Thursday, February 18, 2016

HFF arranges $60.67 million construction loan for Class A creative office development in Watertown, MA


Rendering of planned Linx office development, Watertown, MA

BOSTON, MA –– Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P. (HFF) announced it has arranged a $60.67 million construction loan for the development of LINX, a 185,595-square-foot, speculative office development in Watertown, Massachusetts. 

HFF worked on behalf of the borrower, Boylston Properties, to secure the three-year, floating-rate loan through Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers, acting on behalf of an institutional client. 


The current single-story, 93,000-square-foot industrial building began its transformation into LINX, a Watertown, Massachusetts creative office building, in October 2015.

 Upon completion, which is slated for early 2017, LINX will offer tenants Class A, innovative office space boasting a dramatic, two-story atrium, 14’ and 30’ ceiling clearances in office space, LEED-certification, and a private shuttle bus to Harvard Square, among other highly desirable amenities that simply cannot be achieved within the four walls of existing office product.

 LINX will be purpose-built creative space, flexible and functional, designed to meet the requirements of today’s office tenants.  LINX’s location at 490 Arsenal Way is located just off of Arsenal Street, a corridor of Watertown that has been the focal point of activity with both under construction and proposed developments attracting top tenants, such as athenahealth, to the area. 

The 10-acre site is just four miles west of Boston, close to Harvard Business School, Cambridge’s Kendall Square, Harvard Square and Alewife.  This prime location allows LINX to offer prospective tenants a better “inner urban” location than the vibrant, but suburban, office and tech communities of central 128. 

The HFF debt placement team representing Boylston Properties was led by senior managing director Frederic Wittmann.


Boylston Properties has been active in investment and development in the Watertown market for the past 15 years; most recently acquiring 570 Arsenal Street and developing a 150-room Marriott Residence Inn on the site, and the redevelopment of The Arsenal Project, in addition to LINX.

“The Arsenal Street corridor in Watertown is a viable alternative for the oversaturated Kendall Square office market, the extremely congested West Cambridge/Alewife market and the suburban markets of central 128,” said Wittmann.  “With proximity, pricing and a new purpose-built, highly efficient building, LINX will be extremely attractive to new and existing tenants.”

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

Kristen M. Murphy
Director
HFF | One Post Office Square, Suite 3500 | Boston, MA 02109
Main: 617-338-0990 | Direct: 617-848-1572 | Cell: 617-543-4873 | www.hfflp.com


$129.3 million sale of core Class A mixed-use property in Seattle’s South Lake Union submarket sold by HFF


                                                                  (Photo by Red Studio Inc.)

Alley24 Office Building, 221 Yale Avenue North, South Lake Union submarket, Seattle, WA

Todd Tydlaska

                                                                  PORTLAND, OR  – Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P. (HFF) announced it has closed the sale of Alley24, a 215,402-square-foot, core Class A office building with ground floor retail in Seattle’s South Lake Union submarket.

HFF marketed the property on behalf of the sellers, Vulcan, Inc. and PEMCO Insurance Co.  MetLife purchased the asset for $129.3 million and assumed an existing life insurance company loan.   
  
Alley24 is located at 221 Yale Avenue North in South Lake Union, Seattle’s epicenter of industry and innovation and one of the first LEED Certified green neighborhood plans in the nation boasting a Walk Score® Index of 95. 

Completed in 2006, the property was one of Seattle’s first mixed-use projects to earn LEED certification and features sustainable elements such as abundant natural daylight, operable windows, low energy and water flow fixtures, automatic sun-tracking sun shades and environmentally sensitive building materials.

  The 85-percent-leased property serves as the corporate headquarters for architectural firm NBBJ.  Additional tenants include Skanska and Cole & Weber.  Alley24 offers tenants two roof decks, operable windows with sun-tracking shades, flexible floor plans, and ground floor retail.


Nick Kucha
The HFF investment sales team representing the sellers was led by senior managing directors Todd Tydlaska, Nick Kucha and Michael Leggett, who is the co-head of HFF’s West Coast team.

According to Tydlaska, “Alley24 is one of the only true mixed-use assets in the South Lake Union submarket, a centrally-located, high-amenity, pedestrian-oriented location that has maintained historical occupancy of more than 96 percent since it was completed. 

 Most significantly, banner tenants NBBJ, Skanksa and Cole & Weber have occupied the building since it was delivered in 2006.”

Kucha added, “The opportunity to acquire a core asset in South Lake Union attracted domestic as well as foreign capital and we were pleased to have a deep buyer pool for this asset.” 

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

Kristen M. Murphy
Director
HFF | One Post Office Square, Suite 3500 | Boston, MA 02109
Main: 617-338-0990 | Direct: 617-848-1572 | Cell: 617-543-4873 | www.hfflp.com


HFF closes sale of West Woods Shopping Center in Austin, TX


West Woods Shopping Center, 3267 Bee Cave Road, Austin, TX


Jim Batjer
DALLAS, TX  – Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P. (HFF) announced it has closed the sale of West Woods Shopping Center, a 189,340-square-foot shopping center anchored by Michaels, Stein Mart and Petco in Austin, Texas. 

HFF arranged the sale of the property on behalf of the seller, Velocis.  An institutional joint venture purchased the asset for an undisclosed amount.  Additionally, HFF is engaged to arrange post-acquisition financing for the buyer.

The 98-percent-leased West Woods Shopping Center is also home to CVS Pharmacy, Train for the Game, My Fit Foods, Sports Clips, U.S. Post Office, Great Harvest Bread Company, Massage Envy, Pure Barre, Oasis Dance Spa, Tiff’s Treats and Mattress Firm. 

The three-building center has two outparcel pads leased to Raising Canes and Taco Bell.  Situated on 18.56 acres at 3201 and 3267 Bee Cave Road, West Woods Shopping Center is at the intersection of Bee Cave Road, a main east-west artery, and Walsh Tarlton Lane, a main north-south artery.

 The center is surrounded by two of Austin’s most upscale neighborhoods, West Lake Hills and Rollingwood.

The HFF investment sales team representing the seller was led by senior managing directors Jim Batjer and Barry Brown.

The HFF debt placement team representing the new owner is being led by senior managing director Douglas Opalka and director Robert Wooten.

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

Kristen M. Murphy
Director
HFF | One Post Office Square, Suite 3500 | Boston, MA 02109
Main: 617-338-0990 | Direct: 617-848-1572 | Cell: 617-543-4873 | www.hfflp.com

HFF arranges $9.2 million financing for renovation of industrial facility in Bayonne, NJ


Michael Klein
FLORHAM PARK, NJ – Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P. (HFF) announced it has arranged $9.2 million in construction bridge financing to renovate a vacant, 160,575-square-foot industrial property at 99 Avenue A in Bayonne, New Jersey. 

HFF worked on behalf of the developer, Penwood Real Estate Investment Management, LLC (Penwood), to place the construction bridge loan with First Bank NJ. 

Proceeds will be used to rehabilitate the existing building, which features 50’ by 50’ column spacing, 25’ clear heights and 15 dock high loading doors, and prepare the excess 11 acres for the future development of a 175,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art, Class A warehouse distribution building with 36’ clear heights.

99 Avenue A is a former Unilever and Best Foods processing plant that will be converted into a Class A, single-tenant industrial property. 

Situated in the Hudson Waterfront industrial submarket, the 20-acre site is less than half of a mile from the Bayonne Bridge, which connects Bayonne to Staten Island, and four miles from the Hudson County Extension (Interstate 78), which provides direct access to New York City. 

The Port of Newark-Elizabeth and Newark Liberty International Airport are less than three miles from the property and across Newark Bay, which the site overlooks. 


Situated off of Bayonne’s main corridor, State Route 440, 99 Avenue A is two miles north of Interstate 278, 6.5 miles from Interstate 95 and eight miles from State Routes 1 and 9, providing future tenants with highway access throughout the New York metropolitan area and beyond.

The HFF debt placement team representing the borrower was led by director Michael Klein.

“Penwood sought a lender who understood their vision for the property and had the flexibility to work with them throughout the rehabilitation of the existing building and through the entitlement process on the excess land,” said Klein.  “First Bank NJ provided a competitive rate, prepayment flexibility and a creative structure that best met the borrower’s needs and performed flawlessly throughout the closing.”

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

Kristen M. Murphy
Director
HFF | One Post Office Square, Suite 3500 | Boston, MA 02109
Main: 617-338-0990 | Direct: 617-848-1572 | Cell: 617-543-4873 | www.hfflp.com



Anantara’s King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament 2016 Moves to Bangkok’s Scenic Riverside


18 Elephants Get Ready for 14th Annual King's Cup Elephant Polo Tournament
 in Bangkok, Thailand


BANGKOK, THAILAND, Feb. 18, 2016 -- Mark it in your diaries, Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas is announcing the 2016 dates for the highly popular charity event – The King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament.

This year’s event will be held by the banks of Bangkok’s mighty Chaophraya River from March 10th – 13th and promises to have a range ele-fantastic fun for the whole family.

Now in its fourteenth year, the tournament has become one of the biggest charitable events in Southeast Asia.


"Open wide now and let me check your teeth, please"

Almost US$1 million has been raised and donated to projects that better the lives of Thailand’s wild and domesticated elephant population, including continued support for research and clinics using elephants in therapy sessions for children living with autism; donating a gantry to help lame elephants stand and a purpose built elephant ambulance to the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre (TECC), and donating an All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) to the Government Elephant Hospital in Krabi. 

"Get ready...get set...Go!"
Other projects include funding farmer/elephant conflict mitigation projects in three Thai and one Tanzanian National Park; planting 4,000 trees to form an elephant proof fence in Thailand;  fully funding the protection of 18,000 hectares of standing forest in Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains; funding the roll out of children’s educational programmes with the Thai Ministry to teach them the importance of conservation and protection of wild elephants in Thailand and funding the world’s first Target Training Positive Reinforcement Workshops teaching mahouts and trainers throughout Southeast Asia elephant friendly training methods.


"Halt...for the Beauty Parade"

This year’s event will have 10 teams encompassing over 40 players, including Thai celebrities, professional horse polo players, New Zealand All Blacks rugby players and Thailand’s famous transgender cabaret team Miss Tiffany.

A total of 18 elephants will be given a break from their work in tourist trekking camps in Pattaya or bought from unemployment in Surin to take part in the festival, during which they are given much needed food, essential vitamin supplements, full veterinary checks and care for the duration of the event.

Domestic elephants are micro-chipped by the Thai government to show that they have not been caught from the wild.


"Coming up Roses"

The worst trekking camps can be tough for an elephant. In order to make money, mahouts are forced to work their elephants 10 – 12 hours a day.

Conversely, at home in Surin, unemployment means elephants are often left isolated from other elephants with a short chain on two legs 24 hours a day with no exercise or enrichment. In both circumstances, the poverty of existence means their owners cannot afford to feed them anything close to their daily physical needs, emotional needs are forgotten, and shade and sufficient water are often overlooked. 

The King’s Cup schedule is designed to give these trekking elephants rest and relaxation on a scale they are never afforded in their ‘normal’ lives and ensure elephant rest time with interaction and enrichment that neither set of elephants gets in their daily lives.

Miss Tiffany


The four day festival will have something for everyone including an impressive Opening Parade, Children’s Educational Day, Ladies Day known as the ‘Bangkok Ascot’ and a wide range of fun elephant related activities for the whole family.

Anantara has long been associated with elephant conservation efforts with the formation of The Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation, which has performed over 40 rescues of elephants off the streets of Thailand, as well as bringing the hugely successful Elephant Parade to Bangkok where 88 elephant statues were decorated by local and international celebrities and artists to honour Thailand’s HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 88th birthday and will be auctioned off in a gala dinner in February 2016.

Thailand HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 88th birthday Celebrated

For more information on the 14th Annual King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament, please visit www.anantaraelephantpolo.com.

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

 Hwee Peng Yeo
Vice President, Asia Markets
Glodow Nead Communications
San Francisco • New York • Singapore • Shanghai
Level 21, Centennial Tower, 3 Temasek Avenue • Singapore 039190
Level 15, One Corporate Avenue, 222 Hubin Road, Shanghai China, 200021
1700 Montgomery Street, Suite 203 • San Francisco, CA • 94111
Asia: 65.9768.6087  US:415.394.6500 • E: hweepeng@glodownead.com


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Centennial Tower 21层,Temasek Avenue 3号, 新加坡邮区039190
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