NEWS & NOTABLES

MIAMI—CBRE Group added Kevin Probel to its Advisory & Transactions team in South Florida as a first vice president. Probel joins CBRE from JLL, where he was general manager and vice president of property and asset management. Previously, he spent five years as asset manager with The Related Companies and was responsible for the development, leasing, management and tenant improvement construction of City Place Tower─the first office tower built in West Palm Beach in the last 20 years. During this time, he was involved in over 260,000 square feet of leasing transactions. His previous experience also includes management operations at Liberty Property Trust in Boca Raton, where he handled 2 million square feet of South Florida portfolio. He also spent 12 years at Prentiss Properties Trust, where he was responsible for the leasing, management and tenant improvement construction of over four million square feet of office product throughout the Washington metropolitan area.

MIAMI—CBRE hired Kevin McCarthy join the firm as a first vice president, advising landlords and tenants and focusing on Palm Beach, Martin and Saint Lucie counties. McCarthy joins CBRE from JLL, where he spent nearly 10 years leading the transaction brokerage division. To date, he has transacted more than 9.5 million square feet in leases, representing landlords a

DEAL TRACKER

POMPANO BEACH, FL—Michael Rauch and Tom Robertson, senior managing partners with CRE Florida Partners, Rauch Robertson & Co., represented the owner, The General Electric Company, in the sale of a laboratory/ manufacturing building located at 3041 Gateway Drive in Pompano Beach. The property sold for $775,000 on a 6.9% capitalization rate. The 10,068-square-foot laboratory/manufacturing building has been owned and operated by GE since 2000, when it developed the proprietary processes for manufacturing of synthetic diamonds.

LEESBURG, FL—The NAI Realvest retail team of Matt Cichocki and Kevin O'Connor negotiated the sale of a former BB&T facility at 800 West North Boulevard for $950,000. Cichocki and O'Connor represented the seller, Branch Banking & Trust Company, in the transaction. The buyer, Citizens First Bank, intends to use the property to operate a branch banking location. Daniel Tatro of Grizzard Commercial Real Estate Group represented the buyer.

ORLANDO—Berkadia arranged the sale and financing of Avery Place Villas, an apartment community with 172 villas located in Orlando. South Florida senior managing director Charles Foschini, in association with managing director Chris Apone and his South Florida partners, arranged a $21.68 million loan on behalf of borrower Beachwold Residential for the acquisition of the community. Berkadia managing director Cole Whitaker and director Mary Beale, based in Orlando, represented the seller, Massachusetts- based Aspen Square Management, in the $25.05 million sale.

BRADENTON, FL—Cushman & Wakefield negotiated the sale of Cortez Village Square, a 41,862-square-foot neighborhood shopping center in Manatee County. The retail brokerage team of Patrick Berman, Jason Donald and Todd Tolbert represented Safety Harbor, FL-based Paradise Ventures in the disposition. Fay Magnolia, LLC acquired the asset for $4.3 million, or $102.72 per square foot. Cortez Village Square was developed in 1990 and features 35,862 square feet of retail space and 30 storage units totaling 6,000 square feet. The one-story center offers 219 parking spaces for tenants and customers. Cortez Village Square was 89% occupied at the time of sale. Notable tenants include Anna Maria Oyster Bar and Blake Medical.

LARGO, FL—Berkadia arranged the sale and financing of Columns at East Bay, a 196-unit garden-style multifamily community in the city of Largo. Insula Capital acquired the property for $20.3 million from ECI Group Inc. Berkadia marketed the property on behalf of the seller, and arranged acquisition financing on behalf of the borrower. Jason Stanton, represented the seller in the transaction, along with the Berkadia team of Cole Whitaker, Mary Beale, and Greg Rainey. Mitch Sinberg and Matthew Robbins of Berkadia's South Florida-based Mortgage Banking team, secured debt on behalf of Insula Capital. A $17.772 million, three-year, interest-only loan was procured through Freddie Mac's Value-Add and Green Up programs, which provide incentives for “green improvements” that realize significant energy and water consumption savings. The LTV is 85%.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL—Marcus & Millichap brokered the sale of The Fairmont Apartments, a 70-unit apartment property located in Fort Lauderdale. The asset sold for $9,210,000. Derek R. Gibbs, Daniel J. Cunningham, and Evan Richardson, marketed the property for the seller, a partnership, and they secured and represented the buyer, a private investor. “After a year of being listed with another brokerage firm, we acquired the exclusive listing and had the property under contract in less than three weeks,” says Cunningham. “The buyer the seller chose to go to contract with has been a client of ours for several years and we knew this was the perfect deal for him.”

ORLANDO—Berkadia secured a $14.82 million loan on behalf of borrower Rock Rose Partners Royal Oaks LP for the acquisition of Royal Oaks Apartments, a two-story apartment community with 216 units located in Orlando. Delaware-based Rock Rose Partners Royal Oaks LP acquired the property, located at 4793 North Pine Hills Road, for $18.073 million. Berkadia's Charles Foschini and Chris Apone arranged the adjustable rate, three-year loan, with an LTV of 82%. “The borrower came to us with an exceptional value-add strategy for the property,” says Foschini. “Based on the amount of additional improvements they needed to provide, we identified a lender who could both allow them to acquire the property and then support their business plan over the next several years.“

MIAMI—Cushman & Wakefield negotiated a long-term office lease renewal with Liebler, Gonzalez & Portuondo at Courthouse Tower in Downtown Miami. Tony Jones and Ryan Levy represented Liebler, Gonzalez & Portuondo in securing the 14,875-square-foot lease renewal on the building's 24th and 25th floors. Tere Blanca of Blanca Commercial Real Estate, represented New York-based building owner Brickman. “Liebler, Gonzalez & Portuondo saw an incredible opportunity to immediately reduce their real estate costs and capitalize on up-front cash savings by extending their lease well in advance of their natural lease expiration,” says Levy.

BUILDING BLOCKS

TAMPA, FL—ESJ Capital Partners broke ground on Avant Garde Academy Westchase. Located at 13901 Sheldon Road, the school will be ESJ's second wholly-owned property serving Avant Garde Academy, and brings the diversified fund's overall portfolio of charter schools across the nation to 27. The $18.6 million project includes nearly 67,000 square feet of educational space to be built in two phases. Avant Garde Westchase will be a K-8 school, and will open as a K-6 school for the 2017-2018 school year.

MIAMI—This week in Florida saw strong commercial real estate action in Florida's secondary and tertiary market. Some noteworthy stats are telling an interesting story about the office market in Miami's urban core.

BY THE NUMBERS

Skyline office vacancy within Miami remains above the national average at 14.3%, with vacancy of trophy buildings—those ultra-premium office towers within a Skyline—at 14.7% locally. (Source: JLL)

Office rents are back to a near-record $46.80 per square foot across the 20 buildings that comprise the Miami Skyline. (Source: JLL)

NEWS & NOTABLES

MIAMI—CBRE Group added Kevin Probel to its Advisory & Transactions team in South Florida as a first vice president. Probel joins CBRE from JLL, where he was general manager and vice president of property and asset management. Previously, he spent five years as asset manager with The Related Companies and was responsible for the development, leasing, management and tenant improvement construction of City Place Tower─the first office tower built in West Palm Beach in the last 20 years. During this time, he was involved in over 260,000 square feet of leasing transactions. His previous experience also includes management operations at Liberty Property Trust in Boca Raton, where he handled 2 million square feet of South Florida portfolio. He also spent 12 years at Prentiss Properties Trust, where he was responsible for the leasing, management and tenant improvement construction of over four million square feet of office product throughout the Washington metropolitan area.

MIAMI—CBRE hired Kevin McCarthy join the firm as a first vice president, advising landlords and tenants and focusing on Palm Beach, Martin and Saint Lucie counties. McCarthy joins CBRE from JLL, where he spent nearly 10 years leading the transaction brokerage division. To date, he has transacted more than 9.5 million square feet in leases, representing landlords a

DEAL TRACKER

POMPANO BEACH, FL—Michael Rauch and Tom Robertson, senior managing partners with CRE Florida Partners, Rauch Robertson & Co., represented the owner, The General Electric Company, in the sale of a laboratory/ manufacturing building located at 3041 Gateway Drive in Pompano Beach. The property sold for $775,000 on a 6.9% capitalization rate. The 10,068-square-foot laboratory/manufacturing building has been owned and operated by GE since 2000, when it developed the proprietary processes for manufacturing of synthetic diamonds.

LEESBURG, FL—The NAI Realvest retail team of Matt Cichocki and Kevin O'Connor negotiated the sale of a former BB&T facility at 800 West North Boulevard for $950,000. Cichocki and O'Connor represented the seller, Branch Banking & Trust Company, in the transaction. The buyer, Citizens First Bank, intends to use the property to operate a branch banking location. Daniel Tatro of Grizzard Commercial Real Estate Group represented the buyer.

ORLANDO—Berkadia arranged the sale and financing of Avery Place Villas, an apartment community with 172 villas located in Orlando. South Florida senior managing director Charles Foschini, in association with managing director Chris Apone and his South Florida partners, arranged a $21.68 million loan on behalf of borrower Beachwold Residential for the acquisition of the community. Berkadia managing director Cole Whitaker and director Mary Beale, based in Orlando, represented the seller, Massachusetts- based Aspen Square Management, in the $25.05 million sale.

BRADENTON, FL—Cushman & Wakefield negotiated the sale of Cortez Village Square, a 41,862-square-foot neighborhood shopping center in Manatee County. The retail brokerage team of Patrick Berman, Jason Donald and Todd Tolbert represented Safety Harbor, FL-based Paradise Ventures in the disposition. Fay Magnolia, LLC acquired the asset for $4.3 million, or $102.72 per square foot. Cortez Village Square was developed in 1990 and features 35,862 square feet of retail space and 30 storage units totaling 6,000 square feet. The one-story center offers 219 parking spaces for tenants and customers. Cortez Village Square was 89% occupied at the time of sale. Notable tenants include Anna Maria Oyster Bar and Blake Medical.

LARGO, FL—Berkadia arranged the sale and financing of Columns at East Bay, a 196-unit garden-style multifamily community in the city of Largo. Insula Capital acquired the property for $20.3 million from ECI Group Inc. Berkadia marketed the property on behalf of the seller, and arranged acquisition financing on behalf of the borrower. Jason Stanton, represented the seller in the transaction, along with the Berkadia team of Cole Whitaker, Mary Beale, and Greg Rainey. Mitch Sinberg and Matthew Robbins of Berkadia's South Florida-based Mortgage Banking team, secured debt on behalf of Insula Capital. A $17.772 million, three-year, interest-only loan was procured through Freddie Mac's Value-Add and Green Up programs, which provide incentives for “green improvements” that realize significant energy and water consumption savings. The LTV is 85%.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL—Marcus & Millichap brokered the sale of The Fairmont Apartments, a 70-unit apartment property located in Fort Lauderdale. The asset sold for $9,210,000. Derek R. Gibbs, Daniel J. Cunningham, and Evan Richardson, marketed the property for the seller, a partnership, and they secured and represented the buyer, a private investor. “After a year of being listed with another brokerage firm, we acquired the exclusive listing and had the property under contract in less than three weeks,” says Cunningham. “The buyer the seller chose to go to contract with has been a client of ours for several years and we knew this was the perfect deal for him.”

ORLANDO—Berkadia secured a $14.82 million loan on behalf of borrower Rock Rose Partners Royal Oaks LP for the acquisition of Royal Oaks Apartments, a two-story apartment community with 216 units located in Orlando. Delaware-based Rock Rose Partners Royal Oaks LP acquired the property, located at 4793 North Pine Hills Road, for $18.073 million. Berkadia's Charles Foschini and Chris Apone arranged the adjustable rate, three-year loan, with an LTV of 82%. “The borrower came to us with an exceptional value-add strategy for the property,” says Foschini. “Based on the amount of additional improvements they needed to provide, we identified a lender who could both allow them to acquire the property and then support their business plan over the next several years.“

MIAMI—Cushman & Wakefield negotiated a long-term office lease renewal with Liebler, Gonzalez & Portuondo at Courthouse Tower in Downtown Miami. Tony Jones and Ryan Levy represented Liebler, Gonzalez & Portuondo in securing the 14,875-square-foot lease renewal on the building's 24th and 25th floors. Tere Blanca of Blanca Commercial Real Estate, represented New York-based building owner Brickman. “Liebler, Gonzalez & Portuondo saw an incredible opportunity to immediately reduce their real estate costs and capitalize on up-front cash savings by extending their lease well in advance of their natural lease expiration,” says Levy.

BUILDING BLOCKS

TAMPA, FL—ESJ Capital Partners broke ground on Avant Garde Academy Westchase. Located at 13901 Sheldon Road, the school will be ESJ's second wholly-owned property serving Avant Garde Academy, and brings the diversified fund's overall portfolio of charter schools across the nation to 27. The $18.6 million project includes nearly 67,000 square feet of educational space to be built in two phases. Avant Garde Westchase will be a K-8 school, and will open as a K-6 school for the 2017-2018 school year.