HONOLULU-The City and County of Honolulu has issued a Request for Proposals from the private sector in order to transition ownership of the City’s affordable rental housing complexes to private ownership. CBRE Group has been selected by the City to market the entire portfolio located in various parts of the island of Oahu and has presented a timeline to the City that anticipates completing the transition this year. The City will continue to own the land under all 12 separate apartment complexes with a total of 1,257 units and the purchaser will be required to abide by the current affordable housing guidelines during the entire 65-year lease term. There are 850 units qualified under Federal HUD guidelines as low/moderate income level and 189 units that qualify as gap income units. The remainder of the 1,257 units are rented to tenants at market rates. CBRE has assembled a national team to handle the sale led by Scott Gomes, executive vice president in the Hawaii office; Thomas Fischer, senior vice president, National Tax Credit Advisory; Jayne Hulbert, president and managing director of CBRE HMF Inc., which is CBRE’s HUD multifamily lending platform and Robert Newstead with CBRE debt and equity finance. “There is a shortage of rental housing in Hawaii which is especially acute in the affordable housing category,” says Gomes of CBRE.

SANTA BARBARA, CA-Lee & Associates has closed a $9-million sale transaction for a 47,411-square-foot industrial property located at 25 E. Mason St. here. At $190 per-square-foot, the building is less than a quarter mile from the city’s pristine waterfront. According to Stephen Leider, managing principal of Lee & Associates of the Central Coast, that particular section of State Street has been struggling for several years. “The Mason Street sale will be an integral part of the area’s ongoing revitalization.” The three-story building has roof access with ocean views. The existing tenant, Brooks Institute of Photography, currently occupies two-thirds of the building. Clarice Clarke and Stephen Leider, both principals in the Central Coast office represented the buyer, East Mason SB LLC, and the sellers, Rossi Trading Co. LLC and Scanlin Family Trust, in the transaction.

SANTA FE SPRINGS, CA-CapRock Partners has acquired two industrial buildings totaling 33,240 square feet here in an all-cash transaction. The Irvine-based company has been actively buying industrial properties and non-performing notes throughout California. The seller was the occupant of the property, a second-generation owner/user that recently went out of business. Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed. The two adjacent buildings are located at 11748 and 11760 Slauson Ave. in the Mid-Cities market.

DOWNEY, CA-Heslin Becker Properties, a privately owned retail real estate investment and development firm, has completed the re-development and $8.1 million sale of a new Walgreens here. The property, an unoccupied industrial park and a free-standing outparcel located at 8030 Imperial Hwy. in Downey, was acquired by Heslin Becker Properties in April 2010. The company demolished the existing industrial structures and constructed the new Walgreens prior to selling it, according to Matthew J. Heslin, CEO of Heslin Becker Properties. The Walgreens was acquired by Downey Property Investments LLC. Heslin Becker will retain and re-tenant the free-standing outparcel building.

SEATTLE-On the heels of two recent Denver area acquisitions, San Diego-based Pathfinder Partners LLC recently closed on a multifamily transactions in Seattle. Mitch Siegler, senior managing director of Pathfinder Partners, says the acquisition included a $9.5 million senior note purchase secured by the first trust deed on the 29-unit Chelsea Courte II in Kirkland, WA. Chelsea Courte II is located 15 miles north of Seattle and a short drive from Microsoft, Boeing and Google offices. It is comprised of recently built, two-bedroom, two-bath condominiums, some with dens. The purchase also includes a 2.28-acre vacant parcel adjacent to the complex.

LEASES

SAN FRANCISCO-Barker Pacific Group has signed almost 60,000 square feet in new leases and lease renewals in 2012 at One Sansome St. The new deals add almost 10% to the occupancy of the tower and build on the Citigroup lease renewal of 121,754 square feet signed last November. Korn/Ferry International has renewed its lease totaling 17,440 square feet. Several significant leases include Industry Capital Holdings who signed a lease on the 15^th floor for just under 9,400 square feet, and One Beacon Insurance Co. who took 6,401 square feet. Both leases are for five years. “The leasing momentum at One Sansome demonstrates the strong desire of businesses who want to stay within the central financial district,” says Michael Barker, managing director of BPG.

BEVERLY HILLS, CA-Kennedy Wilson has completed three office leases totaling 145,000 square feet in Los Angeles and San Francisco. “We’ve seen an uptick in leasing activity at our office properties,” says John Prabhu, president of the commercial investment group. “The increased activity is primarily in Southern California, Northern California and Seattle, driven by the technology, media and entertainment companies in these markets.”

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA-UCR Urban has been awarded the project leasing assignment for Manhattan Village, a 558,397-square-foot upscale mixed-use lifestyle center owned by RREEF. The center boasts such tenants as Macy’s, White House Black Market, Coach, Williams-Sonoma, Apple, Pottery Barn, Victoria’s Secret and Sephora. As an entertainment and dining destination, the center also features a movie theater and 16 restaurants.

SANTA ANA, CA-Cal Quality Electronics renewed its corporate headquarters lease for 57,000 square feet at 2700 S. Fairview St. here. Jeff Cannon, corporate managing director, and Paul Jones, associate, with global tenant advisory firm Studley’s Industrial Services Group, represented the manufacturer in the transaction. The 10-year lease is valued at approximately $5.5 million. “This was an opportunity for Cal Quality to restructure its existing lease one year early and realize 33% in savings over the life of the transaction,” Cannon says. “We also secured $1 million in ‘turn-key’ tenant improvements to fund significant facility upgrades and increase operational efficiency.” 2700 South Fairview is a one-story flex manufacturing space totaling 116,133 square feet. The landlord, Barclay Associates, was represented in the transaction by Rick Hertel of Corporate Real Estate Services and Jeff Mitchell of Voit Real Estate Services.

FINANCING

LOS ANGELES-Mesa West Capital has provided Karlin Real Estate with a $41.2-million first mortgage loan cross collateralized by properties in Scottsdale, AZ and Portland, OR. Shea Scottsdale and Shea Scottsdale East are two adjacent grocery anchored shoppers centers that comprise more than 277,000 square feet of anchor, in-line, pad and office space. The properties are anchored by Safeway, CVS Pharmacy, Harkins Theaters and have six leased pad sites to such tenants as Well Fargo, MidFirst Bank, Arby's and Comerica. Collectively, the retail centers are 85% leased. Karlin Real Estate, the real estate investment arm of Los Angeles-based family office Karlin Asset Management, acquired the companion centers in October 2011 from Herberger Enterprises in an off-market transaction. In September 2011, Karlin acquired Willamette Marketplace a 61,604-square-foot office and retail center in the Portland suburb of West Linn. The off-market transaction was originally contemplated as a note purchase but Karlin subsequently acquired the property as REO after the foreclosure. Constructed in 2008, Willamette Marketplace consists of 36,632 square feet of retail and 24,972 square feet of office. The retail center is 44 percent leased. Tenants include Legacy Health Systems, Five Guys Burgers and Fries and McMenamins. “This loan fits perfectly within our lending platform of financing high quality, well located assets with strong sponsorship,” says Mesa West principal Steve Fried. “Karlin has an excellent business plan and the new financing provides capital to reposition the assets in an improving market.”

SAN JOSE, CA-The Seattle branch office of Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC originated $27.16 million in fixed-rate debt through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 223(f) program for the refinancing of the Portofino Apartments and River Walk Apartments here. The two non-recourse mortgages featured 35-year terms and are fully amortizing at a fixed rate of 3.91%. Louis Weisman, senior vice president of Berkadia’s Seattle office arranged funding for the two apartment properties.

SANTA BARBARA, CA-Cohen Financial has secured a $9.2 million refinancing of the Balboa Building, a six-story, multi-tenant office over ground level street retail property, in downtown Santa Barbara. The Balboa Building is located in the heart of the State Street shopping corridor. Kenneth Fox, a managing director in Cohen Financial’s San Francisco office, originated the transaction and secured the fixed rate financing. The lender was JP Morgan Chase Bank. The borrower is a Santa Barbara area based real estate investor.

DEVELOPMENT

SAN DIEGO-McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. has completed construction of the 13,500-square-foot addition to the emergency department and trauma center at Scripps Mercy Hospital, located at 4077 Fifth Ave. in the Hillcrest area of San Diego. Representing the second phase of a four-phased, $41.3-million expansion and remodeling project, the new addition doubles the size of the existing emergency department and trauma center to encompass a combined 27,000 square feet. Phase one of the project, which McCarthy began in summer 2010, involved the relocation of utilities on Fifth Avenue to an area outside of the new building footprint. A portion of Fifth Avenue was realigned to increase the site area and allow for a patient drop-off parking area. Phase one also involved construction of a temporary lobby. The phase two, 13,500-square-foot addition was performed by McCarthy on a compact, 18,500-square-foot site on the east side of Fifth Avenue, immediately adjacent to Scripps Mercy Hospital San Diego’s existing emergency department. Construction of the single-level structure utilizes drilled-pier foundation systems, with structural-steel building superstructure and plaster-on-metal stud-framed exteriors. Once the emergency department and trauma division have moved their operations to the newly built space, McCarthy will begin phase three, which entails complete tenant improvement remodeling of the existing 13,500-square-foot emergency care facility. The fourth phase will involve construction of a parking area across the street from the expanded facility. When fully complete, the Conrad Prebys Emergency & Trauma Center will accommodate 49 beds—double the number of beds previously available. Four trauma bays will double the patient capacity of its current trauma center, accommodating up to eight people. A department-dedicated CT scanner adjacent to the trauma room bays eliminate the need to transport patients to the hospital’s radiology department, according to a prepared statement. A dedicated telemetry system with continuous wireless monitoring capabilities allow staff to constantly monitor all patients. An in-house lab expedites test results for physicians and nurses so they can diagnose and treat patients as quickly as possible.