INVESTMENTS
Arden Group | February 02, 2022
Arden Group (Arden), in partnership with Vesta Realty Partners, LLC (Vesta), announced it has acquired the Younique headquarters building, a 125,000-square-foot, five story, trophy quality office building located at 3400 West Mayflower Ave, in Lehi, Utah. The property, strategically located in the vibrant Silicon Slopes market of Salt Lake City, is 100% leased to Younique, a health and wellness direct sales firm, through 2026.
This transaction represents the fourth Salt Lake City office transaction for Arden and Vesta over the last year as well as the fifth office property acquisition in Silicon Slopes, Utah's high-demand tech corridor. Previous trophy office acquisitions for the firm include the purchase of the Divvy and Dealertrack two-building portfolio in Draper, UT as well as the purchase of the Solutionreach office building and the Entrata headquarters, both in Lehi, UT.
The asset was first developed in 2016 by Stack Real Estate, one of Utah's most prominent real estate developers, and was built as a fully amenitized corporate campus and showcase property for Younique. The well-located development sits on a 7.19-acre site and is one of the most visible buildings on the popular I-15 interchange. The property is nearby the FrontRunner high-speed train which offers 90-mile coverage from Ogden to Provo and is walkable to an abundance of dining.
Arden continues to demonstrate its belief in Salt Lake City and the Silicon Slopes technology corridor through our numerous trophy office acquisitions, With its best-in-class design, top amenities, and high visibility, the fully leased Younique corporate headquarters is a perfect addition to our growing regional portfolio, and we're pleased to announce this latest purchase."
Craig A. Spencer, Chairman and CEO of Arden Group.
Investor and tenant demand in Utah's Silicon Slopes have remained resilient over the past 24 months, We are continuing to experience new capital sources seeking exposure to the market while local and out-of-state tenant demand is ramping up to pre-COVID levels."
Jeff Grasso, Founder and Managing Partner of Vesta Realty Partners.
The Younique headquarters building features a best-in-class design with high-end two-story lobbies as well as floor-to-ceiling glass throughout. Built to LEED Silver standards, the building includes open floor plans with an average floor plate size of 25,000 square feet.
The property includes an abundance of Class-A amenities, including a full-size commercial kitchen, cafeteria and lounge, outdoor seating, an auditorium, five balconies with seating, a full-service salon and an R&D Lab.
About Arden Group
Arden Group is a vertically integrated real estate investment management firm focused on equity and debt investments in the top 25 US MSA's. Founded in 1989, Arden has acquired over $6.4 billion of properties and asset managed in excess of $11.8 billion of commercial real estate assets since inception. In 2012, Arden Group established Arden Fund Management, its real estate equity and debt fund management business with offices in Philadelphia, New York, Tampa, Miami, Minneapolis, and Newport Beach. Arden Group has been consistently ranked globally as a top performing Private Fund Manager by both Cambridge Associates and Preqin including Preqin's #1 global ranking in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
About Vesta Realty Partners
Vesta Realty Partners is an institutional sponsor focused on real estate investing outperformance through a macro driven value-oriented approach coupled with hands on business plan execution. The firm focuses on undervalued office, life science, industrial, residential, and opportunity zone investing with offices in New York City and Salt Lake City. The firm was founded in 2020 by Jeff Grasso and currently manages a portfolio of more than $750 million of real estate assets and developments.
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MARKET OUTLOOK
Starwood Real Estate Income Trust, Inc | August 19, 2021
Starwood Real Estate Income Trust, Inc., an affiliate of Starwood Capital Group, a leading global private investment firm focused on real estate and energy investments, today submitted an enhanced all-cash, fully financed, fully actionable proposal to acquire Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corporation for $19.93 per Monmouth share reduced by the termination fee owed to Equity Commonwealth ("EQC") of $72 million or $0.73 per share. Starwood’s enhanced proposal would provide net consideration of $19.20 per share to Monmouth shareholders after payment of the EQC termination fee, which was increased by $10 million by the Monmouth Board on August 16, 2021. Starwood’s proposal offers Monmouth shareholders a premium to EQC’s revised offer with 100% cash-certain value (versus EQC’s offer, where approximately 35% of the aggregate consideration would be paid out in cash1), and does not subject Monmouth shareholders to the uncertain and unsubstantiated future value creation from the EQC transaction, which is already worth less to shareholders given the decline in EQC shares since its revised proposal was announced.
Ethan Bing, Managing Director of Starwood, said, "Our increased all-cash offer is superior to EQC’s revised proposal given the higher certain value that is not exposed to market risk or dependent upon unproven execution. The EQC offer requires Monmouth shareholders to forego the certainty of our higher cash offer in exchange for speculative value creation from a merged entity with no synergies and no obvious competitive advantages in the highly competitive industrial sector where EQC has not actively participated.”
Bing added, “The Monmouth Board, whose initial process was led by a strategic alternatives committee that ISS rightly criticized as ‘not fully independent,’ appears committed to the interests of Monmouth insiders rather than its fiduciary duty to maximize value for all Monmouth shareholders. The Monmouth Board’s decision to increase the termination fee for EQC, without having engaged in a single conversation with a committed all-cash bidder already at a significant premium to EQC, is yet another disappointing breach of faith to its shareholders – a clear effort to protect EQC from competing bidders willing to offer superior and more certain value to Monmouth shareholders. In contrast, Starwood has not raised its termination fee in connection with its revised offer.”
Bing concluded, “We stand ready to sign the already-negotiated merger agreement with Monmouth. We urge the Monmouth Board to act in the best interest of all its shareholders by immediately declaring our increased offer superior, foregoing any future actions which would deprive shareholders from realizing maximum value, and proceeding quickly to finalize our proposed transaction for the benefit all Monmouth shareholders.”
About Starwood Capital Group
Starwood Capital Group is a private investment firm with a core focus on global real estate, energy infrastructure and oil & gas. The Firm and its affiliates maintain 16 offices in seven countries around the world, and currently have approximately 4,000 employees. Since its inception in 1991, Starwood Capital Group has raised over $60 billion of capital, and currently has approximately $90 billion of assets under management. Through a series of comingled opportunity funds and Starwood Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. a non-listed REIT, the Firm has invested in virtually every category of real estate on a global basis, opportunistically shifting asset classes, geographies and positions in the capital stack as it perceives risk/reward dynamics to be evolving. Starwood Capital also manages Starwood Property Trust, the largest commercial mortgage real estate investment trust in the United States, which has successfully deployed over $69 billion of capital since inception and manages a portfolio of over $18 billion across debt and equity investments. Over the past 29 years, Starwood Capital Group and its affiliates have successfully executed an investment strategy that involves building enterprises in both the private and public markets
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INVESTMENTS
Harbor Group | January 28, 2022
Affiliates of Harbor Group International, LLC ("HGI"), a privately owned international real estate investment and management firm, today announced the acquisition of an 8-asset portfolio of workforce housing communities in North Carolina's Research Triangle for $475 million. The Newmark team of Jason Kon, Henry Stimler and Bill Weber represented the seller, Dasmen Residential LLC, and facilitated the debt for the acquisition.
Located throughout the Research Triangle, an area known for its research universities and STEM companies, the portfolio comprises 2,356 units and features four communities in Durham, three communities in Raleigh and one community in Charlotte. HGI plans to invest approximately $21.9 million across the properties to renovate 25% of the interior units. Harbor Group Management Company, the property management arm of HGI, will assume management of the entire portfolio.
The Research Triangle is an important target market for HGI as we seek to acquire well-located communities in high-growth markets, As the area's high-paying STEM jobs continue to attract new residents, we see opportunity to leverage our expertise in owning and operating similar communities in the region to generate rent growth amid increasing demand for housing."
Richard Litton, HGI.
We are proud that we were able to bring these two great firms together to do this unique and large off-market transaction. Dasmen entrusted the Newmark team to execute this deal in a very quiet and select manner, culminating in a great outcome for both parties."
Kon.
The Raleigh-Durham properties within the portfolio have direct access to Research Triangle Park, placing residents in proximity to over 22.5 million square feet of office and lab space and more than 275 businesses. Since 2020, more than 9,000 jobs have been created in the Research Triangle area, driven by the expansion of technology and life science companies, with major employers including Bayer Crop Science, Cisco, Biogen and IBM. Apple's first East Coast campus is currently under development in Research Triangle Park, and is projected to bring an additional 3,000 jobs to the area.
HGI is an active investor in the southeastern U.S. markets. With the addition of the Research Triangle portfolio, the firm currently owns and manages nearly 5,000 apartment units in North Carolina.
About Harbor Group International
Harbor Group International, LLC, and its affiliates control an investment portfolio of $18 billion including 4.9 million square feet of commercial space throughout the United States and the United Kingdom and 60,000 apartment units in the United States. In addition to its corporate headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, HGI maintains offices in New York, Baltimore, Los Angeles, and Tel Aviv.
About Dasmen Residential LLC
Dasmen Residential LLC is a privately held real estate investment and management firm that owns and operates multi-family properties in major cities throughout the United States. We make opportunistic investments in growth markets and employ a range of strategies to create value and sustain long term asset appreciation.
About Newmark
Newmark Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: NMRK), together with its subsidiaries ("Newmark"), is a world leader in commercial real estate, seamlessly powering every phase of the property life cycle. Newmark's comprehensive suite of services and products is uniquely tailored to each client, from owners to occupiers, investors to founders, and startups to blue-chip companies. Combining the platform's global reach with market intelligence in both established and emerging property markets, Newmark provides superior service to clients across the industry spectrum. Newmark generated revenues in excess of $2.5 billion for the trailing twelve months ending September 30, 2021. Newmark's company-owned offices, together with its business partners, operate from over 160 offices with approximately 6,200 professionals around the world.
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