the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
Half of 1.1MSF Toronto Office Tower Fetches $420M
Brookfield Properties Corp. has just pocketed approximately $420 million on the sale of its 50 percent stake in the TD Canada Trust Tower in Toronto to ownership partner OMERS Realty Corp. The 1.1 million-square-foot office high-rise is part of Brookfield Place, a 2.6 million-square-foot office and retail complex located on a 5.5-acre parcel in the city’s financial district. Developed in 1990 and designed by Bregman + Hamann Architects & Engineers, the 51-story TD Canada Trust Tower also features 17,000 square feet of retail space. Tenants at the 100 percent-leased property include Lehman Brothers, CIBC World Markets and TD Bank, which…
Hilton Orlando Hotel Hits Construction Milestone
Hilton Hotels Corporation has celebrated a new milestone in the construction of the Hilton Orlando with a topping off ceremony. The 19-story building broke ground in May of 2007 and is scheduled to open in the third quarter of 2009. The hotel, connected to the Orange County/Orlando Convention Center, will increase the convention center’s size and will add 1,400 hotel rooms for guests. Additionally, the three-winged Hilton Orlando will add 200,000 square feet to the convention center’s meeting room capacity on two separate floors. The largest new areas will be the 50,000 square foot Orlando Ballroom and the 30,000 square…
$54M Financing Deal Closes for Suburban Philly Shopping Center
Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust has secured $54 million in financing on Paxton Towne Centre, the company’s 703,000-square-foot shopping center in Harrisburg, Pa., less than 15 miles from Philadelphia. The transaction marks PREIT’s third financing deal within the last month. PREIT locked in on a mortgage loan on Paxton Towne Centre at a fixed rate of 5.837 percent for the initial term of the three-year loan, which comes with the option of two one-year extensions. U.S. Bank National Association, lead arranger and administrative agent on the transaction, provided the financing along with Aareal Capital Corp., which acted as syndication agent….
Second Phase of $100M Redevelopment Project in Long Branch, N.J. Opens
Long Branch, N.J.–In an area that was once considered the epitome of oceanfront blight in New Jersey, a multi-million dollar upscale redevelopment project is now being built.The Applied Development Co. is developing Pier Village, a spectacular mixed-use development of restaurants, retailers, residential and open spaces, spanning Laird to Melrose streets between Ocean Avenue and Ocean Boulevard, in the city of Long Branch, N.J.Minno & Wasko Architects and Planners and Dean Marchetto Architects P.C. are designing this project.“Some surrounding areas in Long Branch are still blighted, but the city is working on several fronts and making redevelopment possible in multiple locations…
Updated: Harrison Street Closes on $430M Equity Fund
Chicago-based Harrison Street Real Capital has closed on a new private equity fund after raising about $430 million. Harrison Street Real Estate Partners II L.P., as the fund is known, began raising capital in March, and according to Christopher Merrill (pictured), co-founder and managing principle of Harrison Street, a good number of investors were keen on getting in on the fund.”Certain investors are very interested in the focus of the fund,” Merrill told CPN. “We’ve structured it — and this has been our strategy since founding the first fund — to invest in properties that will do relatively well in…
ProLogis Makes More Big Moves in People, Places
In its fourth major personnel appointment in just a few months, distribution facility giant ProLogis has announced that Philip Dunne will join the company in the new position of COO/Europe and the Middle East. Dunne, the former COO/Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Jones Lang LaSalle, will assume his new role on Dec. 1. A ProLogis spokesperson told CPN that Dunne will be based in Amsterdam and will report to Gary Anderson, ProLogis president of Europe and the Middle East. At JLL, Dunne led the execution of business strategy across the EMEA region and also spent five years as…
Work Gets Underway on $500M Gates Foundation HQ in Seattle
Ground has just broken in Seattle on what will become the new home of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The multi-structure green headquarters campus (pictured) will encompass 900,000 square feet, including a visitor center, and will cost $500 million to complete. Carrying the address of 500 Fifth Avenue North, the new Gates Foundation campus will occupy a 12-acre parcel across from the renowned Space Needle. The site will sprout two six-story office structures, a convening center and a 15,000-square-foot visitor center designed by Ralph Applebaum & Associates. NBBJ is the lead architectural firm for the complex, which is being…
New York Housing Agencies Approve $329M to Build, Renovate Affordable Housing
New York–The boards of the New York State Housing Finance Agency (HFA) and its subsidiary, the New York State Affordable Housing Corp. (AHC), recently approved more than $317 million in financing to build and preserve 278 units of affordable housing in all five boroughs of New York City.The approvals included $315 million in financing for a multifamily 80/20 rental project in the Hudson Yards section of the far West Side of Manhattan; a $400,000 grant to the Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City (NHS) to finance home improvements for 85 housing units on sites in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens…
ING Sells Roosevelt Raceway Center on Long Island for $103M
ING Clarion Partners L.L.C. has sold the Roosevelt Raceway Center in Westbury, N.Y. The New York office of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P. announced the finalization of the $103 million sale and arranged financing, representing the buyers, the Mattone Group and Gartenstein Properties, who put up $32.3 million in cash. The property consists of 427,000 square feet of retail stores and condominiums. The deal also included a $70.7 million fixed-rate loan from New York Community Bank. The Roosevelt Raceway Center , located on Corporate Drive in the suburb of Westbury in Nassau County, Long Island, was completed in 1995. It was…
AFIAA Acquires Wells Fargo Tower in Austin from Aspen Properties
AFIAA, a Zurich-based foundation investing in international real estate, has made its first purchase in Texas, acquiring the landmark Wells Fargo Tower in Downtown Austin from Aspen Properties Inc. for an undisclosed amount. The 280,000-square-foot, 17-story building at 400 W. 15th St. was built in 1981 and is 96 percent occupied by corporate clients including Wells Fargo, IBM Corp. and Deloitte and Touch L.L.P. as well as many law firms. The Class A office building is located at the north end of the CBD close to the University of Texas at Austin campus and about four or five blocks from…