Middle Market Digest: Southwest

Here's a look at the latest news, announcements and deals that you may have missed in Southern California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah.

NEW & NOTABLE

LOS ANGELES—CBRE Group has launched a new global capability, called CBRE 360, focused on delivering enhanced employee experiences in the workplace. The capability will help property investors and occupiers create customized workplace solutions by integrating property services and amenities with advanced digital technologies. CBRE 360 will be embedded within major CBRE business lines, including Global Workplace Solutions, Asset Services and Advisory & Transaction Services, and can be customized to reflect each client's unique culture and workplace requirements. Andrew Kupiec, a top executive who led the North American operations at Zipcar, the world's largest car sharing and urban mobility company, has joined CBRE as Global President – CBRE 360.

PHOENIX—Commercial Properties/CORFAC International has hired Matt McOmber to the CPI Brokerage Team.  Matt will be operating out of the Tempe headquarters and focusing on the Corporate Services division. After more than 18 years leading real estate teams for leading national firms, Matt McOmber joined Commercial Properties Incorporated (CPI), as the Senior Vice President of the Corporate Services division.  McOmber has responsibility for managing real estate transactions with corporate clients in Phoenix and throughout North and South America. McOmber brings his transaction & project management knowledge to the CPI Corporate Services team and will be focusing on leveraging regional and global relationships to ensure every client need is met, allowing for the continual success of the client's business. During the past 18 years, he has managed, negotiated and closed transactions totaling more than $350 million. He has a wide array of experience throughout the United States and Latin America and has provided portfolio and transaction management services internally and as a broker for Fortune 100 companies. As the Senior Vice President, McOmber guides CPI's team in meeting clients' unique commercial real estate needs and developing strategic plans, allowing clients to focus more directly on their core business.

LOS ANGELES—The Laramar Group has hired Stacy Valentine as the Company's new Senior Vice President of Operations.  Valentine will be leading the Operations team for all urban neighborhood platforms and will oversee all national urban platform marketing efforts. She comes to The Laramar Group with over 20 years of real estate experience, most recently as the VP of Operations at Forum Real Estate Group in Denver.  While at Forum, Valentine oversaw several development projects including the design, construction, lease up and stabilization of these assets. Valentine participated in the underwriting phase of these deals and was responsible for the third-party management assignments for each. Prior to Forum, Valentine spent over 16 years with Equity Residential in Denver, where she built and managed a team of 87 employees who worked on over 3600 units in Metro Denver.  She also worked closely with the Equity Residential corporate office on many company-wide initiatives including training, employee turnover management, and pricing.

NEWPORT BEACH, CA—Newmeyer & Dillion LLP has hired Walnut Creek based attorney, Graham Mills, to partnership. His promotion is effective immediately. Graham concentrates in the areas of complex insurance law with an emphasis on insurance recovery, construction litigation, real estate litigation, and business litigation. In addition to his contributions to the firm, Graham is passionate about giving back to his community through pro bono legal efforts.

PHOENIX—The Phoenix office of JLL has named Pat Williams as Senior Managing Director and new head of the Phoenix JLL office, overseeing a team of 46 local commercial real estate brokers specializing in tenant and investor representation across a broad range of product types. Williams previously served as the head of the JLL Phoenix tenant representation team and co-leader of the Phoenix office alongside Senior Managing Director Dennis Desmond. With the transition, Desmond will move to an expanded role within the JLL Capital Markets group. Williams joined the local JLL office in 2000, serving as a tenant representation expert and one of six founding team members within what, at the time, was the Staubach Company, the nation's leading tenant representation firm. In 2008, the Staubach Company was purchased by JLL. In 2011, Williams was promoted to Managing Director and named head of the JLL Phoenix tenant representation team.

DEALTRACKER

LAS VEGAS—Affiliates of Chicago-based Oak Residential Partners LLC and Chicago-based POB Capital LLC have acquired The Avenue Apartments, a 252-unit apartment complex in Las Vegas. Avenue Apartments is located on East Tropicana Avenue in the rapidly growing area of north Henderson. Oak was attracted to this location given its proximity to large job centers around the Las Vegas Strip, downtown and nearby Henderson. The Avenue Apartments, located at 4800 East Tropicana Avenue, is a garden-style community originally constructed in 1996. The Property consists of thirty-four residential buildings, boasting large one and two bedroom floorplans and featuring nine-foot ceilings. The Avenue has a low-density site plan with a multitude of common area amenities. Community features include a large resort style swimming pool with a spa, a resident clubhouse featuring a full kitchen, gas fireplace, lounging area, multiple TV's and a business center, an expansive 24-hour fitness center with two racquetball courts, and a completed dog park and pet area. The venture plans to spend significant capital dollars to modernize the community, including conversion of the under-utilized racquetball courts into yoga/stretching space and a game room. Additionally, they have plans to renovate the unit interiors, including new kitchen cabinets, countertops, flooring, and stainless steel appliance packages, among other planned improvements.

LOS ANGELES—Charles Dunn Company has completed the $4 million sale of a 19-unit apartment property in the Hollywood submarket of Los Angeles. Senior Director Bryan Glenn with Charles Dunn Company represented the seller, a Los Angeles-based private investor. The buyer, a Los Angeles-based private investor was represented by BRC Advisors. The property sold at a price per unit of $210,526 and a cap rate of 3.74%.

LOS ANGELES—A multifamily redevelopment site in Los Angeles' Koreatown to Jamison, a local privately held real estate investment and operating company, for $14 million. CBRE's Laurie Lustig-Bower and Kamran Paydar represented the seller, Harvard 826 Property LLC, a private investor owned by Hersel Neman and Robert Neman. The site, an assemblage of parcels located at the corner of 8th Street and Harvard, currently holds vacant apartment and commercial buildings to be demolished for new development. The plot is fully entitled for 131 residential units and 4,150 square feet of retail.

BEVERLY HILLS, CA—Sonnenblick-Eichner Company has arranged $60 million of financing for The St. Regis Deer Valley, a year-round destination resort located on the slopes of the world-renowned Deer Valley ski area in Park City, UT.  The St. Regis Deer Valley offers 67 hotel condominium suites divisible into 177 hotel keys and 25 private whole-ownership residences. The ski-in, ski-out resort is considered among the finest destination ski resorts in the world.  Amenities at the resort include the 14,000-square-foot Remède Spa and fitness facilities, a Jean-Georges Vongerichten signature restaurant (J&G Grill) and the Deer Crest Club, a private club providing an exclusive experience for its members. Funded by a domestic life insurance company in a highly structured transaction, proceeds of this non-recourse financing were used to refinance existing debt with a new long-term, fixed-rate loan as well as provide for the development of the next phase of the resort, which will include additional condominium and hotel units, a destination restaurant and other resort amenities.  Construction on the next phase is anticipated to begin later this year or early 2019.