The geographically diverse portfolio, which was approximately 93% leased at the time of sale, consists of five properties in a corporate campus setting in Morris Plains, NJ, 10 properties located in corporate parks in Elmsford and Port Chester in Westchester County, NY, and 10 properties in Fairfield and New Haven Counties, CT, including five properties in a Interstate 95 corporate campus in Orange, CT. The portfolio also allows for development potential at two-acre and five-acre (plus or minus) sites in Connecticut.


Baker Portfolio

The 104,000-sf 60 Marsh Hill Rd., Orange, CT asset was pulled from the original 26-asset portfolio. It has 29% office, 71% industrial, is 100% occupied and will be sold for $11 million to the Southern Connecticut Gas Co., who exercised their first right of refusal purchase option, according to a CBRE release. With this sale included, the 26-assets will trade for $220 million.


Baker Portfolio

Marc Baker, president of Baker Properties notes that "this transaction is the culmination of over 30 years of asset accumulation in excellent locations, and we look forward to using this opportunity to reposition our portfolio for further growth and value creation."

M. Robert Goldman & Co. Inc. arranged $105 million in financing for the acquisition. Jonathan Goldman, EVP, and John Robustello, VP, arranged the financing through MRG's correspondent relationship with John Hancock Life Insurance Co. "Spreads on all classes of debt are at historic highs," Goldman says. "Certainty of execution was paramount as the subject was part of a larger 1031 transaction. The size of the deal also presented numerous challenges as many of the traditional players including investment banks and insurance companies are either out of the market or have dramatically reduced their whole loan allocations. John Hancock stayed true to course, held their rate lock as spreads widened, and marshaled the resources necessary to close the loan within the necessary time frame."

Joanne Adkins, regional director of John Hancock says that "the opportunity fit neatly into our strategy of lending on core property types in well-located markets with strong sponsors. We jumped on it and closed the transaction in 48 days from rate lock." The transaction was structured as seven tranches with different maturities and geographic coverage to accommodate various lease rollover and title related matters. Each of the loans is interest only for all or part of their respective terms, an unusual characteristic in the current environment, according to a MRG release.

Specific portfolio locations as follows:

  • Connecticut: 15, 25, 35 Executive Blvd.; 12 Cascade Blvd.; 269 Lambert Rd.; 470, 950 Bridgeport Ave.; 15 Progress Dr.; 22 Marsh Hill Rd.
  • New Jersey: 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 the American Rd.
  • New York: 36, 100-110, 112 Midland Ave.; 8 Slater St.; 103, 412 Fairview Park Dr.; 401, 404 Fieldcrest Dr.; 199, 203 Ridgewood Dr.
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