Regions

Less than two months after being absorbed by a Russian manufacturer, the largest independent tubular manufacturer in North America, John Maneely Co. (JMC), has sold its 188,800-square-foot facility in eastern Houston to Miami-based Elite Sales Inc., an importer and wholesale distributor of wire rope, cable, strand, chain and hardware, for an undisclosed amount. The building is situated on approximately 10.82 acres and housed the company’s Seminole Wheatland Tube Facility before its acquisition by Novolipetsk Steel, a Russian steel producer. Novolipetsk purchased the company last month from The Carlyle Group, a global private equity firm. The sale of the business coincides…

O’Conner Capital Partners has announced the closing of the sale of the retail condominium portion of the Manhattan House to Madison Partners for $86 million. Eastdil Secured represented O’Conner in the deal.Manhattan House, at 200 East 66th St., is in New York City’s Upper East Side Manhattan neighborhood. Designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill and originally built in 1952, the property is currently undergoing a $1.1 billion condominium conversion.Brian Fallon, a partner at O’Conner told CPN, “In anticipation of the condominium conversion offering plan being approved by the Attorney General in late summer 2008, O’Connor conducted a competition for sale…

First Potomac Realty Trust has acquired two office properties in Maryland for a total of some $46.8 million.The firm purchased Rivers Park I & II, a 300,000-square-foot , six-building complex with office and flex facilities located in Columbia. The property was purchased from General Growth Properties for $42.3 million. In addition, First Potomac also snagged Triangle Business Center for $4.5 million. Triangle Business Center is a four-building, 74,000-square-foot flex and office facility in Baltimore. Rivers Park I & II is a strategic purchase for First Potomac as it is located near Fort Meade and the National Security Agency. The two…

The Washington, D.C., office of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P. has announced that it arranged $36 million in financing for 1401 K St., a 124,700-square-foot Class A office building in Washington, D.C. HFF senior managing directors Bill Asbill and Bob Donhauser and director Cary Abod worked exclusively on behalf of Guardian Realty Investors L.L.C. to arrange the five-year, fixed-rate financing through AIG Investments. The loan proceeds were used to acquire the property and establish reserves for future tenant improvements, leasing commissions and capital expenditures. HFF will service the loan.Located in the K Street corridor of Washington, D.C., on Franklin Square, 1401…

First Industrial Realty Trust Inc.has announced that it has signed on to invest in two state-of-the-art distribution facilities in the heart of Belgium’s “Golden Triangle.” The deal concerns a two building, 1.3 million square-foot business park, which will be known as “First Park Maritime Logistics” on a site that intersects the municipalities of Bornem and Puurs.The facilities will be acquired on a forward-commitment basis on behalf of FirstCal Industrial Europe, a $475 million joint venture between First Industrial and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System. This transaction is the first acquisition by First Industrial in Europe and the first for…

Macquarie Group, an international provider of banking, financial, advisory and investment services, has renewed and expanded its leased space at 125 West 55th St. in Manhattan. The firm currently occupies 100,000 square feet, and will expand its occupied space to 260,000 square feet under the expansion. Macquarie will now occupy an additional six floors, as well as part of the eighth and ground floors.The 23-story tower was built in 1989 by architect Edward Larrabee Barnes & Associates. Major tenants at the 590,000-square-foot building include Katz Media Group and Air France.   Kuriloff and Robert Tanzmann, brokerage professionals from Cushman & Wakefield…

ProLogis will build a new, 137,000-square-foot industrial warehouse in southwest France for Rip Curl, a global provider of equipment and apparel for the surfing and mountain communities, the developer has reported. The state-of-the-art facility will be developed on land recently acquired by ProLogis in the city of St. Geours de Maremne. Australia-based Rip Curl plans to use the facility to distribute its products to retailers throughout Europe.In keeping with ProLogis’ green initiatives, the facility is set to have a 250 kilowatt solar array installed on the roof. ProLogis plans to sell the power generated by the solar panels, which will…

Manhattan’s office market is coming back down from the stratosphere, but reports of an impending crash are greatly exaggerated, top executives from CB Richard Ellis Inc. argued at a morning briefing today. “Right now, there’s a perception that this market is dead or dying, and that’s not true,” declared Stephen Siegel, chairman of global brokerage for CBRE. Although leasing velocity is undoubtedly slowing, major tenants are signing leases. He cited a 260,000-square-foot renewal and expansion by Macquarie Group, the Australian financial services concern, at 125 West 55th St. in Midtown. Details were confirmed yesterday in a press release issued by…

Behringer Harvard continues to expand its presence in Central Europe. The company has acquired seven additional assets–a retail property in Hungary, five retail properties in the Czech Republic and a Czech logistics facility–via Wenceslas Behringer Ltd., a joint venture between Behringer Harvard Opportunity REIT I Inc. and St. Wenceslas Property Fund, which was formed in July. Tenants of the acquired properties include Plus Discount, Jysk and Ahold. Plus Discount is the tenant in six of the acquired properties. “We feel that these properties are attractive investments because they have creditworthy tenants and are located in areas where many retailers expect…

Parkbridge Lifestyle Communities Inc. has announced the completion of a $32 million financing of one of its properties. The financing generated net proceeds of $13.2 million after repayment of a pre-existing first mortgage loan and associated transaction costs. The net proceeds were used to repay a $9 million secured facility and to partially repay amounts drawn under the corporation’s operating lines. In addition, Parkbridge completed the acquisition of two senior communities, Crestwood, a 102-site community in Medicine Hat, Alberta; and Red Oak, a 56-site community near Tillsonburg, Ontario, for an aggregate purchase price of $6.7 million. Both communities are fully…