the Editors of Commercial Property Executive
Environmentalists OK Conservation Deal for California Development
After years of legal battles and negotiations, several major environmental groups and the Tejon Ranch Co. today announced they have reached an agreement that would preserve 90 percent of the 270,000-acre Tejon Ranch in California and enable development of a master-planned community, resort and industrial complex to continue.Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other state officials were scheduled to join Tejon Ranch Co. executives today for a press conference detailing the deal covering the largest contiguous mass of land under single ownership in the state of California. Located about 60 miles north of Los Angeles and 30 miles south of Bakersfield, Calif.,…
44-Acre Purchase Paves Way for Durham M-F Project
Development of Phillips Research Park, a 344-residence apartment project in Durham, N.C., edges closer toward realization with Phillips Development & Realty L.L.C.’s completion of the acquisition of 44 acres of land. The parcel sits just north of the renowned 7,000-acre Research Triangle Park, the largest research park in the United States. PDR shelled out $3.8 million for the land the$30 million project will occupy, snapping up 42 acres from Len Shaffer and Bill Anderson of the Joven Group, and the remaining two from Wood Partners. Phillips Research Park will sit just across from the main entrance of the 1.6 million-square-foot…
$1.1B Made Available for Development of Stem Cell Research Facilities in California
In an effort to accommodate the demand for more stem cell research in California, a group of organizations has committed an aggregate $831 million for the construction of facilities to be designed specifically for stem cell research activities. The funding will allow for a total of $1.1 billion for the projects, which will be located across the state.A sum of $271 million from the state stem cell agency, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, will be divided among 12 institutions that submitted proposals to CIRM’s Major Facilities Grant program. Those institutions will also contribute to the cause, promising funds totaling…
Newsweek Relocating NYC HQ to 395 Hudson
Newsweek has signed a long-term lease for approximately 163,000 square feet at 395 Hudson St., owned by the New York City District of Carpenters Pension Fund.The lease involved three separate parties and the swap of two floors by tenant Thomson Reuters, allowing Newsweek to lease the contiguous third and partial fourth floors of the 10-story office building in Hudson Square. Newsweek will relocate from 1775 Broadway, where it has occupied nine floors for the past 15 years. Cushman & Wakefield vice chairman Josh Kuriloff, executive vice president Gus Field and executive director Melissa Bazar represented Newsweek in its site search…
ProLogis to Develop 860,000SF Pre-Leased Distribution Facility in Spain
ProLogis has unveiled plans to develop and lease an 860,000-square-foot industrial facility in northern Spain to Bosch-Siemens Home Appliance. The building (pictured) will be developed in Zaragoza, a growing distribution hub situation halfway between Madrid and Barcelona. BSH, which currently operated seven factories and two offices in Spain, will use the space, located along the A-2 Highway, to distribute its brand-name cooktops, ovens, washing machines, refrigerators, dishwashers and small electronics to its network of retailers in southern Europe. The warehouse will feature sustainable design features and technologies, including roof-mounted solar panels that generate electricity, a rainwater storage system, energy-efficient lighting…
CoreNet Panel: For Complete Green Strategy, Firms Must Go Mobile
A panel at the CoreNet Global Summit in San Diego concluded on Tuesday that U.S. corporations must institute worker mobility programs to substantially reduce their carbon footprints. Approximately 73 million square feet of office space was delivered in the United States in 2007, according to Gervais Tompkin, principal at the architecture firm Gensler. He noted that studies have found have that 55 percent of office space is underutilized. “Think of the squandering of space that represents,” Tompkin said. Chris Hood, program manager of the HP Workplace at Hewlett Packard, said a walk through the average corporation raises a question among…
$72M Financing Closes for Windy City Office
A financing package valued at $72.1 million has been put in place for the 371,400-square-foot office building at 550 West Washington in Chicago. The borrower, Beacon Capital Partners L.L.C.’s Beacon Capital Strategic Partners IV fund, has owned the Class A asset since 2006 when it acquired a 2.4 million-square-foot, four-property former Trizec office portfolio from Blackstone for about $500 million. Landesbank Hessen-Thuringen Girozentrale (Helaba) provided 550 West Washington’s financing in the form of a five-year loan at a fixed rate of 5.84 percent, which Beacon used to pay off an existing loan on the property. Situated in Chicago’s West Loop…
KBR to Acquire BE&K for $550M
KBR, a Houston-based global engineering, construction and services company, has announced that it will acquire BE&K Inc., a privately held, Birmingham, Ala.–based engineering, construction and maintenance services company, in a transaction valued at $550 million.The closing is scheduled for July, subject to regulatory approval. A conference call this morning reported that BE&K had revenues of approximately $2.0 billion in the year ended March 30, 2008, with a backlog of a similar amount. The company ranks in the top 10 for food processing plant contracting and chemical plant contracting, among other areas, according to Engineering News-Record magazine. ENR also ranked BE&K…
N3 Launches Big Box Initiative
N3 Real Estate has announced its entry into the big box development field. On the heels of its announcement of a $1 billion development fund, N3 is poised to expand upon its current small pad retail development services. The firm has named Jim Shindler, formerly of Hunt Properties, development partner for big box development. Shindler has previously worked with companies such as Target, Home Depot and Safeway on earlier retail development projects. “Jim Shindler is highly regarded by many of the big box tenants,” N3 CEO William McGuire told CPN. “Jim brings long-standing relationships in the big box tenant arena.”N3…
Cantor Fitzgerald Launches Opportunistic Real Estate Fund
New York City-based Cantor Fitzgerald L.P. today launched a real estate investment fund–dubbed Cantor Real Estate L.L.C.–and appointed Andrew Stark as executive managing director. Stark will direct the creation of a real estate opportunity fund that focuses on investments in various real estate sectors including dislocated assets. While no official goal has been set for fundraising, a Cantor spokesperson said the company hopes to raise between $300 to $350 million and will use leverage of about 50 percent. “Our attention is keenly focused on development and redevelopment opportunities that have strong underlying fundamentals, but are caught up in the credit…