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.

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SL Green Buys 11 Madison for $2.6B in Record Deal

In the largest single-building transaction in New York City history, SL Green Realty Corporation, New York City's largest office landlord, announced this week that it had completed the purchase of 11 Madison Avenue for $2.285 billion, plus approximately $300 million in costs associated with lease stipulated improvements to the property. The building was acquired from Sapir Organization and the minority partner CIM Group, which bought the property in 2003 for $675 million and managed to bring in marquee technology and media tenants.

The Sapir Organization, led by CEO Rotem Rosen and President Alex Sapir, tripled the net operating income of the building to $120 million from $40 million, according to sources. The deal is the biggest for a single building in Manhattan since the 2008 acquisition of the General Motors Building for $2.8 billion, and the second-largest in U.S. history, according to research firm Real Capital Analytics Inc.

SL Green Realty CFO Matthew DiLiberto told REIT.com that the company faced "deep competition both from domestic and international capital" for the property. He noted that the deal's 4.6 percent acquisition capitalization rate is particularly favorable. "Market cap rates for the highest quality assets in the city are going in the" range of 3 percent, according to DiLiberto. SL Green noted that 11 Madison Avenue has rents in place that are substantially below market, offering long-term growth opportunities.

The 29-story, 2.3 million-square-foot Manhattan office tower, formerly known as the Metropolitan Life North Building, was completed in three phases between 1932 and 1950. From 1994-1997, the building, which has served time as Met Life's records warehouse, had its interior redesigned by Haines Lundberg Waehler and the exterior renovated, all at the cost of $300 million.

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5 Hanover Square Sold for $104M

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

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

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

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

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

CIM Group Sells Hollywood HQ to Hudson Pacific

Hudson Pacific Properties announced this month that it had purchased 6922 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California from CIM Group for $92.5 million, or $450 per square foot. Sean Sullivan of Eastdil Secured negotiated for the seller and Bob Safai with Madison Partners represented the buyer.

"We are excited to add this highly regarded property to our growing portfolio of quality office assets," said Victor J. Coleman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hudson Pacific Properties, Inc. "This transaction marks our fourth Hollywood property and seventh acquisition in the last twelve months, as we build on the burgeoning presence of the media and entertainment industries in this submarket."

Commonly known as the TV Guide Hollywood Center and headquarters for CIM's corporate operations, the 12-story 205,522-square-foot office building is fully leased to a mix of media and entertainment tenants including Trailer Park, a movie trailer post-production studio and advertising agency, and J2 Global Communications, the owner of the eFax and KeepItSafe brands according to a CoStar report.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Coming Soon: New York's Tallest Residential Tower

CIM Group, a Los Angeles-based real estate company founded by two former Israeli paratroopers and a Drexel Burnham Lambert executive, is poised to released plans for New York's tallest residential tower according to a Wall Street Journal report. CIM has partnered with Harry Macklowe on the project, the plans for which reveal a tower in excess of 1,3000 feet tall at 432 Park Avenue with a total price tag of over $1 billion. The WSJ reports that CIM still needs to secure a construction loan worth as much as $700 million, but that Avi Shemesh, one of the founding principals at CIM, is confident they'll get the loan. "We have longstanding relationships with lenders," Mr. Shemesh said. "We anticipate our construction financing to be in place well in advance of any sort of deadline."

Designed by Rafael Vinoly, the new tower includes 128 condominiums with ceilings over 12 feet all, a 5,000 square foot driveway, and residential ammenities like golf training facilities and private dining and screening rooms. The 1,300 foot building will tower over every apartment building in the city by a few hundred feet when complete. The building will sit on the property by the park formerly occupied by the Drake Hotel, which was demolished by Macklowe in 2007.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.