Northstar Acquires Office-Industrial Portfolio for $224M

Denver-based Northstar Commercial Partners, a privately held commercial real estate investment company, announced this week that it had purchased a 24-property national U.S. portfolio for $224 million. Northstar purchased the portfolio from Mr. Moshe Silagi, President of Silagi Development & Management (SDM), with a $178.5 million loan secured by Cohen Financial with Prime Finance Partners, a national privately-held commercial real estate finance company.

"This deal is the most significant acquisition in Northstar's company history, bringing along with it our largest opportunity to date to create a positive impact for businesses and local communities nationwide," Brian Watson, Northstar Commercial Partners' Founder & CEO, said in a press release. "It is very rare in this economic environment to acquire an off-market deal of this magnitude, diversity, and low occupancy rate, in order to drive very attractive opportunistic level returns."

The portfolio includes 13 industrial warehouse & manufacturing facilities, eight office buildings and three retail assets, all totaling 5,918,835 square feet on 486 acres. Twenty-one of the facilities included in the 24-property acquisition are located in towns or areas with high unemployment, often times well above national and state averages; the properties had an overall vacancy of 40% at the time of sale. Watson explained: "The fact that the vast majority of these properties are found in places where people need work, and are looking for greater opportunity, makes us at Northstar all the more eager to be involved."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

JV Purchases Las Vegas' CityCenter Veer Towers Units for $119M

A joint venture between an affiliate of Ladder Capital Finance Holdings and Pordes Residential Sales & Marketing have purchased 427 condominium units in Veer Towers in Las Vegas for $119 million. The joint venture purchased the property from CityCenter, a joint venture between MGM Resorts International and a subsidiary of Dubai World, a Dubai-owned holding company. Cohen Financial brokered the acquisition. SRF Ventures advised Pordes Residential on the acquisition and has been retained to manage the project.

"High-rise condos on the Las Vegas Strip are a supply-constrained market, and the condos at Veer Towers are in a fantastic location surrounded by world-class amenities, including fine dining, casinos and entertainment," stated Brian Harris, Ladder Capital's founder and CEO.

"We see premium value in the Las Vegas condominium market," said Mark Pordes, CEO of Pordes Residential, who has over 25 years of experience marketing and selling luxury condominiums in Las Vegas and South Florida. "The unique qualities of Veer Towers and the worldwide appeal of Las Vegas make the offering attractive in this market rebound."

"With deeply discounted prices in the resale market, relative to their new construction counterparts, it has been difficult for developer-owned units to gain traction without discounting prices," said a local real estate analyst for Las Vegas Business Press. "This transaction reflects an opportunity for CityCenter to move substantially all of the remaining inventory into third-party hands while fetching a market price ahead of other high-rise product in the resale market."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Shreveport Chase Tower Gets $12.2M Refinance Loan

Cohen Financial reportedly arranged a $12.2 million loan for the Chase Tower in Shreveport, LA under a 10-year, non-recourse commitment with a 30 year amortization schedule according to a National Real Estate Investor article. The borrower was only named as an Hawaii-based client of Cohen Financial and the lender listed as a regional bank, which is providing the loan at a fixed 5.5% interest rate for the first five years.

"Due to our strong lender relationships, and the fact that the borrower had increased occupancy and the value of the property, Cohen Financial was able to structure a non-recourse, cash-out refinance transaction, utilizing the office building and an adjoining parking garage for collateral," said Joseph Hevey Jr., managing director of Cohen Financial in the firm's Dallas office.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.