$237M Patriots Plaza Recapitalization

Multi-Employer Property Trust (MEPT) and its real estate advisor, Bentall Kennedy Limited Partnership, announced the recapitalization of Patriots Plaza in DC, forming a joint venture partnership through the sale of a "significant interest" in the property to Ärzteversorgung Westfalen-Lippe (ÄVWL), an institution of the Medical Association of Westfalen-Lippe, one of the largest pension funds in Germany. According to a CoStar report, MEPT sold a 49% stake in the 981,116-square-foot office complex, which was built by MEPT and Trammell Crow Co. in the late 2000's. Genesis International represented ÄVWL in the acquisition while Eastdil Secured represented MEPT in the sale. Clifford Chance acted as counsel and PWC as tax advisor for ÄVWL.

"MEPT is pleased to be commencing a strategic partnership with ÄVWL, a well-capitalized and sophisticated global investor, and at the same time, consistent with MEPT's strategic objectives, further optimizing its Washington, D.C. area allocation and providing for redeployment of the sale proceeds," said David Antonelli, Executive Vice President and MEPT Portfolio Manager at Bentall Kennedy, in a press release.

The office buildings at 355, 375, 395 E Street SW were built by MEPT and Trammell Crow in three phases - Patriots Plaza I, a 280,001 square foot, twelve-story office building was completed in 2005 and Patriots Plaza Phases II and III, encompassing 701,589 square feet in two buildings, were completed in 2009 and achieved LEED Gold certification. At the time of sale, Patriots Plaza was approximately 90% leased with the FBI, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Department of Health and Human Services and FEMA anchoring the complex.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

NYL Gives $205M Loan for 757 Third Avenue

New York Life Real Estate Investors, a division of NYL Investors LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of New York Life Insurance Company, announced this week that it had financed 757 Third Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. The $205 million loan with a term of 15 years was generated for Canadian investment manager Bentall Kennedy; the company purchased the property from Aby Rosen's RFR Holding for $360 million in March, according to a report from The Real Deal.

"757 Third Avenue is a premier, well leased office building located in one of the strongest office markets in the nation," said Eric Becher, Senior Director of New York Life Real Estate Investors' New York Regional Office. "This financing represents an excellent addition to our commercial mortgage portfolio. We are very pleased to expand our relationship with MEPT and Bentall Kennedy in financing their acquisition of this quality asset."

Designed by noted Architects Emery Roth & Sons, the tower was completed in 1963 and renovated in 2009. The building is located within minutes of Grand Central Terminal, and has excellent access to public transportation. RFR purchased the 27-story office tower at East 47th Street in 1999 for $103 million and has invested more than $20 million in upgrades to attract a mix of tenants. Last January the tower signed two new marquee tenants: accounting firm Grant Thornton and Berkley Insurance, according to published reports.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

KBS REIT III Buys Salt Lake Tower for $170.5M

KBS Real Estate Investment Trust III, a public non-traded REIT, announced this week that it had purchased 222 Main in Salt Lake City's Central Business District for $170.5 million plus closing costs, making it a record-setting deal for commercial real estate in Salt Lake City, on a cost per-square footage basis. The 426,657-square foot tower was sold by a joint venture of Bentall Kennedy, Hamilton Partners and Honeywell Retirees Pension. Marc Renard of Cushman & Wakefield, Kip Paul of Cushman & Wakefield | Commerce, and Tim Richey and Michael Winn of Cushman & Wakefield of Colorado coordinated the sale on behalf of the selling venture. The property was 85% leased at the time of sale.

"We believe 222 Main was designed to the highest standards with first-class finishes throughout which, along with its location in Salt Lake City's CBD, makes it a premier office property," said KBS Capital Advisors Senior VP Tim Helgeson. "This is an asset that benefits from unobstructed views of the Wasatch Range. Additionally, downtown Salt Lake City is just two blocks from the $2 billion City Creek Center mixed use development, which features numerous first-class amenities."

Designed by the international architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the 22-story tower at 222 Main was built in 2009 by Okland Construction and was the first Utah building to be LEED Gold certified. The sale drew national interest and multiple bids from local and out-of-state investors, according to one of a team of real estate brokers at Cushman & Wakefield | Commerce offices in Salt Lake, Denver and Los Angeles who were involved in the sale. "We had huge traffic on this," said Kip Paul, the firm's director of investment sales in Salt Lake. "I can't tell you how many people flew in to see this."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Newport Tower Sold for Landmark $377.5M Pricetag

Brookfield Office Properties announced that it had successfully sold the Newport Tower office building in Jersey City, New Jersey for $377.5 million, making it the largest single office asset transaction in New Jersey history. Multi-Employer Property Trust (MEPT) bought the 36-story, 1.1-million-square-foot office building with advisement from Bentall Kennedy; CB Richard Ellis represented Brookfield in the transaction.

"This was the optimal time to monetize this mature asset, having achieved opportunistic returns for us and our fund partners," said Dennis Friedrich, president and global chief investment officer of Brookfield Office Properties. "During our six-year period of ownership and management, we were able to successfully lease-up, stabilize, and incorporate sustainable strategies in the building to significantly increase value."

Brookfield originally acquired the building as part of a $7.6 billion purchase of Trizec in 2006. The building was reportedly 89% leased at the time of sale with major tenants including BNP Paribas and AXA Equitable.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.