August – Briefs/Sales & Development

DEXUS Sells 16.7 MSF Industrial Portfolio to Blackstone

Industrial Asset in San Antonio

DEXUS Property Group has traded a collection of industrial properties totaling 16.7 million square feet for $770 million. Affiliates of Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII picked up the 68 assets in what is being touted as the largest industrial portfolio transaction in the United States so far this year. Eastdil Secured handled the marketing efforts.

The properties are located in 11 cities across the central United States. DEXUS, an Australian company, had been grooming the collection of assets since its establishment in 2010, having taken the occupancy level at the 65-property core portfolio from 79 to 90 percent. The rest of the portfolio consists of three build-to-suit properties that are leased in their entirety by Whirlpool Corp.

The sale allows DEXUS to focus on the West Coast industrial market, which is seeing an increase on the demand front. The metropolitan Los Angeles market continues to hold the title of the nation’s tightest, with a vacancy rate of 4.7 percent, according to a report by Cushman & Wakefield Inc.

Construction Begins on $172M L.A. Marriott Tower

The Los Angeles hotel market will soon receive an additional 400 guest rooms, now that work is underway on a 373,000-square-foot high-rise that will host a Courtyard by Marriott and a Residence Inn by Marriott. American Life Inc. and Williams/Dames & Associates are behind the project, which carries a development price tag of $172 million. The hotel market in Los Angeles has rebounded nicely, thanks in part to the 4 million-square-foot mixed-use L.A. Live entertainment complex, which has helped drive the city’s downtown renaissance.

Brandywine, Allstate JV Takes D.C. Portfolio

A joint venture of Brandywine Realty Trust and an affiliate of Allstate Insurance Co. has taken ownership of Station Square, a 499,400-square-foot complex in Silver Spring, Md. Brandywine-Al, as the venture is known, will acquire the three-building asset from a joint venture consisting of Urdang’s Value-Added Fund II and Moore & Associates for $120.6 million. Located at 1100 and 1010 Wayne Ave. and 8484 Georgia Ave. in Silver Springs’ central business district, the transit-oriented complex is 93 percent leased, according to a CBRE Group Inc. report.

Manhattan Apartment Property Fetches $280M

JD Carlisle L.L.C. and DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners L.L.C. have just pocketed $280 million on the disposition of The Beatrice, the partners’ 301-unit luxury apartment property in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood. Equity Residential picked up the apartment asset, which consists of the top 29 floors of the 54-story, mixed-use building at 105 W. 29^th St. The property, which is located above the 292-room Eventi Hotel, has been near maximum capacity since its rental program kicked off in the summer of 2010.

AREA, Commonwealth Plan $225M Boston Office

The Boston Redevelopment Authority has given the go-ahead for an approximately 500,000-square-foot property that will be developed by AREA Property Partners and Commonwealth Ventures. One Channel Center is already fully leased for 15 years to financial services firm State Street Corp. The $225 million project is slated for the last development site in the Channel Center complex, a 1.5 million-square-foot mixed-use asset in Boston’s Fort Point neighborhood.

Hines Sells Colorado Office Development

Westfield Capital Partners has purchased Mountain View Corporate Center from Hines U.S. Office Value Added Fund for an undisclosed amount. Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P. and Newmark Knight Frank Capital Group marketed the 461,438-square-foot Class A property. Hines picked up the four-building asset in 2006; it was 92 percent leased at the time of the sale, with tenants such as Time Warner Cable, TransFirst and White Wave Foods.

Boulder Group Arranges Sale of Walgreens Portfolio

The Boulder Group has completed the sale of a single-tenant, net-leased Walgreens portfolio comprising nine properties located in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New Jersey. The total sales price was $68.7 million. The assets were sold by a private investment company and purchased by a Midwest-based institutional investment firm.

Regency Breaks Ground on 280 KSF Shopping Center

Regency Centers has broken ground on Grand Ridge Plaza, a 280,113-square-foot Safeway-anchored center located in the master-planned development of Issaquah Highlands in Washington state. The new plaza will be the only major retail center to serve the quickly growing master-planned community, which is located about 15 miles east of downtown Seattle. The development could ultimately see as many as 4,540 homes, 3 million square feet of commercial space and more than 1,500 acres of parks and open spaces. Regency’s open-air destination will include a 56,820-square-foot, 12-screen Regal Cinemas and a mix of restaurants, entertainment assets and destination retailers.

Wood Partners to Bring 22-Story Luxury Rental to L.A.

Wood Partners has become the latest developer to announce plans to erect a high-rise apartment building in Los Angeles, in its case a 22-story tower housing 290 units in the South Park district. The Atlanta-based company plans to break ground on the luxury, glass high-rise in September with leasing to start in summer 2014. The .7-acre site was purchased by Wood Partners in 2008.