LeSaint Grabs OH Industrial Property for $29M

LeSaint Venture LLC, an affiliate of industrial and commercial real estate investment firm Cohen Asset Management Inc., announced this week that it had purchased 8910 Le Saint Drive in Fairfield, OH for $29 million. The name of the seller or terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The industrial building sits in the Westchester submarket of Cincinnati, Ohio on 36 acres of land with over 700,000 square feet of space. The property was 100% leased at the time of sale to KAO USA Inc., operating out of the location for roughly 15 years, and Dawson Group Inc. Dawson Group extended its lease of 50,400 square feet of space in the building earlier this year, according to a Cincinnati Business Courier article. It is a nationwide transportation company that specializes in pharmaceutical, industrial and turnkey fulfillment solutions. Jeff Bender, executive managing director with DTZ in Cincinnati, represented the landlord in that deal.

"We are excited to maintain and expand our industrial footprint in Cincinnati with this acquisition, and we will continue to aggressively seek opportunities to acquire properties that possess superior locations and functionality for the markets they serve," said Brandon Delf, Executive Vice President and CIO of Cohen Asset Management in a statement.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

DTZ Global Office Cost Report

DTZ has released its 18th annual Global Office Thermometer, a report that reviews worldwide office markets and measures the cost of office occupancy on a workstation basis in 138 cities. According to the report, international occupiers are benefiting from significant falls in workstation occupancy costs. Globally, the average annual USD cost of occupying a workstation fell by 3.9% in 2014, reflecting a sharp depreciation of local currencies against the US dollar, and slower economic growth in Europe and increased supply in emerging markets.

"Broadly, declining occupancy costs reflect the sharp depreciation of local currencies against the U.S. dollar, slower economic growth in Europe and increased supply in emerging markets," said Steven Quick, DTZ Chief Executive, Global Occupier Services. "Additionally, occupiers are reducing costs by using space more efficiently in many cities. International occupiers will continue to benefit from ebbing cost pressures in several markets. Overall, we expect global occupancy costs to increase just 0.5% over the next two years."

DTZ projects occupancy costs in most major U.S. cities to moderate in 2015 and 2016. To read the full DTZ Global Office Thermometer, click here. For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

Cushman & Wakefield Acquires DTZ in $2B Deal

DTZ announced today that it had reached a definitive agreement with Cushman & Wakefield to merge, creating one of the largest global real estate services companies. Exor SpA, an Italian investment firm that owns most of Cushman & Wakefield, said Monday that DTZ will buy Cushman for $2.04 billion. The transaction is expected to close before the end of the year and is subject to customary closing conditions. The merged company will operate under the Cushman & Wakefield brand and have $5.5 billion in annual revenue and 43,000 employees.

"DTZ is elated to be merging under the prominent Cushman & Wakefield brand. The companies have remarkably complementary skills and reach in different geographies – whether in New York, London or Shanghai, this will be a formidable combination," said Brett White, who will assume the role of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the combined company. White added, "While breadth and depth are important to serve clients, it's not just about size. It's also about local expertise and deep customer service, which are strong traits of Cushman & Wakefield and DTZ, and ultimately what will differentiate us going forward." Mr. White is an industry leader with over 30 years' experience whose previous role was as CEO of CBRE.

"This transaction builds upon the considerable momentum we've achieved over the past 18 months and positions Cushman & Wakefield to deliver incremental value to clients worldwide from a broadened and strengthened global service platform," said Edward Forst, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cushman & Wakefield. "The combined company will truly represent the best our industry has to offer, with an enhanced ability to help clients achieve their goals and to deliver rewarding prospects for the tremendous Cushman & Wakefield team."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

Graymark Buys Lionshead Building

Graymark Capital Real Estate Investments, a San Francisco-based real estate firm, has purchased 3209 Lionshead Avenue in Carlsbad, CA for $12.2 million. Graymark picked up the property from Irvine-based LBA Realty; DTZ's Rick Reeder, Brad Tecca, Dennis Visser and Aric Starck represented both buyer and seller in the transaction. Full terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"This marks Graymark's first purchase in San Diego," said DTZ's Brad Tecca. "We're seeing increased interest from outside parties, as potential returns on the investments are greater here than in many other regions. It's our job to find mutually beneficial opportunities for all concerned. It was an honor to do so for both Graymark and LBA Realty."

The 74,000 square foot, single-tenant corporate headquarters building is currently leased by prAna, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Columbia Sportswear Company. The building was constructed on 4.56 acres in 2009, according to CoStar Group. Brokers said this is Graymark's first purchase in the San Diego market.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

First Potomac Drops Richmond Portfolio

First Potomac Realty Trust, a DC-based self-managed real estate investment trust that focuses on owning, operating, developing and redeveloping office and business park properties, announced this week that it had closed on the sale of it's Richmond, VA portfolio for $60.3 million. James Cassidy with DTZ represented First Potomac Realty Trust in the sale of the portfolio; terms of the sale or the buyer's identity were not disclosed. The sale is a continuation of First Potomac's capital recycling plan, which is focused on disposing of non-core properties and reinvesting in high quality, multi-story office buildings in the Washington, D.C. region. Since announcing the strategic and capital plan in January 2013, First Potomac has successfully disposed of 33 properties for aggregate gross proceeds of $433 million.

"With the sale of the Richmond portfolio we are continuing to execute on our strategic plan of disposing of non-core assets and redeploying capital," said Douglas Donatelli, Chief Executive Officer of First Potomac Realty Trust. "Our focus continues to be on growing the existing portfolio with well-located multi-story office buildings in the Washington, D.C. region."

The Richmond portfolio includes six business park properties — Chesterfield Business Center, Airpark Business Center and Pine Glen in Chesterfield County, Virginia and Park Central, Virginia Technology Center and Hanover Business Center in Henrico/Hanover Counties, Virginia — comprised of 19 single-story office, office/flex and industrial buildings totaling 827,925 square feet.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Baltimore's Transamerica Tower for Sale

The tallest building in Baltimore came to market this month as the 35-story Transamerica Tower at 100 Light St. was put up for sale, according to commercial real estate services firm DTZ. Lexington Realty Trust, a NYC-based REIT, acquired the property on 12/31/2006, and later enhanced the Transamerica Tower with a $44 million renovation by adding a new parking garage across the street, conference center, cafeteria and fitness center and redesigning the plaza and lobby.

"It's currently 94% leased, and over the years the full renovations have been completed by the ownership, and the market makes it a good time for it to be placed out there. … It's a very competitive market in the gateway cities, so we have more of those capital sources looking at secondary markets to purchase office and industrial product," said Nicole Keelty, a senior vice president at DTZ in Baltimore, which is marketing the property. "It's a good time to be placing it on the market." There is no set asking price for the building, but Keelty said it has already received interest from possible investors.

Transamerica Tower is located in the center of the Central Business District of downtown Baltimore, MD. Major tenants in the facility include Transamerica Life Insurance Company, Ober, Kaler, Grimes & Shriver, and Miles & Stockbridge P.C. The property serves as a general office building.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

DTZ Shows US CRE Rise in Q3

DTZ's research and consulting services arm released its quarterly Investment Market Update for Q3 which shows that U.S. investment volumes reached $66 billion in Q3 2014, up 8% from the previous quarter. With the headline "Invest now while pricing remains attractive", DTZ notes that a big share of the activity in eight top markets such as Chicago, Manhattan and San Francisco came from cross-border investments, with signs that investors' interest in secondary markets has perked up.

"The size, attractiveness and liquidity offered by the key eight markets is very appealing to overseas investors," said Nigel Almond, Head of Capital Markets Research at DTZ. "International capital continues to dominate, but we have continued to see interest from Asian investors in particular from China, as well as growth from European sources, with German funds increasingly active alongside the Norwegian Government State Pension Fund."

Although domestic investors continue to dominate investment, over the last quarter the level of activity has dipped. In contrast cross-border investment grew both from the rest of North America, but also from outside of the region. Of note, Non-North American investors stepped-up acquisitions, taking rolling annual volumes to a new post-crisis record of $23.5 billion and net sales posting a record $3 billion over the last year.

To read the full report, click here. For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.