Kimberly-Clark Takes Another 1.6M Sq. Ft. at SouthPort

Kimberly-Clark, the huge consumer and medical paper products conglomerate, agreed to take another 339,300 square feet in Oakmont Industrial Group's SouthPort Logistics Center. The firm plans to take occupancy of the expansion space during the second quarter 2008.

This lease follows the original 1,298,700-square-foot lease Kimberly-Clark signed last year in the SouthPort project. The expanded lease will total 1,638,000 square feet, making it one of the nation’s largest distribution centers under one roof in the country.

Oakmont Industrial Group President Richard Rider credited the spec project's financial backers and innovative design for securing the additional commitment from Kimberly-Clark.

"Our capital structure through strategic partnerships with Prudential Real Estate Investors and Hunt Investments allows us to embark on speculative projects of this size and scale," Rider said in a statement announcing the agreement.

SouthPort Logistics Center is located in the City of McDonough, approximately 30 miles south of Atlanta in the Henry County/I-75 submarket. The building provides immediate access to I-75 via Georgia Highway 20. The Henry County location is emerging as a preferred logistics node for goods brought in through the Southeastern seaports of Savannah, GA, Charleston, SC, and Jacksonville, FL.

Oakmont’s Atlanta-based design and construction team includes The Conlan Company (General Contractor) and Randall-Paulson Architects. Bank of America is providing the construction financing.

Veteran Atlanta industrial brokers Greg Haynes and Todd Barton of CB Richard Ellis represented Oakmont, while Kimberly-Clark was represented by Matthew Stauber of Colliers Bennett & Kahnweiler, along with Ben Logue and Price Weaver of Colliers Spectrum Cauble.

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source: costar.com

Clean Cut Fabricators Inks 80,000-SF Lease

Clean Cut Fabricators, a manufacturer of storage and display units, signed a deal in mid-November to lease 81,714 square feet at 5555 Gwaltney Drive in Atlanta. The company signed for a little more than six years and has set a tentative move-in date of January 1, 2008.

The property at 5555 Gwaltney Drive is an industrial warehouse building that totals 81,714 square feet. Of that space there is 3,758 square feet of office space. The building was completed in 1984 and the property is in the Fulton Industrial District submarket of Atlanta.

Bruce Logue represented owner M.D. Hodges in-house, and Charles Holloway of Carter in Atlanta represented the tenant.

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source: costar.com

Solar Energy Provider for Property Owners Closes $200M Fund

Financial services firm Morgan Stanley has pledged $200 million in financing for solar power projects hosted by Recurrent Energy, a San Francisco-based provider of solar energy to institutional property owners.

The solar project fund will provide $100 million in financing for projects next year and an additional $100 million in 2009, according to Recurrent.

"Morgan Stanley is a leader in the industry and their commitment to financing renewable energy has been clear from the start," Recurrent Founder and CEO Arno Harris said in a statement. "We look forward to putting this new fund to work quickly to help our clients transform empty rooftops into value-generating, sustainable assets."

Recurrent, which raised an initial $10 million in funding in March, began negotiating with Morgan Stanley earlier this year, Harris said in his blog. The firm launched in 2006 and has yet to publicly disclose any of its clients, but Harris wrote that with the fund in place, Recurrent "can offer our customers and partners the added certainty of knowing we have capital lined up ... with a leading investment bank."

The firm is one of several new groups offering solar energy via purchase power agreement (PPA), an innovative financing platform allowing customers to tap solar power without a costly investment.

Under Harris' version of the PPA, which he calls 'Solar as a Service', Recurrent installs, operates and maintains solar panels on the customer's rooftop, selling the renewable energy to the user at prices guaranteed to be competitively priced with utility rates.

Harris has targeted owners of large real estate portfolios, such as institutional investors and REITs, where his Solar as a Service model could operate with the greatest efficiency. Recurrent estimates that these real estate owners possess about 8.5 billion square feet of U.S. rooftop space, more than half of which is suitable for photovoltaic installations.

The PPA structure is gaining ground both among solar providers -- which profit from the sale of the energy and frequently have much of their expenses offset by government incentives -- and among customers, who benefit from on-site solar energy without having to buy or maintain the hardware.

MMA Renewable Ventures, a solar energy provider also offering a PPA platform, has received equity investments from Wells Fargo & Co., Citibank and John Hancock Financial Services. It has completed projects for Estee Lauder and Fetzer Vineyards and is currently installing a solar system for apparel chain Gap Inc.

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source: costar.com

Branch Properties Pays $6M+ for Jonesboro Property

Northcam Corp. acquired the property at 6667 Tara Blvd. in Jonesboro, GA, from Holrob-Georgia LLC, an entity of Branch Properties, for $6.35 million, or about $234 per square foot.

Shops at Tara was completed in July of this year. The shopping center offers 27,167 square feet on 4.35 acres. There is a dedicated turn lane and a signalized intersection. The property sold with a 7.3% cap rate.

Jesse Shannon with Easlan Capital of Atlanta Inc. represented the seller. David Fletcher with Wagner Realty represented the buyer.

Please refer to CoStar COMPS #1446147 for more information on this transaction.

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source: costar.com

NNN Healthcare/Office REIT Buys Medical Office Bldg.

NNN Healthcare/Office REIT Inc. purchased the Northmeadow Medical Center from Northmeadow Parkway LLC for $11.85 million, or about $232.50 per square foot.

The medical office property, at 1357 Hembree Park Drive, was 99% leased to nine tenants at the time of sale. There are also leases in place that do not begin to expire for at least five years.

The medical center was built in 1999 and spans across 5.5 acres. It is located across the street from North Fulton Regional Hospital, a 167-bed acute care hospital serving North Fulton and the surrounding counties. The hospital is one of three Level II Trauma Centers in the metro Atlanta area.

NNN Healthcare/Office REIT offers a monthly distribution of 7.25% per annum and has made 14 other acquisitions throughout the U.S. including Northmeadow Medical Center, making its portfolio valued in excess of $294 million.

Gary Lee and Andrew Murphy of Carter Real Estate represented the seller. The Denver office of CBRE | Melody, the real estate investment banking division of CB Richard Ellis, arranged first mortgage financing of $12.4 million that was provided through LaSalle Bank National Association.

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source: costar.com