Washington Capital buys Bethesda office property for $45m

Washington Capital Management has acquired The Fairmont Building in Bethesda, Md., from Realty Investment Co. The 125,108-square-foot office building traded for $45.4 million, lower than the 2013 acquisition price of $46 million.

HFF team of Senior Managing Directors Jim Meisel and Andrew Weir, Senior Director Matthew Nicholson and Director David Baker represented the seller, prior to the firm’s acquisition by JLL.

The Fairmont Building is located at 7735 Old Georgetown Road, in Bethesda’s Woodmont Triangle area. The property was constructed in 1964. The 12-story building received a complete renovation in 1997. Potential leases range from 2,293 square feet of divisible space up to 6,597 square feet of contiguous space. Tenants have access to a six-level parking garage comprising 135 spaces, and floor plates of 10,212 square feet. The building is Energy Star certified as of 2010. Tenants include GTM Architects, Earth Share, Greysteel, Urban Atlantic and others, occupying 96 percent of the building.

The Woodmont Triangle area features a plethora of restaurants, bars and entertainment. The Fairmont Building is close to several bus stations, as well as the Red Line metro, which provides access to downtown Washington, D.C. The office building will also be proximate to the upcoming Purple Line, which is currently under construction and is estimated to come online between 2022 and 2024.

Source:CP Executive

Fulya Altunyay/[email protected]


Oglethorpe Square trades for $24m

A private investment group bought Oglethorpe Square from Hutton. Newmark Knight Frank represented the seller in the deal.NKF Senior Managing Directors Drew Fleming and Mark Joines, together with Associate Henry Kushner, represented the seller in the transaction.

Oglethorpe Square is a 159,329-square-foot shopping center in Hinesville. The asset is located at 863 W. Oglethorpe Highway. It is close to Interstate 85 and 43 miles from downtown Savannah, near the Walmart Supercenter. Fort Stewart, the largest U.S. Army post east of the Mississippi River, with a full-time population of more than 12,000 people, is 4.4 miles north of the property.

Oglethorpe Square was built in 2017 on an 18.5-acre site.The property is anchored by T.J. Maxx, Hobby Lobby, Dick’s Sporting Goods, ULTA and PetSmart. The property is currently fully leased, with other tenants including Five Below, Great Clips, Longhorn Steakhouse and Starbucks.

Source:CP Executive

Fulya Altunyay/[email protected]

Hendon Properties acquires MS retail center for $32M

Hendon Properties acquired The Forum at Grandview that is a 216,000 square foot shopping center in Madison, Miss. The seller was CBL Properties.

The buyer paid $31.8 million for the asset. CEO of CBL Properties, the proceeds will be used for debt reduction and redevelopment opportunities. The Forum at Grandview is at 175 Grandview Blvd., alongside Interstate 55, near Exit 108, where the average car traffic exceeds 80,000 vehicles per day. The property is 14 miles north of downtown Jackson, Miss., and Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport is within a 30-minute drive.

The Forum at Grandview consists of 16 shops built on a 27.7-acre site. Anchor tenants include Best Buy, Dick’s Sporting Goods, HomeGoods, Michaels and Stein Mart. Also, the shopping center features more than 35,000 square feet of specialty retail. The mall serves a population of more than 97,000 residents within a 5-mile radius, with an average household income of approximately $100,000.

Source:CP Executive

Fulya Altunyay/[email protected]


Vision Investment Company to agree Roberto Cavalli

Vision Investment Company, the investment company of Damac Properties chairman Hussein Sajwani, has signed a binding agreement to acquire Italian fashion house Roberto Cavalli.

Anonymous sources believe the agreement for 100 percent of the company is worth approximately 160 million euros.Vision emerged as the highest bidder, beating competitors including Diesel owner Renzo Rossi’s Only the Brave, US-based Marquee Brands, brand management company Bluestar Alliance and Israeli-Chinese private equity fund Infinity Group.

Roberto Cavalli has yet to publicly confirm the sale, as the sale requires approval by the Milan Court in a process that could take as much as three months. Cavalli is expected to present an agreement by August 3. In 2017, Damac and Cavalli signed a deal to build a number of “Just Cavalli” villas.

The following month, the two firms signed a partnership for Roberto Cavalli to provide the interior design for a least five luxury hotels, with the first one expected to be built by 2023.

Source:Arabian Business

Fulya Altunyay/[email protected]

Sharjah invests $4bn in real estate

According to the Sharjah Real Estate Registration Directorate (SRERD), over $3.9 billion worth of real estate transactions were recorded in Sharjah in the first half of 2019.

Abdul Aziz Ahmed Al Shamsi, director general of the SRERD, revealed that 27,588 transactions were recorded that covered 24 million square feet in area.

Al Shamsi said, “The advanced infrastructure, proactive legislation, economic stability, and strategic location are further elements of attraction that promote the image of Sharjah as a leading global investment destination in the real estate sector.”

As per the H1 report, 1,893 sales transactions and 1,588 initial sale contract transactions were recorded. In Sharjah city alone, sales stood at 1,704, covering 91 areas, led by Muwaileh Commercial Area, followed by Al Khan, and Al Nahda, which ranked third.

Residential properties ranked first in terms of sales transactions, constituting 69.7 percent of the total recorded. These were followed by commercial properties (17.8 percent), industrial (10 percent), and agricultural (2.5 percent).

Investment came from 37 different nationalities worldwide. GCC nationals’ real estate investments in Sharjah exceeded $3.1bn (AED11.8bn), while the real estate investments of other nationalities were valued at over $746 million (AED2.8bn).

Source:Arabian Business

Fulya Altunyay/[email protected]

Emaar Properties accounts for one-third of Dubai deals

Emaar Properties accounted for 4,756 deals worth $3.2 billion (AED12.1bn) in the first six months of 2019.

According to Property Finder reveal that the Dubai Land Department (DLD) registered a total of 18,681 transactions in the half of the year, with Emaar responsible for 30 percent.

According to DLD statistics, transactions worth $10.7bn (AED40.3bn) were registered in Dubai over the same timeframe. Emaar units were primarily sold in projects such as Downtown Dubai, Dubai Hills Estate, Dubai South, Dubai Creek Harbour, Dubai Harbour and Arabian Ranches 2.

A distant second, Damac Properties accounted for 1,476 registered real estate transactions worth $453m (AED1.7bn), with buyer interest in projects like Damac Hills and Aykon City in Business Bay. Nakheel accounted for 1,129 registered property deals worth $599.9m (AED2.25bn) in H1, mostly in Palm Jumeirah and International City.

Source:Arabian Business

Fulya Altunyay/[email protected]


Sunset Hospitality Group to enter Saudi Arabia, UK markets

Sunset Hospitality Group has revealed plans to aggressively expand its operations by the end of this year, with eight new outlets set to open across new markets, taking its current portfolio of 16 venues up to 24.

Antonio Gonzalez, chief executive officer of Sunset Hospitality Group commented: “ We are on the right business path, and we will continue to accelerate our expansion across the Middle East to further solidify our presence. Saudi Arabia tops our list when looking at Middle East expansion plans. With 29 million residents and an annual potential growth rate of 3.3 per cent, Saudi Arabia has the largest population in the GCC and is a great market to tap into, particularly its youth population who continue to become increasingly open to Western consumer trends”

“At the same time, our aim is to enter new markets such as the UK, with one outlet opening in 2019 and an additional two in 2020, as well as Central Europe, following the success of our first opening in Switzerland.”

In the second half of 2019 Sunset Hospitality Group is taking the Black Tap brand to Riyadh and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, and a further outlet to Erbil, Iraq. Greek Restaurant Ammos and Azure Beach Club, currently operating at Rixos Premium JBR Dubai, will both see second locations opening in the region, while Bahrain will welcome the acclaimed Stage nightclub.

Source:Trade Arabia

Fulya Altunyay/[email protected]


Florida retail plazas changed hand

Avison Young’s Florida Capital Markets Group closed the sales of two multi-tenant retail plazas anchored by Tire Kingdom for a total of $6.85 million. The same entity sold the following properties.

Avison Young represented the seller in the sales of two multi-tenant retail plazas anchored by Tire Kingdom for a total of $6.85 million. The 17,051-rentable-square-foot plaza at 1760 Jog Road in West Palm Beach, Florida, sold for $4.85 million in a 1031 Exchange, and the 11,564-rentable-square-foot plaza at 2740 S.W. Brigantine Place in Port St. Lucie, Florida, sold for $2 million to a foreign buyer.

The West Palm Beach asset is 93% occupied. At 82% occupied, the Port St. Lucie asset presents its new owner the value-add opportunity to generate in-place income while leasing up vacant space at market rents.

Source:Press Release

Fulya Altunyay/[email protected]

Avon sells property for $231m

Avon Capital Corp., has sold the company’s property at 601 and 621 Midland Ave. in Rye for $23.1 million. The sprawling 176,000-square-foot facility is on 18.13 acres of land and had been housing Avon’s data center and related operations.

The property was bought by Midland Rye LLC that is a vehicle of real estate firm George Comfort & Sons, the Feil Organization, a New York City-based real estate investment, development and management firm, and O’Connor Capital Partners. Midland Rye LLC uses the same Manhattan address as does George Comfort & Sons.

Comfort manages more than 12 million square feet of commercial property and has ownership interests in about 75% of the portfolio. It has branches in Stamford, Purchase, Washington, D.C., Princeton, New Jersey, and Beverly Hills, California.

In addition, PCSB Bank provided a $14.75 million mortgage, according to records at the Westchester County Clerk’s Office.

The former Avon property is next to the Metro-North Railroad station and within walking distance of Rye’s downtown area. It is near both I-95 and I-287. The commercial real estate advisory firm Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) secured the buyer as well as working on behalf of the seller.

Source: Daily Voice Plus

Fulya Altunyay/[email protected]

Khazaen Economic City unveils Phase I masterplan

Khazaen Economic City (KEC) has unveiled the detailed masterplan for Phase One of the project.

The project is located to the north of the capital, Muscat. The city’s masterplan was developed by Atkins, a member of the SNC-Lavalin Group, the lead consultant for Khazaen’s planning and design work.

CEO Khalid Awadh Al Balushi highlighted the support of the Asyad Group and welcomed the rapid approval of the masterplan for the first phase – which marks the beginning of the next stage.

Al Balushi said that with the approved plan for the first phase of the city, KEC can continue to attract local and foreign investment to the new, state-of-the-art facilities and units across the development.”

KEC chief said following the announcement, local and international road-shows would be held to introduce the components of the masterplan and its stages of implementation to new and prospective tenants – further supporting the economic growth of the sultanate.

He added that the recent Foreign Capital Investment, Privatization and PPP laws make it easier than ever before for Khazaen to attract local and international investments to the city.

Atkins’ managing director for Oman Marco Malpiedi said: “With over 50 years’ presence in the Middle East, Atkins has played a key role in supporting some of the sultanate’s large-scale development projects.”

“We are proud to be part of this world-class economic city that is set to create all facets of a modern and future-proofed destination designed for people to live and work. Working together with a forward-thinking client and stakeholders, we are using our masterplanning and engineering expertise to deliver this project to the highest quality,” he added.

Engineer Salim Bin Sulaiman Al Thuhli, general manager of projects and engineering at KEC, pointed out that the approval of the masterplan of Phase One was a significant milestone in the life of the project.

He noted, “This allows us to embark on the execution of the development and break ground. Soon we will announce the award of the first construction contract.”

The first phase of the city will include one-of-a-kind facilities such as the first dry port in Oman, a free zone, logistics and industrial complexes as well as social infrastructure, residential, commercial and entertainment components, he added.

Source: Trade Arabia

Fulya Altunyay/[email protected]