CBRE Arranges $107M for Newark, N.J. Office

CBRE Capital Markets, Los Angeles, arranged $107.3 million for Two Riverfront Plaza, a 12-story Newark, N.J. office tower.

Kuwait KFH Capital Investment Co. used the funds to acquire the asset, which Panasonic Corp. of North America occupies as its headquarters.

CBRE Executive Vice President James Gunning, Vice President Donna Falzarano and Production Analyst Stephen Joseph of CBRE’s Saddle Brook, N.J. office secured the loan from Ladder Capital, New York. Gunning said the building changed hands for $165 million and the lender accommodated the borrower’s financing objectives “despite the post-election lending climate.”

Two Riverfront Plaza sits eight miles west of Manhattan. Connected to Newark Penn Station, the property offers access by New Jersey Transit railways and bus lines, Amtrak, PATH and the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail. Panasonic’s lease will remain in effect until 2031. 

In Minnesota, CBRE Capital Markets’ Institutional Properties team sold 33 South Sixth-City Center, a 51-story Class A office tower and mixed-use complex in downtown Minneapolis, to HNA Holding Group Co. Ltd., Hong Kong. 

CBRE Executive Vice President Tom Holtz, Senior Vice President Ryan Watts, Vice President Judd Welliver and First Vice President Sonja Dusil represented seller Shorenstein Properties LLC, San Francisco. The sale, which closed November 9, represents HNA Group’s first Minneapolis-St. Paul office acquisition.

“This sale further demonstrates the health of the Twin Cities market and its attractiveness to foreign capital such as HNA,” Holtz said.

Located at 33 South Sixth Street alongside the Nicollet Mall, the 1.6 million-square-foot mixed-use complex is the largest building in Minneapolis’ central business district. Retailer Target Corp. occupies 73 percent of the 1.2 million-square-foot office tower on a long-term lease. The property also includes City Center, a 272,500-square-foot retail center.

Shorenstein acquired 33 South Sixth in November 2012 for its tenth investment fund, Shorenstein Realty Investors Ten, LP, and repositioned the retail portion by bringing in new retailers including Saks Off Fifth.

Late last year, Shorenstein separately sold a ground lease within the City Center complex to Host Hotels & Resorts. The Minneapolis Marriott occupies the ground lease.