250 Plaza Building Sold, Improvements Planned

Fulcrum Asset Advisors and Millbrook Properties have completed the purchase of the 250 Plaza office building at 250 E. Wisconsin Ave. in Milwaukee, WI for an undisclosed price. Milwaukee brokerage CBRE listed the 20-story building and its 427-space parking structure for auction in July 2014; prior to that, the building was acquired by Lone Star Funds in 2013 for $7.5 million, after the building had gone into receivership in 2009. Its current assessed value is about $7 million, according to city records.

"Fulcrum and our partner Millbrook are looking to invest in assets that require significant repositioning because of low occupancy and the need to complete deferred maintenance and overall updating," said Scott Stahr, principal of Fulcrum Asset Advisors. "This acquisition fits the bill. Though in need of significant TLC, it is located in the heart of Milwaukee's (central business district) and everything that location has to offer."

The 200,044-square-foot 250 Plaza building was constructed in 1973 and has struggled in recent years with a high amount of vacancy. The building will be rebranded as Two Fifty East, and undergo renovations on the main lobby and entrance, the common corridors and restrooms, a comprehensive elevator modernization including new elevator cab interiors, and major work in the parking garage to add lighting.

"Two Fifty East Wisconsin is a terrific opportunity to renovate and add value to a high quality office building and parking garage prominently located in the Milwaukee CBD," said Bruce Hecktman, President, Millbrook Real Estate Company. "Millbrook has successfully undertaken similar renovations to office assets in need of attention, repositioning, and hands on ownership. We look forward to working with our partners at Fulcrum to bring an upgraded and renovated office building to the Milwaukee business community."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

Anglo Irish Bank Sells $9.5B US Loans

Wells Fargo & Co, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Lone Star Funds were the winning bidders on the $9.5 billion pool of U.S. commercial real estate loan sold by Anglo Irish Bank Corp. with debt related to some 250 properties, including marquee names ranging from the Apthorp, a landmark Manhattan residential building, to a Beverly Hills, Calif., shopping center to the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago according to a Wall Street Journal article. Other bidders included Blackstone Group LP, TPG Capital, Starwood Capital Group, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG. The sale marks one of the biggest since the downturn in U.S. commercial real estate four years ago.

Anglo Irish Bank had been looking to unload the portfolio since the Irish government took control of the bank in January 2009. The bank had reported last week that it lost €101 million in the six months ended June 30th, far below the €8 billion loss it recorded for the same period last year.

According to Bloomberg, the trio will take on the portfolio of $9.65 billion in U.S. loans. It wasn't disclosed what the consortium bid for the assets, though some speculate 80 cents on the dollar would be a good price. "If you're looking at quality assets in good, strong markets, I'd say 80 cents on the dollar sounds pretty reasonable," said Tom Craig, founder of TSC Realty Partners, a commercial-property broker in Seattle who wasn't involved in the sale. "One of the barriers to entry on a big deal like this is how many people can put the capital together to buy this and close quickly."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.