December – Briefs/Sales & Development

SJP Breaks Ground on $500M N.J. Redevelopment

The Modern

Construction has begun on two 47-story luxury apartment towers in Fort Lee, N.J., decades after the site near the George Washington Bridge was first cleared for development. The $500 million redevelopment project will feature 900 rentals, an eight-acre public park, a theater and a museum.

Known as The Modern, the project is being developed by Fort Lee Redevelopment Associates, a partnership of SJP Residential Properties, Bergen County attorney James Demetrakis and real estate investment firm Palisades Financial. Residents should be able to start moving in during the summer of 2014.

The site’s history dates back to the early 1900s, when it was home to several silent movie studios. It had been vacant since the 1960s, when nearly 16 acres was cleared for what was to be a large mixed-use development. That project was tabled after a bribery scandal.

SL Green Buys Two Manhattan Assets for $173M

SL Green Realty Corp. has acquired two office buildings in Midtown Manhattan for $173 million in an off-market transaction. The properties, 635 and 641 Sixth Ave., were purchased in a sale that equated to $648 per square foot from Atlas Capital Group L.L.C. The two adjoining assets were built in 1902, originally as a contiguous department store along Sixth Avenue, and span the full block between 19^th and 20^th streets. 635 Sixth Ave. is a 104,000-square-foot building that was recently vacated in its entirety by Apex Technical School. 641 Sixth Ave. is a 163,000-square-foot, fully renovated, multi-tenanted office building that houses leading technology firms including Google Inc. and Infor.

Inland Acquires Three Hotels from Richard Kessler

Inland American Lodging Group Inc. has announced purchase agreements with hotelier and developer Richard Kessler to buy a portfolio of three luxury hotels: the 247-room Grand Bohemian Hotel in Orlando; the 75-room Bohemian Hotel Savannah Riverfront in Savannah; and the 115-room Bohemian Hotel Celebration in Celebration, Fla. Each property represents a market share of 150 percent or more within their competitive sets and are founding hotels of Marriott’s Autograph Collection of boutique hotels. Together they have a combined average RevPAR of more than $140.

Jamestown Grabs Mixed-Use Asset in San Francisco

Real estate investment and management firm Jamestown L.P. has acquired 799 Market St., a 142,902-square-foot mixed-use asset in downtown San Francisco. The Class A retail and creative office building is situated on the northeastern corner of Market and Fourth streets, where the Union Square shopping district meets the South of Market technology office corridor. Built in 1968 and renovated in 1986, the eight-story property has five floors of creative office space above 55,000 square feet of retail, which is currently 100 percent occupied by a Ross Dress for Less flagship store.

Dirt Turned on Anaheim’s ARTIC

The city of Anaheim and the Orange County Transportation Authority have broken ground on the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center. ARTIC is a $184 million transportation facility that will connect Anaheim, Orange County, the entire Southern California region and beyond. KTGY Group Inc. Architecture + Planning served as the urban design advisor for the project, and was responsible for preparing the master plan and the mixed-use district conceptual development guidelines for the project. The asset will take on the task of accommodating 10 modes of transportation, including high-speed rail, California/Nevada maglev trains, Metrolink and Amtrak trains, OCTA local bus service, Ontario International Airport remote check-in FlyAway bus service, Anaheim Resort Shuttles, the Anaheim Rapid Connection (ARC) Resort Streetcar System and a taxi service.

Grosvenor, Skanska Team on 650 KSF D.C. Project

Grosvenor Americas will build a few buildings, Skanska USA Commercial Development Inc. will erect another and together the companies will create a 650,000-square-foot mixed-use destination in a Washington, D.C., neighborhood with a bright future. The developers will build the project just north of the new 1.1 million-square-foot Nationals Park. Skanska will develop a 224,000-square-foot office building, and Grosvenor will handle the rest, which includes a hotel featuring 170 rooms and two multi-family towers offering 286 units, 23 of which will be designated as affordable housing. If all goes as planned, construction could commence during the third quarter of 2013.

Northwood Buys 900 KSF Lifestyle Center in Aurora

Northwood Investors L.L.C. has acquired Southlands Town Center, a 900,000-square-foot outdoor lifestyle center in Aurora, Colo. The price was not disclosed. The asset comprises 730,000 square feet of retail space and 170,000 square feet of office. The more than 100 retailers and restaurants surrounding the center’s four-block main street and community plaza include AMC Theaters, Bed Bath & Beyond, Sports Authority, Ross, Barnes & Noble, Ulta, Victoria’s Secret, American Eagle Outfitters, Gymboree, Old Chicago and Ted’s Montana Grill. The center first opened in 2005. It was the firm’s first investment in Colorado.

315-Room Orlando Westin Hotel Trades Hands

The Westin Imagine Hotel in Orlando has just come under the ownership of ERGS WI Orlando REO. Although all parties are keeping quiet on the financials of the deal, it is likely that the price tag on the 315-room asset was attractive because the seller, REDUS Imagine L.L.C., is a consortium of banks that foreclosed on the asset earlier this year. Built in 2008, the property is located across from the 2 million-square-foot Orange County Convention Center and within close proximity to the city’s popular amusement parks.