Newmark Group has arranged a $400 million credit facility for PORT 32 Marinas to refinance its existing portfolio of coastal marinas, and to fund the future acquisition of marinas. Newmark’s Jordan Roeschlaub, Chris Kramer and Jonathan Firestone arranged the financing, which was provided by the Austria-based bank, BAWAG Group.

Based in Charleston, South Carolina, PORT 32 is a leading owner, operator and developer of dry and wet slip coastal marina properties. PORT 32 provides expertise in the development and management of marina assets to bring customers an unparalleled level of service within the industry. PORT 32 owns and operates a growing collection of Class A marina assets in premier markets.  Besides Charleston, the company runs one marina in North Carolina, and nine in Florida, including Jacksonville, Marco Island, Cape Coral, Naples, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Tierra Verde, Palm Beach Gardens and Lighthouse Point.

Alexander’s, Inc. has completed a $400-million refinancing of the office condominium portion of 731 Lexington Ave., the Class A Bloomberg LP headquarters building in Midtown Manhattan. The loan replaces the prior $490-million loan on the office condo, which bore interest at the prime rate (currently 8.00%) and was scheduled to mature this month.

The interest-only loan carries a fixed rate of 5.045% and matures in October 2028. The loan is prepayable, at Alexander’s option, with no penalty, beginning in October 2026.

The refi follows Bloomberg LP’s 11-year extension of its 946,815-square-foot headquarters lease, comprising the entirety of the office space at 731 Lexington, this past May. It also follows a trip to special servicing for the prior loan, which originally was due to mature in June.

Vornado Realty Trust, which owns a 32.5% share of Alexander’s, developed 731 Lexington in 2005 on the site of a former Alexander’s department store.

The City of Scottsdale has agreed to pay back Advanced Semiconductor Materials for the infrastructure requirements for its new north Scottsdale headquarters and research facility. As a quid pro quo, ASM must construct its new 400,000-square-foot facility, add 500 jobs with an average wage of $110,000 and achieve a payroll of $55 million.

The Phoenix Business Journal reports ASM’s expected capital expenditure for its new headquarters would be more than $400 million between the land acquisition, project buildout and equipment housed within the facility.  ASM purchased nearly 24 acres near the southeast corner of Scottsdale Road and Loop 101 — the site of its new headquarters. ASM America bought the land for more than $33 million

ASM designs and supplies wafer processing equipment to customers, primarily for the deposition of thin films — a fabrication process used in semiconductor manufacturing.

ASM’s existing headquarters is at 3440 E. University Drive near Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

Bisnow/Jon Banister

Carlyle co-founder and co-Chair David Rubenstein in conversation with Cushman & Wakefield Executive Vice Chairman Darian LeBlanc at Bisnow’s 2023 D.C. State of the Market.

An investment firm backed by Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein has launched a new fund to invest in commercial real estate, as falling property prices have created buying opportunities. 

Declaration Partners is seeking to raise $400M to invest in multifamily and industrial properties as part of the firm’s second real estate fund, Bloomberg reported. Rubenstein, who is the largest backer of the New York-based firm, provided an anchor allocation along with other investors from the firm’s first fund.

The first fund also targeted multifamily and industrial properties. It closed in 2022 with $240M raised from wealthy individuals and family offices from the U.S., Middle East and Latin America.

This first fund’s investments included an industrial property in the Inland Empire, California, an apartment complex in Charlotte, North Carolina, and a student housing joint venture project in Pittsburgh.

Last year, the firm acquired a 442-unit multifamily property in Pittsburgh and provided preferred equity financing for a 364-unit property near Chicago, Bloomberg reported.

Rubenstein, speaking in June at Bisnow‘s D.C. State of the Market event, said that the distress in the office market has also created major opportunities for investment.

“I would say the best single investment that I know of today is probably going to be commercial real estate debt in downtown office buildings, buying it from the banks when the banks want to get it off their books,” Rubenstein said.

While multifamily and industrial haven’t been as hard hit as office, both still experienced significant drops in pricing last year as rising interest rates took a toll on the industry. According to Green Street’s Commercial Property Price Index, apartment property prices ended the year down 30% from their peak, while industrial prices were down 16%. 

Dominion Energy NC has purchased the land needed to get going on a liquified natural gas storage facility in Person County. They paid $12 million for the land needed for the 500-acre plant. The Triangle Business Journal reports 70 acres will be for the actual gas storage tank and equipment and the rest will be a buffer around the facility. The company will break ground on the liquified natural gas storage facility sometime in the first quarter of this year.

The facility will have one storage tank totaling 25 million gallons, with future expansion capabilities to build a second storage tank of the same size. The facility will receive and send natural gas via an existing Dominion gas pipeline on the proposed site.

Connect Industrial Midwest 2024 will take place on March 5, 2024, at Joe’s Live in Rosemont, Illinois. Click here for more information and to register.