Nakash Holdings Buys Setai in SoBe for $90M

Nakash Holdings, the investment company arm of the world-famous Jordache empire, announced that it is purchasing The Setai Hotel in South Beach, Florida. Terms of the deal and representation on the property that had previously been owned by the estate of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. were not disclosed.

Built in 1936-1938 as the Dempsey Vanderbilt Hotel, the 130-room Setai at 2001 Collins Ave. is located in the heart of South Beach's Art Deco district and offers direct access to the beach. With 85 hotel suites and another 35 condo units, the price averages out to $750,000 per room. That makes it one of the highest per-room sales ever in Miami Beach, said Scott Brush, a Miami-based hotel consultant. The condo units are privately owned, but most can be rented through the hotel program. The Nakash family also owns around 15 units in the Setai residence.

"The Setai is really the crown jewel of Miami Beach," said Jonathan Bennett, managing director of Nakash Holdings, the real estate division of Jordache. "It is the epitome of luxury in that city. We've enjoyed spending time there, and when it came up for sale, we knew it was something that would be a great fit for us. It's special and unique, and there's nothing else on the Beach that can compete with it."

In Miami, the Nakash family also own the Versace mansion, renamed Casa Casuarina, which they bought at auction for $41.5 million last year, according to a New York Post article. It is adjacent to the Victor Hotel, which Nakash Holdings also owns.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

L&L Holding Buys Lehman's Interest in 425 Park Ave for $140M

L&L Holding Co., a privately-held, vertically- integrated real. estate company, has acquired Lehman Brothers' 90% interest in 425 Park Avenue. L&L paid close to $140 million, about $240 per square foot, for Lehman's portion of the property, valued at $84 million in 2006. L&L Holding originally acquired the site in 2006 in partnership with Lehman, and has now secured long-term investment partners for a planned development that will see the property torn down to its steel and redesigned as a world-class, 21st-century office tower, according to a CoStar report.

L&L announced last April that it had plans to replace the existing tower with a new state-of-the-art, LEED-certified skyscraper. Norman Foster, Jean Nouvel, Zaha Hadid and Richard Meier were a few of the architects that L&L invited to join in a competition for the redevelopment of the 65 year-old tower; Foster + Partners was named the winner in October 2012. The 425 Park MAS Presentation with David Levinson + Norman Fos can be seen here.

David Levinson, chairman and CEO of L&L Holding, described the plan as an "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity. "It's not often that you get a vacant building on Park Avenue and it's the first time that's happened in 50 years," he told GlobeSt.com. "It's a very important moment and we want to create the finest building we possibly can and we are going out to what we believe are some of the brightest, creative architectural minds out there who work with us and collaborate with us in creating this very important iconic structure."

L&L declined to name its investment partners on the deal. Construction on the new 41-story office property is slated to start in 2013 and is expected to be completed by 2017.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Investor Group Buys Travelers Tower I and II in Detroit

In a deal brokered by Newmark Grubb Knight Frank Capital Markets, the Travelers Tower I & II buildings in Southfield, the Detroit metro area's largest office submarket, traded hands this month for an undisclosed sum. An investor group led by Time Equities Inc. of New York purchased the 790,000-square foot, Class A office complex from an affiliate of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. after winning out over a number of competing bidders. Larry Emmons, Patrick Shannon, Daniel Canvasser and Fred Liesveld from Newmark Grubb Knight Frank marketed the property.

"This is a gateway event signaling that out-of-town capital is once again interested in Detroit," said Larry Emmons, a senior managing director in Newmark Grubb Knight Frank's Capital Markets Group in Detroit. "We took the buildings to market right around Thanksgiving, and received nine offers within weeks."

"The Travelers towers acquisition is a great opportunity for us to expand our presence in the submarkets of Michigan. We have experience working with office properties like this one in multiple markets across the nation and know we are in a position to add value and stabilize the property," said Francis Greenburger, chairman of Time Equities Inc. "We plan to make improvements as necessary to preserve the long term usefulness of the property and maintain its Class A office status."

According to a Crain's Detroit Business article, the new owners have plans for $10 million in improvements to the properties. Chief tenants in Travelers Tower I, built in 1973 at 26555 Evergreen Road, include automotive firm Faurecia and Fox Sports. In Tower II, at 26533 Evergreen Road, major tenants include the corporate headquarters of R.L. Polk & Co., and Action Benefits.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Savanna Finalizes 2 Rector St. Acquisition

Savanna, a real estate private equity firm run by Chris Schlank and Nick Bienstock, has acquired a controlling interest in 2 Rector Street. Savanna worked in partnership with Stellar Management to buy out Stellar's partners, including Lehman Brothers to secure a controlling interest in the property, according to a CoStar report. In 2010, Savanna became a part owner of the 464,000-square-foot, 26-story office building when it helped landlord Stellar Management restructure a loan. The building at the time couldn't make debt payments because it had lost its largest tenant, according to a Wall Street Journal article.

According to data from Real Capital Analytics, the first mortgage that Savanna bought in to was $100 million in CMBS, while the 2007 mezzanine loan was $10 million. "Our capital work will transform 2 Rector Street into a modern Lower Manhattan office tower located just steps from the World Trade Center development, complete with highly desirable office suites built to suit our tenants' needs," Andrew Fichte, a vice president at Savanna, said in a prepared statement.

A Jones Lang LaSalle team headed by Vice Chairman Mitchell Konsker, Senior Vice President Scott Cahaly and Vice President Brian Reiver will handle leasing at the building. Savanna is planning an an extensive capital improvement program, spending millions of dollars to upgrade the building's lobby, elevators, restore its exterior and modernize a number of building systems.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Harbor Group Acquires Nashville Portfolio for $130.5M

Harbor Group International (HGI) announced this week that it had acquired a four-property multifamily portfolio in Nashville, TN for $130.5 million. According to the Nashville Business Journal, affiliates of Norfolk, Va.-based Harbor Group International purchased the four apartment communities from a Lehman Brothers subsidiary in a deal brokered for the seller by Jones Lang LaSalle. The portfolio includes:

Cherry Creek, 627 units
Arbors of Brentwood, 346 units
Cambridge at Hickory Hollow, 360 units
Preakness, 260 units

"The acquisition of the Portfolio continues HGI's proven strategy of acquiring well-located apartment portfolios with value add and operational upside in improving markets," said T. Richard Litton, Jr., President of HGI. "All four properties have occupancy levels above 90% and are poised to realize increased revenues as we implement our capital program and the Nashville market continues to improve," he further commented.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.