NYL's $507M Financing for 11 Times Square

New York Life Real Estate Investors, a division of NYL Investors under New York Life, provided a $507 million loan against 11 Times Square, a 1.1 million-square-foot office property in midtown Manhattan this week. Building owners Prudential Real Estate Investors, Norges Bank Investment Management and SJP Properties secured the financing through Eastdil Secured; terms of the ten-year loan were not disclosed. According to GlobeSt.com, SJP Properties, the operating partner, will continue to manage and lease the property and will maintain its New York City headquarters in the building.

"New York Life Insurance Company and our co-lender, Northwestern Mutual and New York State Teachers' Retirement System, are very pleased to provide financing for this outstanding asset," said Eric Becher, senior director at New York Life. "The property has an impeccable tenant roster and is conveniently located near numerous subway lines, Port Authority, Grand Central and Penn Station."

The latest loan was provided as part of the 40-story property's recapitalization, in which Norges Bank Investment Management bought a 45% stake for $401.9 million from a partnership of Prudential Real Estate Investors and SJP Properties, according to a Commercial RealEstate Direct report. The loan refinances one of equal size that MetLife and New York Life had provided in 2013.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

550 Biltmore in Coral Gables Sold for $50M

The multi-tenant office and mixed-used project at 550 Biltmore in Coral Gables, Florida sold this month as a Prudential Real Estate Investors affiliate listed as PR 550 Biltmore Way purchased the property for $50.2 million. The trophy property was sold by KPERS Realty Holding #39, which is managed by Boston-based AEW Capital Management, in a deal brokered by CBRE. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The building last sold in 2004 for $35.8 million.

"While Coral Gables always draws significant investor interest, 550 Biltmore surpassed the norm," said Christian Lee, vice chairman of CBRE. "We believe that is attributable to factors including: the high quality of the building itself, an increased demand by both domestic and off-shore capital for trophy properties and an overall improvement in the office market fundamentals."

"550 Biltmore's iconic, pyramid-shaped design affords its tenants with a plethora of outdoor terraces from which to enjoy the sublime Coral Gables cityscape of world-class golf courses, historical Mediterranean revival buildings, magnificent fountained plazas, a vibrant commercial core, and a lush and verdant landscape that crystallizes the ‘City Beautiful' movement that drove the City's design and incorporation nearly 100 years ago," added José Lobón, CBRE Senior Associate.

Originally constructed in 1986 by Miami developer Al Sakolsky, 550 Biltmore is a 160,000-square-foot, 14-story pyramidal landmark in downtown Coral Gables with a facade of imported Italian travertine marble and black granite. The building has been awarded multiple Energy Star labels for operating efficiencies, with a current Energy Star rating of "94", owed in part to the $4 million in capital improvements made since 2004. At the time of sale, the property was 86.4% leased and is anchored by UBS, which occupies more than 40,000 square feet and has entered a long-term lease expansion.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Prudential Sells Compton Industrial Property

Prudential Real Estate Investors has sold a 149,654 square foot industrial property at 250 West Apra Street in Compton, CA to a private buyer for an undisclosed sum. NAI Capital brokers Warren Noack, Kimberly Noack and Travis Noack represented the buyer in the transaction while Cushman & Wakefield brokers Rooney Daschbach, Steve Bohannon and Rusty Smith represented the seller.

"With an increasingly low level of inventory available for sale in the South Bay market, finding a purchase opportunity in that area was a challenge. We successfully transitioned what started out as a lease opportunity into a purchase opportunity for our client," noted Travis Noack with NAI Capital. "The transaction also involved a complicated lot line adjustment process that was already underway by the Seller. The lot line adjustment was initiated to enhance the land configuration of the subject property as well as improve the loading areas of the Seller's surrounding properties. The deal had a lot of moving parts but with patience, persistence and follow through we were able to facilitate a successful close."

Originally built in 1979 with extensive upgrades in 2000, the single story building is in the Dominguez Hills Industrial Park. The buyer has experienced a recent expansion, and sought an industrial property in this market to accommodate its growth, according to a GlobeSt.com article. Due to limited industrial supply in the Compton market, the buyer first entered into a lease agreement with the seller that eventually led to the purchase of the property.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Prudential Sells Mission Ridge Complex

Prudential Real Estate Investors, the real estate investment management business of Prudential Financial, Inc., sold the Mission Ridge office complex in Mission Viejo, California to Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers, a subsidiary of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers, on behalf of an institutional investor, purchased the asset free and clear of existing debt. While terms of the deal were not disclosed, experts familiar with the Orange County market valued the Mission Ridge deal in the mid-$50-million range, according to a Los Angeles Times article. HFF marketed the property on behalf of Prudential Real Estate Investors.

"In the last real estate cycle we had the perfect storm of the subprime meltdown, a lot of new construction coming online and then the national recession," said real estate broker Ryan Gallagher of HFF. "This time we have a very balanced recovery from a tenant perspective."

Originally developed in 2000, the two-building Mission Ridge Class A office campus totals 231,065 square feet of rentable space. The property was 90% leased at the time of sale with major tenants including Ensign Facility Services, McAfee, Pulte Homes, Wells Fargo, Charles Schwab and Premier Office Centers.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Miami's Sabadell Financial Center Sold for $185M

The Sabadell Financial Center traded hands this month as Testa American Real Estate Corporation, an affiliate of Madrid-based Testa Inmuebles en Renta SA., sold the office tower for $184 million. Prudential Real Estate Investors, on behalf of investors in Prudential Financial, Inc.'s flagship fund, purchased the property at 1111 Brickell Avenue with legal representation from Chicago-based Mayer Brown LLP, while Robert Allen Law represented Testa.

"We look at Brickell Avenue as one of the premier office and residential markets in the country. Brickell is a hot market,'' said Jim Mehalso, a managing director with Prudential Real Estate who worked on the off-market transaction, in a Miami Herald article. "Residential is doing great, and 1111 [Brickell] is one of the top buildings in the market with an excellent roster of tenants.

Charles Foschini, vice chairman of capital markets for CBRE who wasn't involved in the transaction, said Prudential got a good deal. "I believe the seller left a lot of money on the table. The reproduction cost of a building of that quality could easily eclipse $500 a square foot. With the three newest office buildings leased or leasing at a strong clip, Brickell rents are bound to increase to all time highs.''

"With Miami growing in stature among the top business and financial hubs in the Americas, the timing was ripe for PREI’s entrance into the Brickell market," said Cathy Marcus, managing director at Prudential Real Estate Investors and senior portfolio manager for the firm’s core open-ended equity commingled real estate strategy. "With a location in the sought-after Brickell district and an enviable tenant base, Sabadell Financial Center is a perfect fit with our investment strategy."

Built in 2000, the 30-story tower is located in the northern Brickell Financial District of Miami offering roughly 525,000 square feet of space. With the ground floor dedicated to retail, the rest of the building comprises office tenants, reportedly 85% leased at the time of sale to tenants including Sabadell United Bank, Hunton & Williams, Credit Suisse, Baker & McKenzie, and Telefónica.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Amazon Grabs More Seattle Space

The online retail giant Amazon.com continues to grow in Seattle as it takes another 150,000 square feet of space at 1800 Ninth Avenue, an office building owned by Talon Private Capital, according to a Kidder Mathews report. Amazon has been a titan in the Seattle real estate market in recent years, buying three city blocks from Seattle's Clise family in January of last year to build a 3.3 million square foot office complex, then following that acquisition nine months later by purchasing the South Lake Union headquarters campus it had been leasing from developer Vulcan Real Estate. It's also rumored that Amazon will be leasing 136,000 square feet of space in Metropolitan Park North at 1220 Howell Street.

"Amazon is the undisputed heavyweight champion of downtown Seattle," said Kip Spencer, president of The Spencer Companies, a Seattle real-estate consulting firm.

"In the 25 or 30 years I've been around downtown Seattle, I've never seen anything remotely like what Amazon has done to the market," says Dale Sperling, former president and CEO of Seattle's Unico Properties.

A joint venture of Talon and Prudential Real Estate Investors bought 1800 Ninth in December 2011 from Regence Blue Shield, which leased back about 30% of the space. The 1800 Ninth building is about three blocks from the nearest building Amazon already occupies.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.