Opus Group Building Spec Warehouses

The Opus Group, a family of commercial real estate development, construction and design companies headquartered in Minneapolis, will be building two new industrial warehouses in West Chester and Fairfield, Ohio. The company has not disclosed the cost of the projects, but it is likely a more than $15 million development.

In an exclusive Cincinnati Business Courier article, Andy Finn, vice president of acquisitions and investments for Founders Properties LLC, which will own the properties, said both buildings will break ground soon, and neither has a signed tenant, yet. "There's just not a whole lot of options if you're 75,000, 100,000 square feet and want to move into brand-new class A space," Finn told the paper. Founders Properties also purchased the two existing building in Port Union Commerce Park.

According to the report, Opus Group will provide construction and development services for the project. The nearly 548,000-square-foot industrial building will be located at 4350 Port Union Road in West Chester, while the 260,000-square-foot building will be located at 4250 Port Union Road in Fairfield. Finn expects both buildings to break ground soon and be delivered by late summer or early fall 2015.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Keystone Reinventing VEVA Office Park

Keystone Property Group, a commercial property developer and investor based in New York, unveiled its new plans this week for attracting tenants to VEVA, a 425,000-square -foot office complex in Blue Bell, PA. The newly redeveloped office park, formerly known as Sentry Park West, is made up of seven completely renovated mid-rise buildings surrounding a water feature in a 16-acre campus setting, with world-class lifestyle amenities and cutting-edge infrastructural upgrades, driving a revamped, holistic office environment. Reportedly, Keystone invested approximately $10 million meant to dramatically improve rental rates and increase occupancy at the site.

"At VEVA, we've created the workplace of tomorrow—a tenant experience that will attract and connect with today's forward-thinking businesses," said Bill Glazer, president of Keystone Property Group in a statement. "Businesses in the region have long been attracted to this complex due to its accessible location and high-quality office space. However, the grand-scale upgrades we've made will inspire a higher level of creativity, productivity, collaboration and imagination."

Located at 1777 Sentry Park West and just 22 miles from Philadelphia, the office property was originally completed in 1973. The new offerings for the updated property are: A fully reinvented plaza and public pavilion; a unique array of ambient lighting; enhanced inter-and-intranet connectivity; invigorated building entrances; and upgraded furniture and room design. The complex also features a premium fitness and wellness facility, modern café and lounge, a state of the art conferencing facility and collaborative outdoor "green" workspaces. Currently, VEVA is approximately 83% leased, with tenants including CIGNA, Citizens Bank, Fiberlink Communications, inVentiv Health Clinical, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and Fesnak and Associates.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Orchard Business Park Sold for $134/sf

PS Business Parks Inc., a a publicly traded full service real estate company based in Glendale, CA, announced this week that it had acquired Orchard Business Park in San Jose for $16 million, or $134 per square foot. PS Business Parks purchased the the 8-acre complex from Colony Capital in a transaction arranged by a CBRE team led by Joseph Moriarty, out of the brokerage's San Jose office, according to a Silicon Valley Business Journal article. The acquisition increases the company's presence in the Bay Area to 7.2 million square feet, comprised of 30 business parks located throughout the East Bay, Mid-Peninsula and Silicon Valley markets, which is currently 95.8% leased.

"Orchard Business Park is a great addition to PSB's vibrant Bay Area portfolio, where the company serves the needs of over 930 customers that are attracted to our well located portfolio of flex, office and industrial parks," said Joseph Russell, president and CEO of PS Business Parks in a press release. "With 80% of the leases at Orchard Business Park expiring over the next 24 months, we anticipate meaningful demand from both existing and new customers along with strong rental rate appreciation, consistent with the performance of our Bay Area parks."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Canadian REIT Buys $69M US Portfolio

Granite Real Estate Investment Trust announced this week that it had purchased a portfolio of three properties from subsidiaries of Ingram Micro Inc. for $68.75 million. While representation or full terms of the deals were not disclosed, Granite did note in a press release that the investment would be funded with the company's line of credit and cash on hand.

The portfolio consists of two logistics distribution facilities in Plainfield, Indiana wit a total of 1,033,520 square feet of space (533,520 and 500,000 respectively), including a total of approximately 140,000 square feet of finished office space; the buildings were constructed in 2009 and 1999. In addition to the two Plainfield buildings, Granite REIT also agreed to purchase 29 acres of adjacent expansion/development land in the AllPoints Midwest Business Park, which provides for up to 585,000 square feet of additional new logistics - industrial space.

"The Indianapolis industrial market is on an absolute tear," commented Jason Tolliver, regional vice president in Cassidy Turley's Indianapolis office. "The traditional drivers of industrial space like housing, manufacturing and warehousing are solid, but the new engine of e-commerce has shifted the market into another gear. As a result, Indianapolis has emerged as one of the strongest markets in the US with some of the largest e-commerce deals completed anywhere in the country."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

DC's West End Redevelopment Breaks Ground

Ground broke this week on the West End redevelopment in Washington, DC, a project that will bring a 21,000-square-foot library and 7,300 square feet of retail topped by 164 market-rate units and a new fire station. EastBanc Inc., a real estate redevelopment company headquartered in the historic Georgetown Post Office it purchased this fall, was selected to develop the space in March 2010. West End Residential LLC, a JV led by EastBanc, is developing the project with the District in a a public-private partnership.

"This really has been a long time coming," said Mayor Vincent Gray, during what will likely be the last major groundbreaking of his only term. "It shows that perseverance does indeed pay off."

"The West End, when we started, was a bunch of parking lots that Oliver Carr didn't get to," said EastBanc President Anthony Lanier. "We wrapped it up." This latest project "finishes off" the neighborhood between Georgetown and Dupont Circle, he added.

The $150 million West End project, encompassing a square West End block for Squares 37 and 50, 2301 L Street NW, anticipates a ribbon-cutting in 2017. The West End team, EastBanc-W.D.C. Partners LLC, includes EastBanc, The Warrenton Group, Dantes Partners, L. S. Caldwell & Associates and The JBG Companies (as an equity partner). The two buildings were designed by TEN Arquitectos.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Circuit Tempe Conversion Begins

A 16.5-acre property previously housed a semiconductor manufacturing plant for Jabil Circuit in Tempe is getting a new life as conversions have begun to transform the space into a Class A office building geared toward millennials and creative users. CarVal Investors and EverWest Real Estate Partners purchased the dormant property this past July for $11.4 million, and engaged Gensler to redesign the masonry industrial building. The new project, dubbed Circuit Tempe, is planned for completion in April 2015. Jerry Noble, Pat Devine, Jackie Orcutt and Ryan Bartos of Cushman & Wakefield of Arizona serve as exclusive leasing agents for The Circuit Tempe.

"This acquisition was underwritten for high-end office from the start," said Curt Kremer, managing director of acquisitions with EverWest. "We identified the facility as a great opportunity for a project unlike any other in the marketplace. The location at the Loop 101 and 202 and its proximity to Arizona State University is ideal for delivering our vision."

According to a new Cushman & Wakefield report "Facing the Millennial Wave", today's millennial office users are seeking expansive floor plates conducive to the flexible, collaborative-based workspace concept. The "open space" ambiance at The Circuit Tempe will be completed with 17-foot ceiling heights and an abundance of natural light through the addition of 60+ skylights, new 14' floor to ceiling high-performance windows, and large glass roll up doors.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Sam Houston Crossing I Sold to JV

A joint venture between Fuller Realty Partners and Independencia have closed on the purchase of Sam Houston Crossing I, a Class A office building in northwest Houston. The JV, named SH Crossing I, LP, purchased the property from Duke Realty Corporation and Chambers Street Properties. The building was marketed by HFF, which also represented the seller in the transaction. Full terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"Sam Houston Crossing I offers investors a stable current yield while providing significant upside potential," said HFF director Martin Hogan in a press release. "The building accommodates higher density tenants looking for a high profile location with Beltway 8 frontage, efficient, rectangular floor plates and a 5/1,000 parking ratio."

Located in Houston's West Belt Corridor off of the Sam Houston Parkway, Sam Houston Crossing I was completed in 2007 with a typical floor plate offering 53,000 square feet of rentable space. The 159,175 square foot building is 100% leased to six tenants: U.S. Steel; Farmers Insurance Exchange; C.H. Robinson Project Logistics; Brock Enterprises; Axon EP; and AMEC Oil & Gas.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Nakash Holdings Buys Setai in SoBe for $90M

Nakash Holdings, the investment company arm of the world-famous Jordache empire, announced that it is purchasing The Setai Hotel in South Beach, Florida. Terms of the deal and representation on the property that had previously been owned by the estate of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. were not disclosed.

Built in 1936-1938 as the Dempsey Vanderbilt Hotel, the 130-room Setai at 2001 Collins Ave. is located in the heart of South Beach's Art Deco district and offers direct access to the beach. With 85 hotel suites and another 35 condo units, the price averages out to $750,000 per room. That makes it one of the highest per-room sales ever in Miami Beach, said Scott Brush, a Miami-based hotel consultant. The condo units are privately owned, but most can be rented through the hotel program. The Nakash family also owns around 15 units in the Setai residence.

"The Setai is really the crown jewel of Miami Beach," said Jonathan Bennett, managing director of Nakash Holdings, the real estate division of Jordache. "It is the epitome of luxury in that city. We've enjoyed spending time there, and when it came up for sale, we knew it was something that would be a great fit for us. It's special and unique, and there's nothing else on the Beach that can compete with it."

In Miami, the Nakash family also own the Versace mansion, renamed Casa Casuarina, which they bought at auction for $41.5 million last year, according to a New York Post article. It is adjacent to the Victor Hotel, which Nakash Holdings also owns.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

DivcoWest, Maguire Form JV for Water's Edge

San Francisco real estate investment firm DivcoWest announced this week that it had completed a joint venture with Maguire Investments to own Water's Edge in West Los Angeles’ Playa Vista submarket near Marina del Rey, with plans to develop a state-of-the-art third building as part of an integrated campus dubbed WE3. Terms of the venture were not disclosed, but in a press release Robert Maguire III of Maguire Investments said that the partnership has the resources to spend nearly $70 million constructing WE3.

Maguire led development of several of L.A.'s best-known office buildings in the 1980s and '90s including U.S. Bank Tower, the tallest structure in Southern California. He has held part interest in Water's Edge at the intersection of Lincoln and Jefferson boulevards since he erected two buildings there in 2002, according to a Los Angeles Times article. The two existing buildings, constructed in 2002, are together nearly 90% leased to tenants including Electronic Arts Inc., Popchips Inc. and an outpost for health club chain L.A. Fitness.

Designed for the creative community, the third building, WE3, will have 14-foot ceilings, exposed ductwork, large operable windows to let in natural ventilation and light, and splashes of color throughout. It will share the existing amenities at the Water’s Edge campus including an LA Fitness gym, a cafe, a soccer field, a basketball court, a sand volleyball court and an Olympic- length lap pool. The JV hopes to begin work by the middle of next year after planning is complete and city approvals are secured.

"We believe this market, like other tech enclaves around the country, offers the unique set of advantages that are needed to recruit and retain top notch talent," said Stuart Shiff, CEO of DivcoWest. "Here in Los Angeles that means living and working near the ocean with rich amenities and being amongst a broad swath of tech companies, all of which Playa Vista offers. We look forward to working with Rob Maguire of Maguire Investments to complete his strategic vision for this community."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Preferred Office Locations

NAIOP, the trade association for developers, owners and investors in industrial, office and related commercial real estate, hosted a webinar with Emil Malizia titled Preferred Office Locations: Comparing Location Preferences and Performance of Office Space in CBDs, Suburban Vibrant Centers and Suburban Areas, which shines a light on location preference when picking an office location. The study, which combines expert opinion and accurate property-level data, provides reliable information about emerging location preferences across major U.S. office markets and the comparative performance of office space in CBDs, suburban vibrant centers — defined as amenity-rich, mixed-use, "live, work, play" locations — and typical single-use suburban areas.

The study sought to address five questions:

1. Do office tenants prefer CBDs to suburban areas?

2. Do office tenants prefer suburban vibrant centers to typical single-use suburban environments?

3. Are office properties in CBDs performing better than those in typical single-use suburban office areas?

4. Are office properties in suburban vibrant centers outperforming those in typical single-use suburban office areas?

5. Are suburban vibrant centers preferred to or performing better than CBDs in their market areas?

Overall, office tenants showed no strong preference for either downtown or suburban locations. The study did, however, reveal a clear preference for suburban vibrant centers over typical single-use suburban office environments, and demonstrated that office properties in suburban vibrant centers are outperforming those in typical single-use suburban office areas on almost all metrics.

To download and watch the webinar, click here. For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

KAR Properties Grabs Another Miami Asset

KAR Properties, the New York-based real estate manager and developer led by CEO Shahab Karmely, has made another move on the Miami River with the acquisition of a 1.03-acre site in Wynwood for $12.5 million. KAR purchased the property in a cash transaction from Mega Shoes, represented by the Aztec Group; terms of the deal were not disclosed. Zoned for industrial development, the 27,500 square foot lot previously sold in 1995 for $280,000.

The purchase is the fifth for the company in South Florida, having most recently purchased a 1.3-acre oceanfront site in Hallandale Beach, and previously the property at Southwest 3rd Street between Miami Avenue and Southwest First Avenue for $33 million. All told, the firm has invested over $100 million in South Florida and points to additional acquisitions in the months ahead at a time when land prices are climbing fast, according to a GlobeSt.com report.

"These assets are strategic and focused on South Florida's emerging and established neighborhoods," said Shahab Karmely. "Each project will be in synergy with the other, creating a connection between the beach, arts and design neighborhood and burgeoning Miami River district. Wynwood, with its vibrant arts scene, is a significant catalyst to Miami's evolution as a global city, and we are pleased to have acquired this well located parcel."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Kimco Buys Out Blackstone's Interest in Kimstone Portfolio

Kimco Realty Corp. announced this week that it had executed a contract to acquire the remaining 66.67% interest in the Kimstone portfolio from a subsidiary of Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII for a price of $925 million, which includes the assumption of approximately $426.7 million in mortgage debt. Under the deal, Kimco will pay Blackstone approximately $512.3 million to acquire the portfolio in total, using a combination of proceeds from recently completed and pending property sales in the U.S. and Latin America as well as availability under its existing $1.75 billion revolving credit facility. With this acquisition, Kimco Realty continues to advance on its plan to reduce the number of properties in joint ventures, while adding retail assets to its wholly-owned portfolio.

Spanning 5.6 million square feet with a high occupancy rate (97%),the Kimstone portfolio comprises grocery-anchored shopping centers and dominant power centers concentrated in the core markets of New York, Virginia, Texas, Florida, California and Maryland. Major assets in the portfolio include: 280 Metro Center, a 228,000 square foot property located in the San Francisco Bay Area of Colma, California; Airport Plaza, a 437,000 square foot power center, located in the densely populated, high income Long Island community of Farmingdale, New York; Dulles Town Crossing, a 799,000 square foot, fully occupied power center located in Sterling, Virginia; and Stafford Marketplace, a 331,000 square foot, fully occupied grocery anchored shopping center is located in Stafford, Virginia.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Cushman & Wakefield Buy Massey Knakal for $100M

In the bidding tournament to acquire Massey Knakal Realty Services, Cushman & Wakefield won out and has agreed to pay about $100 million to acquire New York's No. 1 Investment Sales firm (based on transaction volume) for more than a decade. The deal is expected to be completed by year's end; Cushman & Wakefield was advised in the acquisition process by Goldman, Sachs & Co. while Massey Knakal was advised by Perella Weinberg Partners.

Founded in 1988 by Paul Massey Jr. and Robert Knakal, Massey Knakal has closed more than 5,000 transactions in the New York area with a market value in excess of $21 billion. Earlier this year, the firm retained Perella Weinberg Partners to shop a minority stake or the entire firm to potential buyers, according to various media reports. In addition to Cushman, CBRE and DTZ were reported to be interested in the firm, according to a CoStar article.

"From the outside looking in, this is a great fit and opportunity for both firms to continue to grow and provide their clients with an added level of expertise on a global platform," said Ric Clark, Chief Executive Officer of Brookfield Property Partners and a member of Massey Knakal's Board of Advisors. "Paul and Bob are strong leaders joining a strong brand in Cushman & Wakefield, which resonates in the industry all over the world. I expect to see great things from this collaboration in the years ahead."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

W. P. Carey Affiliate Buys MN Office Building for $34M

CPA®:17 – Global, one of W. P. Carey Inc.'s managed non-traded REITs, has purchased a Class A office building in Plymouth, Minnesota for $34 million. The name of the seller, broker representation or terms of the sale were not disclosed; however, W. P. Carey did note in a press release that the building will be leased to Smith's Medical commencing in February 2015.

"Having recently acquired an asset in the submarket on behalf of another of our managed REITs, we are pleased to add this asset to CPA®:17 – Global's portfolio," said Gino Sabatini, managing director and co-head of global investments for W. P. Carey. "Plymouth, which is recognized as the healthiest submarket in the Twin Cities, is an area comprised of 25.5-million-square-feet of office space with a reported 7.2% vacancy rate."

The 182,000 square foot building at 6000 Nathan Lane N. was constructed in 1999 as part of a mixed-used development comprised of retail, residential and restaurant space. Smiths Medical, a leading supplier of specialist medical devices, consumables and equipment that operates in over 30 countries, has selected the building as its future headquarters as part of a broader initiative to reduce costs.

"This facility will allow us to consolidate our global headquarters functions and personnel, as part of a broader initiative to improve co-location, collaboration, cost and productivity," said Jeff McCaulley, president and CEO of Smiths Medical, in a press statement. " The new facility will allow us to create a modern and engaging work environment, while the decision to consolidate in the Twin Cities allows us to capitalize on the great talent and business environment in the region."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

550 Biltmore in Coral Gables Sold for $50M

The multi-tenant office and mixed-used project at 550 Biltmore in Coral Gables, Florida sold this month as a Prudential Real Estate Investors affiliate listed as PR 550 Biltmore Way purchased the property for $50.2 million. The trophy property was sold by KPERS Realty Holding #39, which is managed by Boston-based AEW Capital Management, in a deal brokered by CBRE. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The building last sold in 2004 for $35.8 million.

"While Coral Gables always draws significant investor interest, 550 Biltmore surpassed the norm," said Christian Lee, vice chairman of CBRE. "We believe that is attributable to factors including: the high quality of the building itself, an increased demand by both domestic and off-shore capital for trophy properties and an overall improvement in the office market fundamentals."

"550 Biltmore's iconic, pyramid-shaped design affords its tenants with a plethora of outdoor terraces from which to enjoy the sublime Coral Gables cityscape of world-class golf courses, historical Mediterranean revival buildings, magnificent fountained plazas, a vibrant commercial core, and a lush and verdant landscape that crystallizes the ‘City Beautiful' movement that drove the City's design and incorporation nearly 100 years ago," added José Lobón, CBRE Senior Associate.

Originally constructed in 1986 by Miami developer Al Sakolsky, 550 Biltmore is a 160,000-square-foot, 14-story pyramidal landmark in downtown Coral Gables with a facade of imported Italian travertine marble and black granite. The building has been awarded multiple Energy Star labels for operating efficiencies, with a current Energy Star rating of "94", owed in part to the $4 million in capital improvements made since 2004. At the time of sale, the property was 86.4% leased and is anchored by UBS, which occupies more than 40,000 square feet and has entered a long-term lease expansion.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

CRE Outlook Forum Voices

EisnerAmper & Bloomberg hosted a business and political perspective breakfast forum this week called "Commercial Real Estate Outlook 2015 & Beyond" in New York, inviting a panel of commercial real estate professionals to discuss the outlook of the economy and its impact on CRE. The panelists included Scott Rechler, CEO of RXR Realty, Joseph Sitt CEO of Thor Equities, Steven Witkoff, CEO of The Witkoff Group, Brian Harris, CEO of Ladder Capital, and Peter Sotoloff, CIO of Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies. GlobeSt.com covered the even in an article titled "The Dealer Has Reshuffled the Deck"; an excerpt follows:

What's driving that economy? asked Scott Rechler, CEO of RXR Realty. In word, "talent." Employers, and therefore office landlords, need workplaces that attract that talent, but that imperative goes beyond the office space and into the surrounding neighborhood. It has changed the dynamic not only of office, Rechler said, "but also how everyone looks at real estate in totality."

Rechler also added on to Sitt's observation about a new hand of cards. The deck is reshuffled at least every year, he said, and everyone needs to be aware of shifts in the market as they occur.

As a case in point, he cited RXR's current strategy compared to the one it pursued a few years earlier. As the downturn evolved into the recovery, the company rode the wave by snapping up attractive properties at attractive prices. More recently, the playing field has become far more competitive and "we're not in an investment market right now."

Asked where development is taking place, Sitt countered that a better question would be where it isn't taking place. Cranes dot the horizons everywhere, even amid rising costs for both construction and acquisition of developable parcels, as CEO Steven Witkoff of the Witkoff Group pointed out. On the other hand, Witkoff added, "I think the market is healthy."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Rosemont Buys Houston's Kirkwood Tower

Rosemont Realty, the Santa Fe-based commercial real estate agency, announced this week that it had purchased Kirkwood Tower in Houston, Texas. A joint venture between Denver-based Amstar and Dallas-based Frontier Equity sold the 286,000-square foot Class A 15-story tower for an undisclosed price. HFF's H. Dan Miller, senior managing director, Robert Williamson, senior managing director and Martin T. Hogan, director, brokered the transaction, with assistance from Wesley Hightower, real estate analyst. Susan Hill, senior managing director with HFF, assisted in financing the project.

Amstar, in partnership with Frontier Equity, acquired the 70% leased property in 2012 off-market with the objective of stabilizing the property through an aggressive leasing and capital expense campaign. During the partnership's ownership, more than $1.2 million of renovations were completed including upgrades to the common areas and curtain wall. Occupancy increased to more than 90% to a roster of high quality tenants, some of which have been in the building since construction.

"The addition of Kirkwood continues our overall strategy of expanding in key markets where we have a substantial presence," said Michael Mahony, chief executive officer of Rosemont Realty. "Adding Kirkwood to our portfolio bolsters our existing footprint in Houston, where we have the support and infrastructure in place to provide first class, full-service asset and property management, and leasing services."

"Kirkwood was a textbook value-add investment for Amstar where a property in need of proactive management and aggressive leasing was identified in a fundamentally improving market," said Amstar Managing Director Daniel Cohen. "Frontier was instrumental to our success and a great partner to work with from beginning to end. Now we are able to sell at a time when demand for stable office investments is arguably at peak levels."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Desert Ridge Corporate Center Sold for $59M

CBRE announced that it had completed the sale of Desert Ridge Corporate Center in Phoenix, Arizona for $58.6 million, negotiating the sale between the buyer, Los Angeles-based Regent Properties, and the seller, FCA Partners, LLC of Charlotte, North Carolina. The property previously sold Desert Ridge Corporate Center (DRCC) in 2008 by the Southwestern Division of Ryan Companies US, Inc. in Phoenix for $81.6 million in a deal also brokered by CBRE. The property is located on land encumbered by a State of Arizona ground lease with 78 years remaining.

"Despite the fact the property is not fully stabilized, Desert Ridge Corporate Center attracted significant interest from local, regional and national buyers," said CBRE's Barry Gabel. "This is definitely a testament to the continued recovery of the Phoenix investment market as well as the resiliency of the Paradise Valley submarket, which continues to perform at the top of the metro Phoenix market."

"Desert Ridge fits perfectly within our strategy of buying value-added office properties across the western United States," said Eric Fleiss, President of Regent Properties. "We are committed, experienced investors in the Phoenix market specifically, and believe this high-quality asset is a great addition to our portfolio."

The three building property at 20860, 20830 and 20910 N. Tatum Blvd. consists of two class A office buildings and a multi-tenant specialty retail building. At the time of sale, DRCC was 75% leased with major tenants including GEICO Insurance, Vantage Retirement, Wells Fargo Bank, C.H. Robinson Worldwide, K. Hovnanian Homes, Summit Energy, SimonMed Imaging and Scottrade.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Hudson Pacific Picks Up California Office Buildings for $3.5B

In another big move for Blackstone this month, it was announced that Hudson Pacific Properties, Inc. will acquire Equity Office Properties' San Francisco Peninsula and Silicon Valley portfolio from Blackstone Real Estate Partners V and VI in a stock and cash transaction valued at $3.5 billion. The transfer brings together two highly complementary office portfolios with a combined asset base of 53 properties totaling approximately 14.6 million square feet across Northern and Southern California and the Pacific Northwest.

The off-market transaction will effectively double Hudson's size and result in Hudson having an equity market capitalization of $3.7 billion and total enterprise value of approximately $6.5 billion. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including Hudson stockholder approval of the proposed equity issuance. Affiliates of Farallon Capital Management, L.L.C., which own approximately 15% of the outstanding common equity on a fully diluted basis, have entered into a voting agreement supporting the transaction.

"The acquisition of the EOP Northern California Portfolio perfectly aligns with our strategy to acquire high-quality office properties in West Coast markets poised for continued growth through off-market transactions. Hudson has long targeted these two Northern California regions for expansion, and while we expect the transaction to be immediately accretive to FFO, we also intend to move quickly to employ our leasing, repositioning and development expertise to extract additional value for our stockholders," said Victor Coleman, Hudson Pacific Properties' Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

"We chose to take a major stake in Hudson given its high-quality portfolio, outstanding management team and attractive prospects for growth. We believe strongly in the upside potential of the EOP Northern California Portfolio and this combination creates a market-leading West Coast office REIT," said Jonathan Gray, Blackstone's Global Head of Real Estate.

"As long time shareholders, we are excited about Hudson's latest growth opportunity, and are confident that they will continue their excellent track record of execution," added Rocky Fried, Managing Member at Farallon Capital Management.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

GLP, GIC Make $8.1B IndCor Purchase

Blackstone announced this week that Blackstone Real Estate Partners VI & VII agreed to sell IndCor Properties to affiliates of GIC, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, for $8.1 billion. GIC's partner in the acquisition is Global Logistic Properties Ltd., one of the largest owners of warehouses and other industrial property in Asia, according to a Wall Street Journal article. GIC is estimated by the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute to manage around $320 billion in assets; real estate accounted for 7% of its portfolio in the financial year to April 1, according to its annual report. Closing is expected to occur in the first quarter of 2015. Eastdil Secured, Citigroup, Barclays and RBC Capital Markets acted as advisors to Blackstone in the transaction.

Tim Beaudin, IndCor CEO, said: "We built IndCor through 18 acquisitions to be one of the largest industrial real estate companies in the United States. We are excited about the company's future prospects under new long-term ownership with GIC." As a result of this transaction, IndCor will no longer be pursuing an IPO. The sale is the latest in a string by Blackstone's real estate unit, which has returned more than $16 billion to fund investors since the end of the third quarter of 2013. This year the firm has sold five Boston office buildings totaling 3.3 million square feet, along with shares of hotel operator Extended Stay America Inc., shopping-center owner Brixmor Property Group Inc. and Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc., according to a Bloomberg report.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

CenterPoint Makes More Seattle Industrial Moves

CenterPoint Properties, the Oak Brook, Illinois-based real estate developer, announced that it had purchased two more industrial properties in the Seattle area, paying a total of $48.3 million for the assets. CenterPoint has invested in half a dozen Puget Sound-area properties totaling nearly 1 million square feet over the past 12 months, with CenterPoint Senior Vice President Jim Linn stating that the company seeks to grow its presence in the Seattle port market by more than 1 million square feet annually.

According to a Puget Sound Business Journal article, CenterPoint recently paid $31.9 million for a nearly 24.5-acre container/storage yard with a nearly 232,000-square-foot industrial building at 8801 E. Marginal Way S., in Tukwila. It was purchased from a limited liability company whose manager is Washington Real Estate Holdings of Seattle, which bought the property from Paccar for $11 million ten years ago. The second property at 3480 West Marginal Way S.W., along the Duwamish West Waterway near Harbor Island, was $16.4 million for the 157,150-square-foot "multi-modal trans-load facility". Records list the seller as First Industrial of Chicago and show that the company had bought the facility for nearly $5.9 million four years ago.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Bridge Point - Port 95 Sold for $27M

The Bridge Point - Port 95 Industrial Complex in Dania Beach, Florida traded hands this month as the developer, Bridge Development Partners, sold the new industrial property for $26.6 million. The 535,200-square-foot property was purchased by MSG Dania Beach, led by Saul Gilinski, formerly a director of Premier Asset Management. Cushman & Wakefield marketed the property and represented the seller in the transaction; full terms of the deal were not disclosed. According to a South Florida Business Journal article, Bridge Development paid $7.55 million in May 2013 for the 12.3-acre site and secured a $13.9 million loan from Wells Fargo Bank to launch construction.

"The Port 95 area is the best location in Broward County. Located in Southeast Broward, it is the tightest industrial submarket with a 3Q14 vacancy rate of only 4.2%. The reason why Port 95 is so desirable is its close proximity to Port Everglades and the Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport. In addition, there is immediate access to I-95, I-595 and Florida's Turnpike, with I-75 and the Sawgrass Expressway only minutes away," Chris Metzger of C&W said.

The two Class A buildings are institutional quality, 32-foot clear industrial facilities, and were designed to accommodate tenants ranging from 20,000 - 100,000 SF.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

DTZ Shows US CRE Rise in Q3

DTZ's research and consulting services arm released its quarterly Investment Market Update for Q3 which shows that U.S. investment volumes reached $66 billion in Q3 2014, up 8% from the previous quarter. With the headline "Invest now while pricing remains attractive", DTZ notes that a big share of the activity in eight top markets such as Chicago, Manhattan and San Francisco came from cross-border investments, with signs that investors' interest in secondary markets has perked up.

"The size, attractiveness and liquidity offered by the key eight markets is very appealing to overseas investors," said Nigel Almond, Head of Capital Markets Research at DTZ. "International capital continues to dominate, but we have continued to see interest from Asian investors in particular from China, as well as growth from European sources, with German funds increasingly active alongside the Norwegian Government State Pension Fund."

Although domestic investors continue to dominate investment, over the last quarter the level of activity has dipped. In contrast cross-border investment grew both from the rest of North America, but also from outside of the region. Of note, Non-North American investors stepped-up acquisitions, taking rolling annual volumes to a new post-crisis record of $23.5 billion and net sales posting a record $3 billion over the last year.

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

FirstBank Selling Distressed Debt Portfolio

Mission Capital Advisors, one of the leading boutique financial advisory firms in the country, has been hired by San Juan, Puerto Rico-based FirstBank to sell a distressed debt portfolio. According to a Wall Street Journal report, the portfolio consists of about 531 loans to 289 different borrowers with a face value of $443 million on the block. The final bid date on the FirstBank portfolio is in the middle of February.

The makeup of the portfolio marks roughly 65% tied to secured real estate loans, with about 11% set as business loans, the remainder comprising of a combination of land, property and unsecured credits. Stephen Emery, managing director of New York-based Mission Capital Advisors, which specializes in distressed debt and other businesses, said that there has been a lot of interest in the portfolio so far. "As far as distressed sales go, there are a lot of high-quality assets in our pool,” he said. "Puerto Rico has the attention of a lot of investors right now."

Puerto Rico has been suffering from high unemployment, a shrinking population and credit woes. Financial institutions have been selling portfolios of distressed assets at prices ranging from about 30 cents to 50 cents on the dollar, Mr. Emery said.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Fortress, Rockpoint Sell Majority Interest in Parkmerced

Fortress Investment Group and Rockpoint Group LLC have sold a majority interest in the Parkmerced redevelopment project in San Francisco to a group of New York investors in a deal said to value the 152-acre residential complex at more than $1.35 billion. The group of investors, by developer Mark Karasick, will now control the redevelopment of 8,900 units, with a groundbreaking slated for 2015 or 2016. According to the Wall Street Journal, Karasick's group invested nearly $200 million for "more than a 70 percent stake" in Parkmerced's owner, Parkmerced Investors Properties, a group led by New York real estate investor Robert Rosania, and including San Francisco's Fortress and Boston's Rockport Group.

"It means (the project) has successfully recapitalized and now is poised for an incredible future," said Parkmerced spokesman P.J. Johnston. "The speed won't be impacted — we're still set for a series of four phases. But with the finances in order and the legal challenges behind us, the path is clear."

"The upward surge in rents generally over the past three years forgives a lot of problems," said Patrick Carlisle, chief market analyst at San Francisco's Paragon Real Estate Group. "That San Francisco has the highest employment growth rate in the country also helps.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

US Impacts European CMBS Rebound

A new article from the Wall Street Journal titled CMBS Make a Comeback in Europe examines how the commercial mortgage-backed securities market recovery in the United States is having an impact on the European market as some of the biggest US originators are ramping up European deals. While deal volume is still below pre-crisis levels, there have been seven new European CMBS issues this year worth €2.57 billion ($3.2 billion), according to data firm Trepp LLC, compared with €47.3 billion in the peak year of 2006. An excerpt follows:

In Europe, after a limited number of deals in 2012, the CMBS market slowly restarted in 2013, but was dominated by refinancing of multifamily portfolios. Last year, about €7.2 billion of CMBS was issued, but almost all of that was from the refinancing of three large German residential portfolios, according to Trepp.

"The predominance of German multifamily in new securitization at the beginning of 2013 was significant," said Patrizia Pirinoli, CMBS analyst at Goldstar Research Ltd. Most issues, she added "stemmed also from previous securitizations."

The recovery of Europe's CMBS market is partly due to work by a trade organization, the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council, which issued new guidelines for the securities in Europe, so-called CMBS 2.0. The guidelines are meant to guarantee to investors "more transparency, more access to the underlying documents," said Charles Roberts, a partner at Paul Hastings.

Many of the deals this year have been more complex than simple refinancing. Some have provided debt to borrowers to finance new acquisitions and others involved multiple loans. For example, Goldman Sachs completed two CMBS originations backed by loans on Italian portfolios owned respectively by Blackstone Group and Morgan Stanley.

Deutsche Bank has been a leading player in Europe this year. For example, in October, together with Crédit Agricole CIB, it sold a £750 million ($1.18 billion) CMBS issue to refinance the Westfield Stratford City shopping center in London. This year, Deutsche Bank also underwrote the first postcrisis multiborrower CMBS in Europe backed by two loans on retail and office buildings across the Netherlands.

Markus Kreuter, director for CRE origination at Deutsche Bank, confirmed that Deutsche Bank expects more deals and added France, Benelux and Spain among the markets that might see more CMBS activity next year. Italy is another market where, in the lights of Italian banks' negative results to the European Central Bank's stress tests, CMBS "is a product that can bring liquidity," said Mr. Kreuter.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

MetLife, Panattoni Developing Seattle Industrial Parks

Panattoni Development Company, a privately held, national developer based in Newport Beach, California, and MetLife, Inc. have formed a partnership that will develop three new industrial distribution parks for nearly $63 million in the Seattle area. According to MetLife press release, MetLife will be the majority owner and Panattoni will be the managing minority partner. The greenfield sites will add more than 900,000 square feet of high-quality warehouse space in the Seattle region.

Construction of the three greenfield warehouse sites are expected to be completed mid-year 2015, creating a total of 600 jobs. The largest project is the Des Moines Creek Business Park, which will comprise three buildings totaling 535,830 square feet on a 37-acre site. The two other developments are the Steele Building, which will offer 206,463 square feet of warehouse space on 8.6 acres, and the Tamarack Building, a 159,250-square foot industrial park to be built on 7.0 acres.

"These three industrial parks we are developing in the Seattle area demonstrate our commitment to continuing to diversify our real estate equity holdings through the addition of high quality industrial assets," said Robert Merck, senior managing director and global head of real estate for MetLife. "We have an experienced partner in Panattoni and our national collaboration in the industrial park segment is off to a great start, first in Atlanta and now in Seattle."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Approval for Westpark Plaza Towers in VA

The Dittmar Co.'s redevelopment of what was once the Westpark Hotel in in Fairfax, Virginia into a new 1.4 million-square-foot, three-tower development secured the approval of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors this week. Dittmar, a premier builder in Northern Virginia for over 60 years, now has the green-light to move forward with two high-rise apartment buildings with up to 1,300 apartments, a 300-room hotel and a recreation building on a 5-acre property near the Greensboro Metro station. "It will really transform a very prominent corner in Tysons Corner," said Elizabeth Baker, a representative for developer Dittmar.

The first phase of Westpark Plaza will feature a single residential tower rising as high as 31 stories, with up to 610 residential units and 13,500 square feet of retail, according to a Washington Business Journal article. A second residential tower will follow with as many as 700 more units. A 200-250 room hotel will be the last big structure to go up on the site, located at the corner of Leesburg Pike and Westpark Drive, near the Greensboro Metro Station.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Griffin & Signature to Merge into $3B Company

Griffin Capital Corporation announced that Griffin Capital Essential Asset REIT, Inc. ("GCEAR") had entered into a merger agreement with Signature Office REIT, under which Signature will merge with GCEAR in a stock-for-stock deal that creates an approximately $3 billion REIT with a combined 15.2 million square feet of office and industrial assets. The merger was unanimously approved by each REIT's respective Board of Directors, but is conditioned on formal approval by Signature shareholders, receipt of required regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, and is expected to be completed during the first half of 2015.

Commenting on the merger, Kevin Shields, Griffin Capital's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer stated, "As we look forward to the next phase of our lifecycle, we believe the additional scale, diversity and operating efficiencies that our combined portfolios will garner is paramount in driving additional stockholder value in the future. Earlier this year we sold all of the remaining capital stock in our follow-on offering, and once we fully invest this equity, we expect our total capitalization to exceed $3 billion upon stabilization."

Michael Escalante, Griffin Capital's Chief Investment Officer added, "We look forward to having Signature shareholders standing shoulder-to-shoulder with GCEAR and its management team, which has invested over $26 million of its own capital in GCEAR. We are excited about this opportunity and, in our opinion, a ‘win-win' scenario was engendered by the understanding that together we can accomplish more than we can apart."

Eastdil Secured represented Signature in the deal, and Houlihan Lokey acted as financial advisors to Signature. Robert A. Stanger & Co. provided GCEAR's board of directors with a fairness opinion for the transaction, according to a CoStar report.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Amazon Takes Full Manhattan Building on 34th

Vornado Realty Trust has completed a 17 year lease for all 12 floors at 34th Street, confirming that Amazon is increasing its footprint in Manhattan, and further fueling speculation that the company will open its first retail store. The office building is in the Penn Plaza District where Vornado owns approximately 9 million square feet of commercial space.

"We have leased this building primarily as corporate office space and we intend to sublease to other tenants the ground floor retail space," Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Cheeseman said in a statement. Reports last month indicated Amazon was planning to open an experimental retail store in New York, which would showcase a few of the retailer's flagship products, according to a Business Journal article. Amazon could also use the space as offices for its growing publishing arm. That would be incredibly controversial in the publishing capital of the world, where many publishers set up shop. Amazon had a recent battle with Hachette Publishing Group over ebook pricing.

"While details were not published regarding the lease-term and the strategy (same-day pick-up vs. retail-orientation, for example), should Amazon view the branding and same-day convenience benefits of retail stores as significant enough to roll out more in the future, the omni-channel retail spectrum would essentially be complete," said Paul Morgan, research analyst at MLV & Co. This would "assuage investors concerns about long-run shopping center demand and reemphasize the centrality and stability of bricks-and-mortar retail and retail REIT portfolios."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Elevation Chandler No More, Beginning of Chandler Viridian

Hines announced that it had razed the Elevation Chandler property in Phoenix, Arizona this month, making way for a new mixed-use development dubbed Chandler Viridian. During an event called “Elevating Chandler’s Economic Future" Chandler Mayor Jay Tibshraeny and Chris Anderson, managing director and local city leader for Hines, oversaw the demolition of the unfinished structure. GlobeSt.com chronicled the recent history of the property as such:

Cassidy Turley was awarded the listing for the property in 2010, and originally had it under contract in 2011, but due to the litigation that was the result of a flawed trustee sale that contract was canceled. Over the past four years the property has overcome numerous legal obstacles, including a fight that eventually led to an Arizona Supreme Court Ruling regarding ownership and the right to sell. Cassidy Turley put the property back on the market and through a bid process; Hines was selected and put the property under contract in November 2012.

"After following through with our commitment to remove the unfinished Elevation Chandler structure, Hines is thrilled to move forward with Chandler Viridian, an exciting mixed-used development that promotes walkability with a pedestrian promenade to the Chandler Fashion Center," Anderson said.

Chandler Viridian, a mixed-used development, will include a luxury multifamily complex, a six-story modern brand hotel, a central plaza with 250,000 square feet of Class A office space, and retail options along with a pedestrian promenade to the Chandler Fashion Center. Chandler Viridian is located in the heart of the Chandler retail entertainment district and is the last available site adjacent to the Chandler Fashion Center.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Keystone NAP Launching Northeast Data Center

Keystone NAP, the Fairless Hills, PA-based advanced data center provider, announced that it will be building a new modular datacenter in the Northeast. Keystone NAP received Series A1 funding from a prominent group of Philadelphia-based investors, led by Ira Lubert along with additional investors arranged by DH Capital; the amount of the investment was not disclosed. With the backing of its investors, Keystone NAP will open the doors on its Pennsylvania facility in early 2015.

"We are bridging a crucial technology gap on the East Coast," said Peter Ritz, Founder and CEO of Keystone NAP. "Across industries including healthcare, financial services, higher education, and more, there is a growing reliance on enterprise applications hosted in private, public, and hybrid clouds. Yet until now, there haven't been solutions in the region to address the new demands those applications create. Companies increasingly need greater data center power and connectivity, as well as service support to keep operations running smoothly while employees focus on core business functions. This is what Keystone NAP delivers: unrivaled enterprise application performance, provided through a unique advanced data center solution in the Mid-Atlantic market."

"We are seeing growing demand for data center space in the Northeast, and particularly in eastern Pennsylvania as an alternative to markets such as NY/NJ," added Kelly Morgan, Research Manager for Datacenters at 451 Research. "With its location outside of Philadelphia, as well as its combination of space, power and application management services, we expect that Keystone NAP will see strong demand for this new facility."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Brooklyn Navy Yard Gets $140M City Investment

Mayor de Blasio announced this week that the city is making a major investment of $140 million to transform the Brooklyn Navy Yard's Building 77 into a modern manufacturing facility generating 3,000 good-paying jobs. The investment from the City, Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, Brooklyn Borough President and City Council will be used to renovate the vacant industrial building, significantly expanding a project begun under the previous administration and doubling the projected number of good jobs at the facility. Once the building is completed, and jobs filled, Navy Yard employment is expected to increase by 40%.

"We are jump-starting a new wave of manufacturing and job creation at the Navy Yard. It will mean more opportunity for people in this community to not only secure a job, but also get the skills and upward mobility they need to support a family," said Mayor Bill de Blasio. "We believe in the kind of economic investments that will spur good jobs and spark the type of growth that can lift up whole neighborhoods. We're thrilled to work with all our partners to get this project moving."

The 1-million-square-foot building at the former military shipyard, a sprawling site in Wallabout Bay on the East River bordered by the neighborhoods of Williamsburg, DUMBO-Vinegar Hill, Fort Greene and Clinton Hill. According to CBS, the shipyard was decommissioned by the Navy in 1966; the city now owns it and has been transforming it into a hub for private manufacturing and entrepreneurship.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Newcastle Sells Industrial Property for $43.5M

Newcastle Partners, a SF-based commercial property investment and development firm, announced this week that it had sold a 600,000-square-foot Class A distribution facility in Meridian Business Park, Riverside for $43.5 million. Phil Lombardo and Chuck Belden of Cushman & Wakefield represented Newcastle Partners as well as the China-based buyer, Scuderia Development LLC.

"The Inland Empire is the hotbed of opportunity for industrial users and Newcastle Partners has made a long-term commitment to providing innovative facilities that meet their needs," said Dennis Higgs, Newcastle Partners' managing partner and founder. "This sale is significant for us as it is the first building sold that we have developed within Meridian Business Park."

Scuderia Development plans to occupy the building at 14600 Innovation Drive for warehousing and distribution of aluminum products, Newcastle reported. The class-A distribution facility includes 4,160 square feet of office space, 93 dock-high doors, two grade-level ramps, 145 trailer storage stalls, 245' secured truck court, ESFR sprinkler system, 32' warehouse clearance, 400 amp service expandable to 4,000 UGPS and is LEED Silver certified.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

CRE in Florida Gets Foreign Investor Push

A new article from the National Real Estate Investor titled Lenders are Helping Foreign Investors Push Florida’s Real Estate Market to a New Peak examines the current international influx and impact bringing the market to a crest. An excerpt follows:

The established model is to pay all cash for the first property and leverage the income gained for the second deal. Now, they are joining with others to buy an apartment building, convert it to a condominium, and sell the units to individuals in foreign countries who agree to leave them in the rental pool run by the management company. Why? Foreign investors are more comfortable owning units than shares in an LLC. These transactions are all cash transactions from the seller’s standpoint.

Foreigners are also making regular use of syndicators who scout properties, which are often in the Miami area. Syndicators provide a second benefit of using their track records to help obtain financing. Due to the fact that these syndicators have or do own property in the country already, and have an operation, bank accounts, etc., a lender is able to qualify them in a traditional way. If a borrower approaches a bank and doesn’t have any assets in the states already, they know they will not be able to go outside the country to collect on any deficiency in case of a default. On top of that, they can’t know if the buyer or entity is getting their funds from drugs or other illegal affairs.

Lenders are also becoming much more accommodating than in recent years. The Florida banks that survived the Great Recession are returning the market. Their loan criteria put greater weight on the sponsor’s track record than the property as they seek to minimize risk and regulatory scrutiny.

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

IDAofW Approves Incentives Valued at $71.5M

Westchester's Industrial Development Agency (IDAofW) met this month and approved financing and incentives for four major development projects that total $71.5 million in development costs, creating more than 750 permanent and full time jobs in Westchester County, New York. Projects include a family-owned company expanded into a self-storage business, an environmental brown site transformed into new housing and resident parking, prime office space upgraded for high-paying professional jobs and the renovation of one of the county's most iconic tourism destinations, the Ritz-Carlton Westchester Hotel.

"The projects supported by the [IDAofW] today demonstrate the vitality of our local economy and the strength of our job market," said IDAofW County Executive Rob Astorino on the news. "We are proud that these diverse, job-creating projects all have one thing in common: successful partnership with Westchester County."

"The requested Westchester [IDAofW] assistance will enable a $4-million major renovation and upgrade to the Ritz Carlton Hotel and convention facility, which opened its doors in 2007," added Joseph Apicella, executive vice president of the Cappelli Organization, Ritz-Carlton property owner. "This will allow the facility to continue to serve as Westchester's premier tourism and convention hub. In a very competitive regional industry, this much-needed investment will result in job retention and growth of the 350-plus person workforce in downtown White Plains."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Colony Capital Moving Forward on $1.6B Industrial Deal

Santa Monica, California-based Colony Capital LLC is buying a 291-building industrial portfolio from Irving, Texas-based Cobalt Capital Partners according to several reports this week. Commercial Mortgage Alert reported Friday that GE Capital has agreed to provide $1.2 billion of the portfolio’s purchase price via a floating-rate loan for the 291-property industrial portfolio. The terms of the loan are now being finalized, with Colony weighing a menu of options from GE that include varying amounts of proceeds tied to the degree of leverage, according to people familiar with the process.

Colony has agreed to pay about $1.6 billion for the 29.5 million-square-foot portfolio, which contains mostly light-industrial buildings of less than 250,000 sf in 18 markets across the U.S. The 291 buildings are 85% leased by more than 650 tenants. Eastdil and CBRE are jointly brokering the sale on behalf of Cobalt, CM Alert reported. CoStar reported last week that Colony, which is about to see a merger of two affiliated entities, beat out such would-be buyers as the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the Blackstone Group and TPG. Blackstone is itself preparing to sell its IndCor Properties industrial platform, Bloomberg reported last week.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Abood Wood-Fay Acquired by Avison Young

Avison Young, the international commercial real estate services firm, announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Abood Wood-Fay Real Estate Group, LLC (dba Colliers International South Florida). The purchase of the Miami-based real estate brokerage and property management firm expands Avison Young's Florida offerings, adding 70 employees from Abood Wood-Fay Real Estate Group's Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach offices to Avison Young's operations in South Florida. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

"We look forward to welcoming Abood Wood-Fay Real Estate Group to Avison Young," said Mark Rose, chair and CEO of Avison Young. "This strategic acquisition will give Avison Young an even broader client-service platform in the Florida market as we continue to expand our capabilities throughout the U.S. and overseas."

Michael Fay and Donna Abood merged their firms in 2002, and that company aligned with Colliers in 2005, according to a Sun Sentinel report. Fay and Abood will become principals of Avison Young, building business for the firm in Miami."I have a great deal of respect for what they've created," said Pike Rowley, managing director of Florida for Avison Young. "They've been on my radar for quite some time."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Rockrose Buys Lincoln Square in $300M Deal

Rockrose Development Corp., one of New York's most pre-eminent and prolific developers, has purchased Lincoln Square, a 414,204-square-foot office building in Washington, D.C. The deal was brokered by The Singer & Bassuk Organization which helped obtain a $227 million loan from Morgan Stanley to fund the acquisition. Rockrose brokered the acquisition in-house, and Gerald Trainor, Kenneth Marks, and James Cardellicchio of Transwestern represented the seller, Ralph Dweck, according to a Citybizlist article.

"The East End is one of the greatest cultural destinations in the Washington area, with museums, galleries and theatres within walking distance, and 555 11th Street is at its epicenter," Rockrose President Justin Elghanayan said in a statement. "The building is also home to the Landmark Theatres' E Street Cinema, a destination for cineastes in search of the finest indie and art films."

Designed by Hartman-Cox architects and completed in 2001, the Class A Trophy building at 555 11th St. is a 13-story office property with street level retail totaling 406,929 rentable square feet. Lincoln Square boasts a three-story marble lobby atrium, three levels of underground parking, a fitness center and retailers such as Jos. A. Bank, Starbucks and a 35,000-square-foot Landmark Theatre. Latham & Watkins' new lease, which solidified its commitment to Lincoln Square with a 15-year extension through 2031, contends that ownership will carry out a capital improvement program involving base building upgrades to the restrooms, fitness center and main lobby.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Carrington Acquires Realty Direct's DC Assets

Carrington Real Estate Services, the Santa Ana, CA-based brokerage, announced that it had acquired all Realty Direct, Inc.'s assets and operations in the Washington, DC metro area, adding approximately 230 agents to the Carrington brand operating under local office market leader and majority owner of Realty Direct, Wendy Powers. The Realty Direct assets include offices and staff in Largo, MD, as well as Ashburn and McLean, VA. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

"This acquisition aligns with our strategy to ensure a smooth, seamless real estate transaction, placing high value on the customer experience through our integrated services model, which is localized to individual regions," said Carrington Holding Company Chief Real Estate Officer Steve Ozonian. "Carrington offers an extensive array of single family services ranging from mortgage servicing and origination to property field services, providing our customers with a full service solution."

"In today's ever changing real estate market, Carrington's strategic relationships and vision offer a significant point of differentiation in taking an agent's business to the next level," said Wendy Powers. "Carrington's holistic and innovative approach to single family real estate transactions, with direct access to unique programs like, 'The Carrington Loan,' Carrington Mortgage Services' no upfront financing fee loan for consumers with lower FICO scores. We are thrilled to join the Carrington team and have the support of a national brokerage. We look forward to growing with Carrington and supporting real estate consumers in the DC metro area."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Hilton Enters Agreement in China for 400 Properties

Hilton Worldwide has signed an exclusive license agreement with Plateno Hotels Group to launch and develop the Hampton by Hilton brand in China. Hampton plans to have over 400 deals signed, with the first hotel expected to open by the end of 2015, according to a GlobeSt.com report. Hampton has designed a 3-star hotel prototype to fit top-tier cities in China, serving value-conscious, quality-driven business and leisure travelers. Hampton by Hilton's portfolio in China will be a mixture of new builds, conversions and adaptive reuse properties. Plateno Hotels Group will lead the development and management of the hotels.

"We expect that this partnership will allow us to accelerate our efforts to gain broad geographic and chain scale distribution in China, enabling us to access a large, growing customer base for both in country and outbound business," said Jim Holthouser, executive vice president, global brands, Hilton Worldwide. "Our five existing brands in China are growing at a rapid pace, and after extensively researching the market, we've seen an untapped opportunity to grow in the upper economy to mid-scale category. We're now seizing the opportunity to introduce the Hampton by Hilton brand at scale with an unprecedented partnership with Plateno Hotels Group."

"We're thrilled to partner with the global hospitality leader Hilton Worldwide to bring Hampton by Hilton to China," said Eric Wu, CFO of Plateno Hotels Group. "There is a substantial demand in China for a quality mid-scale lodging option, and we believe that Hampton is the right product to meet this need. Its enthusiastic and caring culture, together with its sought-after amenities such as free Wi-Fi, clean, comfortable beds and a 100% satisfaction guarantee, will be very appealing to Chinese travelers."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Meritex Developing Chandler Industrial Park

Minneapolis-based Meritex Enterprises Inc. and Metro Commercial Properties received approval last week from the Chandler City Council on the Planned Area Development (PAD) zoning request and site plan approval for Chandler Airport Center, a general industrial park at the SWC of Germann and Cooper Roads in Chandler, Arizona. Meritex, under Meritex Chandler, LLC, will move forward with the development of Chandler Airport Center in association with Tempe-based Metro Commercial Properties, who will provide development and property management services to Meritex for the three building industrial park.

"The site has fantastic visibility on German Road with over 2,000 feet of frontage along with direct access from four public streets," said Dan Williams, Chief Investment Officer of Meritex. "The project will provide excellent opportunities for general industrial users to gain prominent visibility for their wholesale & service facilities and locate closer to their customer base in the Southeast Valley."

The 20-acre project, located immediately north of the Chandler Municipal Airport, is slated to include a three-building industrial park totalling as much as 260,200 square feet. Lee & Associates principals Chris McClurg and Ken McQueen are handling the leasing on the project, according to a Phoenix Business Journal article.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Rockefeller Takes Majority Stake in TA Realty

The Rockefeller Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Estate, announced this week that it has entered into an agreement to acquire a majority interest in TA Realty LLC, a leading Boston-based real estate investment management firm with approximately $12 billion in assets under management. As part of the acquisition, TA Realty will become The Rockefeller Group's primary real estate investment management platform in the United States, establishing a global investment management platform totaling $32 billion in assets under management on a worldwide basis under Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd. Full terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"We're proud to advance our investment management capabilities with the investment in TA Realty in the United States," said Atsushi Nakajima, president and chief executive officer of The Rockefeller Group. "TA Realty brings an experienced management team with more than 20 partners averaging more than a decade with the firm. The team's long tenure and industry experience signals a strong cultural fit with The Rockefeller Group, on top of the complementary business objectives of both companies."

"We are very pleased to join The Rockefeller Group, and by extension the Mitsubishi Estate platform," said Michael Ruane, founder and managing partner of TA Realty. "These are complementary businesses with decades of expertise in real estate investment management. Our investors will benefit from the strengths of this partnership as it ensures the sustainability of TA Realty's investment management culture for many years to come. In addition, the partnership allows for the opportunity to expand the breadth of equity to our partners and key professionals enhancing our alignment with investors."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

JV to Build Mixed Use Complex on 58 Acres Near Denver

United Properties, in a joint venture with Principal Real Estate Investors, announced that it had recently acquired 58 acres of land near Denver to develop Dry Creek Corporate Center, a mixed-use office, industrial, hotel and residential campus located just east of Interstate 25 and East Dry Creek Road in Centennial. United Properties plans to develop approximately 650,000 square feet of single and multi-tenant office and industrial buildings, with the residential and hospitality portions of the campus to be sold to outside developers.

"This is one of the largest fully-entitled parcels of land in the heart of the southeast suburban market," said Kevin Kelley, vice president, United Properties. "With improving market conditions and low supply, we’re excited to bring this new Class A product to the market."

United Properties purchased the land for Dry Creek Corporate Center in a joint venture with Principal Real Estate Investors. David Lee, Jason Addlesperger and Mike Wafer of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank will lease the property on behalf of the ownership. Powers Brown Architecture is the lead architect for the vertical development.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

SF's 235 Pine Trades Hands

235 Pine Street in San Francisco traded hands this month as a fund managed by CBRE Global Investors purchased the office property for a reported $88.8 million, or $591 per square foot, according to The Registry. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Built in 1990, the property features 207,500 square feet on 25 stories, is located in the heart of San Francisco's Financial District between California and Market streets near amenities including restaurants, gyms and public transportation.

235 Pine is currently home to the soon-to-be-vacating GSA Bankruptcy Court, the buyer confirmed. Phil Hench, principal at CBRE Global Investors, said the company saw the Pine Street building as a valuable asset not only because of its proximity to BART, but also because the bankruptcy court will soon give up its more than 50,000 square feet on the top six floors.

"The traditional (finance, insurance and real estate)-type users that went through a difficult period of downsizing – and since then have been status quo and haven't added jobs or space – are in fact expected to recover and accelerate," he said. "We'll see a lot of activity from that sector, and at the same time more and more of these tech companies are not afraid to go into traditional vertical highrise office buildings."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Tampa City Center Sold for $128M

Cushman & Wakefield announced this week that it had arranged to sale of Tampa City Center for $128,125,000 in what brokers call the largest transaction in the area in recent memory. The building was sold by One Tampa City Center LLC, a joint venture between Carval Investors of Minneapolis and Mainstreet Capital Partners of Fort Lauderdale, and purchased by Alliance Partners of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, the East Coast operating arm of Hawaii-based Shidler Group. The transaction was managed by Cushman & Wakefield Executive Director Mike Davis, Director Rick Brugge, Executive Director David Meline, and Senior Director Michael Lerner.

"City Center is one of Tampa's most prestigious office properties, and it delivers unparalleled comfort, convenience and service in the heart of downtown Tampa," said Mike Davis, Cushman & Wakefield Executive Director, Capital Markets. "This transaction is further proof that Tampa Bay's commercial real estate market has returned to health."

Located at 201 N. Franklin Street, the 38-story office tower containing 749,035 square feet of Class A office space was 88% leased at the time of sale with major tenants including Merrill Lynch, University Club, Bank of Tampa, Florida Bank, Ernst & Young, PNC Bank, Verizon, and Northwest Mutual Insurance Company. The tower was built in 1981, and was the city's tallest building until 1986; in 2013 it won an EARTH Award from the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA).

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.