Trammell, Principal Break Ground on The Brickyard

Trammell Crow Co., the Dallas-based real estate development, investment and operations company, and joint venture partner Principal Real Estate Investors broke ground this week on The Brickyard, a Class A industrial project in Compton, CA. The two-building project, one of 525,400 square feet and the other 481,600 square feet, will be constructed simultaneously and is scheduled for completion in July 2016. The project is being marketed jointly by John Schumacher, Bret Quinlan, David Stromath, and Dean Haney of CBRE; the cost of The Brickyard development was not disclosed.

"We are excited to be working with Mayor Aja Brown and Councilmember Janna Zurita on this industrial opportunity in Compton," said Brad Cox, Senior Managing Director with Trammell Crow's Southern California – Los Angeles Business Unit in a press release. "This is a rare and unique property situated in the epicenter of Los Angeles County, surrounded by more than 14.8 million people within a 50-mile radius. The Brickyard is the ideal site to develop a distribution/logistics or manufacturing center and bring economic growth to this area."

"I am excited to see Trammell Crow take on such a grand project," added Mayor Aja Brown. "From day one they have been committed to the city of Compton and transforming this site. They have been very responsible and giving corporate partners who believe in Compton and have shown that through their investment in us. Promises made and promises kept."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

$237M Patriots Plaza Recapitalization

Multi-Employer Property Trust (MEPT) and its real estate advisor, Bentall Kennedy Limited Partnership, announced the recapitalization of Patriots Plaza in DC, forming a joint venture partnership through the sale of a "significant interest" in the property to Ärzteversorgung Westfalen-Lippe (ÄVWL), an institution of the Medical Association of Westfalen-Lippe, one of the largest pension funds in Germany. According to a CoStar report, MEPT sold a 49% stake in the 981,116-square-foot office complex, which was built by MEPT and Trammell Crow Co. in the late 2000's. Genesis International represented ÄVWL in the acquisition while Eastdil Secured represented MEPT in the sale. Clifford Chance acted as counsel and PWC as tax advisor for ÄVWL.

"MEPT is pleased to be commencing a strategic partnership with ÄVWL, a well-capitalized and sophisticated global investor, and at the same time, consistent with MEPT's strategic objectives, further optimizing its Washington, D.C. area allocation and providing for redeployment of the sale proceeds," said David Antonelli, Executive Vice President and MEPT Portfolio Manager at Bentall Kennedy, in a press release.

The office buildings at 355, 375, 395 E Street SW were built by MEPT and Trammell Crow in three phases - Patriots Plaza I, a 280,001 square foot, twelve-story office building was completed in 2005 and Patriots Plaza Phases II and III, encompassing 701,589 square feet in two buildings, were completed in 2009 and achieved LEED Gold certification. At the time of sale, Patriots Plaza was approximately 90% leased with the FBI, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Department of Health and Human Services and FEMA anchoring the complex.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

General Motors Picks Up Austin Office Building

General Motors is adding to its Austin footprint with the purchase of a 302,604-square-foot office building located just down the street from their Austin IT Innovation Center in North Austin. Los Angeles-based Karlin Real Estate announced that it sold the property at 13201 McCallen Pass for an undisclosed sum with representation from CBRE Group Inc., noting in a release that GM (which was represented by JLL in the deal) acquired the building to complement its existing center, which opened in 2012.

According to a KXAN report, the facility is located within Sector 6, the first phase of the 400-acre master planned technology and office park being developed by Los Angeles-based Karlin and Dallas-based Trammell Crow Company. Sector 6 was previously occupied by Dell Inc. A year ago, Karlin announced its partnership with Trammell Crow to develop the rest of the land as Parmer, a mixed-use, master-planned commercial and residential community that would be built over multiple years.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

JV Building Deer Valley Industrial Park

Dallas-based Trammell Crow Company and its joint venture partner, Principal Real Estate Investors, announced that it had purchased a 16.19 acre land parcel in Deer Valley to develop Corridors Industrial Park. The acquisition price of the parcel located at SEC 23rd Ave and Alter Way in the Corridors master-planned business park was not disclosed, but construction is scheduled to begin in 2Q 2015 and complete by the end of the year. The JV will be developing four Class A spec industrial buildings on the property, with Butler Design Group serving as the architect and planner. Mitchell Stravitz, John Werstler and Cooper Fratt with CBRE Phoenix have been appointed the leasing agents for the building.

"We are thrilled to be delivering our second industrial project to the Deer Valley submarket with our long standing partner, Principal Real Estate Investors," said Paul Tuchin, Vice President of Trammell Crow Company's Phoenix Business Unit. "There has been strong tenant demand for functional, general industrial warehouse and distribution space. Corridors Industrial Park will provide a variety of bay sizes and building heights to suite those user requirements."

The four industrial buildings, which will be constructed simultaneously, will target tenants seeking spaces of 6,000 to 80,000 square feet. The Park will feature a combination of ramp-up and dock-high loading with clear heights ranging from 24' to 30'. The project is a quarter mile east of the Interstate 17 full diamond interchange at Pinnacle Peak Road and less than one mile south of 1.1 million square feet of retail amenities.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Parmer 3.2 Breaks Ground in Austin

Parmer, a development to include 4 million square feet of Class A office, flex, value office, retail and multi-family real estate, broke ground this week in Austin, TX on a 192,000 square foot office building called Parmer 3.2. CBRE Group Inc. — primarily the team of Mark Emerick and John Barksdale — is handling the marketing of the property. Comprised of 8 Sectors, Parmer is Karlin Real Estate's 400-acre master planned technology and office park with master developer Trammell Crow Co. The $1 billion multi-use development is located between Parmer and Howard lanes a short distance east of I-35.

"When we bought our first industrial building at Tech Ridge (in 2011) we owned about 300,000 square feet total and were not a major player," said Matt Schwab, managing director of Karlin. "But the chamber sent teams of people to meet with us even though we were a small fish. That gave me great confidence and I couldn't be more grateful to them."

"After witnessing Karlin's early successes in the Austin market and getting to know their team, we were highly impressed with the caliber of their people, their vision for the site and their ability to get creative to make deals happen for their tenants," said Brad Maples, vice president of Trammell Crow's Austin office. "Right from the start we shared the vision for this site to become Austin's next major business park and this partnership has really turned out to be a great match."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

New Generation Office Tower Breaks Ground in Bellevue

Construction began this week on 929 Office Tower, a 19-story Class A office building being developed by Trammell Crow Company with its joint venture partner Principal Real Estate Investors in Bellevue, Washington. The 462,000 square foot tower at 929 108th Avenue North, expected to deliver in December 2015, is the first to be built under the new energy code in Bellevue, incorporating a broad range of sustainable design features and will achieve LEED Gold certification. According to a Puget Sound Business Journal article, the new building systems will lower operating expenses versus less responsive, older inventory and will create a more comfortable and productive workspace.

"Companies considering our building will find meaningful improvements in their work environment," said Craig Dobbs, Principal of Trammell Crow Company's Seattle Business Unit. "929 Office Tower is full of modern amenities including a welcoming and functional lobby with causal work areas to full featured meeting rooms, elite club level work out facilities and building control systems that enhance the work place experience."

"We are excited to be partnering with Trammell Crow Company on 929 Office Tower to expand our investment base in the Bellevue CBD where we have enjoyed recent and long term success," said Jay Fisher, Assistant Managing Director of Principal Real Estate Investors and head of asset management and investments for the Pacific Northwest region. "This development is attractive because it will be the first new Class A building delivered into an expanding Eastside market and offers an abundance of tenant focused amenities including many first to market engineering advances."

Tom Bohman, Senior Vice President, Pete Hollomon, Senior Vice President, and Lennon Atteberry, Associate with CBRE's Bellevue office have been appointed to lease and market the project. LMN Architects will serve as lead architect and Lease Crutcher Lewis as general contractor.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Trammell Crow Buys First Hill Medical Facility for $42.6M

After announcing late last year that they were re-entering the Seattle market, Trammell Crow made its first moves in the market with the acquisition of a medical facility at 1124 Columbia St. in First Hill for $42.6 million, along with two remote surface parking lot land parcels. In a joint venture with equity partner Washington Capital Management of Seattle, Trammell Crow bought the property from Alexandria Real Estate, according to a Puget Sound Business Journal article. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"We have the opportunity to deliver a completely renovated Class A medical office building in the heart of the premier hospital/medical services hub of the Puget Sound region, an area with significant barriers to entry and land scarcity," said Mike Nelson, a Principal with Trammell Crow Company's (TCC) Seattle Business Unit. "1124 Columbia is located adjacent to Swedish Medical Center, the region's premier hospital, and is well positioned to serve a population of over 1.2 million people. We believe this is a great project to kick off TCC's re-emergence in the Seattle commercial real estate market."

Plans for 1124 Columbia Street include a full redevelopment of the existing biotech research and development including the addition of an eighth floor and construction of a new parking structure to serve its medical office building tenants. The project, when complete in 2014, will be comprised of approximately 190,000 square feet of state of the art MOB space, with a complete rehabilitation of the building's common spaces, mechanical and electrical systems, common spaces and tenant suites. Trammell Crow also has plans to convert the two nearby parking lots into multiple residential buildings with 255 units, and may start construction on that by 2015.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Sentinel Square in DC Gets $181M in Financing

Trammell Crow Co. announced this month that Sentinel Square in Washington, DC received $181 million in financing provided by Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale and Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale. The funding was arranged in two parts: one in permanent financing for Sentinel Square I at 90 K Street, the other to fund construction at 1050 First Street, NE, to build Sentinel Square II. CBRE Capital Markets arranged the loan on behalf of Trammell Crow and its joint venture partners, Crow Holdings Realty Partners IV, L.P. and Cottonwood Partners.

Sentinel Square I, a 12-story, 412,661 square foot office building, was delivered in June 2010. The property is currently 85% leased to multiple government agencies, including US Customs & Border Protection, US Department of Veterans Affairs, and the US Parole Commission. Sentinel Square II will be a 278,817-square-foot Class A office building designed to the same exacting standards as Sentinel Square I, including meeting Level IV security protocols and pursuing LEED Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) under its the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Core & Shell program.

"We have experienced tremendous success over the past two years with the delivery and near lease-up of Phase I at 90K Street and believe that the market dynamics are prime for the delivery of additional highly secure, environmentally sensitive and affordable office space … in 2013," Thomas Finan, a managing director in Trammell Crow Co.'s mid-Atlantic office, said in a statement reported by Virginia Business. "The financings, arranged by the CBRE Capital Markets … will allow the partnership to retire its original construction debt, monetize the value created through phase I's success and start phase II immediately."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Hilton Alexandria Sold for $121M

Crow Holdings, a privately-held firm based in Dallas, Texas, has purchased the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center for $121 million according to a GlobeSt.com article. Crow Holdings, which manages real estate investments for the Trammell Crow family, bought the 30-story, 496-unit Hilton from Denver-based real estate investment manager Amstar. Amstar originally bought the property in June 2006 for $93.2 million.

Amstar launched a comprehensive $9.3 million renovation on the property during 2006. After the renovation and having improved operations, Amstar refinanced the hotel during June 2007, allowing a full return of equity to its investors. Davidson Hotel Company will reportedly continue to manage the hotel. Adam Minnick, executive director of Amstar, said: "The Hilton Alexandria has been a case study of Amstar's hotel strategy. Acquiring the property at an attractive basis, improving the physical asset and streamlining the operations were key enablers of adding value, while the refinancing allowed our investors to hold the asset until BRAC became a reality and catalyzed the sale."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.