Skyline Views

National Press Building For Sale, Could Fetch Nearly $300 Million

Feb. 22, 2011 - The National Press Building in Washington, home to the National Press Club, is on the market and could fetch as much as $295 million, or $600 a square foot. This, according to tomorrow's edition of the Real Estate Alert newsletter.

Cassidy Turley is marketing the 491,000-square-foot building for the owner, a venture led by Quadrangle Development, Real Estate Alert reports. The building is 96 percent occupied and just the sort of core asset investors are craving - and paying record prices for across the country.

The building at 529 14th St. NW, completed in 1927, was renovated in 1985 and again in 2006. It's only two blocks from the White House.

This offering should get a lot of attention from real estate reporters vying to break the story of the new owner.

 

Florida Group Acquires St. Regis on Eve of Commercial Real Estate's Biggest Event

ATLANTA (Feb. 17, 2011) - When Doug McMahon of Tavistock Group was in Buckhead with former Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last fall, the St. Regis Hotel and Residences must have caught his eye.

Early this morning, Windermere, Fla.-based Tavistock said it had acquired the upscale hotel on West Paces Ferry Road near Peachtree and the 30 unsold condos atop it.

The announcement came on the perfect day to create a big buzz in Atlanta's commercial real estate industry. This evening, hundreds of CRE people will put on their tuxes and long dresses and gather at the St. Regis for the annual NAIOP Night.

Here's the official release from PRNewswire.

ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Tavistock Group announced today that it has acquired the 151-room St. Regis Hotel and the remaining 30 St. Regis Residences in Atlanta's exclusive Buckhead community. Tavistock Group acquired the property from a consortium of partners, some of whom were also the property's development team.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110216/FL49992 )

"We are thrilled to acquire the St. Regis property in Atlanta and believe it is a terrific asset in one of the Southeast's most prominent cities.  We believe Atlanta will continue to be a critically important economic and cultural center for the next several decades," said Douglas E. McMahon, a managing director of the diversified, privately-held investment company.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts will continue to manage The St. Regis Atlanta, which has proven to be a successful partnership to date, recently recognized as the Buckhead Business of the Year by the Buckhead Business Association.

"Our group is interested in finding and acquiring more quality assets like the St. Regis, and my team currently is looking across the country for similar opportunities," stated Barry Goff, the managing director of diversified acquisitions for Tavistock Group.

"The quality of the real estate asset and the City of Atlanta were driving factors for us," said McMahon, "and we look forward to expanding our presence in Atlanta and introducing the resident owners of the St. Regis to the benefits of being a part of the Tavistock Group family."

Opened in April 2009, The St. Regis Atlanta was developed by the SR Hotel Development Company, LLLP, and has enjoyed notable success both as a hotel and a preferred residential address. The St. Regis Atlanta has established a new standard of quality for high-rise hospitality and living in the Southeast. The St. Regis Hotel was recently presented the 2011 AAA Five Diamond Award in lodging, 2011 AAA Four Diamond Award in restaurants for Paces 88 and the 2010 Hot List Award by Conde Nast Traveler. Twenty-three of the fifty-three Residences already have been sold to a broad array of prominent community and business leaders from the city.

"We intend to be a hands-on, highly involved owner," added McMahon. "We will strive to make this the very best St. Regis hotel property and work to establish the St. Regis Residences at 88 West Paces Ferry as the most desirable address in the city of Atlanta."

About Tavistock Group

Tavistock Group is an international private investment company founded by Joe Lewis.

With investments in 250 companies across 15 countries, Tavistock Group's investment portfolio includes:  life sciences, professional sports team and sporting events, manufacturing and distribution, oil, gas and energy, financial services, restaurants, commercial properties, private luxury residential properties, resort properties and master-planned real estate developments.

Tavistock Group owns and has developed the renowned Isleworth and Lake Nona Golf & Country Clubs in Orlando, Florida, the luxury resort community of Albany in The Bahamas, and is currently building a 7,000-acre master-planned medical city in central Florida anchored by the new Nemours Children's Hospital, The Sanford-Burnham Institute, and The University of Central Florida's College of Medicine.

For more information on Tavistock Group, visit www.tavistock.com.

About The St. Regis Atlanta

Combining timeless sophistication with an unrivaled dimension of luxury, The St. Regis Atlanta Hotel & Residences debuted April 14, 2009. The 26-floor development features 151 luxuriously appointed guest rooms and suites, 53 St. Regis Residences, more than 16,000 square feet of contemporary meeting and event space, two exclusive bars, world-class culinary options, a state-of-the-art fitness facility that overlooks an exquisite 40,000-square-foot Pool Piazza and poolside Bar, a 7,800-square-foot Remede Spa and Paces 88, the signature restaurant. Each guest room and suite is attended by the signature St. Regis Butler Service, an ever present yet unobtrusive service dedicated to meeting the needs of discerning global travelers. The St. Regis Atlanta Hotel & Residences is located at 88 West Paces Ferry Road in Buckhead. For more information, please call (404) 563-7900 or visit www.stregis.com/atlanta.

About St. Regis Hotels & Resorts

Combining classic sophistication and modern luxury, the St. Regis brand remains faithful to its commitment to excellence. Founded by John Jacob Astor IV, with the opening of the first St. Regis Hotel in New York City over a century ago, the St. Regis brand of hotels is known for its unique luxury dimension, customized service and refined elegance, in the best destinations worldwide. Plans for this brand to globally continue its legacy include long-awaited St. Regis US and Latin American hotels and resorts in Bal Harbour, Buenos Aires and the Riviera Maya. In Asia, St. Regis has also announced plans to open hotels in Bangkok, Chengdu, Kuala Lumpur, Sanya Yalong Bay and Tianjin. In Africa and the Middle East, the St. Regis brand will continue to expand in Abu Dhabi, Cairo, Doha and Mauritius. The distinctive trait of the St. Regis experience is customized service and attention, coveted locations and luxurious design. For more information on St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, please visit www.stregis.com.

About Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with 1,025 properties in 100 countries and territories with 145,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood Hotels is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels, resorts and residences with the following internationally renowned brands: St. Regis®, The Luxury Collection®, W®, Westin®, Le Meridien®, Sheraton®, Four Points® by Sheraton, and the recently launched Aloft®, and Element (SM).  Starwood Hotels also owns Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., one of the premier developers and operators of high quality vacation interval ownership resorts. For more information, please visit www.starwoodhotels.com.

 

U.S. Commercial Real Estate Sales Doubled, to $100 Billion, in 2010

Jan. 4, 2011 - The total sales volume of core commercial property in the United States topped $100 billion in 2010, Real Capital Analytics Managing Director Dan Fasulo said Saturday on the “Commercial Real Estate Show.”

That’s double the level in 2009 and means the investment market has returned to 2003 levels.

Fasulo broke the year-end news on the “Commercial Real Estate Show,” the radio show hosted by Michael Bull on Biz 1190 WAFS in Atlanta. The nationally focused program also is available at the show’s website.

“We are well on our way back to recovery mode in the investment market,” said Fasulo. He added that volume picked up each quarter during 2010, with roughly $35 billion in the fourth quarter. (In December, The Irvine Co. paid $625 million for Hyatt Center, a 1.5 million-square-foot office tower in Chicago.)

He also said the recovery has been more widespread than pundits expected. Office and multi-family were the strongest sectors, but there was also $15 billion in activity in the hotel sector. “Many pundits thought hotels would be the last sector to see any activity,” he told Bull during the program.

Real Capital Analytics is a global research and consulting firm with offices in New York; San Jose, Calif.; The Hague and London. Started in 2000, the firm's proprietary research is focused exclusively on the investment market for commercial real estate.

The Next “Commercial Real Estate Show” will air Jan. 8 and focus on the multi-family investment market.

The data provider for the show will be Greg Willet, vice president of research and analysis at MPF Research. Guests will include Jerry Wilkinson, chairman elect of the National Apartment Association; Philip Tague, executive vice president at AMLI; Buddy Patrick, executive officer at the Atlanta Apartment Association; and Ernie Eden, senior vice president of the Apartment Group at Bull Realty Inc. Listeners worldwide can tune in at www.CREshow.com or in Atlanta on air at biz1190 WAFS.

Each show starts with a breaking commercial real estate market update by well-known national providers. The show host and a panel of industry expert guests then share information, insight and case studies related to each shows main topic. The show is hosted by 30-year commercial real estate veteran Michael Bull, CCIM. Michael is the president and founder of commercial brokerage firm Bull Realty.

(Wilbert News Strategies is distributing this news on behalf of The Commercial Real Estate Show, a client.)

Wall Street Journal Agrees: Parkway's 3344 Peachtree Purchase Could Be Milestone

ATLANTA (Dec. 28, 2010) - News of Parkway Properties pending purchase of 3344 Peachtree has made it to The Wall Street Journal.

Last week, Skyline Views said Parkway's stated purchase price of $167.3 million for the vertical mixed--use development's office and retail components would set a price-per-square-foot record in Buckhead. At more than $346 a foot, the deal would eclipse the sale of the Pinnacle, which Cousins Properties sold for $343 a square foot.

In this morning's Plots & Ploys column in the WSJ's Property Report, office market reporter Anton Troianovski writes, "the [3344 Peachtree] deal could prove to be a milestone for Buckhead, which saw a slew of high-end office developments built just as demand for space tumbled. Now, developers report that tenants are slowly creeping back, although it could still take a long time for the market to stabilize."

It's nice to see the national press reporting some good news out of tony Buckhead.

Parkway's Purchase of 3344 Peachtree Will Set New Buckhead Record

By Tony Wilbert, Wilbert News Strategies

ATLANTA (Dec. 23, 2010) - Wow. We figured 3344 Peachtree would trade for an incredible number, and it looks like it's going to.

Yesterday, Mississippi REIT Parkway Properties officially announced it planned to purchase the office portion of 3344 Peachtree for a whopping $167.3 million. With 482,699 square feet of space, that puts the sales price at more than $346 a foot, eclipsing the previous Buckhead record of $343 a foot set by the Pinnacle at Peachtree and Lenox roads.

In October, we predicted 3344 Peachtree would fetch at least $15o million. Regent Partners and Jones Lang LaSalle have to be ecstatic about the price they're getting for the 482,699-square-foot tower. 3344 Peachtree is the office portion of the $250 million mixed-use project developed by Regent Partners. The condo portion is referred to as Sovereign, where there are 82 condos now starting at $799,000.

Picking up the 2-year-old trophy asset at 3344 Peachtree is a good move for Parkway, too, which doesn't get the respect it deserves in Atlanta as a substantial owner despite owing several office buildings, including One Capital City Plaza right next door to 3344 Peachtree. Buying 3344 Peachtree - the acquisition is expected to close in late January - immediately will catapult Parkway to a major player in Atlanta.

It would have done the same for North Carolina REIT Highwoods Properties, which apparently was in the runner-up in the 3344 Peachtree sweepstakes.

For the record, here's what Parkway's CEO says about the acquisition.

Steven G. Rogers, president and chief executive officer at Parkway, stated, "We are proud of the prospect of adding an asset of the stature of 3344 Peachtree to our portfolio.  We are very familiar with the Buckhead market given our long-term investment in One Capital City Plaza directly next door to this Property, and we are confident that our team will maintain the highest level of operational excellence that the current owners have established.  At 93% leased and with an average remaining lease term of over seven years, this investment is expected to provide steady cash flows toFund II and will improve the profile of Parkway's Atlanta portfolio."

 

 

Buckhead Office Tower Could Fetch $150 Million

ATLANTA (Oct. 22, 2010) - Finally, it's Atlanta's turn to get into the rarified air of potential record pricing for a local trophy office tower.

Regent Partners has brought 3344 Peachtree to the market. The developer/owner hired Chris Marshall of Jones Lang LaSalle to market the 469,921-square-foot office component of the mixed-use tower that also contain Sovereign, the luxury condo. Fewer than 25,000 square feet remain for lease in the building's office portion.

Jarred Schenke of Bisnow Atlanta broke the news of the building coming to market. The tower is shown at left, rising high above Atlanta Financial Center.

Given investors' appetite for well-stabilized core assets, 3344 Peachtree should attract interest from several well-capitalized bidders. This could apply upward pressure on pricing and lead to an incredible price and price-per-square-foot not seen around here in several years. 

This phenomenon has occurred in 24-hour cities across the country this year. In Chicago, 300 North LaSalle sold for a record price of $655 million, or $500 a square foot this summer. The buyer was KBS of Newport Beach, Calif.

No one in Atlanta expects any tower, even a new trophy asset, to attract $500 a square foot. But 3344 Peachtree's price could top $300 a square foot and even flirt with the $343 a foot Cousins got when it sold Pinnacle in Buckhead six years ago.

If Regent can get $320 a foot, 3344 Peachtree would sell for more than $150 million. 

With the Campanile deal done, 3344 Peachtree now is the office sale to watch.

 

Georgia's Own Supplied $30 Million Note on Campanile: ATLaw Blog

Andy Peters of The Daily Report just posted the most comprehensive financial data regarding John Dewberry's stunning $36 million acquisition of Campanile.

In the ATLaw blog, Peters cites sale documents showing Georgia's Own Credit Union provided a note for $30 million to finance the purchase. He also quotes an attorney for the credit union who says Dewberry did not supply any additional equity above the $6 million he put down initially to make the deal happen.

Check out the complete report here. Fascinating scoop by Peters, a former Bloomberg reporter.

Dewberry Does It; Campanile Office Tower is His

By Tony Wilbert, WNS PR

ATLANTA (September 9 2010) - The Dew has done it.

John Dewberry closed this week on his stunning acquisition of Campanile in Midtown, according to Real Estate Rooster and Bisnow Atlanta. Bailey Webb, Rooster reporter, broke the news at 9:20 a.m. today. (Thanks to Rooster for the cool photo at left.)

The acquisition is stunning because Dewberry's bid for the former BellSouth headquarters tower was dead in the water only hours before he won the deal. We hear Dewberry's personal visit to Eastdil Secured's office sealed the deal after he was alerted he was not the winner - or even the runner-up.

Word is, Dewberry had the guts to put down $6 million hard to ensure he won the building he coveted. The purchase price was about $36 million.

For Dewberry, a friend and sometime client, buying Campanile further solidifies his position as a major Midtown property owner. He was Midtown when Midtown wasn't cool.

Miami Firm Slated to Close Next Month on Equitable Building

By Tony Wilbert, WNS PR

ATLANTA (Aug. 31, 2010) - News that America's Capital Partners had contracted to buy downtown Atlanta's landmark Equitable Building caught most off guard when Real Estate Rooster broke the news last week.

Now comes word that ACP, the Miami-based investment firm, will close on its acquisition Sept. 28, after a slight delay due to the extra time needed to figure out all the easements involved with the downtown tower's location. Acquiring the Class B office tower would be an intriguing move for America' Capital Partners after the mixed results it had at Peachtree Center before selling its managing partner position to Eola Capital.

Neither ACP nor listing broker Will Yowell of CB Richard Ellis commented in Rooster's report. However, Rooster reporter Bailey Webb says ACP will pay $27 million, or $44 a foot for the 35-story, 615,000-square-foot building. The owner is Capmark Financial Group, which foreclosed on the building in April 2009.

For ACP to make Equitable work, it probably needs to rename and reintroduce the tower and pour some decent money into it. The new owners also would have to figure out how to best present the tower's location across Peachtree Street from Woodruff Park.

We'll follow this story closely in the mainstream press and opine further as things develop.

Dewberry Runs Ultimate Quarterback Sneak

By Tony Wilbert, WNS PR

ATLANTA (July 26, 2010) - As we predicted about two weeks ago, the Chase for Campanile blossomed into the commercial real estate story, for this month anyway. The news also prompted reporters to break out their best gridiron/real estate analogies.

Early last week, word on the street said John Dewberry came out of nowhere and emerged as the leading contender to acquire the 440,000-square-foot former headquarters of BellSouth at Peachtree & 14th streets in Midtown. Because Dewberry, a former Georgia Tech and Georgia quarterback loves football analogies, we'll offer one here. John Dewberry ran the ultimate quarterback sneak on this one.

(Disclosure: WNS handled media relations for Dewberry Capital's March announcement of its joint venture with Gene Kansas Commercial Real Estate.)

The real estate press jumped on the story Thursday, with Real Estate Rooster, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Atlanta Business Chronicle posting stories. Real Estate Rooster blasted an e-mail with the headline: Dewberry Closes in on Campanile. Rooster writer Bailey Webb quoted an unnamed source saying Dewberry has coveted the former Bell tower for years. "If Dewberry Capital can cross the goal line" and complete the transaction, the firm will add to its impressive Midtown holdings, Webb writes.

Rachel Ramos' story in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution included detailed information about the transaction, including a price tag of about $36 million. She quotes Cushman & Wakefield tenant rep Ken Ashley, who authors a blog, describing the Campanile as an "iconic asset."

In his story, the ABC's Doug Sams broke out a football analogy of his own: "The former Georgia Tech quarterback might pull it off, but he faces a challenge if he's going to lead Campanile on a comeback," Sams writes.

Knowing Dewberry, he's up for the challenge and will be happy to tell the world about Campanile when the time is right.