AUSTIN – CBRE Debt & Equity Finance team in Houston arranged $83.5 million in construction financing on behalf Seaholm Power, LLC for the redevelopment of the Seaholm Power Plant, an historic, art deco facility located in the southwestern portion of the Austin Central Business District. The borrower, Seaholm Power, LLC, a joint venture between Austin-based Southwest Strategies, Los Angeles-based CIM Group and the City of Austin, plans to transform the 117,000-sf power plant into institutional-grade office space while constructing 60,000 sf of new office and retail development anchored by a Trader Joe’s. The new development will also include a 30-story, 309-unit apartment tower. Bank of the Ozarks and IBC Banks were the two lenders on the open-ended construction loans. Executive Vice President Jim Richards and Senior Vice President Jim Kirkpatrick of CBRE led the team.
NAREE Real Estate Journalists Head to Atlanta for June Conference
ATLANTA – Top industry leaders will generate headline news as they address scores of real estate journalists from across the nation in Atlanta June 5-8 at the National Association of Real Estate Editors (NAREE) 47th Annual Real Estate Journalism Conference.
NAREE University sessions at the conference will offer journalism workshops focusing on topics ranging from digital and social media to radio broadcasting.
Conference advisor, Ralph Bivins of RealtyNewsReport.com says, “NAREE 13 covers the confluence of the commercial real estate and residential real estate markets from financing, developing, building and sales replete with economic forecasts, tours and ‘Twitter and the Fourth Estate.’ “
Economists, architects, builders, developers and mortgage experts will come together under NAREE’s roof.
More than 20 company presidents, chief executive officers and partners from leading real estate-related firms will appear.
“The amount of information this conference offers is incredible,” said Kris Hudson, NAREE president and Wall Street Journal reporter. “When writing about real estate, one has to cover several facets of the industry and the NAREE Journalism Conference touches on them all.”
Three chief economists lead the NAREE forecast panel: Lawrence Yun, National Association of Realtors; Jed Kolko, Trulia and Mark Fleming, Core Logic.
The Boom in Luxury Housing panel presents: Kofi Nartey, Agency of Beverly Hills; Martha Turner, Martha Turner Properties and Jack Cotton, Sotheby’s International.
Mark Woodworth, PKF Hospitality Research, will deliver a hotel market forecast and author and architect Marianne Cusato, designer of the famed Katrina Cottages, will speak on “The Best Places to Live.”
NAREE’s 17th Annual Meet the Press will match journalists with publicists and freelancers during three-minute interviews. Winners of the 63rd Annual NAREE Real Estate Journalism Competition and the Bruss Book Awards will be unveiled.
The conference includes tours to Serenbe, a 1,000-acre sustainable development in the country; Midtown’s Atlantic Station with its mix of high-rise residential, retail and commercial; and the Ponce City Market, the largest adaptive reuse project in Atlanta history.
The NAREE Conference, headquartered at the Hilton Atlanta Downtown, begins Wednesday morning, June 5 and ends Saturday afternoon. Registration: www.NAREE.org.
NAREE, founded in 1929, is a non-profit organization helping journalists advance careers as staff writers, editors, bloggers, freelancers and authors.
Houston Office Market Strong in First Quarter
Houston’s growing economy continued to boost the commercial real estate market with positive absorption and numerous projects under construction in both the office and industrial markets during the first three months of 2013, according to quarterly market research compiled by Commercial Gateway, the commercial division of the Houston Association of Realtors.
The city’s office market finished the first quarter with a total of 511,161 square feet of positive net absorption, which marks the eighth consecutive quarter of positive absorption. Class A space is on top for 326,441 sf absorbed, trailed closely by Class B with 236,927 sf. Class C recorded a negative 52,207 sf, continuing its second quarter of negative absorption.
Three suburban submarkets recorded positive net absorption of more than 100,000 square feet during the first quarter with the West submarket at 145,733 square feet taking the lead. Uptown recorded 121,749 square feet while the Energy Corridor completed the top three with 104,462 square feet. The three submarkets account for 72.8% of the total absorption for the year. The Central Business District (CBD) submarket recorded a negative 94,995 square feet of net absorption. No major new office buildings have been completed yet in 2013, although five buildings totaling 947,080 square foot are scheduled for completion during the second quarter; all but one is 66% or more pre-leased.
Hines Buys Australia Building for $128 Million
SYDNEY – The Sydney office of Hines, the international real estate firm, announced that Hines Global REIT, Inc. has acquired 825 Ann Street, an office building in Fortitude Valley, in Brisbane, Australia, for $128 million. The seller was a trust owned by Laing O’Rourke Australia. The Australian investment manager is Challenger Management Services Limited.
825 Ann is 99 percent leased to three office tenants: Ergon Energy; Laing O’Rourke Construction; and Macquarie Bank; and retail tenant 4evermen.
Designed by Rice Daubney, 825 Ann is a new 11-story, 206-507-sf office building, with ground-floor retail and two levels of underground parking.
