Liberty Property Makes $93M Buy in TX

Liberty Property Trust, the Malvern, PA-based real estate investment trust, announced this week that it had purchased three buildings and 139 acres of additional land in La Porte, Texas for approximately $93 million. The property was sold by Port Crossing Commerce Center, a joint-venture of National Property Holdings and ML Realty Partners, which developed the complex together with leasing handled by Colliers International. Liberty purchased the 139 acres of land with plans to add an additional two million square feet of development to Port Crossing Commerce Center. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"Strategically, it's been our goal to expand our presence in the southeast/La Porte submarket. We see strengthening fundamentals in this submarket due to one, the positive downstream impact that low oil prices have had on the petrochemical industry, and second, the significant investment and expansion in Houston's port facilities." said Jay Kraft, vice president and city manager for Liberty Property Trust's Houston region in a press release. "With the additional land that will be acquired, we will have the opportunity to leverage our company's expertise in development on the site."

The three 100% leased buildings consist of two rail served and a cross dock building, totaling 921,196 square feet. Phase I development for the 139 acres, which could include a 408,000 square foot cross dock building and a 105,000 square foot rear load building, could commence in 2016.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

Dallas' Galleria Towers Sold to CBRE

California-based Cannon Commercial Inc. has sold the three-building Galleria Towers office complex in Dallas, Texas to CBRE Strategic Partners U.S. Value 7, a fund managed by Los Angeles-based CBRE Global Investors. The sale is likely to be the largest in North Texas this year, with a sale price expected to total more than $300 million, according to a Dallas Morning News report today. "This will likely be the largest office sale in D-FW this year," said CBRE's Gary Carr who brokered the transaction along with John Alvarado, Eric Mackey and Robert Hill. "Galleria Towers is one of the most recognizable office projects in the Southwest."

The sale price would closely mirror the $300 million Cannon Commercial paid for the property in May 2008 when it was reportedly fully occupied. Prior to that, Fortis bought the Galleria Towers for $285 million from The Blackstone Group in November 2006, which acquired them from Trizec Properties. Terms of this week's deal have not been disclosed.

"This is a great asset in a great location and it has been like that for a long time," added Walter Bialas, vice president and market research director for JLL's Dallas office. "With the LBJ Expressway construction completing, I think there is a good upside for those assets. They have easy access in a good location with good visibility."

Located at 13355, 13455 and 13155 Noel Road adjacent to the Galleria Mall and built in the 1980s and early 1990s, the 1.4 million square foot Class A office complex was 70% leased at the time of sale, with one large tenant is exiting soon. Colliers International, the leasing broker for the Galleria Towers, has been working with the landlord on plans to re-lease the FedEx Office space, which is expected to leave eight floors totaling about 200,000 square feet at Three Galleria Tower at 13155 Noel Road upon completion of its new headquarters campus in West Plano within the $2 billion, 240-acre Legacy West development. CBRE Global Investors plans to invest heavily in the property adding its signature 5-Star Worldwide service and amenity program, including conference facilities, a fitness center, and enhanced on-site tenant amenities, in each building.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

Denver's Union Tower West Moving Forward

Union Tower West, a vertically-stacked mixed-use development at 1801 Wewatta Street in Denver's Union Station neighborhood, will begin construction with a groundbreaking ceremony scheduled for April 9. The project is being developed by Portman Holdings, with John Portman & Associates providing architectural services, and general contractor Hensel Phelps, which plans to complete construction within 20 months. Canyon Capital Realty Advisors has provided equity financing and Regions Bank will provide a construction loan for the approximately $92 million development.

"Canyon is excited to be part of the transformation of Denver's downtown by partnering with an experienced development team," said Marti Page, Senior Director at Canyon Realty in a press release.

"We feel that the design of this building, and its vertically stacked multiple uses, complement and enhance the appeal of LoDo, where we're thrilled to be developing property," added Portman Holdings CEO Ambrish Baisiwala. "We know that the Hotel Indigo® brand approach will bring a strong local feel and the character of the Union Station neighborhood to life within this distinct property."

Plans for Union Tower West include a 210,000-square-foot mixed-use development featuring 100,000 sq. ft. of Class A office space and the Hotel Indigo® hotel accompanied by 10,000 sq. ft. of food and beverage concepts. Travis Garland of Portman Management Company is collaborating with Colliers International for office leasing activities.

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.

Twitter Adds to Sunnyvale Space

Twitter, the San Francisco micro-blogging social network, announced this week that it was expanding its office space with the lease of an additional 10,000 square feet at Sunnyvale Business Park, at 400 West California Ave. The company first established its presence at Sunnyvale in May of this year with the lease of 8,000 square feet of space, along with the commitment from property owner Principal Real Estate Investors to construct a 107,000-square-foot office building next to the existing building for additional Twitter space.

Dave Sandlin, a Colliers International senior vice president who represents Twitter's Sunnyvale property, said some San Francisco tech companies are realizing they need to have a presence further south. After all, while the city might be the hot talent market right now, the greater San Jose metro area also carries some advantages. "If you look at the housing situation in San Francisco, trying to put all your workers up there is very difficult, " said Sandlin.

The emphasis on San Francisco signifies how Silicon Valley, an area extending south from just below San Francisco to San Jose, California, no longer has a grip on technology companies, as reported by a New York Times article this month. About 18 months ago, tech companies started moving or expanding here to be closer to their employees. According to reports, Twitter is looking to add 320,000 square feet to its footprint in San Francisco, bringing its total to about 600,000 square feet.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Pomfret Buys Pleasanton Building for $6.5M

Pomfret Estates Inc. finalized its purchase this week of a 23,076-square-foot medical office building in Pleasanton, California for $6,550,000, or $282 per square foot. Pleasanton-based Bernal Associates sold the building with representation from Ian Thomas, senior vice president of Colliers International, while Pomfret was represented by Transwestern Managing Director Ed Del Beccaro. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The medical services building at 5000 Pleasanton Avenue was originally listed for sale in April 2013 and marketed by Colliers. Built in 1999, the building offers approximately 3,556 rentable square feet on the ground floor, along with building signage opportunities and an excellent central location near Amtrak, Highways 580 and 680 and downtown Pleasanton. Del Beccaro and Transwestern Vice President Sonny O'Drobinak have also been retained to lease the two-story medical office.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Regions Bank Office Building in Jonesboro Sold

Haag Brown Commercial Real Estate and Development, a Jonesboro, Arkansas-based commercial real estate brokerage, announced that it has purchased one of the biggest buildings in Jonesboro. Haag Brown Commercial Real Estate & Development of Jonesboro and Colliers International in Little Rock are part of an ownership group that purchased the property for $3.4 million from an entity owned by Jonesboro developer Bruce Burrow and his business partner, Marty Belz of Memphis, according to an Arkansas Business article. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"Our partnership and ongoing relationship with Colliers International in Little Rock led to our direct involvement in the purchase and re-branding of this building. We have big plans for this multi-story development and are looking forward to watching our vision become reality," said Joshua Brown of Haag Brown. We have always had a good relationship with Kevin Huchingson and Isaac Smith from Colliers. Their firm manages over 14,000,000 SF of commercial real estate. Our immediate plans are to start the largest, most efficient, and innovative commercial property management company in the Northeast Arkansas Trade area."

The building at 2400 Highland Drive, once known as MBC Plaza that now serves as the Regions Bank building, includes roughly 52,000 square-feet of office space. The five-story building will be renamed the 2400 Building, according to a news release from Haag Brown. Haag Brown will lease the property and Colliers will manage it. Current tenants include Region's Bank, the FBI, Congressman Rick Crawford and Raymond James.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Bloomington Southgate Office Tower Surrendered to Lender

American International Group (AIG) will be taking back the Southgate office tower in Bloomington in a highly unpublicized transaction. According to a Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal report, the New York-based lender provided funds for the property to Welsh Companies, which is not preparing to give the office property back.

While no official statements have been released from the companies, a letter from the Minneapolish office of Transwestern was delivered to tenants of the property on October 28 notifying them of the ownership change. One of the tenants described the letter to the Journal and explained that Transwestern was expected to take over building management on November 15, a contract formerly handled by Welsh through its unit known as Colliers International | Minneapolis-St. Paul.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Colliers Acquires Winbury Group

A controlling interest of commercial real estate agents with Grubb & Ellis/The Winbury Group has been acquired by Colliers International according to a Lawrence Journal-World article. The Winbury Group, a full-service commercial real estate firm founded in 1989, will immediately assume identity under the new Colliers umbrella and signage is expected to change within 30 days. The terms and price of the deal were not disclosed.

"With today's news, we are continuing our systematic strategy to seize additional market share in the U.S.," said Dylan Taylor, chief executive officer of Colliers International in the U.S. "Our U.S. continued expansion further solidifies our ability to provide the best service to our clients and the best career opportunities for our professionals. The Winbury Group is the clear market leader in greater Kansas City and we see very high alignment between the two firm's cultures."

Ted Murray, who serves as the CEO of The Winbury Group, adds: "After serving our clients for more than two decades throughout the Kansas City region and the country, we are thrilled to join Colliers International, a global industry leader. Our ongoing commitment to deliver the highest-quality commercial real estate services in the region will be significantly enhanced by this merger. Our clients will continue to rely on our local market knowledge and connections, but going forward they also will benefit from the national and international growth opportunities and resources of Colliers."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.