HFF announces sale of Flats at Bethesda Avenue in Bethesda, MD

Sue Carras

WASHINGTON, D.C. ––  Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P. (HFF) announces the sale of Flats at Bethesda Avenue, a trophy mixed-use residential and retail property located in the heart of Bethesda, Maryland.

The HFF team marketed the property exclusively on behalf of the seller, a joint venture between StonebridgeCarras, PN Hoffman, Buvermo and Northwestern Mutual, and procured the buyer, a fund managed by BlackRock Real Assets.

Stephen Conley

Completed in 2015, Flats at Bethesda comprises 162 luxury apartment units and nearly 40,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. 

The property, which has a Walk Score® of 98, is situated along Bethesda Row proximate to 11.3 million square feet of existing office space with 1.7 million square feet of additional Class A space planned, as well as 533,000 square feet of high-end retail, entertainment and nightlife amenities. 

The transit-oriented property is a five-minute walk to the Metro Red line at Bethesda Station and a 10-minute drive to the Capital Beltway (Interstate 495), which provides convenient access to the entire Washington, D.C. region. 

Walter Coker

The residential component features one-, two- and three-bedroom units with top-of-the-market finishes and amenities, including a rooftop deck with demonstration kitchen, resident lounge, fire pit and bar; state-of-the-art fitness center; two-level clubroom with fireplace, billiards and kitchen; coffee lounge with Wi-Fi access; and a large outdoor patio overlooking a landscaped courtyard and the Capital Crescent Trail. 

The retail component is 100 percent leased to Pottery Barn, PassionFish, Silver, Chop’t, Paul and Long & Foster Real Estate.

The HFF team representing the seller included Stephen Conley, a licensed Maryland real estate broker, Sue Carras, Walter Coker, Brian Crivella, John Owendoff and Jordan Lex.

Brian Crivella

StonebridgeCarras is a privately held real estate investment and development firm based in Bethesda, Maryland, focusing primarily on developing mixed-use properties in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region. 

During the past 20 years, the principals of StonebridgeCarras, LLC have been involved in the acquisition, development, joint venture, financing and disposition of real estate assets in the Washington area exceeding $5 billion in value.

Since 1993, PN Hoffman has developed numerous extraordinary upscale condominium and mixed-use communities in the Washington, D.C. area.  Its award-winning designs and transformative developments elevate neighborhoods and provide special places where people live and enjoy. 

 Careful planning and neighborhood outreach ensure that PN Hoffman developments vitalize urban landscapes bringing renewed life to communities. 

John Owendoff

PN Hoffman is the managing member of Hoffman-Madison Waterfront, a joint venture of PN Hoffman and Madison Marquette, which is developing The Wharf, a $2 billion, 3.2 million-square-foot neighborhood on one mile of Washington, D.C.’s southwest waterfront. 

Additional information can be found online at Other current projects include The Darcy and The Flats in Bethesda, Maryland; redevelopment of Riverside Baptist Church into a new church facility and residential apartments.

Founded in 1978, Buvermo Investments, Inc. is a commercial real estate investment entity that invests in metropolitan Washington, D.C. real estate projects on behalf of four Dutch families.  Investments are made via joint ventures with local partners.

Investment types include office buildings, apartments, condos, retail, hotel and mixed-use, both in new developments and stabilized buildings.  Investments are also made in land to secure entitlements for development or for sale to third parties. 

Jordan Lex

It has the capacity to invest in individual projects as the primary equity provider or in conjunction with co-investors.  Over the past 10 years, Buvermo has participated in investments in excess of $500 million and since 2007 has invested in 11 new ventures with seven partners. 

Deal sourcing, day-to-day decision-making and management is provided by local management based in Bethesda, Maryland.

For more information, please contact:

Olivia Hennessey Public Relations Specialist 9 Greenway Plaza Suite 700 Houston ,  TX  77046 T: 713-852-3403 ohennessey@hfflp.com |@|* www.pnhoffman.com

www.wharfdc.com. 

Arbor Announces the Appointment of Bill O’Brien as Senior Vice President, Agency Production

  

Bill O'Brien

UNIONDALE, NY, May 8, 2018 – Arbor Realty Trust, Inc., a real estate investment trust and national direct lender specializing in loan origination and servicing for multifamily, seniors housing, healthcare and other diverse commercial real estate assets, is pleased to announce the appointment of Bill O’Brien as Senior Vice President, Agency Production.

Mr. O’Brien will be responsible for the development and growth of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac production pipelines as well as agency relationship management.

“Bill’s deep agency product knowledge and relationships, along with his many years of multifamily experience, will help support Arbor’s strategic growth plans as we continue to further increase our leadership as a top agency lender,” said Frank Lutz, Executive Vice President, Chief Production Officer. “We are delighted to have Bill join the Arbor team.”

Frank Lutz

Mr. O’Brien comes to Arbor with more than 25 years of commercial real estate lending experience. For the past 10 years, he served as Fannie Mae’s Director of Multifamily. 

In this role, he managed several national accounts, including two Top 10 DUS® Lenders. 

Prior to this position, Mr. O’Brien worked at Capmark Finance Inc. /GMAC Commercial Mortgage.

 During his 12-year tenure there, Mr. O’Brien advanced to serve as Senior Vice President, Director of Underwriting and Origination for a West Coast regional office. 

He was responsible for generating origination volume of approximately $2.5 billion per year from 2004-2007 in various product types, with the largest cond Preferred Equity lender, consistently building on its reputation for service, quality and flexibility.

 With a multibillion-dollar servicing portfolio, Arbor is a primary commercial loan servicer and special servicer rated by Standard & Poor’s with an Above Average rating. Arbor is also on the Standard & Poor’s Select Servicer List and is a primary commercial loan servicer and loan level special servicer rated by Fitch Ratings.

 For more information, please contact:

 Bina Handa

Tel: 516.506.4229

bhanda@arbor.com

HFF advises Seaforth Land in £90.8M acquisition loan from Blackstone for CAA House, London

CAA House, London, England

LONDON, ENGLAND –– HFF Real Estate Limited (HFF) announces the £90.8 million acquisition financing of CAA House, two interconnected office buildings totaling 222,269 square feet in London’s Covent Garden, Midtown submarket.

Michael Kavanau

The HFF team worked on behalf of the borrower, Seaforth Land Holdings Limited, to secure the five-year loan through Blackstone’s Real Estate Debt Strategies division.  In conjunction with this acquisition loan, Blackstone is also extending financing toward the refurbishment of the property.

CAA House comprises two buildings at 1 Kemble Street and 45-59 Kingsway that are connected via a two-story link bridge on the first and second floors. 

Originally developed as “Space House” in 1969, the properties were listed in 2015 as “Grade II” by English Heritage.  1 Kemble Street is a 16-storey, 138,556-square-foot building and 45 Kingsway has 62,607 square feet within eight storeys. 

Edward Daubeney

The property offers parking for 22 vehicles and common basements offering 21,106 square feet of ancillary accommodation.  Located in the dynamic Covent Garden submarket, CAA House is close to many of London’s iconic entertainment and cultural offerings, including Leicester Square, Soho, Covent Garden Piazza, Royal Opera House, Somerset House, the British Museum and the Theatre District. 

Additionally, Covent Garden has become a world-renowned shopping and leisure destination attracting more than 45 million visitors per year.  CAA House is well served by transport being situated close to Holborn, Covent Garden and Temple tube stations as well as the new Elizabeth Line station at Tottenham Court Road set to open this year.

Michael Zerda

Tyler Goodwin, CEO of Seaforth Land, comments: “As a value investor and a fiduciary, Blackstone’s facility helps us generate a compelling risk adjusted return while maintaining a conservative loan to value ratio. 

"Blackstone and HFF have been a pleasure to work with, particularly given the exceptionally competitive market for this off-market transaction. 

"They immediately recognised our vision for place-making with unique and creative office and retail space.  We’re looking forward to returning ‘Spacehaus’ to the London office market as a celebration of mid-century modern Brutalist architecture.”

Michael Zerda, Managing Director and Head of Europe for Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies, said: “This transaction is an excellent example of Blackstone’s ability to provide senior loans against high quality real estate, in support of high calibre borrowers at competitive terms.

Covent Garden

"CAA House is a prominent landmark in London’s Covent Garden, and Seaforth Land sought a low-leverage yet flexible lending solution which fits squarely within our investment parameters.”

The HFF debt placement team included senior managing director Michael Kavanau and managing director Edward Daubeney.

Seaforth Land is a real estate operating partner for professional and institutional investors.  We focus exclusively on Central London commercial property investing across the risk-return spectrum while placing a priority on delivering superior net-to-investor returns with fiduciary care.

Seaforth’s in-house capabilities start with proprietary macro and micro research and cover the entire asset lifecycle, from acquisitions, asset management, planning, design, development and dispositions. 

Leicester Square

Our specialisation, world-class team, and in-depth market knowledge gain us access to off-market investments and help us to make better informed investment decisions for our own capital and that of our partners.

Blackstone (NYSE: BX) is one of the world's leading investment firms. Blackstone seeks to create positive economic impact and long-term value for its investors, the companies it invests in, and the communities in which it works.

 Blackstone does this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Blackstone's asset management businesses, with over $450 billion in assets under management, include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis.

Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow Blackstone on Twitter @Blackstone.

For more information, please contact:

KRISTEN MURPHY

HFF Director, Public Relations

(617) 338-0990

krmurphy@hfflp.com

Shaner Italia S.R.L. Forms Joint Venture with Athens, Greece-based CS Hospitality

Andreas Contos

STATE COLLEGE, PA –Officials of Shaner Italia, S.R.L, a division ofThe Shaner Hotel Group focused on owning and operating hotels in Europe, announced the formation of a joint venture with Athens, Greece-based CS Hospitality to expand their hotel operations in Greece and Cyprus. 

 By combining both operators’ expertise and sophisticated operational procedures, the partnership will offer global and professional operating support to high-end hotels and resorts in the region.

Andreas Contos, CEO of CS Hospitality, and Stella Sarantidou, COO heading operations, bring with them over 30 years of international experience with Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott hotels to a fast-growing Greek tourism market. 

“Focusing on a much-needed, high-end global hospitality experience is very timely. Greece is expecting over 30 million visitors this year,” Contos said. 

Plato Ghinos

The joint venture with CS Hospitality allows Shaner Italiato expand its footprint in the Mediterranean region, following its landmark transformation of the Renaissance Tuscany Il Ciocco Hotel.  Shaner Italia has since stabilized the hotel among the top ten resorts in Europe.

  The company also recently announced the acquisition of the Grand Universe, in the center of Lucca, which will open in 2019 under the Marriott brand, Autograph.

“Greece and Cyprus are a natural expansion of our global efforts, following our footprints in Italy since 2011. Tourism as an industry is expanding, and hospitality will be the major economic force in Southern Europe” said Lance Shaner, chief executive officer, The Shaner Hotel Group.

“Shaner’s reputation, infrastructure and more than 35 years’ of experience will bring a much-needed level of operating excellence to the marketplace,” said Plato Ghinos, Shaner president.  “This new joint venture is currently finalizing several agreements, and we are working close with some globalinvestment funds that are active in the region.  We expect to announce our first transaction in the coming months.”

Lance Shaner

Shaner Hotel Group is one of the foremost owner-operator companies in the hospitality industry with more than 50 hotel properties owned and managed across the U.S., Italy, and the Bahamas.

 New properties are constantly evaluated as The Shaner Hotel Group continues a conservative, yet opportunistic approach to growth. 

Shaner is an approved management company and franchisee of Marriott International, Inc., Hilton Hotels Corporation, Intercontinental Hotels Group, and Choice Hotels. 

CS Hospitality is a long-experienced hotel management and consulting company operating properties throughout Greece. 

With hands-on-management and refreshing style of hotel operations, the company’s scope is to establish and rebuild hotel profitability, solve hotel management system inefficiencies, re-engineer hotel staff policies and guest programs, and manage new developments from start to the first guest registration and beyond. 

As an approved Operator of Marriott International, in 2018 will operate the newly introduced Moxy Hotel Patras. 


 For more information, please contact:

CHRIS DALY
PRESIDENT
DALY GRAY PUBLIC RELATIONS, INC.
620 Herndon Parkway, Suite 115 | Herndon, VA 20170
Main: 703-435-6293
Mobile: 703-864-5553

chris@dalygray.com | www.dalygray.com

www.shanercorp.com

www.cs-hospitality.gr.