HFF secures $32.25 million first mortgage financing for The Grant Building in Pittsburgh, PA

                                        

PITTSBURGH, PA – HFF announced today that it has secured a $32.25 million first mortgage financing for The Grant Building (top left photo), a 37-story, 461,935-square-foot office building in Pittsburgh’s central business district.

Working exclusively on behalf of McKnight Realty Partners, HFF placed the 10-year, 5.25 percent, fixed-rate loan with Nationwide Real Estate Investments.  Loan proceeds were used to refinance the acquisition and renovation loan.

  This is the second financing HFF has secured on behalf of McKnight through Nationwide; earlier in 2011, a $15.5 million financing was arranged for 615 Alpha Drive in Pittsburgh.

The Grant Building is located at 310 Grant Street between Third and Fourth Avenues close to the Parkway (Interstates 279/376) and within walking distance of four Light Rail Transit (LRT) stops.

 Originally built in 1928, the property features five levels of underground parking for approximately 250 cars plus a new, state-of-the-art fitness center.  The property is connected via an underground walkway to the City-County Building, County Office Building and County Courthouse. 

The Grant Building is 92 percent leased by tenants including Huntington Bank and The Hillman Company.

The HFF team representing McKnight Realty Partners was led by executive managing director Gerard Sansosti.

McKnight Realty Partners is a leading real estate investment and development company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Contacts: 

Gerard T. Sansosti, HFF Executive Managing Director, (412) 281-8714, gsansosti@hfflp.com                                                                                            

Kristen M. Murphy, HFF Associate Director, Marketing, (713) 852-3500

krmurphy@hfflp.com

McCarthy Begins Construction for J. Craig Venter Institute on UCSD La Jolla, CA Campus

SAN DIEGO, CA– McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. (www.mccarthy.com), one of the nation’s premiere research laboratory builders, has begun construction for the much-anticipated J. Craig Venter Institute (top left rendering), La Jolla, a new 45,000-square-foot laboratory facility located at 4120 Torrey Pines Road in La Jolla, Calif., within the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) campus.

 A formal groundbreaking ceremony was held at the 1.75-acre scenic coastal site on Sept. 20.

  

Guest speakers included J. Craig Venter (middle right photo) Ph.D., founder and president of J. Craig Venter Institute; Marye Anne Fox, UCSD chancellor; San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders; David Brenner, M.D., vice chancellor for health sciences and dean of the School of Medicine at UCSD; and Tony Haymet, Ph.D., director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, vice chancellor for marine sciences, and dean of the Graduate School of Marine Sciences at University of California.

 The $35 million facility, designed to be the most environmentally friendly and only “net zero energy” biological laboratory in the world, is envisioned to support approximately 125 scientists and other staff to further the Institute’s goals in genomic research and policy.  The location of the facility, on land leased from UCSD at the Scripps Upper Mesa, was chosen for its proximity to and potential for collaboration with the many renowned academic research centers in the La Jolla area.

Formed in 2006 through the merger of several affiliated institutes, the J. Craig Venter Institute is the world’s leading multidisciplinary genomic-focused organization, employing approximately 300 scientists and staff at locations in Rockville, Md., and San Diego. Calif.

 “We have carefully assembled a project team comprised of the nation’s top laboratory design and building professionals, and are delighted to have McCarthy execute our vision for this unprecedented facility,” said Robert Friedman (lower left photo), director of the J. Craig Venter Institute’s California campus.

“Representing the most ambitious sustainably designed biological research laboratory project ever to be built, the new J. Craig Venter Institute is integral to the Institute’s quest to perform the science needed to solve critical environmental and human health challenges.”

More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com .

Contact:  Bonnie Kutch, Director, 619-299-1010,  Kutch & Company

3904 Groton Street | Suite 203 | San Diego, California 92110

www.kutchco.com

HFF named to market for sale a trophy retail project adjacent to Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, IL

                                

CHICAGO, IL – HFF announced today that it has been named to market for sale The Streets of Woodfield (top left photo), a 711,402-square-foot, retail project in Schaumburg, Illinois.

The Streets of Woodfield is 98% leased on a long-term basis, and anchored by Whole Foods Market, Crate & Barrel, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Carson Pirie Scott.  

The Streets of Woodfield also includes a 20-screen AMC Theatre and the U.S. flagship store for LegoLand Discovery Center.  The property is located at 601 North Martingale Road immediately adjacent to Woodfield Mall (middle right photo), a 2.2 million-square-foot super regional mall. 

The HFF investment sales team representing the seller includes director Daniel Kaufman (lower  left photo) along with executive managing director Matthew Lawton, and senior managing directors Jim Batjer and Barry Brown.

“The center features a dynamic, thoroughly modern architectural design, which appeals to the area’s sophisticated shopper base, and the open-air circulation allows excellent visibility into the project from Interstate 290 at the entrance to Woodfield Mall,” said Kaufman.

“The Streets of Woodfield is a well-seasoned retail landmark in suburban Chicago which sits at a main-and-main location adjacent to one of the nation’s top 25 super regional malls.  The center’s A+ retail location, outstanding / productive tenant mix, and upside potential are highly coveted by retail real estate investors today,” added Kaufman.

“The trade area offers retailers an exceptional demographic base featuring 270,000 people within a five-mile radius of the property and an $87,000-plus average household income.

 Approximately 250,000 cars per day travel past The Streets of Woodfield on I-290 and Higgins Road.   As a result of the area’s outstanding demographic characteristics, the Woodfield Mall submarket is a tier-one location for retailers doing business in the United States and The Streets of Woodfield is a first stop location for those retailers. 

The property’s retail tenants report consistently high sales including top 10 percent of chain performance for a number of the retailers.  The recent additions of Whole Foods and Crate & Barrel confirms the strength of the trade area and further demonstrates the complimentary nature of The Street of Woodfield and its neighboring super-regional mall,” added Batjer.

Contacts:

Daniel A. Kaufman, HFF Director (312) 528-3650, dkaufman@hfflp.com   

Kristen M. Murphy, HFF Associate Director, Marketing, (713) 852-3500

krmurphy@hfflp.com                    

FedEx Ground Facility in Evansville, IN Fetches $6.3 Million in a Marcus & Millichap Sale

  

EVANSVILLE, IN – Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, the nation’s largest real estate investment services firm, has arranged the sale of a 75,378-square foot FedEx Ground facility (top left photo) in Evansville. The sales price of $6,395,000 represents $85 per square foot.

Alvin Mansour (middle right photo), a senior vice president and senior director of Marcus & Millichap’s Net Leased Properties Group (NLPG) in San Diego, represented the seller, a Missouri-based vineyard and the San Diego-based all-cash buyer.

Joshua Caruana (lower left photo), regional manager of Marcus & Millichap’s Indianapolis office, also provided representation.

“FedEx Ground has signed a 10-year triple-net lease on the property with two five-year options,” says Mansour. “There is a 6 percent rent increase in year 2014 of the initial term and 7.5 percent rent increases between each of the option periods. The lease is signed by FedEx Ground Package System Inc., a subsidiary of FedEx Corp.,” adds Mansour.

“Our marketing campaign created a great deal of interest in the property; so much that it was under contract within the first week of marketing,” Mansour concludes.

The FedEx Ground facility is located at 14831 Foundation Ave. in Evansville, north of the city limits in Vanderburgh County, which is the hub of the Evansville metropolitan statistical area (MSA).

The Evansville MSA is in the southwestern corner of Indiana along the Ohio River, 175 miles southwest of Indianapolis. The MSA has more than 350,000 residents and the average household income is more than 40 percent greater than the national average.

The facility was built in 2005 on 11.6 acres.

Contact: Stacey Corso, Public Relations Manager, (925) 953-1716

www.MarcusMillichap.com

John Crossman and Rich Crotty to Unveil Future of Central Florida Economy Oct. 6

ORLANDO, FL --  Former Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty will unveil the future of metro Orlando and Central Florida at an Oct. 6 discussion with Jody Barry of Florida Hospital and Craig Ustler (top right photo) of Ustler Development, Inc. moderated by John Crossman, president of Crossman & Company.

Crotty serves as executive vice president of Crossman and Company.

“The Orlando metro community has some exciting news ahead and we plan to lay it all out,” said Crossman. “The dynamics that are driving growth in the Orlando metro area are creating opportunities for the entire region,” he said.

The panel discussion, hosted by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Downtown Orlando from 5 to 7 p.m., will feature a Q & A session, Crossman said.

Admission is free and non-members are invited to attend.

For more information, contact:

John Crossman, CCIM, President, Crossman & Company, 407-581-6218, jcrossman@crossmanco.com

Larry Vershel, Larry Vershel Communications, 407-644-4142, lvershelco@aol.com