acres in the Route 78 East submarket of Somerset County, and is fully occupied by the diversified global healthcare leader.

"What appealed to us is a combination of investment-rate credit, it's a long-term lease (still 13 years), a strategically important asset—part of their U.S. headquarters, and it's a good-quality location," Robert Micera, Cole's chief investment officer for office and industrial, told Commercial Property Executive. "It's in good proximity to the major highways in New Jersey and in good proximity to New York. All of these things combined make this fit right in with our parameters of seeking long-term lease transactions that have great creditworthy tenants and good rent growth."

Mitchell E. Hersh, president and chief executive officer of Mack-Cali, commented, "The sale of this property continues our strategy of monetizing non-core assets." Mack-Cali Realty owns or has interests in 278 assets, including 269 office and office/flex properties totaling 31.1 million square feet and nine multi-family rental properties containing more than 3,300 residential units, all located in the Northeast.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Cousins Properties Pays $102.4M for Austin Office Tower

Cousins Properties, an Atlanta-based diversified real estate company, picked up 816 Congress Avenue in downtown Austin, Texas this month for $102.4 million, or $236 per square foot. According to a company press release the acquisition was funded with cash proceeds from Cousins’ recent follow-on stock offering. Cousins Properties also has plans to build an office tower at Colorado and Third streets. Previous Austin projects include the Frost Bank Tower and Palisades West.

"This represents another attractive acquisition for Cousins as we continue to target quality urban office assets in the best southeastern submarkets at valuations below replacement cost," said Larry Gellerstedt, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cousins. "We have a long, successful history in Austin and are very excited about the opportunity to create value at 816 Congress Avenue."

The 434,000-square foot Class A office building was 78% leased at the time of sale, with major tenants including Teachers Retirement System of Texas, Lloyd Gosselink, and AT&T Services. Originally completed in 1983 and designed by Holt, Fatter, Scott, previous owners Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. invested $3 million into the office building last summer to build an outdoor terrace and lounge on the 15th floor, according to an Austin Business Journal article.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Fowler Building in Charlotte Sold to Adolfson & Peterson

Adolfson & Peterson Construction (A&P), a Minneapolis-based general contractor offering construction management services, has purchased the Fowler Building for $2.5 million. A&P purchased the property from Boulevard at 1447 South Tryon Street, a limited liability company managed by Chris Branch, that previously acquired the building for $1.5 million in 2003. Josh Beaver of The Nichols Co. represented A&P, and Greg Pappanastos of Argos Real Estate Advisors represented the seller.

A&P moved its Charlotte operations into the building last year, leasing roughly 8,300 square feet of office space in the 18,000 square foot building. "We moved into the building a year ago and since then we have continued to hire team members and really needed the additional space," said John LaPenta, who heads the local office, in a release. "We hope that by purchasing the building, we show our commitment to the city and to being a North Carolina contractor."

According to a Charlotte Business Journal article, The firm is expanding to about 15,000 square feet and will take the vacant section of the third and basement levels in the building for additional space. IT consulting firm Systemtec will continue to lease about 3,000 square feet on the third floor.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

MPG Office Trust To Be Acquired By Brookfield

In a deal that will make Brookfield Office Properties the biggest office owner in downtown Los Angeles, MPG Office Trust has agreed to be acquired. The deal is valued at more than $2.2 billion, including debt and after cash proceeds from the planned sale of MPG's U.S. Bank Tower, said Wilkes Graham, a senior vice president at Compass Point Research & Trading LLC. Brookfield and its partners agreed to pay $3.15 a share for MPG Office Trust Inc.'s common stock, a 21% premium to Wednesday's closing price, and will take control of four skyscrapers totaling five million square feet. Taken with a purchase of preferred stock, the Brookfield-led group would pay more than $425 million in cash for the company, which has about $1.9 billion in debt, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

"We have found a strategic buyer who has the capital and the market presence to appreciate the potential long-term value of our assets," MPG Chief Executive Officer David Weinstein said in the company's statement. "This transaction potentially offers both our common and preferred shareholders a liquidity event that would remain uncertain if the company were to continue on as an independent entity."

"It's the best outcome for downtown L.A. because we now have a well-capitalized ownership, which can at least reinvest in the buildings and in the community," said Carl Muhlstein, a managing director at brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. "Whereas a nearly insolvent MPG never had enough money to even take care of day-to-day stuff."

"Brookfield buying the rest of MPG's portfolio is like putting together Chrysler, Ford and General Motors. It's that impactful," said John Cushman, the Los Angeles-based chairman of real estate brokerage Cushman & Wakefield. "They will totally control the high end of the market."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

FSP Picks Up Denver Office Tower for $183M

Pearlmark Broadreach 1999 LLC has entered into a definitive agreement to sell a 43-story office building in the central business district of Denver, Colorado for $183 million. FSP 1999 Broadway LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Franklin Street Properties, will take ownership of the property in a sale expected to close on July 1, according to SEC filings. A joint venture led by Broadreach Capital Partners and Transwestern previously acquired the property in November 2005.

The sale includes the 680,277-square foot office building at 1999 Broadway and a nine-story, 177,472-square foot garage at 2099 Welton Street. The property is currently 95% leased with major tenants including the Internal Revenue Service, Berry Petroleum Co. and Mercy Housing. Built in 1984 and 1985, the office tower is Energy Star rated and LEED Silver certified.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Rexford Industrial Buys Glendale Industrial Complex for $56M

Rexford Industrial, a Los Angeles-based industrial real estate investment firm, has purchased a 473,345-square-foot institutional quality industrial complex in Glendale, California for $56.2 million. Rexford purchased the property from Australian real estate company Dexus Property Group, which has offices in Newport Beach, according to a San Fernando Valley Business Journal report. Stephen Silk, Jay Borzi and Adam Pastor of Eastdil Secured LLC represented both the buyer and the seller. The sale means that Dexus no longer holds any properties in the US.

"This is one of the best industrial parks serving the high demand Glendale/Burbank market area and has consistently demonstrated strong occupancy,"said Howard Schwimmer, co-founder and Senior Managing Partner of Rexford Industrial. "The project contains tenant spaces ranging from 3,000 to 50,000 SF offering high ceiling clearance and dock-high loading; both are a rare commodity in this market."

Located at 3550 Tyburn Street & 3332-3424 North San Fernando Road, the property includes both single and multi-tenant buildings as well as two retail frontage buildings. According to press releases regarding the sale, the 7-building complex was 100% leased at the time of sale to 27 tenants, including Staples, Anderson Printing, Nordstrom and Pep Boys.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

CMBS Research Shows Rebound to Pre-Recession Levels

A new report from the CoStar Group examines the trends and latest information yielded from the April CMBS bondholder remittance reports to evaluate the state of CMBS loans, which now see to be rebounding to pre-recession levels. Data shows that net operating incomes on almost all yearly vintanges of CMBS loans are now near or above underwritten financial levels. An excerpt follows:

Based on the loans that have reported year-end 2012 financials, NOI growth was strong in 2012 rising 4.5% on average. For the 2010 and 2011 vintages about 30% of the loans reporting year-end 2012 financials are showing lower NOI than was underwritten. The 2012 vintage is showing a higher percentage, with around 40% of the loans having lower NOI compared to the underwritten amount.

While they plan to revisit the topic again in a few months once the majority of the loans have reported, based on the early look at NOI (net operating income) trends among loans that have reported year-end 2012 financials, Jan de Beur said NOI growth was strong in 2012, rising 4.5% on average.

"While preliminary, the 2012 NOI growth rate is noticeably higher than the 3% increase in NOI experienced in 2011 on average," said Marielle Jan de Beur, managing director and head of Structured Products Research CMBS and Real Estate Research for Wells Fargo Securities.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Miami's Sabadell Financial Center Sold for $185M

The Sabadell Financial Center traded hands this month as Testa American Real Estate Corporation, an affiliate of Madrid-based Testa Inmuebles en Renta SA., sold the office tower for $184 million. Prudential Real Estate Investors, on behalf of investors in Prudential Financial, Inc.'s flagship fund, purchased the property at 1111 Brickell Avenue with legal representation from Chicago-based Mayer Brown LLP, while Robert Allen Law represented Testa.

"We look at Brickell Avenue as one of the premier office and residential markets in the country. Brickell is a hot market,'' said Jim Mehalso, a managing director with Prudential Real Estate who worked on the off-market transaction, in a Miami Herald article. "Residential is doing great, and 1111 [Brickell] is one of the top buildings in the market with an excellent roster of tenants.

Charles Foschini, vice chairman of capital markets for CBRE who wasn't involved in the transaction, said Prudential got a good deal. "I believe the seller left a lot of money on the table. The reproduction cost of a building of that quality could easily eclipse $500 a square foot. With the three newest office buildings leased or leasing at a strong clip, Brickell rents are bound to increase to all time highs.''

"With Miami growing in stature among the top business and financial hubs in the Americas, the timing was ripe for PREI’s entrance into the Brickell market," said Cathy Marcus, managing director at Prudential Real Estate Investors and senior portfolio manager for the firm’s core open-ended equity commingled real estate strategy. "With a location in the sought-after Brickell district and an enviable tenant base, Sabadell Financial Center is a perfect fit with our investment strategy."

Built in 2000, the 30-story tower is located in the northern Brickell Financial District of Miami offering roughly 525,000 square feet of space. With the ground floor dedicated to retail, the rest of the building comprises office tenants, reportedly 85% leased at the time of sale to tenants including Sabadell United Bank, Hunton & Williams, Credit Suisse, Baker & McKenzie, and Telefónica.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

China Construction Acquires Advance at Southgate for $71M

China Construction America Inc. announced this month that it has purchased 445 South Street in Morris Township, New Jersey for roughly $71 million. The property was previously purchased in 2005 by Advance Real Estate for $30.2 million, then renovated for another $25 million in 2007, according to a Realty Today report. Andrew Merin, Gary Gabriel, David Bernhaut and Brian Whitmer with Cushman & Wakefield's capital markets group represented the seller. Geoffrey Schubert and Dorothy Chuang with CBRE represented the buyer.

"It indicates that well-located, well-tenanted, class A office buildings still attract a lot of attention in an office market that has continued to struggle," said Andrew Merin of Cushman & Wakefield's Metropolitan Area Capital Markets Group.

Constructed in 1982, the 320,000 square-foot property comprises of three four-floor wings, connected by a two story atrium. The building is 88% leased so far, and among the four tenants signed on will be The Travelers Indemnity Co. and Marsh USA, said Merin. China Construction might occupy part of the building, which is leased mainly to insurance-company tenants, said Phillip Gesue, who joined China Construction last year to lead its U.S. real estate operations.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Houston's Williams Tower Gets $185.4M in Financing

Invesco Real Estate has secured $185.4 million in permanent financing for the purchase of Williams Tower in Houston's Galleria region, a 1.4 million square-foot Class A office tower. Jones Lang LaSalle arranged the financing on behalf of Invesco through Prudential Mortgage Capital Company. Invesco purchased the 64-story office tower from Hines REIT early last month, with Jones Lang LaSalle's Tom Melody with Managing Directors Michael Zietsman and Dan Bellow representing Hines in the sale.

"This was a very significant financing transaction that generated substantial interest from the top-tier institutional lending community," said Melody. "Williams Tower is not only one of the most recognizable buildings in Houston, it is also an asset that has outperformed the market over the past five years, proving to be a very solid investment. We are confident Williams Tower will continue to deliver good returns for Invesco and perform favorably in the future given its high quality and position in the marketplace."

According to a Houston Chronicle report, the building is 95% occupied. Major tenants include Ecopetrol America, Hines Real Estate Investments, Knoll, NextiraOne, Rowan Cos., Smith Barney, Trammell Crow Co., Wells Fargo and Williams Corp.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Construction Begins on $260M Runway in Playa Vista

Construction began this week on the long-anticipated lifestyle center that will soon connect the Phase I residential community and the Campus at Playa Vista. A development team led by Lincoln Property Co., Phoenix Property Co. and Paragon Commercial Group spearhead the $260-million shopping and apartment project called Runway, which is intended to be the commercial and social heart of the planned mixed-use community that has been under construction for more than a decade on land south of Marina del Rey, once controlled by aviation mogul Howard Hughes.

"This project has been a long time coming, so we are excited to be moving to the next stage in the development process and to be that much closer to injecting more energy into this already vibrant community," said David Binswanger, Executive Vice President of Lincoln Property Company. "We want Runway to be at the forefront of everything new in the worlds of fashion, art, design and technology and to be a real center of the community where people come to shop, eat, and to just relax."

"We are pleased to see such early interest from a great group of top national retailers. The fact that we are signing best-in-class tenants in every category we are pursuing is a testament to our vision for Runway," said Mark Harrigian, Principal of Paragon Commercial Group. "When complete, Runway will be brimming with chef-driven restaurants and a unique mix of retailers offering anything from upscale couture to California lifestyle and beach-chic fashions."

Aided by a new $150 million construction loan through a syndicate of banks led by Bank of America, the newly begun project will include 221,000 square feet of retail, 420 apartments and 35,000 square feet of office space spread across three separate buildings. Whole Foods has already committed to move into a 35,755 square-foot space adjacent to McConnell Avenue, on the retail center's ground level. Down the street, the Cinemark multiplex at Runway will feature nine screens in over 46,000 square feet and the company's NextGen design concept with RealD 3D capability, self-serve concession stands and an open plaza with a cocktail lounge. Shoppers can also expect to find a CVS Pharmacy, Veggie Grill and a national bank branch at Runway.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

REISA Panel on Non-Traded REIT Industry

REISA's Spring Symposium met this month with nearly 600 in attendance, featuring an opening session panel, "Liquidity in Non-Traded REITs: Insights from Industry Leaders," with industry leaders American Realty Capital, Cole Real Estate Investments, Inland Real Estate Corporation, and CNL Financial Group. The main message, as noted by CoStar, was that "non-traded REITs need to continue to implement best practices to reduce fees, improve transparency and bring more investors to the industry. Job one will be unlocking shareholder by making good on the $39 billion in liquidity events being considered by companies in the non-traded REIT space." The panel featured Nicholas Schorsch, chairman and CEO of American Realty Capital, Marc Nemer, president and CEO of Cole, Andrew Hyltin, group president, fund management of CNL, and Daniel Goodwin, chairman and CEO of Inland.

"The non-traded REIT industry has generated a tremendous number of headlines in recent months on a number of fronts, particularly as several offerings have or are pursuing liquidity events," said REISA Executive Director John Harrison. "Non-traded REITs are increasingly popular investment vehicles and account for more than $80 billion in assets under management – as these offerings transition from illiquid to liquid investments, they are shaking up the investment real estate world. These industry giants will share their insights on this increasingly important issue to investors and their financial advisors."

"The public markets believe in non-traded REITs. Tomorrow's public companies are coming from this room," said ARCP's Schorsch. “We sit here together on this panel with close to $30 billion of assets that are going to look for liquidity. The bigger the market, the more efficient the transactions."

The Real Estate and Investment Securities Association is a national trade association serving alternative investment and securities industry professionals since 2003, with over 1,200 members who are key decision makers that represent over 30,000 professionals throughout the nation.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Warehouse Demand Off to Strongest Start Since 2008

A new article from CoStar titled Don't Look Now But Warehouse Demand Off to Strongest Start Since 2008 has been released, noting the strong start of the warehouse market in 2013 as the growing pace of construction remains in check with a demand for growth. A survey of transaction data by CoStar's Property & Portfolio Research shows warehouse supply and demand at its strongest levels in at least five years. An excerpt from the article follows:

"Speculative new construction is still not a threat to the ongoing recovery as it is still heavily concentrated in markets that also have strong demand, such as the Inland Empire, Phoenix, and more recently Memphis," said Rene Circ, director of U.S. research/industrial Property & Portfolio Research (PPR), a CoStar company.

"The industrial market is enjoying a recovery in line with historic trends," said Robert Bach, national director of market analytics for Newmark Grubb Knight Frank. "The leasing market is performing better than the investment market, only because it’s harder for investors to source industrial product to match their appetites."

"Housing has emerged from its recessionary slump and is once again driving demand for both warehouse and flex product," said Jason W. Tolliver, vice president of research, Cassidy Turley. "The manufacturing sector continued to expand in the first quarter, although the pace of growth seems to be slowing. Despite this, factory hiring has continued and this bodes well for future CRE demand."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

HFF Arranges $230M in Financing for Bascom Group

The Bascom Group, an Irvine, CA-based private equity firm, has received $230 million in financing for The Breakers Resort in Denver. HFF's Charles Halladay, Mark Erland, Josh Simon, Jordan Robbins and Lee Redmond negotiated the transaction, which includes a $165 million first mortgage, a $26.25 million mezzanine loan and $38.75 million in preferred equity. The $165 million first mortgage was a floating-rate loan and included a three-year term with two, one-year extension options that was provided through Bank of America and CIBC. The mezzanine loan and preferred equity were provided by Prudential Real Estate Investors' $805 million U.S. Real Estate Debt Fund.

"Bascom was able to access mezzanine and preferred equity capital available in today's market and obtain financing on The Breakers Resort by adding an additional parcel of developable land as collateral, resulting in a blended cost of capital of less than 5.0% and a combined debt yield of 6.25%," said Mark Erland.

"The overall structure limited the mezzanine financing, making it necessary to fund the remaining portion with preferred equity. The Bank of America, CIBC and Prudential lending teams did an outstanding job of closing the loan in less than 30 days, including negotiating an intercreditor," added Halladay.

Situated on 127 acres and developed by Koelbel and Company, which will retain an ownership interest, The Breakers Resort is located at 9099 East Mississippi Avenue close to Cherry Creek, the Lowry Redevelopment and a new community shopping center. The "strongly-performing" property is 95% leased and is comprised of six interconnected communities, each with their own clubhouse, surrounding a 55-acre recreational lake.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Titanium Secures $50M Loan to Expand Federal Government Portfolio

Colliers International's Government Solutions Group announced that it had facilitated the closing of a $50 million portfolio loan for Titanium Real Estate Advisors. The 14 property portfolio covers 375,726 square feet of space leased in its entirety to the Federal Government. Todd Taylor, Managing Director of Capital Markets at Colliers Government Solutions, placed the loan.

"Todd and his team secured an outstanding loan for Titanium on a diverse portfolio of General Services Administration (GSA) assets," said Kris Jankowski, Vice President at Titanium. "By facilitating this loan in the current low-interest environment, Colliers is playing an integral role in Titanium's ongoing strategy to expand its GSA portfolio."

Titanium Real Estate Advisors is a division of Titanium Asset Management, a professional asset manager to various Taft-Hartley pension plans. The portfolio includes properties in Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Texas, Montana and Washington. Colliers International is the property manager for five of the assets.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Mesa West Capital Secures $55M Loan for Newport Beach Office

Mesa West Capital, a Los Angeles-based lender, announced this week that it had originated the first loan from its Mesa West Real Estate Income Fund III, providing a $55 million first mortgage debt to an affiliate of Emmes Asset Management. Jonathan Firestone and J.P. Leveque at Eastdil Secured arranged the financing. Emmes will use the loan to recapitalize 4000 MacArthur Boulevard in Newport Beach, CA, has recently completed a multimillion dollar renovation on the Class A office complex.

"Emmes was able to acquire an institutional quality asset in a top Southern California location and is repositioning it to take advantage of a lack of large contiguous blocks of quality space and an improving rental market in Orange County," said Jason Bressler of Mesa West Capital. "They have a tremendous track record in realizing the investment potential in transitional assets, especially here in Orange County."

Originally built in 1979, the 376,000 square foot office complex is under lease management with Jones Lang LaSalle. The recent renovations on the two 10-story buildings, also known as Koll Center, include a redesign of the building lobby and entry, a new full-service cafe and outdoor patio, major improvements to the building systems and upgrades to common areas.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Lake View Center in Ontario Sold to BH Properties

BH Properties, a Los Angeles-based commercial real estate investment company, announced this week that it had acquired Lake View Center in Ontario, CA for $13.8 million. The three story, 106,345 square foot office property was sold by PCCP and The Muller Companies, with representation from Kevin Shannon, Darla Longo and Phil Woodford of CB Richard Ellis.

"This Class A property is well located in a market that is showing signs of recovery," said Executive Vice President of BH Properties Steve Jaffe. "The company is very excited about our recent acquisitions in the Los Angeles basin. After an 8-year hiatus from California purchases, this property (along with the other two recent transactions) marks a new acquisition strategy for the company – while still seeking value-add type assets, we now are looking to acquire higher quality properties in more densely populated areas."

Lake View Center, built in 2004, sits at 3257 and 3237 E. Guasti Road. The property was 62% leased at the time of sale, with major tenants including East West Bank, T-Mobile and University of La Verne.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Amazon Grabs More Seattle Space

The online retail giant Amazon.com continues to grow in Seattle as it takes another 150,000 square feet of space at 1800 Ninth Avenue, an office building owned by Talon Private Capital, according to a Kidder Mathews report. Amazon has been a titan in the Seattle real estate market in recent years, buying three city blocks from Seattle's Clise family in January of last year to build a 3.3 million square foot office complex, then following that acquisition nine months later by purchasing the South Lake Union headquarters campus it had been leasing from developer Vulcan Real Estate. It's also rumored that Amazon will be leasing 136,000 square feet of space in Metropolitan Park North at 1220 Howell Street.

"Amazon is the undisputed heavyweight champion of downtown Seattle," said Kip Spencer, president of The Spencer Companies, a Seattle real-estate consulting firm.

"In the 25 or 30 years I've been around downtown Seattle, I've never seen anything remotely like what Amazon has done to the market," says Dale Sperling, former president and CEO of Seattle's Unico Properties.

A joint venture of Talon and Prudential Real Estate Investors bought 1800 Ninth in December 2011 from Regence Blue Shield, which leased back about 30% of the space. The 1800 Ninth building is about three blocks from the nearest building Amazon already occupies.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

McCarthy Building Breaks Ground on Springfield Rehab Hospital

McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. broke ground this week on a new $28 million rehabilitation hospital for Mercy and Centerre Healthcare in St. Louis, Missouri. Duke Realty Corp. will own the 63,000-sq. ft. building, and the health care system will be the tenant. Springfield. Nashville, Tennessee-based Earl Swensson Associates Inc. is the project architect, according to a National Real Estate Investor article. Mercy Rehabilitation Hospital Springfield is a partnership between Mercy and Centerre Healthcare Corporation, a national leader in the development and operation of rehabilitation hospitals. Centerre has partnered with Mercy for similar projects in St. Louis and Oklahoma City.

The new two-story rehab hospital sits across the street from the Mercy Orthopedic Hospital Springfield site, which is also being built by McCarthy for $116 million, and will have 60 beds and provide inpatient rehabilitation for patients recovering from strokes, brain or spinal cord injuries, amputations, complex orthopedic injuries and other conditions. McCarthy expects to deliver the building early in 2014.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Digital Realty Trust Acquires Data Center for $37M

San Francisco-based Digital Realty Trust announced this week that it had completed the acquisition of a 329,000 square foot data center facility in Eagan, Minnesota for $37 million. Structured as a sale-leaseback deal, Digital Realty purchased the facility from Delta Air Lines, which has signed an eight-year, triple net lease with Digital Realty for the facility.

"The acquisition of Towerview further expands our footprint in a key U.S. market and deepens our relationship with an existing customer—a major commercial airline with an extensive domestic and international network," said Michael Foust, chief executive officer of Digital Realty. "We look forward to continuing to work with Delta Air Lines to support their future data center requirements."

"We are beginning to see more enterprise customers, such as Delta, looking to Digital Realty to help them monetize their real estate assets while continuing to support their critical operations with a well-capitalized, long-term data center owner," said Scott Peterson, chief acquisitions officer of Digital Realty. "Our deep financial resources, acquisitions experience, and reputation with customers and sellers enable us to source and structure these complex transactions while achieving an attractive return for our shareholders."

Set on 39 acres of land, 1500 Towerview Road is a three-level facility with approximately 86,000 square feet of raised-floor data center space.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Demo Starts on New $75M Mixed Use Development in Cincinnati

The Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority started work this week on the site of the former Swifton Commons in Cincinnati, a $75 million mixed-use project that will help remake Bond Hill. The Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority recently finalized the purchase of 25 acres and has begun removing structures, including a 32-foot billboard-style sign that has marked the Reading Road/Seymour Avenue intersection for more than four decades.

"Today is another great day for Cincinnati," Mayor Mark Mallory told about 200 Bond Hill residents, community, business, port authority and city leaders. "This redevelopment represents the City's first investment injection from our new Focus 52 program fund, created just for transformational projects such as this one."

Full demolition on the blighted 250,000-square-foot outdoor shopping center is expected to begin June 1, according to a Cincinnati.com article. In December, the city decided to give $6.2 million to the port authority for redevelopment of the site, at a location once considered the northern gateway into Cincinnati.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Zeller Realty Group Buys Guaranty Bank Building

Zeller Realty Group has made its first move on the Denver market with the purchase of 1331 17th Street, a 13-story office building in the LoDo submarket. The terms of the deal and exact sale price were not disclosed; the property previously sold in 2007 for $69.95 when Hines Interests LP teamed with the California Public Employees' Retirement System and bought the building under an ownership entity called the National Office Partners LP. Mary Sullivan and John Jugl, senior managing directors of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP, represented the seller, Common Wealth Partners LLC, in the transaction.

Los Angeles-based Common Wealth took over for Hines and the building ownership entity was named NOP 1331 17th LLC, according to a Denver Business Journal article. Also known as the Guaranty Bank Building, the 220,287 square-foot building was completed in 1983 and delivered by the a and Denver developer Bill Walters. The building was reportedly 87% leased at the time of sale, with Guaranty Bank occupying 25% of the property.

"Zeller chose the strongest market in Denver for office property ownership, so they know it will be successful," Sullivan said. "They've wanted to be in the market for quite some time and have bid on other assets. They're committed to the Denver market and want to own more assets here."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.