Union Buys Civic Center Plaza in San Rafael

San Francisco-based property owner and developer Union Property Capital has made an office building buy across the Golden Gate Bridge with the purchase of a 2-building office campus in San Rafael for $28 million. The property, known as Civic Center Plaza, was sold by Broadreach Capital Partners in a deal arranged by JLL's Capital Markets experts. Broadreach originally acquired the property in March 2007 for $25.5 million from a group of local investors. Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P. (HFF) arranged acquisition financing on behalf of Union Property Capital and its joint venture partner, an unnamed high-net-worth investor, with USAA Real Estate Company on behalf of an affiliate.

"We've seen a notable increase in interest in the North Bay from investors across the spectrum, including public and private, local and global," said JLL Managing Director Michel Seifer in a prepared statement on the sale. "The sales of Larkspur Landing in January, 1 & 3 Harbor Drive in Sausalito in February, and now Civic Center in San Rafael, show strong evidence of the increasing institutional appeal of the region."

Located at 3900 & 3950 Civic Center Drive, the 93,535 square foot office campus that sits a block from Northgate Mall and next door to the County of Marin offices was originally developed in 1989 and later renovated in 2011. Civic Center Plaza was 96% leased at the time of sale with major tenants including Autodesk Inc., a Fortune 1000 software designer well known for its AutoCAD software, and Marin General Hospital. The property is also located near US Highway 101, which serves as the main thoroughfare from San Francisco to Sonoma and Napa counties in California as well as a new Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) light rail station which is slated to open this year. Civic Center Plaza is LEED Silver certified and has enjoyed stable occupancy throughout its history.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

USAA Acquires Industrial Portfolio

USAA Real Estate Company, a subsidiary of USAA, announced this week that it had purchased a two building bulk warehouse distribution portfolio located in Stockton, CA totaling 916,035 square feet. CBRE's Industrial Real Estate team consisting of Tyson Vallenari, Blake Rasmussen, Kevin Dal Porto and Ryan McShane, represented USAA in the portfolio transaction and are currently representing USAA as the listing team for both properties. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"The Stockton Industrial Portfolio represents a compelling opportunity for USAA to add value to two outstanding and versatile industrial properties in centrally located Stockton, California," said USAA Real Estate Company President and CEO, Len O'Donnell. "Just two hours from the West Coast and the Bay Area, Stockton is enjoying growing demand as a distribution point for industries operating in Northern California."

Built in 2008 and 2009, the first building in the portfolio features 30,000 square feet of state-of-the-art freezer space and 190,000 square feet of state-of-the-art cooler space, plus 500,000 square feet of dry storage space as well as 32,000 square feet of office space located across three distinct locations. Building two, originally built as a speculative, multi-tenant warehouse and distribution center features approximately 500 square feet of office space along with around 165,000 square feet of cold, dark warehouse and distribution space.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Arrowhead Professional Center III Sold to Go Daddy's Bob Parsons

Plaza Companies and USAA Real Estate Company, in partnership under RP Arrowhead LLC, announced this week that they have sold Arrowhead Professional Center III in Glendale, Arizona for $13.25. In a statement, the companies said that the medical office project was purchased by Arrowhead Professional Center, LLC, an entity formed by YAM Holdings (though Phoenix Business Journal noted that its business filing with the Arizona Corporation Commission shows it was actually formed by YAM Properties LLC). YAM Properties is controlled by YAM Management LLC, which was formed in 2010 by Bob Parsons, Go Daddy's founder and Executive Chairman. The Journal goes on to note that YAM Management changed managers last month to Steve Gabbay, Anne O'Moore, Mike Quel and Parson's Robert Ralph Trust, and that the address listed for each is that of Go AZ Motorcycles, a dealership owned by Parsons.

"We are very pleased to reach an agreement on the sale of this exceptional medical office property," said Sharon Harper, president and CEO of Plaza Companies, in the statement. "We are also very pleased to continue to provide leasing and construction services moving forward to this strong new ownership group."

The 71,521-square-foot, 8-building complex at 18301 North 78th Avenue in Glendale was reportedly 89% leased at the time of sale. The deal was brokered by Cain Brothers RE of San Francisco, CA and Plaza Companies. The transaction includes an agreement between the new owner and Plaza Companies in which Margaret Lloyd of Plaza will handle leasing for Arrowhead Professional Center III moving forward. Plaza will also coordinate all construction services for the property.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Admiral Capital and SDM Partners Acquire 200 Ashford Center North

Admiral Capital Real Estate Fund, a joint venture with USAA Real Estate Company and Admiral Capital Group, acquired 200 Ashford Center North in Atlanta's Central Perimeter submarket in a joint venture with SDM Partners, an Atlanta-based private commercial real estate firm. While terms of the deal were not disclosed, GlobeSt.com reported that State Bank and Trust Co. provided senior-level financing. The 160,000 square foot office building was sold by a pension fund client of Bethesda-, MD-based ASB Real Estate Investments.

"We view 200 Ashford Center North as an excellent value-add opportunity in Atlanta's largest and most vibrant office submarket," said SDM Partners' Managing Principal Steven D. Martin. He added that "This transaction is another example of the Central Perimeter's ongoing attractiveness to investment capital."

"200 Ashford represents the first investment in the Atlanta market on behalf of the Admiral Fund," said David Robinson, founder of Admiral Capital Group. "We continue to expand our portfolio with high-quality value-add assets, and we look forward to further enhancing value with our partner, SDM Partners."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

CBOT Building Sold for $151.5M

CME Group announced this week that it had sold two of the three buildings that comprise the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) complex for $151.5 million to a joint venture between GlenStar Properties LLC and USAA Real Estate Company. The sale price for the north and south towers, totaling roughly 1.3 million square feet of space, came in at the low end of an anticipated range of $150 million to $180 million reported by The Wall Street Journal in February. As part of the sale, CME Group will lease back the 150,000 square-feet of space it currently occupies in both buildings for a 15-year term, including the Agricultural Trading Floor as well as office and trading floor support space. According to the WSJ, the property initially had been expected to fetch as much as $210 million, but its value was seen affected by economic uncertainty stemming from the European debt crisis as well as the collapse of brokerage firm MF Global Holdings Ltd., a major tenant.

"CME Group, which has been headquartered in Chicago for more than a century, continues to be committed to this city and to maintaining our trading floors and office space in the 141 W. Jackson building," said CME Group Chief Financial Officer Jamie Parisi. "We are extremely pleased to be able to sell our landmark building to the GlenStar Properties and USAA Real Estate Company consortium who will be great landlords for us and the other tenants. It will also allow CME Group to continue to focus on what we do best - running our exchanges and providing risk management tools to the world."

The new owners of the property plan to use its infrastructure to attract "a wealth of new technology companies," according to a statement from Michael Klein, principal at GlenStar, as reported by Fox Business.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.