Glenfield Capital Buys LaSalle Portfolio

Glenfield Capital, a private real estate investment company based in Atlanta, has completed the purchase of the LaSalle portfolio in suburban Atlanta for $37.5 million. James P. Cate, Managing Principal of Glenfield Capital, announced the acquisition this week, which adds another 400,000 square feet of office space to the company's holdings. The portfolio covers five properties, known in the Atlanta commercial real estate market as the Peachtree North Portfolio and later the LaSalle Portfolio, and includes:

100,000 square feet at 6465 East Johns Crossing (Johns Creek)
100,000 square feet each at 6525 & 6575 The Corners Parkway, and
50,000 square feet each at 6025 & 6075 The Corners Parkway (Peachtree Corners)

"These properties are an excellent investment for our company, and this acquisition fits within our expansion plans throughout the region," said Cate of the purchase. "We are moving aggressively in today’s competitive commercial real estate market in the Southeast, and this is another timely acquisition. Our current holdings now total over 800,000 square feet."

Glenfield reports it has hired two leasing agencies in connection with its latest acquisition—Adam Viente of JLL will handle leasing at the Peachtree Corners properties and Michael Howell and Hunter Henritze with Lincoln Property Co. will lease the Johns Creek building. CBRE has been selected to handle property management for the portfolio, according to a GlobeSt.com report.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Red Tail Buys DFW Industrial Portfolio

Red Tail Acquisitions (RTA), a Newport Beach, CA-based real estate investor that targets properties that normally have leasing or construction issues, has purchased a six-property, 16-building industrial portfolio in the Dallas-Fort Worth area from AEW Capital Management. HFF marketed the property on behalf of the seller; the purchase price or terms of the sale were not disclosed by any parties.

"This acquisition not only represents an exciting opportunity for Red Tail Acquisitions to expand its DFW holdings, but is also a prime example of the types of investments we hope to make throughout Texas," said Sean Miller, Executive Vice President at Red Tail, in a press release. "RTA would like to thank AEW and HFF, who were great transaction partners."

The portfolio includes 1360-1420 Presidential Drive and 850-890 North Dorothy Drive in Richardson, Texas, plus 1420 Halsey Way, 1406 Halsey Way, 2122 Country Club Drive and 2855 Trinity Square Drive in Carrolton, Texas. The portfolio was 87% leased at the time of sale to 41 tenants, including NOW Specialties, Optex Systems, Laboratory Corporations of America, CircuitCo Electronics, Advanced Environmental Concepts, Milestone Construction, TraStar, Inc. and Gym Ratz Basketball Club.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Liberty Property Trust Sells Portfolio for $368M

Liberty Property Trust, a Malvern, PA-based real estate investment trust, announced today that it had sold of 49 properties in three states for a total of $367.7 million. These transactions are all part of a previously announced strategy to dispose of a total of 97 properties in the company's portfolio; the sale of the remaining properties are scheduled for late next month for $329.6 million.

The properties included in this disposition include 1.9 million square feet of office properties, 1.8 million square feet of flex properties and 274,000 square feet of industrial properties. Liberty Property has successfully sold its Jacksonville, FL portfolio in its entirety, a portion of the Fort Washington, PA portfolio, and flex properties located in Minnesota.

In October, Liberty Property sealed the $1.475 billion buyout of Cabot Industrial Value Fund III that enhanced its industrial platform by 23 million square feet, according to a Zack's report. The company gained 177 properties in 24 new and existing Liberty industrial markets. Simultaneously, Liberty Property is making concerted efforts to lower its exposure to the suburban office properties market.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Kaneohe Ranch Selling Hawaii CRE Portfolio for $262M

Alexander & Baldwin Inc. has entered into an agreement to purchase Kaneohe Ranch's Hawaii commercial real estate portfolio for $262 million in a deal expected to close by the end of the year, according to a petition filed by a beneficiary seeking to postpone a vote on the sale scheduled for next week, as reported by a Pacific Business Times article.

Kaneohe Ranch Co. LLC and the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation put the entire Kaneohe Ranch commercial real estate portfolio in a listing with Eastdil Secured, which includes the town center in Kailua in Windward Oahu, on the market in May of this year. The Hawaii portfolio also includes the land beneath the Windward City Shopping Center and Servco Windward Toyota in Kaneohe, and three properties in Honolulu. The portfolio was being marketed in its entirety, or as two geographic sub-portfolios.

The Mainland portfolio, which is reportedly not included in the sale, includes five leased fee land interests, three single-tenant retail and office assets and one multifamily asset located in San Francisco, Seattle, Miami, Dallas, Phoenix and Portland, Ore. Tenants in those properties include Lowe's in San Jose, Calif., a Kohl's department store in Phoenix, the Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay and the U.S. government.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Forest City and QIC Complete Mall JVs

Forest City Enterprises, is a national real estate company with $10.7 billion in total assets, announced this week that it has completed and partly closed its joint ventures with QIC Global Real Estate, the real estate arm of Australia-based Queensland Investment Corp., to recapitalize and invest in a portfolio of eight of Forest City's regional retail malls. According to a GlobeSt.com report, the deal brings QIC GRE a 49% equity interest in the properties at a cost of $435.6 million, with the portfolio valued at $2.05 billion.

"This strategic capital partnership with QIC is our largest such initiative to date, and an exciting opportunity to work with an experienced global investor to enhance these already strong retail centers," said David LaRue, Forest City president and chief executive officer. "We look forward to building a mutually beneficial, long-term relationship that creates value for both of our organizations."

"The US portfolio clearly has the scope to be a very large presence for us," said QIC Global Real Estate managing director Steve Leigh in an interview with The Australian. "US retail sales are growing by about 7% per annum compared with Australia where it is essentially flat - zero to 1%,. In regional malls - the type of malls we would invest in - there is a universe of around 1200 in the US, and they trade more frequently."

The eight properties being joint ventured are Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga, California, Charleston Town Center in Charleston, West Virginia, Mall at Robinson near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Promenade in Temecula, California, Galleria at Sunset in Henderson, Nevada, Antelope Valley Mall in Palmdale, California, Short Pump Town Center in Richmond, Virginia, and South Bay Galleria in Redondo Beach, California.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

ACC Acquires $862.8M in 19 Properties

American Campus Communities, Inc. (ACC), the largest owner, manager and developer of high-quality student housing properties in the U.S., announced this week that it had acquired 19 select student housing properties for $862.8 million from affiliates of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, L.P. According to a Businessweek article, ACC will pay $466.6 million in cash under the deal and assume roughly $396.2 million of outstanding mortgage debt. The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2012, with the exception of a property that is under development. That portion of the deal will close during the third quarter of 2013.

"We believe these 19 select assets offer high-quality products and locations in Tier 1 markets," said Bill Bayless, ACC CEO. "Furthermore, approximately 75 percent of the select portfolio is an average of 0.3 miles from campus in submarkets with barriers to entry. We are excited about this opportunity to create substantial value by overlaying our operating platform on this portfolio."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Equity One Acquires 6 Properties for $303M

Equity One announced this week that it had acquired, or is under contract to acquire, four properties for a total investment of $260 million; today, The Commercial Observer reported two additional properties were under contract, bringing the total investment to $302.5 million for the shopping enters in he New York Metropolitan Region and Bethesda, Maryland. "These acquisitions are consistent with our strategy of owning retail properties in urban markets with visible growth through contractual rent increases, below market rents and redevelopment opportunities," said Jeff Olson, CEO of Equity One.

The properties include:

Westwood Complex, a 22-acre property located in Bethesda, Maryland under contract with Capital Properties. The transaction is initially structured as a $95 million mortgage loan which has been funded.

Clocktower Plaza, a 78,820 square foot shopping center located in Queens, NY, for $56 million from Winstanley Enterprises.

Equity One finalized the acquisition of a Heyman Properties portfolio of three properties in Connecticut: Darinor Plaza at 500 Connecticut Avenue in Norwalk, Post Road Plaza at 400 Boston Post Road in Darien and Compo Acres at 380-400 Post Road in East Westport.

The company also closed on the purchase of two previously announced acquisitions, Darinor Plaza and 1225 Second Avenue.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Avidan Sells NJ Industrial and Office Portfolio

Cohen Asset Management, Inc., a private commercial and industrial real estate investment firm, announced that an affiliate had acquired a nine building portfolio of industrial and office properties in northern New Jersey from Avidan Management. According to a CoStar report, the pricepoint of the deal was not disclosed, but that the HFF investment sales team represented Avidan in the transaction.

The portfolio, comprised of approximately 2.6 million square feet of warehouse and office space primarily in port-centric locations, represents one of the largest acquisitions of industrial properties in Northern New Jersey in many years. The purchase is part of a series of transactions that Cohen has completed on both the east and west coast over the past year and is reflective of Cohen's ability to source transactions through its longstanding operator model.

"As previously outlined, one of our top priorities is to grow our East Coast presence," commented Bradley Cohen, Cohen's President and CEO. This transaction highlights Cohen Asset Management's commitment to our target markets and our ability to establish a concentrated ownership position by assembling a critical mass of high quality, functional industrial real estate. Cohen went on to continue saying, "With this acquisition, we are making significant progress towards achieving our strategic objectives."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Assisted Living Concepts Buys Ventas Properties, Settles Suit for $100M

Assisted Living Concepts (ALC) announced this month that it had signed an agreement to purchase 12 properties from Ventas Realty for $97 million according to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article. The deal includes $3 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Ventas in April wherein Ventas alleged that ALC breached the terms of its lease after state regulators in Georgia and Alabama threatened to revoke the licenses of several centers because of substandard care.

The residences, five located in Georgia, four in South Carolina and one in each of Florida, Alabama and Pennsylvania were previously operated by ALC under master lease agreements with Ventas Realty and MLD Delaware Trust. The transaction was funded with borrowings available under ALC's $125 million revolving credit agreement.

"We are pleased to reach a mutually satisfactory arrangement with Ventas and to have acquired these 12 residences. While we have had some recent regulatory challenges at several of these properties, we are taking actions to address these challenges and to enhance their quality," commented ALC President and CEO Charles H. "Chip" Roadman II, M.D. "The addition of these 12 residences increases our percentage of owned properties to 82.0%."

"Ventas stands for excellence in seniors housing. This transaction allows ALC's new chief executive officer and its Board of Directors to focus their attention and resources on providing quality care for its residents," Ventas Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Debra A. Cafaro said in a statement.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Walgreens Portfolio Sold for $68.7M

The Boulder Group, a net leased investment brokerage firm, announced this week that it had completed the sale of a Walgreens portfolio consisting of nine properties located on the east coast for $68.7 million. The properties are located in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New Jersey. An unnamed Midwest based institutional investment firm purchased the portfolio from a private investment company, represented by The Boulder Group.

The portfolio included the following Walgreens properties:
980 Farmington Avenue in Berlin, CT
1036 West Main Street in Branford, CT
880 North Montello Street in Brockton, MA
1 Glenwood Avenue in Dover, NH
17 Crystal Avenue in Derry, NH
897 Main Street in Melrose, MA
20 West Kings Highway in Mount Ephraim, NJ
1131 US Highway 46 in Ledgewood, NJ
500 Egg Harbor Road in Sewell, NJ

"This portfolio represented a rare opportunity for an investor to acquire a large portfolio of long term triple net leased Walgreens properties and we were able to achieve a sale price within one percent of the asking price," said Randy Blankstein, President of The Boulder Group. Jimmy Goodman, Partner of The Boulder Group, added, "Walgreens properties with over 20 years of lease term are one of the most sought after assets in the single tenant net lease market, and we had strong demand for this portfolio."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Ernest Health Sold for $400M

Medical Properties Trust (MPT) announced this week that it had acquired Ernest Health and its portfolio of 16 properties for $400 million according to a Health Investor article. MPT will assume the real estate assets of 12 Ernest facilities and lease the properties back to Ernest under an initial term of 20 years with three five-year extension options. A venture between an MPT affiliate and existing management of Ernest will acquire Ernest Health, Inc. RBC Capital Markets, LLC acted as MPT's exclusive financial advisor for this transaction. According to the article, MPT intends to fund the acquisition with a combination of borrowings under its revolving credit facility, borrowings under a new $80 million term loan facility from JP Morgan Chase Bank, NA and RBC Capital Markets, as well as net proceeds from other debt or equity capital market issuances.

"With transformative, highly accretive transactions like these, we continue to demonstrate our unique ability to create high quality long term sources of cash flow from hospital real estate," said Edward K Aldag, chief executive of MPT. "Completing these transactions will give MPT upside potential to the long term growth of Ernest, and adds another premiere post acute hospital operator to our relationships with others such as Vibra, Kindred, Healthsouth, LifeCare, Cornerstone and Post Acute."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Parkway Announces Sale of Non-Core Assets

Parkway Properties, Inc. began the year with the announcement that it is under contract to sell a portfolio of 15 non-core assets for a gross sale price of $147.5 million, along with the completion of the sale of its interest in nine assets under Parkway Properties Office Fund, L.P. The portfolio sale is expected to close during the first quarter of 2012, subject to the buyer's successful assumption of certain existing mortgage loans and customary closing conditions. The portfolio was 75.8 percent occupied as of September 30, 2011.

"Part of Parkway's new strategy, which will be outlined in its entirety during our fourth quarter earnings conference call, is to pursue an efficient exit from certain non-core markets," Parkway President and CEO James R. Heistand said in a statement. "As a result of the thorough review of all of our markets, we determined that Jackson, Memphis and Richmond were non-core markets. A portfolio sale of these assets allows us to quickly realign our overall portfolio and focus our resources and capital on building critical mass in our remaining core markets."

Upon the completion of the sale of the non-core portfolio and other announced pending sales, Parkway would have one remaining asset located in Jackson totaling 267,000 square feet, one remaining asset located in Memphis totaling 337,000 square feet, and completed its exit from Richmond. The remaining assets in Jackson and Memphis will continue to be marketed for sale.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Crescent Sells 6 Properties to JPMorgan

Crescent Real Estate Holdings completed a transaction at the end of last month that didn't make many headlines but gave its stake in six Texas office properties to its partner, a unit of JPMorgan Chase & Co., according to a Fox Business News article. The properties are valued at about $2 billion and include The Crescent, a 1,134,826 square foot office and retail complex in Dallas, and Houston Center, a major mixed-use urban real estate development covering four buildings and almost 4.5 million square feet of Class A office space.

Crescent, owned in a joint venture between Barclays Capital and Goff Capital, originally bought into the portfolio in 2009 for an undisclosed sum. Details of the current sale were not disclosed, but it's reported that Crescent will continue to operate the properties for its former JPMorgan partners. The total value of the Texas properties in the deal is approximately $1.85 billion, which means the value of Crescent’s stake was about $444 million according to a Houston Business Journal article.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

SL Green Venture Picks Up $416M Portfolio

In a venture formed with Stonehenge Partners, SL Green Realty Corp. announced this week that it had acquired eight retail and multifamily properties in New York City for $416 million. According to a Businessweek article, the purchase marks SL Green's first foray into New York's apartment market and raises the real estate investment trust's profile as an owner of Manhattan street-retail properties. Even with this purchase, apartments are likely to remain “tangential to their business,” said Alex Goldfarb, an analyst with Sandler O'Neill & Partners LP in New York.

The venture indicated that a key component of the transaction is 724 Fifth Avenue, a prestigious retail location located between 56th and 57th streets in Manhattan's Plaza District, where Prada currently occupies approximately 20,700 square feet of space. The property enjoys prime position along the "Gold Coast" of Fifth Avenue -- a retail corridor known to achieve some of the highest retail rents in the world. It is situated in the vicinity of other retail properties which SL Green has ownership of, including 717 Fifth Avenue, home to Giorgio Armani's flagship store and the future flagship store of Dolce & Gabanna, in addition to 720 Fifth Avenue.

Andrew Mathias, President of SL Green, commented "This is an exciting opportunistic investment for SL Green, which already has an outstanding track record in acquiring and repositioning New York City office and retail properties. We also are excited about making our first significant equity investment in the multifamily area, which helps to diversify our portfolio further while still maintaining our New York City focus."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Anglo Irish Bank Sells $9.5B US Loans

Wells Fargo & Co, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Lone Star Funds were the winning bidders on the $9.5 billion pool of U.S. commercial real estate loan sold by Anglo Irish Bank Corp. with debt related to some 250 properties, including marquee names ranging from the Apthorp, a landmark Manhattan residential building, to a Beverly Hills, Calif., shopping center to the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago according to a Wall Street Journal article. Other bidders included Blackstone Group LP, TPG Capital, Starwood Capital Group, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG. The sale marks one of the biggest since the downturn in U.S. commercial real estate four years ago.

Anglo Irish Bank had been looking to unload the portfolio since the Irish government took control of the bank in January 2009. The bank had reported last week that it lost €101 million in the six months ended June 30th, far below the €8 billion loss it recorded for the same period last year.

According to Bloomberg, the trio will take on the portfolio of $9.65 billion in U.S. loans. It wasn't disclosed what the consortium bid for the assets, though some speculate 80 cents on the dollar would be a good price. "If you're looking at quality assets in good, strong markets, I'd say 80 cents on the dollar sounds pretty reasonable," said Tom Craig, founder of TSC Realty Partners, a commercial-property broker in Seattle who wasn't involved in the sale. "One of the barriers to entry on a big deal like this is how many people can put the capital together to buy this and close quickly."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Prologis Sells $118M Portfolio to Clarion

San Francisco-based Prologis, Inc. sold a 2.8 million square foot industrial portfolio to Clarion Partners for $118 million this month reports the Dener Post. The 13 properties, with an average 90% leased, are located in nine markets including Atlanta, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dallas, Indianapolis, San Antonio, Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Tracy, CA. CB Richard Ellis brokered the deal.

A spokesperson for Clarion said there is no breakdown of value for each of the properties. GlobeSt.com discovered that the portfolio includes: the Patterson Pass Business Park #8 and #10 in Tracy, CA; Crossroads Corp. Center #1 and #3 and the Salt Lake International Distribution Center #8 in Salt Lake City; Kyrene Commons #3 in Tempe, AZ; Tri-County Distribution Center #1 in Schertz, AZ; the Waters Ridge Distribution Center #1 in Lewisville, TX; the Plainfield Park Building #3A in Plainfield, IN; the Capital Park South Distribution Center #4 in Grove City, OH; the West Chester Commerce Park #2 in West Chester, OH; the Princeton Distribution Center #1 in Cincinnati; and the Progress Distribution Center #1 in Lawrenceville, GA.

"This disposition is part of our continuing program to enhance investor returns in our private capital funds," said Guy F. Jaquier, chief executive officer of Prologis Private Capital. "We are selectively selling properties where we have maximized value or where they no longer fit our strategic goals and objectives."

Prologis owns or has investments in properties of about 600 million square feet in 22 countries, according to the company. Its corporate headquarters moved to San Francisco from Denver following a merger with AMB Property Corp. but its operations headquarters remain in Denver.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

LodgeWorks Selling 24 Property Portfolio to Hyatt for $802M

LodgeWorks LP, a private hotel developer, and its private-equity partners has signed an agreement to sell their 24 property portfolio to Hyatt Hotels Corporation for approximately $802 million in cash according to a Bloomberg report. The acquisition includes 24 hotels and related assets, including management, franchise and intellectual property rights; Hyatt indicated that key members of the LodgeWorks management and development teams are expected to join Hyatt.

"We are very proud of our hotels and our teams," said LodgeWorks founder, Chairman and CEO Rolf Ruhfus. "It is exciting to build a portfolio that brings value to our investors and teams and now to an industry-leading Hyatt. We respect the Hyatt heritage and culture and are very pleased to contribute to its growth."

"This is a significant expansion of our presence in the United States and enhances our extended-stay representation with a great collection of high-quality hotels," said Mark Hoplamazian, President and CEO of Hyatt.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Cole Seeks Exit for 20.6M SF Portfolio

A new article from CoStar reports that Cole Real Estate Investment, via a letter sent to financial advisors, announced its plans to exit a 20.6 million square foot triple net leased portfolio accumulated by its affiliate, Cole Credit Property Trust II. The piece includes excerpts from the letter written by Cole President Marc Nemer:

"There appears to be a growing demand in the market for the type of assets that comprise the CCPT II portfolio: high-quality properties net-leased on a long-term basis to industry-leading tenants. We are also seeing positive indications that the commercial real estate markets are continuing to recover as we actively explore options to successfully exit the portfolio within the next 12 months.

"As the commercial real estate markets continue to rebound, we believe the market cycle we are in favors portfolios like CCPT II, which consist of high-quality, brand name tenants under long-term leases," Nemer wrote. "Additionally, the retail sector in particular is beginning to benefit from the labor market recovery and the associated incremental improvement in consumer confidence.

"We believe we are moving into a healthy environment for a portfolio exit, and we are evaluating options to take CCPT II full cycle within the next 12 months. Potential exit strategies we are looking at include, but are not limited to, a sale of the portfolio or a listing of the portfolio on a public stock exchange."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

JV Finalizes $516M Portfolio Acquisition

A joint venture between CB Richard Ellis Trust and Duke Realty Corp. completed the purchase of a 20-property portfolio valued at $516 million according to a CoStar report. The deal, reportedly the largest transaction in the REIT's history, was broken into three phases of acquisition; this final phase covered 13 office buildings with 2.05 million square feet in four states for approximately $342.8 million. CBRE Realty Trust owns 80% of the partnership and Duke retains the remaining interest.

The properties included in the portfolio are listed as:

Norman Pointe I: Minneapolis, MN, with 212,722 square feet of space

Norman Pointe II: Minneapolis, MN, with 324,296 square feet of space

The Landings I: Cincinnati, OH, with 175,695 square feet of space

The Landings II: Cincinnati, OH, with 175,076 square feet of space

One Easton Oval: Columbus, OH, with 125,031 square feet of space

Two Easton Oval: Columbus, OH, with 128,674 square feet of space

Atrium I: Columbus, OH, with 315,102 square feet of space

Weston Pointe I: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, with 97,579 square feet of space

Weston Pointe II: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, with 97,180 square feet of space

Weston Pointe III: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, with 97,178 square feet of space

Weston Pointe IV: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, with 96,175 square feet of space

One Conway Park: Chicago, IL, with 105,000 square feet of space

West Lake at Conway: Chicago, IL, with 99,538 square feet of space

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

ECM Selling $625M in Assets

According to a CoStar report, Equity Capital Management (ECM) has signed definitive agreements to sell up to $625 million of single tenant office, industrial, and retail properties under long-term net lease agreements. The details of the agreements haven't been fully disclosed at this time; ECM did not name the properties under contract. ECM did indicate, however, that it expects the sales of these unnamed properties during the first half of 2011.

James G. Koman, co-founder and managing partner of ECM said: "The assets being sold are representative of the type of properties we are looking for moving forward. As has been the case historically, the majority of these assets were acquired through off-market transactions as a result of our deep relationships with developers, corporations, and other institutional investors."

"With investors paying premiums for stable in-place cash flows, this would seem to be an ideal time to recycle single-tenant assets with long-term leases in place," said Chris Macke, senior real estate strategist for CoStar Group.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.