Maryland Office Portfolio Trades for $240M

Rockville, Maryland-based Washington Real Estate Investment Trust (WRE) announced that it has sold all six of its suburban Maryland office properties for $240 million in two separate contracts to an affiliate of Brookfield Property Partners. The REIT retained Cushman & Wakefield to market its suburban portfolio holdings at the beginning of the year, shifting its focus to urban, Metro-accessible sites in Greater Washington. In a press release on Q1 financials, WRE said it expects the transactions to close in Q2 and Q3 of 2016, and that it is also under contract to sell a parcel of land at Dulles Station in nearby Herndon, Virginia.

Properties in the portfolio include:

6110 Executive Boulevard, 10-story 202,000 square foot office building in Rockville

One Central Plaza at 11300 Rockville Pike, a 267,000 square foot 13-story office building (acquired by WRE for $44M in 2001)

600 Jefferson Plaza in Rockville at 5 stories tall with 113,000 square feet of space

The West Gude Drive complex at 20, 30, 40, 50 West Gude Drive, 277,000 square feet over 5 stories

The 21-story 51 Monroe Street office building with 223,000 square feet of space

and Wayne Plaza at 962 Wayne Avenue in Silver Spring with 99,000 square feet over 9 floors

Washington REIT CEO Paul McDermott had said during the October 2015 earnings call that the properties had significant upside for buyers willing to invest in them. West Gude, for example, is "definitely a sales candidate that has opportunity to it," while "600 Jefferson would probably be another opportunity for someone else to improve and allocate capital to, same with Wayne Plaza." Earlier this month, WRE placed a nine-story, fully leased office building on the market that serves global headquarters for Booz Allen Hamilton and is near the Greensboro Metro Station in Tysons Corner, Virginia.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

Boston Properties Grabs Santa Clara Office for $78M

In the company's public release of Q1 2016 results, Boston Properties disclosed the acquisition of 3625-35 Peterson Way in Santa Clara, California for approximately $78 million in cash. Boston Properties purchased the 15-acre site from Eaton Vance Management, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eaton Vance Corp., which paid $53 million (or $243 per square foot) for the property in March of 2008. The deal was facilitated by Eastdil Secured, but terms were not disclosed.

Originally built in 1979, the 218,400-square-foot building flex building has office, laboratory and warehouse space located 10 minutes from the Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport. The property was 100% leased at the time of sale to Spectra-Physics, a manufacturer of semiconductor-based lasers and laser optics (and a subsidiary of Newport Corp.) that moved its headquarters to Peterson Way in 2009; the lease does not expire until March 2021. Boston Properties indicated that after the lease is up, it plans to develop the site into a Class A office campus containing an aggregate of approximately 632,000 net rentable square feet. The projected cost for the future development is around $700 per square foot, and the expected initial return once the project is finished is 7%.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

Union Buys Civic Center Plaza in San Rafael

San Francisco-based property owner and developer Union Property Capital has made an office building buy across the Golden Gate Bridge with the purchase of a 2-building office campus in San Rafael for $28 million. The property, known as Civic Center Plaza, was sold by Broadreach Capital Partners in a deal arranged by JLL's Capital Markets experts. Broadreach originally acquired the property in March 2007 for $25.5 million from a group of local investors. Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P. (HFF) arranged acquisition financing on behalf of Union Property Capital and its joint venture partner, an unnamed high-net-worth investor, with USAA Real Estate Company on behalf of an affiliate.

"We've seen a notable increase in interest in the North Bay from investors across the spectrum, including public and private, local and global," said JLL Managing Director Michel Seifer in a prepared statement on the sale. "The sales of Larkspur Landing in January, 1 & 3 Harbor Drive in Sausalito in February, and now Civic Center in San Rafael, show strong evidence of the increasing institutional appeal of the region."

Located at 3900 & 3950 Civic Center Drive, the 93,535 square foot office campus that sits a block from Northgate Mall and next door to the County of Marin offices was originally developed in 1989 and later renovated in 2011. Civic Center Plaza was 96% leased at the time of sale with major tenants including Autodesk Inc., a Fortune 1000 software designer well known for its AutoCAD software, and Marin General Hospital. The property is also located near US Highway 101, which serves as the main thoroughfare from San Francisco to Sonoma and Napa counties in California as well as a new Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) light rail station which is slated to open this year. Civic Center Plaza is LEED Silver certified and has enjoyed stable occupancy throughout its history.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

Duke Sells Phoenix Industrial Properties to Exeter for $56M

Exeter Property Group, the Plymouth Meeting, PA-based real estate investment manager, has purchased two industrial buildings in Phoenix, Arizona from Duke Realty for $55.9 million, or a blended average of $65.45 per square foot. Both properties transfered in cash sales that were brokered by Jones Lang LaSalle in Phoenix; representation was not disclosed. The acquisition adds nearly another 2 million square feet to its Valley portfolio; the company said it is looking to acquire additional properties in the market.

The first property at 4570 W. Lower Buckeye Road in the Riverside Business Center includes 603,910 square feet of space. The distribution warehouse building was originally developed in 2007 and acquired by Duke Realty in 2011 for $24 million; Exeter Property Group paid $39 million this month. The second property at 1002 S. 63^rd Avenue, known as Estrella Buckeye inside the Estrella Business Park, is a 250,157 square foot distribution facility developed in 1996. Exeter paid $16.9 for the building, which Duke acquired in 2010 for $8.7 million. Both properties were 100% leased at the time of sale.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

RXR Realty Sells 49% of 61 Broadway, Secures $290M Loan

Uniondale, New York-based RXR Realty announced that it has sold a 49% interest in the $440 million office building at 61 Broadway in New York's Financial District, and has closed on a $290 million mortgage on the firm's interest in the 33-story office property. RXR Realty sold the 49% stake to an affiliate of China Orient Asset Management for $216 million and secured the mortgage from the Bank of China and SL Green Realty. RXR paid $330 million for the 790,000-square-foot building in May 2014 and put it back on the market in September 2015 hoping to sell for $450 million. Prior to RXR Realty's acquisition, Broad Street bought 61 Broadway for $130 million in 2004. Full terms of this month's deal were not disclosed.

"We are thrilled to have China Orient join us as our new partner and are pleased that we were able to create meaningful value by upgrading 61 Broadway and executing more than 100,000 square feet of leases at extremely attractive rents," said RXR Realty Chairman and CEO Scott Rechler in a prepared statement. "We look forward to executing the next level of value creation as we recapture space and release it at higher rents to the dynamic 21st century tenants that 61 Broadway is now attracting."

61 Broadway, also known as the Adams Express Building, was designed by Francis Kimball with an estimated construction cost in 1912 of $2 million. The office building between Rector and Morris Streets was 90% leased at the time of sale, with major tenants including architectural firm Bjarke Ingels Group, securities firm Samuel A. Ramirez & Co., innovation think tank Human Condition Global, and data governance company Collibra Inc. The palazzo-style building offers tenants a renovated lobby, high ceilings and great views, as well as quick access to several transit lines connecting to the talented and growing workforce living in Brooklyn, the rest of Manhattan, Northern New Jersey and the rest of the region.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

CBRE Global Investors Buys Univision Office Building FOR $102M

CBRE Global Investors' U.S. Managed Accounts Group announced that it has purchased the Univision Building in Los Angeles, a 174,084 square foot Class A office building that serves a sUnivision's West Coast headquarters, on behalf of a separate account client. According to a Biznow report, the building was sold by Univision TV Group for $102 million, or about $586 per square foot; Univision purchased it in 2004 for $52.5 million. The sale closed April 1, the same day Univision signed a lease-back agreement with CBREI that ensures it will remain at the building until 2026. Ryan Gallagher and Andrew Harper of HFF represented Univision in the deal; CBRE's representation was not disclosed.

Originally built in 2000, the office building at 5999 Center Drive West is part of the mixed-use Howard Hughes Center complex in a submarket which is the hub for Los Angeles' growing technology market, and one of the strongest office markets in the Los Angeles metro. The property was 61.5% leased at the time of sale; CBRE revealed a capital improvement plan for the building to include an additional $2 million renovating the lobby with a tenant lounge and event area, along with a work/play outdoor space to appeal to creative tenants.

"Playa Vista has emerged as the dynamic hub of creative and tech tenancy in SoCal and is nearly fully leased," said Gardner Ellner, Acquisitions Director, CBRE Global Investors U.S. Managed Accounts Group. "The Univision Building is the next project in the path of growth for creative tenants looking to access the amenity base of Playa Vista and the young, creative workforce that resides there. It is well-positioned to appeal to those tenants by providing an engaging environment to work, direct access to the freeway and proximity to a wealth of amenities."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

Sears' Crescent Building Sold For $23.8M

A joint venture between Chevron Partners, a Boston-based private real estate firm, and Fulton, a Paris-based developer/operator, has purchased the Sears' Crescent building in Boston for for $23.8 million. The 50,000 square foot office and retail building was sold by Boston's Copley Investments, which purchased the property in 1996 for $4.25 million. The acquisition marks the joint venture’s third acquisition in Boston, along with the 10 Winthrop Square office building and the seven-unit Maison Vernon luxury condo building on Beacon Hill, according to a Banker & Tradesman report. Copley Investments was represented by Newmark Grubb Knight Frank in the deal; full terms were not disclosed, but Hingham Institution for Savings provided a $15.2 million mortgage for the acquisition.

Sears' Crescent at 100 City Hall Plaza (formerly 38-68 Cornhill) was first constructed in 1816 as a series of commercial rowhouses and is one of Boston's most historic office buildings. Around 1860 these were given a unified curving facade with Italianate styling. The Sears Block, built in 1848, is a rare surviving instance of granite post-and-lintel construction. Both buildings were developed by David Sears, a leading mid-19th-century developer of Boston who was responsible for the filling of Back Bay. They are the only buildings that remain on the original route of Cornhill Street, one of Boston's oldest streets.

The property was renovated in 2000 under Copley's ownership, with designs from Blackstone Block Architects, to include adding on a sixth floor to the building along with modernized HVAC and security equipment. The building was 100% leased at the time of sale with major tenants including Massachusetts Health Connector, Lubin & Meyer PC, and Communications Media Advisors, which their headquarters to 100 City Hall Plaza in 2012.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

Zurich Buys 2.0 University Place for $41.3M

University Place Associates, the Philadelphia-based development company, announced this week that it has sold 2.0 University Place to Zurich Insurance Group for a record $41.25 million, with an implied rate of $438 square-foot. The deal is Zurich's first acquisition in Philadelphia, and commits the company to completing up to $1.8 million in interior construction work, developer Scott Mazo said. Full terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"The sale of 2.0 University Place paves the way to continue the vision of establishing University City's 40th Street transit hub as Philadelphia's corridor for the highest standards in environmental responsibility," said Mazo, Principal of University Place Associates. "We are looking forward to breaking ground later this year on 3.0 University Place to further enhance University City's emerging status as a world-class destination and to demonstrate our commitment to building the highest quality and healthiest workplaces."

The over 90,000 square foot, Class A structure at 30 North 41st Street in Philadelphia is located on the northern edge of the University of Pennsylvania campus in Philadelphia. 2.0 University was developed to be completely eco-friendly, earning a Platinum rating from the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED program. At the time of the sale the building was 100% leased with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Citizenship and Immigration (USCIS) as an anchor tenant leasing three floors of the five-story building.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

Rexford Industrial Buys $191M CA Portfolio

Los Angeles, CA-based Rexford Industrial Realty announced this week that it completed the acquisition of a nine-property industrial portfolio for a total purchase price of $191 million, or approximately $125 per square foot. Rexford Industrial purchased the portfolio from CT Realty Investors in a deal brokered by Darla Longo and Barbara Emmons of CBRE. According to a Seeking Alpha report, Rexford Industrial funded the deal with proceeds from its recent capital raise and exercise of a $100 million accordion on its $125M million unsecured term loan.

"We are pleased to complete the acquisition of this well-located, high-quality portfolio, which increases our owned square footage by over 12%," Howard Schwimmer and Michael Frankel, Co-Chief Executive Officers of Rexford Industrial, said in a press release. "The portfolio, which is 100% leased to twelve tenants, brings greater scale and operating efficiency in key infill submarkets and is expected to be accretive to our 2016 FFO/share operating metrics. We also look forward to executing on value-add opportunities to further enhance the portfolio's cash flow over time to maximize value for our shareholders."

Addresses for properties within the portfolio have not yet been made available, but are notably located in Orange County, Inland Empire West, Central San Diego and Los Angeles-San Gabriel Valley, and include 1,530,814 net rentable square feet on 79.8 acres. Two of the buildings were constructed in 2015 and most of the other assets were renovated in the past three years.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

Normandy Buys National Press Club Building for $155.5M

Morristown, New Jersey-based Normandy Real Estate Partners, a real estate investment and management firm, has purchased the iconic National Press Building in Washington, DC for $155.5 million, or nearly $317 per square foot. The 14-story building was sold by a venture between AEW Capital Management and Quadrangle Development Corp. which paid $167.5 million, or roughly $400 per square foot, for the property in June 2011.

Built in 1927-1928 for the National Press Club on the site of the Ebbitt Hotel and renovated in both 1985 and 2004, the National Press Club building at 529 14th St NW includes 468,251 gross square feet in Washington's East End submarket. The AEW-Quadrangle team retained what was then Cassidy Turley — now Cushman & Wakefield — in the summer of 2014 to seek buyers for the building, which at the time was assessed at $237.5 million.

"We are very excited about the acquisition of the National Press Building and our increasing level of acquisition activity across the Washington, D.C. region. We look forward to launching a program of targeted capital improvements to this iconic building in order to drive leasing activity and to take full advantage of the improving fundamentals we are seeing in the Washington, D.C. market," said Jeff Gronning, a Founder and Partner of Normandy Real Estate Partners, in a press release.

The National Press Club still makes its home on the two highest floors of the 14-story office and retail tower, with a mix of other tenants including American Physical Society, Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI), the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), Marshalls, and Nine West. The property is located just blocks from major Federal buildings, some of the nation' s largest firms and associations, and is mass-transit oriented via Metro Center metro station. The building is also one of a very rare few in the U.S. that boasts its own ZIP code: 20045.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

German Investor Buys Seaport Office Building in Record Deal

In one of the largest single-asset trades in Boston real estate history, Skanska USA has sold 101 Seaport Boulevard to German real estate fund Union Investment Real Estate GmbH for $452 million. The transaction is Union Investment's third recent acquisition in Boston, and will join the portfolio of open-ended real estate fund Unilmmo: Europa. The deal doesn't include the building's ground floor, which will be home to the By Chloe restaurant by this summer. Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented Skanska on the sale and the leasing; full terms of the deal were not disclosed. The divestment will be recorded by Skanska USA Commercial Development in the first quarter of 2016, Skanska said in a statement.

"After the acquisition of The Godfrey Hotel and the Converse Headquarters at Lovejoy Wharf, we are pleased to have strengthened our foothold in the important and economically very stable gateway market of Boston with the acquisition of this trophy building at 101 Seaport Boulevard," said New York City-based Tal Peri, Head of U.S. East Coast & Latin America at Union Investment Real Estate GmbH.

"The building, its elegance, and its environmentally conscious design, both inside and out, reflect our passion for the community, the Seaport and the City of Boston. 101 Seaport has been a catalyst for the transformation of the neighborhood and we look forward continuing to deliver the most sustainable and efficient buildings along Seaport Boulevard with the completion of Watermark Seaport and the development of 121 Seaport," added Charley Leatherbee, Executive Vice President of Skanska USA Commercial Development.

Skanska developed the 17-story, 440,000 square foot office building at the corner of Seaport Boulevard and Boston Wharf Road for $126 million, wrapping construction in early 2015; Skanska also leases 28,000 square feet on the tower's second floor. Accounting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers in October 2015 relocated its northeast headquarters from Boston's Financial District into 333,500 square feet at 101 Seaport, becoming the building's anchor tenant. 101 Seaport is the first office building in Boston to be certified Platinum under the LEED sustainability standard.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

Physicians Realty Trust Buying $725M Medical-Office Portfolio

Physicians Realty Trust, a self-managed healthcare properties REIT that conducts its business through an UPREIT structure in which its properties are owned by Physicians Realty L.P., announced that is buying a portfolio of 52 medical office facilities owned by Englewood, CO-based based Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) for approximately $724.9 million. The purchase price includes $32.9 million of future capital improvements, the majority of which should be completed within 5 years. The buildings are controlled by regional health systems affiliated with CHI, and because of CHI's sponsorship by the Catholic church, the deal requires Vatican approval, according to a Healthcare Finance News report.

"Today we announce what we believe to be one of the largest and most important medical office facility relationships established by a REIT directly with a major healthcare system," John Thomas, President and Chief Executive Officer at Physicians Realty Trust, said in a statement. "We are honored and humbled to be selected to monetize these facilities and enhance CHI's healthcare real estate service delivery platform through this partnership. Our investment provides substantial liquidity to CHI. More importantly, we are helping to free CHI executives, management, physicians, providers and staff to focus on their primary Mission, to nurture the healing ministry of the Church, supported by education and research, while we provide real estate capital, management, and strategic intellectual support to enhance their existing facilities, physician recruiting and outpatient strategies."

The purchased buildings amount to nearly 3.2 million square feet of rentable space in 10 states, and are 94.4% leased with an average of 8.6 years left on their leases. Leases at the properties are expected to bring in $43.5 million of net operating income, according to a Law360 report. Physicians Realty Trust expects to close the acquisition in two tranches; the first tranche is expected to close in April 2016, for a total purchase price of approximately $202 million. The second tranche, expected to include most, if not all of the remaining properties, is expected to close before the end of the second quarter of 2016, for a total purchase price of approximately $490 million. Thomas added that the company continues to see additional opportunities for growth in the second half of the year, and has, therefore, increased its investment guidance to $1.0-1.25 billion of total investments for 2016, from a range of $750 million-1.0 billion.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

Beacon Sells Fairview Center Buildings for $34M

Beacon Partners, a full service Charlotte, NC-based commercial real estate investment company, has sold Fairview Center One and Fairview Center Two in the SouthPark area of Charlotte for $33.8 million. ROC III Fairlead Fairview Center Owner LLC, a subsidiary of Marietta, GA-based Fairlead Commercial, purchased both of the office buildings, marking the company's first move into North Carolina real estate. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Beacon Partners originally purchased the two buildings from MetLife in May 2014 for $26.2 million, then listed the property late last year with CBRE, which also represented Beacon in the transaction. Charlie Swanson, director of office leasing with Beacon Partners, said of the decision to sell that the company instead wants to focus on midtown Charlotte and South End. "We feel like it's a good time to put them out there, and a buyer can build on what we've started to do to the assets," he says. "We feel like there's a lot of good momentum in SouthPark right now. We just want to focus our capital and resources on midtown and South End."

Located at 6302 and 6230 Fairview Road, the offices total approximately 182,000 square feet of rentable space. Fairview Center One is a seven-story, 118,893-square-foot Class-A office building constructed in 1984. Fairview Center Two is a four-story, 62,222-square-foot Class-B office building that was completed in 1968. The current occupancy rate was not disclosed, but when the buildings traded hands in two years ago they were 92% leased, with tenants including McAngus Goudelock & Courie, Zapata Engineering and First Financial Services Inc.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

Monmouth Pays $30.7M for Burlington Industrial Property

Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corporation, a Freehold, NJ-based real estate investment trust, announced that it has purchased a new industrial building in Burlington, WA for $30,662,080. The transaction was completed on April 8, though transaction details beyond the company's disclosure are unknown. Fisher Construction Group lists the facility on its website as a 10-month fast track project delivered for Jones Development, a Kansas City, MO-based second generation commercial development firm.

"This acquisition represents a new territory for Monmouth and it expands our geographic footprint from coast to coast," said Michael Landy, Monmouth Real Estate President and CEO, in a press release. "This large 42 acre site is situated right off of Interstate 5 and is in close proximity to one of the largest airplane assembly plants in the world, owned by Boeing in Everett. We are very pleased to enter the Seattle market and hope to expand our presence here over time."

Located at 2000 South Walnut Street, the industrial building is situated on approximately 42.4 acres and includes 210,445 square feet of space. The full property is net-leased to FedEx Ground Packaging System, Inc. for 15 years.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

Cook County Hospital Mixed Use Redevelopment

Civic Health Development Group (CHDG) has been selected to redevelop Old County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois with a private redevelopment and land lease agreement to be presented to the Cook County Board of Commissioners on April 13. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle's office unveiled the $550-$700 million development plan for the vacant and historic building, with a design to restore the old hospital's historic Beaux Arts façade as part of the project. The redevelopment will transform the former hospital into an office, residential and retail space, with a hotel to be built on a grassy field in front of the old hospital. After review by the Cook County Board's Commissioners and Finance Committee, the full Board may vote on the redevelopment agreement at a May 11 meeting.

Preckwinkle said that CHDG will invest $600 million and pay at least $2 million annual rent under a 99 year lease to the county, which will retain ownership of the land. Rent would go up as the years go on, and the county would have two 25-year options. Officials say the county won't have to make a capital investment or offer a subsidy to the developer. "I think that renovation of this facility will have a transformative effect on the Illinois Medical District," Preckwinkle said. The county also plans to build a new office building and clinic nearby, at a cost of about $113 million to taxpayers.

If the plans are approved, redevelopment construction would begin in 2017 and completion of the new building is anticipated in mid-2018. The project is expected to create more than 2,000 temporary and permanent jobs. CHDG is led by Real Estate Services and is comprised of a number of firms, including Plenary Group, Walsh Investors, Walsh Construction Company, Granite Development, Loop Capital, SOM, Health Management Associates and Legat Architects, according to Cook County records.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

Milwaukee Center Sold for $60.5M

An affiliate of Associated Bank, a regional bank holding company based in Green Bay and the biggest bank headquartered in Wisconsin, has purchased the 28-story office tower at 111 E. Kilbourn Ave. for $60.5 million. The property was sold by Hub Milwaukee Center Properties LLC, a real estate investment trust registered in Wisconsin, according to state real estate records posted Tuesday. The city's assessed value for the property is $49.5 million. Terms of the deal and representation were not disclosed.

According to Philip Flynn, president and CEO, Associated will occupy a significant portion of the building when the lease on its current regional office expires in 2022. Approximately 320 Associated employees currently occupy 97,000 square feet of the Plaza East towers at 330 East Kilbourn. "Our purchase of this iconic, city-center building aligns with our efforts to become the city's hometown bank," Flynn said. "As a major corporate citizen, we're filling that role through our support of consumers and business clients, and through our strategic investments in new office locations, economic and cultural development initiatives, and affiliations with the Milwaukee Brewers, Marcus Center, United Performing Arts Fund and other community partners."

Built in 1988, the Milwaukee Center is a 373,000 square foot Class A office building, believed to be the sixth largest multi-tenant office property in downtown Milwaukee and the fourth tallest building in the state. The Milwaukee Center's construction was spurred by the Milwaukee Repertory Theater's purchase and subsequent selling of the land surrounding the former Wisconsin Electric Powerhouse which was converted into The Rep's primary performance venue, the Quadracci Powerhouse. The Milwaukee Center's rotunda connects the office tower with the Inter Continental Hotel Milwaukee and the historic Pabst Theater.

Flynn said the purchase of the building does not signal an intention to move Associated's headquarters to Milwaukee from Green Bay. "We have no plans to move the headquarters of the company," he said. There is more than $1 billion in development under way in downtown Milwaukee, including the $450 million corporate headquarters being built by Northwestern Mutual, according to a Milwaukee Business Journal article. In addition, the Milwaukee Bucks will soon start construction on a new $500 million arena and $500 million in adjoining development, including a practice facility and a multi-use parking structure.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

BioMed Picks Up University Towne Center Buildings for $55M

BioMed Realty, a San Diego-based self-advised REIT, announced that it has purchased a two-building laboratory and office property in San Diego's University Towne Center (UTC) market for $55 million. W.P. Carey, a leading global net-lease REIT, sold the buildings. While terms of the deal and represenation were not disclosed by either company, Jones Lang LaSalle has both properties listed on their marketing website. The transaction marks BioMed's first acquisition since being acquired by affiliates of New York-headquartered Blackstone Group in an $8 billion transaction that closed in January.

"This acquisition in the UTC life science hub of San Diego greatly expands our presence within one of the most vibrant innovation communities anywhere," said Tracy Murphy, senior vice president, west coast leasing at BioMed Realty. "We strive to provide our tenants with the best opportunities to grow and collaborate, and acquiring these premier buildings in the heart of UTC allows us create a true campus environment with our 4570 Executive Drive building in order to attract and retain more of San Diego's leading biotech companies here."

The acquisition of 9360 and 9390 Towne Centre Drive adds another 144,300 square feet of presence for BioMed in the UTC life science market, where it already owns another two buildings in the 9800 block of Town Centre Drive. The UTC Campus offers companies a mix of office and lab space situated around a reflecting pond, with ingress and egress access points to both the I-5 and I-805 freeways. Originally built in 1989, 9360 Towne Centre Drive features 71,390 rentable square feet of space with an existing 100% office build-out, while 9390 Towne Centre Drive offers a 65% office/35% lab split across 72,921 square feet. Each three-story building contains its own lobby area, secured underground parking, a commercial kitchen, fitness center and large conference rooms.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners

Bellevue's Sunset North Sold for $155M

M-M Properties, in partnership with a large unnamed institutional investor, has completed the acquisition of a three-building, 464,000 square foot office campus in Bellevue, Washington for $155.3 million. The property, known as Sunset North, was sold by a fund managed by Beacon Capital Partners; Beacon originally acquired the property in 2007 as part of a $6.35 billion, 39 property portfolio from Blackstone Group. The deal includes the three buildings at at 3120-3180 139th Ave. S.E., a parking lot and two adjacent vacant lots, according to property records. CBRE's Institutional Properties team represent the seller in the transaction with assistance from the Broderick Group. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"We are excited to add Sunset North to our expanding institutional investment portfolio," said Ken Moczulski, CEO of M-M Properties. "Following our October 2015 acquisition of the Sawgrass Centre office portfolio in Fort Lauderdale, the acquisition of Sunset North continues our geographic diversification into high-quality institutional assets."

"Sunset North is among the highest-quality office properties in Bellevue's I-90 corridor," added Tom Pehl, a senior vice president with CBRE Capital Markets. "The complex's unobstructed views of the downtown Seattle skyline and Olympic Mountains and easy access to downtown Bellevue and downtown Seattle have attracted an impressive mix of tenants."

Built in 1999-2000, Sunset North was developed jointly by Wright Runstad & Company and Equity Office Properties Trust. Wright Runstad started the 83-acre Sunset Corporate Campus, which includes Sunset North and three other buildings, in 1990 with Obayashi America Corp. as its financial partner. Obayashi later purchased Wright Runstad's interest in other sections of the campus, but Wright Runstad retained rights for the remaining three building sites, partnering with Equity Office when development began in 1998. The office park was designed by the award-winning firm of Zimmer Gunsul Frasca and features polished Canadian Gold granite, a state-of-the-art energy management system, and an on-site fitness center with showers and deli. Sunset North is currently 99% leased and anchored by The Boeing Company.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

CIM Picks Up Boston South End Office Building

Los Angeles-based CIM Group, an urban real estate and infrastructure fund manager, together with Boston-based Center Court Mass, LLC, announced that it has purchased 95 Berkeley Street in Boston's South End for $43 million. CIM acquired the property from The Community Builders, a nonprofit urban housing developer in Boston, which purchased the property as their first acquisition in the South End market. The building previously sold for $2,373,100 in 1992. Colliers International represented The Community Builders in the transaction, and markets the property for lease; CIM's representation and terms of the deal were not disclosed.

95 Berkeley Street comprises approximately 103,265 square feet on six floors, plus a basement with parking for 36 cars. Originally built in the 1920's, the property was redeveloped in 1988 by The Community Builders, which previously placed the property on the market in 2004 with Meredith & Grew Inc. for sale as a residential conversion. Formerly the headquarters of Morgan Memorial, the property is prominently situated at the corner of Berkeley and Chandler Streets in Boston's South End and offers immediate access to public transportation located just blocks away from Back Bay Station.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

Columbia Sells 100 East Pratt for $187M

Columbia Property Trust, a real estate investment trust that owns and operates Class-A office buildings concentrated in CBD locations, announced that it has completed the sale of 100 East Pratt Street in Baltimore, Maryland for $187 million. Columbia sold the iconic 653,000 square-foot office building to Vision Properties, an east coast real estate firm. The HFF investment sales team represented Columbia Property Trust in the transaction; Vision Properties' representation and full terms of the deal were not disclosed. Columbia said in a press release that it would use the proceeds of the sale to repay a $119 million short-term bridge loan and borrowings on its unsecured credit facility. The building was previously sold by Boston Properties in 2005 to Wells Real Estate for $207.5 million, and was added to the Wells REIT II portfolio, which later became Columbia Property Trust.

"This week's sale of 100 East Pratt, which was our only asset in Baltimore, represents another milestone in our ongoing transformation of Columbia Property Trust's portfolio into one that is primarily focused on the acquisition, leasing and operation of top quality office properties in the nation's high-barrier markets," said Nelson Mills, president and chief executive officer of Columbia Property Trust. "Through this sale, we achieved pricing well within our target range for the property, which reflects its overall quality and solid performance during our years of ownership. More importantly, we have now successfully sold 48 non-core properties totaling $2.3 billion in proceeds since 2011, while simultaneously investing $2 billion in prime office properties located in New York, San Francisco, Washington and Boston."

Located at the intersection of Pratt and Light Streets, 100 East Pratt Street is the long-time home of investment management firm T. Rowe Price, which occupies 65% of the building. the 28-story tower features a 2-story lobby, ground-level retail, fitness and conference center and an abutting 8-level parking structure with 940 parking spaces and direct access into the building. The building originally began construction in 1973 by Emery Roth & Sons, then completed and developed in 1992 by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. The property was 98.5% leased as of December, with additional key tenants including PriceWaterHouseCoopers, Merrill Lynch and Tydings & Rosenberg.

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