Wednesday, February 6, 2019

A Joint Venture between CIGNA Investment Management and The Muller Company Acquires Century Plaza in San Jose, CA for $63.4 Million


Century Plaza, 550 South Winchester by Santana Row
San Jose, CA

IRVINE, CA -- The Muller Company, a full-service real estate company specializing in the investment, development and management of commercial real estate in the western United States, announced today the acquisition of Century Plaza, a 103,622-square-foot, six-story office building located at 550 South Winchester by Santana Row in San Jose, California.

Jon M. Muller

The new ownership is a joint venture between CIGNA Investment Management and The Muller Company. The seller was New York Life Real Estate Investors. The purchase price was $63.4 million. The property was 82 percent leased at the time of the sale. 


Eric Fox
“We saw an opportunity to acquire a well-located property that would allow us to add value by executing a strategic business plan to reposition the asset as a first-class office destination,” said Jon M. Muller, a principal with The Muller Company.

“The ownership plans to rebrand the property and invest approximately $4.1 million to upgrade the façade, landscaping, lobby, restrooms and corridors in order to maximize rents and create a modern Class A office building in the heart of Silicon Valley and steps away from Santana Row, San Jose’s renowned outdoor lifestyle and retail destination.”

Nick Lazzarini


Both the buyer and seller of the property were represented by Cushman & Wakefield. Those involved in the sale included Eric Fox, executive managing director, and Nick Lazzarini, managing director, in the San Jose office, along with Steve Hermann, Seth Siegel and Adam Lasoff in the firm’s San Francisco office.




Steve Hermann
The Muller Company has been in the Santana Row market for close to 20 years and is excited about the continued growth and area amenities, which includes Westfield Mall’s Westfield Valley Fair, a $1.2 billion retail investment and Federal Realty’s continued commitment to Class ’A‘ office product with over 550,000 SF in Santana Row,” Muller added.  

The Muller Company is an opportunistic real-estate investment, development and management firm with a proven track record in acquiring and repositioning commercial properties.

 Since its inception in 1979, The Muller Company team, with a combined 150 years of experience, has acquired, developed and/or operated, alongside first-class institutional partners, over 30 million square feet of office, industrial and retail space across Northern and Southern California, Arizona and Utah.

Seth Siegel



CONTACTS:

Anne Monaghan
MONAGHAN COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
anne@MonaghanPR.com
830.997.0963

Melissa Cooper
The Muller Company
949.465.0177



Lincoln Property Company Promotes Two to Vice President, Desert West Region



John Orsak
PHOENIX, AZ,  Feb. 6, 2019 – Lincoln Property Company (LPC) has promoted industry veterans John Orsak and Doug Klocke to the position of Vice President, expanding the role of each individual within the LPC Desert West Region of Arizona, Nevada, Utah and New Mexico, and encompassing current LPC development projects such as Lincoln Logistics 40, Union, the 1.8 million-square-foot office portion of The Grand at Papago Park Center and Lincoln Logistics 303.

A 21-year industry veteran and LPC employee since 2005, Klocke becomes Vice President of Development and Construction Management.

Since joining LPC, Klocke has developed and constructed nearly 5 million square feet of Class A office and industrial projects.

 In his new role, he serves as the primary customer contact and manager for all current LPC real estate projects and tenant improvements.

This includes construction costs, schedules and quality control from project conception to completion at the company’s pipeline of more than 5 million square feet of announced or under-construction commercial developments.

As Vice President of Real Estate Development, Orsak is responsible for all LPC leasing, acquisitions, dispositions and property management.

This includes an almost 10 million-square-foot property management portfolio, strategic renovations at high-profile projects such as 3131/3133 Camelback and Luhrs City Center, and the ongoing development and leasing at Lincoln Logistics 40, The Grand at Papago Park Center, Lincoln Logistics 303 and Union.
 
Doug Klocke
 Orsak joined LPC in 2016, bringing with him 15 years of real estate experience. Since then, he has been involved with more than 1.5 million square feet of lease executions with a total lease consideration of more than $250 million.

Klocke holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Arizona State University, is a LEED Accredited Professional and holds an EIT in Civil Engineering. He is a member of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP), volunteers with Habitat for Humanity and is a Certified Youth Sports Coach in soccer and baseball.

Orsak holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Sam Houston State University. He sits on the NAIOP Board of Directors and is the founder of Santa’s Sak, a non-profit organization that supports state-sponsored group homes and puts Christmas gifts into the hands of needy children.
  
CONTACT:

Stacey Hershauer
480.600.0195


HFF announces $10.3 million financing for development of New York-area self storage facility


CubeSmart Self Storage Facility
Rochelle Park, NJ
FLORHAM PARK, NJ – Feb. 6, 2019 Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P. (HFF) announces the $10.3 million construction financing for the development of an 829-unit, Class A CubeSmart self storage facility in the Bergen County community of Rochelle Park, New Jersey.

Michael Klein
The HFF team worked on behalf of the borrower, Tulfra Real Estate, to place the four-year, fixed-rate loan with First Bank.  CubeSmart will manage daily operations.

The 112,980-square-foot facility will house 829 climate-controlled storage units ranging from 25 to 300 square feet along with office space. 

The four-story building will be situated on two acres at 120 West Passaic Street approximately 0.2 miles from the intersection of Passaic Street and Rochelle Avenue, 1.1 miles from the Garden State Parkway and 2.6 miles from Interstate 80.  

The property is in Rochelle Park, a community approximately 16 miles from Manhattan.  Surrounded by a densely populated residential neighborhood, there are an estimated 17,816, 197,040 and 627,292 people respectively across 6,741, 74,461 and 217,344 households within a one-, three- and five-mile radius of the property, respectively.

Jon Mikula
The HFF debt placement team representing the borrower included managing director Michael Klein and senior managing director Jon Mikula.

“HFF is pleased to have represented Tulfra Real Estate once again and continue to help them grow their expanding self-storage portfolio,” Klein said. 

 “First Bank provided the borrower with attractive deal terms, the flexibility that they were seeking and was able to move quickly in order to close within a condensed time frame.”










CONTACTS:

MICHAEL KLEIN
HFF Managing Director
(973) 549-2000

KIMBERLY STEELE
HFF Digital Content/Public Relations Specialist
(713) 852-3420



JLL report shows Phoenix Airport office submarket on the rise


Mark Gustin

 PHOENIX, AZ – Phoenix’s Airport office submarket is quickly filling with new and expanding tenants, pushing vacancy rates down 9.3 percent year-over-year and inching rental rates up, according to data from JLL’s Q4 Phoenix Office Market Report.

According to JLL, overall vacancy in the Airport submarket in 2018 fell from 32.7 percent to 23.4 percent. During the same time period, submarket rents climbed from $19.63 to $21.95 per-square-foot.

“The Airport submarket is a very attractive alternative for tenants to consider when locating their operations,” said JLL Managing Director Mark Gustin. “It has a central location that is close to the amenities of downtown Tempe and Phoenix, and is crisscrossed by three major freeways that connect tenants to a large base of prospective employees – over 2.6 million people within a 30-minute commute.”

Phoenix, AZ Airport, also known as Sky Harbor Airport

In 2018, this helped to attract major new tenant commitments to the Airport submarket, the largest of which include: 

• McKesson Drug Company, subleasing 177,639 square feet at 2900 S. Sunland Dr., at the I-10 and US 60 in Tempe.
• Lennar Homes, leasing 91,452 square feet at 1665 W. Alameda Dr., also along the I-10 just north of the US 60 in Tempe.
• EPIQ, leasing 51,323 square feet at 3255 E. Elwood St., at the I-10 and University Drive, south of the Airport.
• Ancora Education, leasing 43,013 square feet at 8181 S. 48th St., just west of I-10 and south of Baseline Road.
 Aspen University, leasing 38,014 square feet at 4615 E. Elwood St. also at the I-10 and University Drive.



Gustin says the increased lease activity has helped to transform a number of Airport-area office developments. This includes Quattro, a four-building, 264,994-square-foot office project that was recently rebranded within the Cotton Center business park.

Since securing the Quattro leasing assignment about 16 months ago, JLL has completed 188,584 square feet of leases at the project, including a 42,433-square-foot expansion and renewal by Freeport McMoran and a full-building, 57,108-square-foot lease by Konica Minolta.

Cotton Center Business Park, Phoenix, AZ
“Metro Phoenix is on a 22-quarter run of net positive office space absorption, so in some ways the Airport submarket reflects what’s happening on a macro scale across the Valley,” said Gustin. “Based on the numbers, it is just much more pronounced in the Airport area.”

According to JLL, Phoenix’s positive net absorption streak is expected to extend into the first half of 2019 and feasibly further, with more than 1.4 million square feet of signed leases ready to occupy in 2019 and activity an interest in the local office market continuing on an upward trend.

To access JLL research for Phoenix and across the U.S., please visit the company’s research page at https://www.us.jll.com/en/trends-and-insights#research.

 For more news, videos and research resources on JLL, please visit www.jll.com.

Contact:

Stacey Hershauer
Phone: +1 480 600 0195