Thursday, July 31, 2014

Berger Commercial Realty Arranges $4 Million Sale and Purchase of 17th Street Causeway Office Building in Fort Lauderdale, FL

  
Judy Dolan

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL  – Berger Commercial Realty announced the $4 million sale of an 11,709-square-foot office building located at 1550 S.E. 17th St. in Fort Lauderdale. The building was sold by Ardell Marina, Inc. to Fifteen-Fifty Southeast Seventeenth, LLC.

 Berger Commercial Realty Senior Vice President St. George Guardabassi and broker Keith Graves represented Ardell Marina, Inc. Vice President Judy Dolan represented the buyer.

Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Resolve Marine Group is a leading marine services organization that provides salvage, emergency response, training, naval architecture, marine engineering and many other services to the global maritime industry.

Its divisions include Resolve Salvage & Fire; Resolve Marine Services; Resolve Maritime Academy, and the Resolve Engineering Group.

St. George Guardabassi
 One of the company's tug boats, the AHT MV Resolve Earl, was the lead vessel towing the Costa Concordia ship wreck in Italy from Giglio Island to Genoa earlier this month.

 Founded in 1998, Berger Commercial Realty is a full service commercial real estate firm.  A regional, independent and privately-owned firm, services include brokerage/tenant and buyer representation, property management, agency/project leasing, capital advisory/investment sales, construction/project management, and retail services.

For more information, visit www.bergercommercial.com.


 For a complete copy of the company’s news release, please contact:

Marielle Sologuren
Pierson Grant Public Relations
(954) 776-1999, ext. 226

AuctionWorks to Host Real Estate Auction on Illinois Properties Aug. 25-27

                        
Diana M. Peterson
CHICAGO, IL (July 31, 2014) – AuctionWorks has announced the firm will host an online auction Aug. 25-27 that will include single-family homes; mixed-use, office, industrial and retail buildings; and vacant land.

The auction includes a 14,000-square-foot estate set on 2.3 acres in Willowbrook, Ill., in the Hinsdale Central School District. It also includes several bank-owned properties, including two that will be sold absolute.

 An upcoming September auction will feature a recently renovated, five-bedroom single-family luxury home with golf course views in Riverwoods, Ill.; several adjacent riverfront commercial properties in West Dundee, Ill.; and the opportunity to purchase notes in bulk. Buyers can bid online or submit pre-auction offers.

“High-end homes have been a big part of our recent auctions,” said Diana M. Peterson, president of Chicago-based AuctionWorks.

 “In our previous auction, a vintage Lincoln Park home replete with luxury finishes sold in a pre-auction bidding war for $1.425 million, $100,000 over the reserve price. 

"We’re seeing more sellers opt to use online auctions because it provides high visibility for their luxury homes among a screened, stable pool of serious buyers.”
  
  Interested parties in the Aug. 25-27 and September 22-24 online auctions should visit www.svnauctionworks.com to bid and join the mailing list to receive upcoming auction notices.

 For a complete copy of the company’s news release, please contact:

 Mark Thomton, mthomton@taylorjohnson.com, 312-267-4523
Emily Johnson, ejohnson@taylorjohnson.com, 312-267-4522


Avison Young completes $2.9-million sale of property occupied by Pacific Western Bank in Murrieta, CA

  
Dan Vittone

Irvine, CA – Avison Young, the world’s fastest-growing commercial real estate services firm, announced today that it has completed the $2.9-million sale of a 5,080-square-foot (sf) class A building fully occupied by Pacific Western Bank in Murrieta, CA.

 Avison Young Principals Dan Vittone and Alan Pekarcik, based in the company’s Irvine office, represented the seller, WLA Investments, Inc. as well as the buyer, a private family partnership. The sale garnered a price per square foot exceeding $570.

 Built in 2004, and situated on 0.87 acres, the property includes a drive-thru, ATM and vault, and is located at 41381 Kalmia Street. 

The building is situated within the first phase of Village Walk Murrieta, a 65-acre, mixed-use business park which includes more than 400,000 sf of upscale shops, restaurants, seniors housing and office buildings.

 “Pacific Western Bank still has more than 10 years remaining on its lease and provided the trust buyer with a secure, long-term investment,” comments Vittone. “Single-tenant, triple-net leased assets in highly visible locations like this one are in demand by family offices and exchange investors as they seek low management investment portfolios with increasing annual returns.”

Alan Pekarcik
 The City of Murrieta is situated within southwestern Riverside County. Murrieta – part of the greater Temecula Valley market, which includes the cities of Temecula and Menifee – has emerged as a major employment center for the local area. 

Murrieta’s projected expanding employment base and the region’s affordable housing provide favorable conditions for commercial real estate investment now and in the foreseeable future.
  
For a complete copy of the company’s news release, please contact:

Darcie Giacchetto
D.G. Communications, Inc.

949.278.6224

HFF arranges $8.53 million acquisition financing for urban multi-housing property in Seattle, WA


Mona K. Carlton
DALLAS, TX – HFF announced it has arranged $8.53 million in financing for The Residences at 3295, a six-story, 60-unit urban multi-housing property in Seattle, Washington.

                HFF worked on behalf of the borrower, Abacus Capital Group, to secure the fixed-rate acquisition loan through Nationwide Life Insurance Company, Columbus, Ohio. 

Completed in 2012, The Residences at 3295 includes 60 condominium-quality residential units averaging 633 square feet each along with 2,800 square feet of ground-floor retail and a 100-space, access-controlled subterranean parking garage.  

The residential portion of the property is 95 percent leased and the retail portion is 100 percent leased to a single tenant.  Community amenities include a state-of-the-art fitness center, rooftop terrace, barbecue grills, 3,000-square-foot community garden and access to the adjacent West Seattle public golf course.  The property is located at 3295 SW Avalon Way proximate to the West Seattle Bridge and approximately five miles from downtown Seattle.

Tom Wilson
The HFF debt placement team representing Abacus was led by senior managing director Mona Carlton and managing director Tom Wilson.

Abacus Capital Group LLC is a New York-based institutional advisory firm focused on the multifamily sector nationwide.  This asset was purchased through a fund sponsored by Abacus

For a complete copy of the company’s news release, please contact:

Olivia Hennessey
Public Relations Coordinator
HFF | 9 Greenway Plaza, Suite 700 | Houston, TX 77046
tel 713.852.3403 | fax 713.527.8725 | www.hfflp.com


HFF closes the sale and financing of The Offices at Broadway Station in Denver, CO




Angela Lentell
DENVER, CO – HFF announced the closing of the sale and acquisition financing for The Offices at Broadway Station, a 318,053-square-foot office property located in central Denver.

HFF marketed the property on behalf of Walton Street Capital, LLC (seller) and represented EverWest Real Estate Partners (buyer/borrower) on the financing.  HFF arranged the 10-year, fixed-rate, securitized loan through Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

The Offices at Broadway Station is located at the intersection of South Broadway and I-25 in Denver.  

Fully-renovated in 2006 to include modern interiors with Class A finishes, the property is composed of three buildings, including two four-story office buildings and a newly-constructed, four-level garage with ground-floor office space. 

 The office buildings are 94.7 percent leased.   The property originally served as the factory and headquarters for the Gates Rubber company.   The area surrounding and including The Offices at Broadway Station has been transitioning over the last three decades from an industrial area to a vibrant transit-oriented, mixed-use infill location.

                                                Mary Sullivan

The HFF investment sales team representing the seller was led by senior managing directors John Jugl and Mary Sullivan as well as associate director Angela Lentell.

HFF’s debt placement team representing the buyer was led by senior managing director Eric Tupler, director Josh Simon and real estate analyst Kristian Lichtenfels.

“We are pleased to add The Offices at Broadway Station to our platform and look forward to continually enhancing this asset in the thriving Denver market,” said Paul Andrews, Chief Financial Officer with EverWest. 

 “The HFF team provided insightful access to the capital markets and exemplary transaction management.”

Walton Street Capital, L.L.C. is a private equity real estate investment firm. 

 Since its founding in 1994, affiliates of Walton Street have received total equity commitments of $5.7 billion from public and corporate pension plans, foreign institutions, insurance companies and banks, endowments and foundations, trusts and high-net-worth individuals.  

Affiliates of Walton Street Capital have invested and/or committed to invest approximately $4.5 billion of equity in approximately 180 separate transactions. For more information, visit www.waltonst.com.

John Jugle
EverWest Real Estate Partners, LLC is a Denver, Colorado based leading private real estate investment manager and operator who invests in core, valued add and opportunistic investments in office, industrial, multi-family, retail and mezzanine debt investments. 

 EverWest serves a variety of clients that include major institutional investment managers, pension plans, foundations, endowments, and high net worth individuals. 

 EverWest provides a full-service investment management operating platform through its six regional offices with established acquisition, asset-takeover, asset management, property management, financing, operations, risk management, advisory and reporting capabilities to its clients.  

EverWest has regional offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix.  For more information, please go to www.EverWest.com.


For a complete copy of the company’s news release, please contact:

Olivia Hennessey
Public Relations Coordinator
HFF | 9 Greenway Plaza, Suite 700 | Houston, TX 77046
tel 713.852.3403 | fax 713.527.8725 | www.hfflp.com


HFF arranges $82.15 million refinancing for 444 North Michigan in Chicago’s central business district


444 North Michigan, Chicago, IL
CHICAGO, IL – HFF announced it has arranged an $82.15 million refinancing for 444 North Michigan, a 517,115-square-foot, core office property in Chicago’s central business district.

                HFF worked on behalf of GLL Real Estate Partners to secure the floating-rate loan with Blackstone Mortgage Trust.    

444 North Michigan is located at the intersection of Michigan Avenue and Illinois Street along Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, a sought-after section of Michigan Avenue that runs from the Chicago River to Oak Street in the Near North Side. 

Renovated in 2000, the 33-story property is currently undergoing additional renovations.  It is leased to tenants in the media, advertising and technology sectors, including Comcast, Fox Entertainment, National Cable, Monster Worldwide and Momentum.  The ground floor contains nearly 10,000 square feet of retail space.

                The HFF debt placement team was led by senior managing director Mike Kavanau and managing director Stephen Skok.

Mike Kavanau
“GLL has strategically invested capital into the property that has had a positive impact on the property’s performance,” Skok said.  “Also, the property has strong leasing momentum and the occupancy should exceed 90 percent within a year.”

“444 North Michigan has an extremely valuable retail component, which is currently available,” Kavanau added.  “As the nexus of luxury retail continues to move south on Michigan Avenue, this will appeal to many high end tenants.”

GLL Real Estate Partners GmbH (GLL) is a Munich-based real estate fund management group with $7 billion under management.  

Formed in 2000 as a joint venture between Lend Lease Corporation and Italian insurance giant Assicurazioni Generali, GLL is now majority-owned by its management team.  

GLL currently manages 15 funds employing varying property strategies and investing throughout western Europe, central eastern Europe, South America and the United States.

Stephen Skok
From offices in Munich, Luxembourg, Budapest, Santiago de Chile, Mexico City, Orlando, New York and San Francisco, GLL serves an investor group that includes pension funds, insurance companies and sovereign entities.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) is a real estate finance company that primarily originates senior mortgage loans collateralized by properties in the United States and Europe.

  The company is externally managed by BXMT Advisors L.L.C., a subsidiary of Blackstone, and is a real estate investment trust traded on the NYSE under the symbol “BXMT.”  Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. is headquartered in New York City.

 Further information is available at www.bxmt.com.

For a complete copy of the company’s news release, please contact:

Olivia Hennessey
Public Relations Coordinator
HFF | 9 Greenway Plaza, Suite 700 | Houston, TX 77046
tel 713.852.3403 | fax 713.527.8725 | www.hfflp.com