Evolve IP Corporate Center in PA Sold for $42M

A joint venture between PDC-Old Eagle and Long Wharf Real Estate Partners has purchased the Evolve IP Corporate Center in Wayne, Pennsylvania for $42 million, according to a deed filed with Chester County. The 12-building office complex was sold by an affiliate of Philadelphia investor Thomas Gravina's GPX Enterprises, which originally acquired the complex in 2007. GPX, in partnership with the Chester County Economic Development Council's Ideas x Innovation Network (i2n), rebranded the property as Evolve IP Corporate Center in August 2012 to "aid startups by providing low-cost, highly flexible facilities," and to serve as the headquarters for the company's cloud computing unit, Evolve IP.

"Our recent asset dispositions were driven by strong investor demand for quality real estate assets," said Thomas J. Gravina, CEO and co-founder of GPX Realty Partners. "After several years of challenging market conditions we were pleased to realize strong returns for our investors through these asset sales, and we look forward to making future real estate investments in the Philadelphia region well into the future."

HFF arranged the joint venture partnership and secured the $29.6 million, five-year, fixed-rate acquisition loan through John Hancock's Real Estate Finance Group, according to a press release. The office park covers 40 acres at 983-999 Old Eagle School Road, approximately 20 miles from Philadelphia's central business district. The 12 single-story buildings were most recently renovated between 2007 and 2010, and were 80% occupied at the time of sale by 95 tenants, including Evolve IP, McBee Associates, Administrative Concepts Inc., YSC Academy, Prosoft Software and North American Specialty Products.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

Hines Joins MG on $3B NYC Project

MG Properties, the real estate investment and development arm of McCourt Global, has entered into an equity and development partnership with Hines on the development of 360 Tenth Avenue in New York City. The $3 billion, 733,000-square-foot mixed-use project on the Far West Side will be designed by SHoP Architects, which was recently named the world's most innovative architecture firm by Fast Company. According to a Real Deal report, Frank McCourt's MG Properties made his New York real estate debut with the acquisition of the site last year for $167 million, more than three times what seller Sherwood Equities and Long Wharf Real Estate Partners paid in 2011.

"We are very pleased to have the world class team at Hines join us on 360 Tenth," said Drew McCourt, president of MG Properties. "The addition of SHoP's creativity and innovation is a significant enhancement to the project as we look to blend the residential, retail, and commercial elements into an architecturally-significant addition to the North Chelsea/Hudson Yards neighborhood."

"We are excited to partner with the McCourt team on 360 Tenth and welcome the opportunity to expand our development work into the heart of Manhattan's fastest growing new neighborhood," added Tommy Craig, Hines' senior managing director for the New York office.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Energy Square in Dallas Sold to JV

Younan Properties announced this week that it had completed the sale of Energy Square in Dallas, Texas for an undisclosed amount. Real estate sources previously said that Energy Square could trade north of $100 million according to a Dallas Business Journal article. The property was acquired by Champion and Lincoln Property Company in a joint venture with Long Wharf Real Estate Partners. Jones Lang LaSalle's Capital Markets team of Evan Stone, Jack Crews and John Alvarado represented Younan in the sales transaction.

Energy Square is a three building Class A office complex built in 1974, 1980 and 1986 with major tenants including Davaco, Homecare Homebase, Reeder Energy, Hartline Dacus Dreyer, New York Life and Jacobs Engineering. The complex covers 953,622 square feet of office space in the North Central Expressway submarket of Dallas and has an average occupancy of 82%.

"There's plans to do a good deal of capital improvements," said Michael Elizondo, executive managing director at Long Wharf. "We're solidifying our ownership and we plan to bring capital to the table."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.