REIT Acquires Building Leased to Los Angeles Times

Rexford Industrial Fund V REIT has purchased a 48,350 square foot industrial building that's fully leased to The Los Angeles Times for $5.1 million. The Pasadena, CA building at 121-125 North Vinedo Ave. was acquired in an all-cash purchase from an undisclosed source. Cushman & Wakefield represented both the buyer and the seller in the transaction.

"This acquisition aligns with our strategy of acquiring stabilized and value-add industrial properties in strong infill markets," said Howard Schwimmer, co-founder and senior managing partner of Rexford Industrial, in a statement. "The Southern California industrial market continues to demonstrate favorable market fundamentals and the unique opportunity to add value by acquiring assets at substantially below replacement cost."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Architects Find Intriguing CRE Projects in China

With the US Markets still in recovery, many American architectural firms are finding work in China with commissions to build challenging new buildings. The New York Times published a new article examining the opportunities being found in China with firms like Heller Manus Architects, a 25-employee firm in San Francisco, which is now doing two-thirds of its work in China. James Zhen of Goettsch Partners noted that the opportunities may be due to a shortage of Chinese architects with the qualifications to execute large-scale commercial projects. "In my opinion," he says, "what most of them are missing is not the conceptual ideas, but rather the experience and ability to turn the concept designs into reality."

An excerpt from the article:

As Americans take on Chinese clients, they are adapting to some fresh nuances in the architect-client relationship. It's a swirl of patient relationship-building, fast-track decision-making and lyrical moments that, they say, would be unusual in American business dealings.

Chris McVoy, senior partner at Steven Holl Architects in New York, says a developer in Beijing gave the firm three months to develop a concept for a high-rise housing project that replaced a Mao-era factory in the heart of the city. The firm injected into the project Mr. Holl's long-simmering ideas about urbanism, tapping the earth underneath for geothermal energy, and fixing everything it saw wrong with the dreary Soviet-inspired high-rises in Chinese cities.

"We thought they'd say, 'You're crazy, forget it,' and we'd walk away," Mr. McVoy says. "We presented to about 20 people, and when we were finished, of course they all looked to their president to respond first. He said: 'Anybody can build buildings. Few can build poetry.' "

The project was built, complete with glass bridges linking the towers like neighborhood alleys in the sky. It led to the even more radical "groundscraper" headquarters for China Vanke, a big developer based in Shenzhen in southern China. The structure is the size of the Empire State Building laid out horizontally and raised five stories off the ground to provide a public park below.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

New Wishard Project Gets Developers

Duke Realty and Browning Investments have been selected by the Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County to develop a new office building for the New Wishard Project in Indianapolis according to the Indianapolis Business Journal. The new faculty building will be constructed in a 200,000 square foot lot adjacent to the new Wishard Hospital which is currently under construction near the campus of IUPUI.

The $754 million New Wishard project includes a 327-bed inpatient hospital and is scheduled for completion at the end of 2013. Wishard project leaders registered the 1.2 million sq. ft. campus to achieve United States Green Building Council (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification that will make it the first newly built hospital in Indiana and one of 10 in America certified LEED Silver or higher.

"To be selected to develop part of The New Wishard campus provides Duke Realty with yet another opportunity to demonstrate our support of this community and to provide a quality facility that will enhance the health of residents through our expertise in health care development," said Denny Oklak, Chief Executive Officer of Duke Realty. "We are proud to be involved in the development of The New Wishard campus," added Michael Browning, President, Browning Investments. "Our experience will aid us in ensuring that Wishard receives a facility that enables them to succeed in their mission."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

First Potomac, AEW Acquire DC Office Building for $65M

First Potomac Realty Trust and AEW Capital Management entered into a 50/50 joint venture to acquire 1750 H Street, NW, in Washington, D.C. for $65 million. National Treasury Employee's Union sold the mult-story Class A office building in a deal that was contingent on the buyers assuming a $31.4 million loan from the seller.

"It fits well into our long-term business plan to grow our presence in the downtown D.C. market, increase the number of office buildings we own, and continue our focus on high-quality properties," said Douglas Donatelli, chairman and CEO of First Potomac in a Washington Business Journal article. 1750 H Street, NW is a 10-story 111,000-square-foot office building located approximately three blocks from the White House in Washington, D.C.'s central business district. The building is 100 percent leased to six tenants, including 46,900 square feet on the top four floors that is leased back to the seller, the National Treasury Employee's Union (NTEU) for a ten-year term.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.