Friday, August 30, 2013

Oxbridge Investing Up to $1B in Medically Anchored CRE

Oxbridge Capital, a private equity group headquartered in Vancouver, announced this week that it would invest up to $1 billion in developing healthcare anchored mixed use commercial real estate developments in the United States, Canada and international markets. According to a company press release, Oxbridge will leverage up to $250 million in internally generated and/or externally sourced funds and leverage the same with a combination of conventional bank debt, bond issuances, high yield financing, tax exempt offerings, structured finance and additional equity and debt offerings in the public and private markets.
Oxbridge Capital will invest over the next 60 months to develop real estate capital plays alongside strategic partners, including:
  • Integrated healthcare service providers, including companies providing a full range of physiotherapy, surgical, pharmaceutical, senior care and other services;
  • Hospital groups and integrated healthcare delivery systems;
  • REITs, including those involved in all aspects of mixed use commercial development, acquisition, finance and management;
  • Private equity real estate investment funds;
  • Investment management, infrastructure and other specialized funds;
  • Insurance companies;
  • Design build consortia, including large and well known construction and facilities maintenance operators in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia; and
  • Various real estate development and structured finance professions in Toronto, New York, London and Singapore.
For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Thursday, August 29, 2013

DCT Industrial Trust Pays $22M for Industrial Portfolio

DCT Industrial Trust Inc., a Denver-based industrial real estate company, announced this week that it had acquired a three-building industrial portfolio in the Phoenix area for $22.1 million, or $71.74 per square foot. The price point is above the $59.47 per square foot average for industrial space across metro Phoenix, according to LoopNet’s data as of July, as reported by the Phoenix Business Journal. The Broadway Industrial Portfolio was sold by San Francisco-based Prologis with representation from Jones Lang LaSalle Managing Directors Mark Detmer and Bo Mills. JLL Executive Vice Presidents Pat Harlan and Steve Sayre, and Associate Kyle Westfall will serve as the exclusive leasing brokers for the property buyer on behalf of DCT Industrial Trust. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"We are excited to add these exceptional buildings to our portfolio," said Mark Bowen, Regional Vice President DCT Industrial. "Located in one of the highest-barrier-to-entry submarkets of Phoenix these high-quality buildings reflect DCT's continued effort to improve the quality our portfolio."

"These buildings are exceptional in that they combine outstanding functionality and full occupancy with a true Class A image in an infill location," said Detmer. "This includes access—within minutes—to many of the key amenities that a high-end industrial user might need: an extensive freeway network, international airport, deep labor pool and host of retail opportunities."

The portfolio includes an 110,000-square-foot building at 1005 W. Alameda Dr; a 96,437-square-foot building at 2910 S. Hardy Drive; and a 101,601-square-foot building at 2925 S. Roosevelt St., all in Tempe. Each building is a Class A, institutional quality asset offering manufacturing, distribution and office space. The properties are all fully occupied with major tenants including United Stationers Supply Co., ACI Plastics, Inc., Misty Mate, Inc. and Triumph Group, Inc.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Keystone JV Buys $233M Pennsylvania Portfolio

A joint venture led by Keystone Property Group announced this week that it had closed on the acquisition of a Philadelphia area portfolio for approximately $233 million. The JV purchased 15 office buildings and three development sites from the Mack-Cali office real estate investment trust, which is pulling back from the Philadelphia area office market, where rents have been stuck at 1990s levels, according to a Philly.com article. The acquisition adds approximately 1.7 million square feet of existing office space to Keystone's portfolio and significantly expands the company's presence in Pennsylvania, where Keystone has been headquartered and active since itsinception in 1991.

The portfolio includes:

150 Monument Road, totaling 125,783 square feet in Bala Cynwyd
Four buildings at 1000 – 1235 Westlakes Drive in Berwyn's Westlakes Office Park, totaling 444,350 square feet
Three buildings at 4 & 5 Sentry Park in Blue Bell, totaling 193,930 square feet
Three buildings at 100 – 300 Stevens Drive in Airport Business Center in Lester, totaling 371,000 square feet
1000 Madison Avenue in Lower Providence, totaling 100,700 square feet
Two buildings at Rose Tree Corporate Center I & II at 1400 N. Providence Road in Media, totaling 260,000 square feet
One Plymouth Meeting, located at 502 W. Germantown Pike in Plymouth Meeting, totaling 167,748 square feet

"This acquisition is closely aligned with our core competencies as a long-time investor in well-located office properties where significant value can be created to achieve best-in-class work environments that meet the requirements of modern companies," said Bill Glazer, President of Keystone Property Group. "Drawing on the strengths of our more than 20-year track record in the Pennsylvania market, our strategy is focused on realizing the full potential of these assets through the creation of vibrant, urban-inspired settings within the context of suburban office campuses."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Adler Kawa Buys Houston Portfolio

Adler Kawa Real Estate Advisors, a joint venture between real estate firm Adler Group and investment firm Kawa Capital Management, announced this week that it had purchased a 200,000 square-foot industrial and office portfolio in Houston. AKREA purchased the properties through Adler Kawa Real Estate Fund II, which has raised about $50 million and is authorized to raise up to $100 million in discretionary capital, according to a Houston Business Journal article. Terms of the deal and pricing on the properties was not disclosed. Rusty Tamlyn and Trent Agnew of HFF represented the seller in the transaction.

The firm acquired the 110,400-square-foot Bammel Business Park and 91,451-square-foot Legacy Park from Boston-based investment firm GID. The properties were collectively 95% leased at the time of sale, with major tenants including Malvern Instruments, the University of Texas Board of Regents, NWN Corporation, Lincoln Electric Company and Flowserve Corporation.

"Both Bammel Business Park and Legacy Park are ideally situated in the popular northwest Houston market, a short drive from Bush International Airport," said Matthew Adler, President and CEO of Adler Kawa Real Estate Advisors. "Given that both assets are in excellent condition, our focus is on maintaining strong occupancy through tenant relations and effective management."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Monday, August 26, 2013

5 Hanover Square Sold for $104M

The 25-story building at 5 Hanover Square in Manhattan sold this month as Savanna Fund II REIT disposed of the property for $104 million, a pricepoint double to the amount it paid for the property just three years ago. Savanna obtained control of the building after it purchased the mortgage on the property during the economic downturn. CIM Group, a full service real estate investor, picked up the building, making it the second acquisition this summer for CIM in the Financial District. The real estate practice group of Hunton & Williams advised Savanna in the transaction.

"The market really turned around, [Savanna's] strategy of buying notes was spot on," said Robert Knakal, chairman of the brokerage company Massey Knakal Realty Services, who sold 5 Hanover Square's mortgage to Savanna on behalf of Capital One Bank. "They've done extraordinarily well."

"Savanna has made a substantial investment in downtown Manhattan, including 5 Hanover, which is an investment very typical of Savanna's focus over the last two years," Carl Schwartz, co-chair of Hunton & Williams' real estate practice, told Commercial Property Executive. "Savanna completed its leasing and capital improvement programs resulting in a stabilized asset both from a capital and leasing perspective."

5 Hanover Square is located on the northern side of Hanover Square between Pearl and Beaver Streets in Manhattan's Financial District. Savanna acquired the building with an occupancy rate of 70%, and through a marketing and leasing program as well as a $7 million investment managed to increase the occupancy rate to 96%, according to an INVEZZ article. The glazed brick masonry building sets back on the 9th and 20th floors, creating three separate floor plate configurations. The building's renovated lobby features Italian marble, Japanese wood, renovated elevator cabs, modern security equipment, and an upgraded front desk.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Friday, August 23, 2013

Wynwood, Miami Buildings Sell for $5.1M

32,000 square feet of prime real estate in Wynwood, Miami changed hands this week as 2200 & 2230 NW 2nd Avenue was sold for $5,150,000. With representation from Ari Dispenza of Mizrach Realty Associates, 243 Wynwood LLC, a subsidiary of Abingdon Square Partners, purchased the two adjacent buildings. The unnamed seller was represented by Shaul Banouz of Recom, LLC in the transaction.

Centrally located on the main retail boulevard in the Wynwood Arts District, the buildings were originally built in 1954. Taking advantage of the neighborhood's exploding leasing market, Abingdon has begun a complete renovation of the property into a mixed-use retail and office complex. The anticipated completion date is February, 2014.

Though there were developers in the area prior, now-deceased visionary developer Tony Goldman brought increased attention to the area as an arts district and international destination. "The creativity and the interest that the artists, restaurants, cafés, and lounges bring to Wynwood continues to capture the attention of savvy investors. It's a very exciting time for the area," said Dispenza.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Blumberg in the News

Philip Blumberg, Founding Chairman and CEO of Blumberg Capital Partners, was featured as a Cityscape speaker in a 60 second interview with Cityscape Global this month. An excerpt follows:

Q. Whereare the best investment opportunities in global real estate today? USA, Europe, Asia or Middle East?

Opportunities lie in developments and acquisitions which respond to fundamentals and real end user demand, rather than speculation.

I would look to:
Affordable housing, triple net corporate facility investments, opportunistic acquisitions of heavily discounted but well conceived, located and executed commercial and office developments in developing and emerging markets.

Down the road investment in European economies.

Q. How significant is speaking at the Global Real Estate Summit to you? What are your reasons for taking part?

Having the opportunity to speak and participate in this conference over the past 10 years has been a privilege and very enjoyable experience.

Watching this event grow into one of the preeminent real estate conferences in the world is a remarkable achievement, and a good use of the most precious resource: time.

To read the full article, click here. For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Northwood Picks Up Lower Manhattan Office Building

100 BroadwayNorthwood Investors, a privately-held real estate investment advisor founded in 2006 by John Kukral, announced this week that it had purchased 100 Broadway in Manhattan in an off-market transaction. The price of the sale was undisclosed but, according to the New York Post, the building traded for $150 million. Northwood picked up the property from a joint venture including Madison Capital and Meadows Partners, which bought the building from Hiro in October 2011 for $115 million. Brookfield Financial served as the sold advisor to Northwood, and were also responsible for bringing them together with the sellers.

"We believe that Lower Manhattan is an evolving and dynamic office market and that 100 Broadway is a terrific property in an outstanding location. While the prior owners have been very successful in leasing the property, we believe it is very well positioned to benefit in the long term from the improvements taking place in the area," said John Kukral, President and CEO of Northwood Investors. "We are delighted to add 100 Broadway to our national portfolio of commercial property."

Built in 1897 and renovated in 1998, the vintage 24-story office tower includes two floors of retail space and features 360,000 rentable square-feet of office space. Designed by architect Bruce Price, the building was originally constructed for The American Surety Company and is now designated as an historical landmark. The building is steps away from the World Trade Center site and Wall Street, and conveniently located near all modes of transportation.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Monday, August 19, 2013

Capital One Acquires Beech Street Capital

Capital One Financial Corporation announced on friday that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Beech Street Capital for an undisclosed sum. Beech Street Capital, a Fannie Mae DUS lender, Freddie Mac Program Plus Seller Servicer and FHA lender, has 10 offices around the country and originated approximately $4 billion in loans in 2012, making the company the sixth largest agency originator in the country. According to a Washington Post article, Beech Street Capital was founded in 2009 by Grace Huebscher, a 14-year veteran of Fannie Mae, and began its multifamily mortgage business with $1 billion in loans in its first year.

"As we continue to expand our product capabilities and services for clients across our growing Commercial Banking business, this acquisition is a logical expansion of our already substantial commitment to the multifamily sector," said Michael Slocum, President of Capital One's Commercial Banking Group. "The combination of Capital One's multifamily business and Beech Street will make us a top 5 national multifamily originator and one of the few institutions in the US capable of offering clients a one-stop banking solution encompassing a full range of banking services."

"We share Capital One's vision of bringing together two complementary and high performing teams to boost our position in the multifamily space," said Huebscher. "We look forward to driving our business to the next level as an important part of Capital One's growing multifamily business."

Capital One does not expect any job losses as a result of the transaction. Rick Lyon, head of commercial real estate banking for Capital One, said Huebscher will become president of the bank's multifamily business and continue to lead her team in Bethesda.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Friday, August 16, 2013

C&W See Positive Outlook for U.S. Industrial RE Through 2013

Mid-year statistics reported by Cushman & Wakefield reflect a "widely sustained positive outlook" for the industrial real estate market in the United Sates for the balance of 2013. "Retail, wholesale, e-commerce and logistics requirements are driving demand in many of the nation's major industrial hubs,"according to Cushman & Wakefield's John Morris, leader of Industrial Services for the Americas. The commercial real estate services firm's mid-year statistics released today reflect this positive trending.. "In Houston, however, the energy industry accounted for a bulk of the leases signed in the last 18 months. Overall, Class A space continues to disappear in many markets as tenant demand remains steady. With quality options dwindling, both speculative and build-to-suit construction have gained some momentum in a number of markets."

"Retail, wholesale, e-commerce and logistics requirements are driving demand in many of the nation's major industrial hubs," Morris noted. "In Houston, however, the energy industry accounted for a bulk of the leases signed in the last 18 months. Overall, Class A space continues to disappear in many markets as tenant demand remains steady. With quality options dwindling, both speculative and build-to-suit construction have gained some momentum in a number of markets."

But, as the Wall Street Journal reports, much of the new construction is speculative, meaning developers are looking for tenants even as the walls are raised on new buildings. Prologis, for example, just completed an 800,000-square foot warehouse in Redlands, California, that has yet to be leased. Speculative development was the rage in all commercial real-estate sectors before the economic downturn. But developers of office buildings, shopping centers and most other property types have been slow to return to this high-risk strategy, primarily because they can't obtain debt financing.

New industrial construction completions during the first half of 2013 totaled 19.7 million square feet, including 12.5 million square feet of speculative development. An additional 21.8 million square feet of spec projects are scheduled to be completed by year-end.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

CoStar Midyear CCRSI Shows Strong Growth in CRE Pricing

CoStar has released its midyear CoStar Commercial Repeat Sale Indices (CCRSI) showing strong growth in commercial real estate as price gains in secondary markets in the US markets eclipsed the top markets as buyers of commercial real estate increasingly expanded investment activity outside the handful of prime markets and core properties during the second quarter. "The leap in [CRE] pricing in the second quarter was seen across all four major property types. Double-digit annual gains in nearly every property sector demonstrate the depth of the recovery," noted Dr. Ruijue Peng of CoStar's Property and Portfolio Research (PPR), author of the CCRSI. An excerpt from the report follows:

The value-weighted U.S. Composite Index, influenced by larger transactions and generally tracking high-quality core real estate transactions, gained 5.9% in the second quarter, its best quarterly showing since 2011. The equal-weighted Composite Index, comprised of smaller, more numerous deals in the lower end of the market, jumped by an even more impressive 9.1% in the second quarter, its strongest three-month gain on record.

Within the Composite Index, the Investment Grade segment, which broadly encompasses upper-middle tier properties, continued moving steadily upwards, increasing 7.9% above the first quarter.

Pricing in the General Commercial segment rose by a very strong 9.2% from the previous quarter and increased 11.7% over the last 12-month period, gaining momentum as investors comb secondary markets and property types in search of better pricing and yields.

In a significant shift, both retail and office pricing growth vaulted past multifamily in the second quarter, reflecting the cyclical slowdown in fundamentals for the apartment market, which has led the recovery for several years.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

NY State to Spend $47M on Harriman State Office Campus

Building 5 on the Harriman State Office Campus in Albany, New York, a seven-story building that has sat vacant since 2004 when the Department of Transportation moved its operations to Colonie, will get a $47 million refit from the state. According to an official in Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration, Building 5 would be used to centralize administrative services for various state agencies. The renovated property would add 1,400 jobs to the campus and house the service center created to consolidate human resources, financial and other back-office functions.

Built during the 1950s and 1960s , the W. Averell Harriman State Office Building Campus houses sixteen New York State Government office buildings and totals roughly 330 acres and over 3 million square feet of office space. Asbestos abatement is scheduled to begin this fall with construction expected to take about 18 months, according to a Times Union article.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Denholtz Associates Secures $29M Refinancing Loan

Denholtz Associates, a privately-held development, investment and management company, secured a $29.05 million refinancing for a five-property portfolio in Illinois and Florida with proceeds used to repay the existing mortgage. Holliday Fenoglio Fowler (HFF) arranged the five-year, fixed-rate loan through Natixis Real Estate Capital, Inc.

"The portfolio's diverse tenancy and strong suburban locations made this an attractive assignment," said HFF director Michael Klein. "Natixis believed that the subject properties had strong leasing velocity and was confident in Denholtz's experience and track record with these assets."

The properties included in the portfolio include four buildings in suburban Chicago and one in Winter Park, Florida. The portfolio is currently 84% leased to 117 tenants. 56% of the portfolio is office space, 30% flex space, and 13% is warehouse/industrial space.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Monday, August 12, 2013

Boca East Investments Buys Compson Financial Center for $10.15M

Boca East Investments LLC, managed by Charles D. Deyo of Boca Raton, has purchased the Compson Financial Center for $10.15 million, a pricepoint at a 45% discount to its foreclosed mortgage. A commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) trust seized the building in 2012 after foreclosing on an $18.4 million mortgage held by 980 North Federal LLC. In 2009, Marc Osheroff & Associates Inc. acquired the office building from Stuart Gilbert Realty Co. for $20 million, or about $213 per square foot. According to a South Florida Business Journal article, Bank of America provided a $12.75 million mortgage to the buyer, who started interior renovations to the building.

Built in 1986 by Compson Associates, the Compson Financial Center at 980 North Federal Hwy features an expansive and bright 4 story atrium, three elevators and covered garage parking. The property includes 99,983 square feet of office space and a 46,464-square-foot parking garage.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Friday, August 9, 2013

ARC NYRR Buys Midtown Manhattan Office for $220.3M

American Realty Capital New York Recovery REIT (NYRR), a a real estate investment trust managed by American Realty Trust, announced this week that it had purchased 333 West 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan for $220.3 million, or about $632 per square foot, exclusive of closing costs. NYRR bought the 10-story office building from SL Green, which was represented by the Jones Lang LaSalle capital markets team.

Michael A. Happel, Chief Investment Officer of NYRR, explained, "The purchase of 333 West 34th Street exemplifies our commitment to buying well-located, well-tenanted, stabilized assets in New York City with potential for asset appreciation and limited downside risk. This building is situated between the burgeoning Hudson Yards and Herald Square sub-markets of Midtown Manhattan, and features top-quality tenants at below market rents. With the addition of this asset, we have created a portfolio totaling approximately $775 million. We remain focused on acquiring quality New York City real estate with rents that are accretive to our distributions."

The ten-story, 348,363-square-foot office tower was built in 1953 on three-quarters of an acre in Midtown Manhattan's Penn Plaza / Garment District submarket, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues, according to a CoStar report. The property was 100% leased at the time of sale to four tenants: The Segal Company (Eastern States), Inc.; The Metropolitan Transportation Authority; Godiva Chocolatier Inc.; and Sam Ash New York Megastores, LLC.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Drawbridge Acquires Two Santa Rosa Buildings for $18M

Drawbridge Realty Trust, a San Francisco-based real estate investment and development company, announced this week that it had acquired Airport Corporate Center at 3850-3880 Brickway Boulevard in Santa Rosa, California for $18 million. Cushman & Wakefield’s San Francisco office represented the seller, Basin Street Properties. According to a San Francisco Business Times article, this is the first of many planned acquisitions utilizing the $150 million revolving credit facility recently secured through KeyBank National Association.

"Acquiring this premier property with a solid national tenant perfectly fits our acquisition profile," said Mark Pearson, Vice Chairman of Drawbridge Realty Trust. "With its high quality construction, and a prominent location in a growing market, we saw this property was a good fit for our portfolio."

Located on the corner of Airport Blvd and Brickway Blvd, the two buildings were built in 2001 total 126,585 square feet of space located on 7.8 acres. Both buildings are 100% leased to Medtronic Vascular, a wholly owned subsidiary of Medtronic, Inc. Medtronic recently invested more than $4 million to install new improvements in 3880 Brickway, indicating a continued long-term commitment to the property.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Lehman Sells Warehouse Portfolio to Blackstone & ProLogis for $960M

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. has divested another real estate portfolio, selling of its North American Industrial Fund III portfolio to The Blackstone Group and ProLogis. Lehman sold the massive portfolio totaling 17.7 million square feet over 82 properties in Nevada, New Jersey and Pennsylvania for a total of $960 million. Lehman was represented by Steven Klein, David Drewes, Justin Elliott, Edward Dix of Willkie Farr & Gallagher.

According to a CoStar report, the portfolio was sold in separate transactions to the two buyers, with affiliates of Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII acquiring the Reno assets, which will be managed by IndCor Properties, Blackstone's national industrial portfolio company. Prologis Inc., an existing partner with Lehman, acquired the Pennsylvania, Las Vegas and New Jersey properties. The decision to monetize the portfolio today enables Lehman "to capitalize on strong demand for high-quality industrial product and deliver significant value to its stakeholders," the company said in a statement.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Karlin Enters EU Market with £16M Office Building

Karlin Real Estate, a Los Angeles-based real estate investment firm and subsidiary of Karlin Asset Management, has entered the European commercial real estate market with the acquisition of WorldWide House in Peterborough, UK. Glanmore Fund Advisors sold the 169,931 square foot property in a transaction valued at £16 million, or $24.6 million USD. The acquisition is Karlin Real Estate's first in Europe where it plans to invest up to $1 billion in the coming years, according to a PropertyEU article.

"The current European real estate market closely parallels what we saw in the US a few years ago," says David Cohen, Karlin Asset Management's chief executive. "Valuations are being affected by the lack of financing, particularly in the secondary markets, which is similar to what we experienced in the US This has created a window of opportunity for us to invest up to USD1bn in select institutional quality assets in the UK and other key European markets at a very compelling basis."

Constructed in 1975, Worldwide House was renovated in 1996 and is located in the Thorpe Wood Business Park. The four-story building was 100% leased at the time of sale by Travelex, which has a lease through 2021. "We are thrilled to be adding Travelex to our roster of institutional quality tenants," says Matthew Schwab, Karlin Real Estate's managing director. "They have a great business model and we hope to expand our relationship with them in the near future."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Monday, August 5, 2013

Honda Investing $215M in Ohio Operations

Honda Motor Company announced that it will invest another $215 million in its Ohio operations to add new powertrain technologies and a technical training center at the Anna, Ohio engine facility. In order to expand aluminum die-casting and engine parts production for Honda's Earth Dreams Technology engines around $180 million will be invested at the Anna engine plant, adding to more than $500 million already invested on new direct-injection engines and advanced pulley components for continuously variable transmissions, according to an Inautonews.com article.

"For the 21st Century of manufacturing, we believe our success will be defined by the successful interaction between our associates and technology. Even as we introduce more sophisticated technologies in our products and in our plants, we are working to ensure that our associates are equipped with the skills required for the manufacturing requirements of the future. We view this investment in Honda people as critical to our future success," said Rick Schostek, senior vice president of Honda North America, Inc.

Honda also plans to build a 1160,000 square foot building to create a heritage center as well as office space for Honda North America Services, LLC in Marysville, Ohio. The $35 million building is scheduled to open in the fall of 2014, Honda said. These new investments bring to nearly $2.7 billion the amount Honda has invested in its North American operations in the last three years, reported IndustryWeek.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Friday, August 2, 2013

Twining Properties Replaces Related Beal in $1.6B Quincy Center Redevelopment

The New Quincy Center, a $1.6 billion redevelopment project in Quincy, MA that broke ground five weeks ago, has shifted ownership as Related Beal withdraws from the build and is replaced by Twining Properties. Ken Narva, managing partner at Street-Works Development, told The Patriot Ledger that Related Beal's recent restructuring has led the Beal company in a different direction. "They're a bigger entity now, and refocusing more on metropolitan Boston rather than Greater Boston," Narva said.

Terms of the transition were not disclosed, but WSJ did report that Street-Works is financing and building the project in chunks, with the first block at roughly $130 million being financed with $56 million in equity investment from LaSalle Investment Management and about $9 million from Street-Works and the Quincy Mutual Fire Insurance Co. Street-Works has said that it has a preliminary agreement to obtain a $65 million construction loan.

Street-Works originally partnered with Related Beal last year the build 3.5 million square feet of urban development anchored by shops and restaurants and offering space to office workers, college professors and students and modern health and wellness options. According to the Wall Street Journal report, the plan for Quincy is to tear down many low-rise buildings in the city's core and replace them with 1,400 residential units, 1.2 million square feet of office space, 650,000 square feet of retail space and two hotels.

"The city of Quincy, along with their development partners Beal/Street-Works, is setting a precedent for city redevelopment, after the recession, across the United States," said U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch. "This project has received national recognition for its creativity and will be used by cities across the nation as a model for city development."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Commerce Street Nashville Partnership Buys CMT Building

Commerce Street Nashville Partnership has acquired the CMT Building at 330 Commerce St. in Nashville, Tennessee for $11.2 million. According to a Nashville Business Journal article, Commerce Street Nashville Partnership bought the property from Atlanta-based Wells Real Estate Funds, which paid just under $13.8 million for the property in 2007. Lisa Maki, associate director of the Cushman & Wakefield | Cornerstone Capital Markets Group, marketed the building for seller.

"This sale, along with others properties currently in the market or that have recently sold, reflect the improving underlying fundamentals in the market, particularly in the Central Business District, for investors as both rental rates continue to increase and vacancies decrease," Maki said.

The property was first listed for sale in January of this year, a listing that included four stories of office space totaling more than 114,000 square feet and two levels of parking. The building houses the Country Music Television headquarters, which renewed its lease on 86,000 square feet of space this year for an additional seven years. Besides CMT's headquarters and studio, the Tennessee Information Consortium leases just over 11,000 square feet.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.