Commercial News

Equitable Invests in SoLa Impact’s Black Impact Fund

Equitable, a financial services company and principal franchise of Equitable Holdings, has invested $15 million in the Black Impact Fund, the fourth fund of SoLa Impact. SoLa Impact, a Black-led real estate developer and investment fund, is focused on providing high-quality, affordable and workforce housing in California’s cities. SoLa launched the fund, in part, to help address and improve economic opportunities for Black and brown Americans in lower-income communities.

The move is part of Equitable’s commitment to invest a portion of its General Account toward creating meaningful and positive social impact in the communities in which it serves.

SoLa Impact leverages private capital to meet the demand for high-quality affordable housing in California’s urban markets. Its approach combines access to affordable housing with access to education, capital and ownership to uplift Black and brown communities.

Prologis to Combine with Duke Realty in $26B All-Stock Transaction

After months of back-and-forth, Prologis Inc. and Duke Realty Corporation have entered into a merger agreement by which Prologis will acquire Duke Realty in an all-stock transaction, valued at approximately $26 billion, including the assumption of debt.

Under the terms of the agreement, Duke Realty shareholders will receive 0.475x of a Prologis share for each Duke Realty share they own. The respective boards of directors for Prologis and Duke Realty have unanimously approved the transaction.

With the transaction, Prologis is gaining properties in key geographies, including Southern California, New Jersey, South Florida, Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta.

The acquisition on an owned and managed basis comprises: 153 million square feet of operating properties in 19 U.S. logistics geographies; 11 million square feet of development in progress and 1,228 acres of land owned and under option.

Taconic Partners Launches Life Sciences Platform

To better expand and manage its growing life sciences portfolio, Taconic Partners has launched Elevate Research Properties, a wholly owned subsidiary of Taconic that will be responsible for acquisitions, development, leasing and management in the sector. With three projects in active development along with a recently announced future pipeline deal, Elevate will have approximately $2 billion of investment in life science real estate totaling 1.4 million square feet. While all four of these projects are located in Manhattan, Elevate plans to invest in core lab markets outside of New York as well.

Matthew Weir will serve as president of the new venture in addition to his current role as executive vice president of Taconic.

On the West Side of Manhattan, Elevate Research Properties has two active lab developments: 125 West End Ave. and The Hudson Research Center. Elevate will soon unveil plans for 309 East 94th St., a Class A research lab development.

SoLa Impact CEO Martin Muoto Photo courtesy of PRNewswire

GTIS Partners Launches Opportunity Zone Fund II

GTIS Partners (GTIS), a global real estate investment firm with $4.7 billion in gross assets under management focused on residential and industrial investments, launched its GTIS Qualified Opportunity Zone Fund II on July 1. The fund is open to individual investors through many financial advisors or directly through an electronic subscription service in partnership with +Subscribe, the order management system for alternative product transactions. Unique in the Opportunity Zone space, GTIS said, the fund is structured as a diversified REIT open to Accredited Investors with a minimum commitment of $100,000 through a securities offering registered on all major custodian platforms.

Fund II is a continuation of the strategy employed by its predecessor GTIS Qualified Opportunity Zone Fund I, which raised $630 million of investor capital and placed among the top five largest Qualified Opportunity Zone funds raised to date. Fund I has committed to 15 investments mostly focused on large regional Sunbelt markets across multifamily, single-family rental and industrial property types.

Sage Realty Signs Over 48,000SF at 777 Third Ave.

Sage Realty, the leasing and management division of the William Kaufman Organization (WKO), has signed eight leases — some new, some renewals — totaling over 48,000 square feet at 777 Third Ave. Michael Lenchner and Jack Brennan represented Sage on all of the transactions.

The new leases were: Serafina Express, represented by Michael Azarian and James Ariola of Cushman Wakefield; Big Sun Holdings Group, an investment management company, represented by Todd Abrams of Prime Manhattan Realty; Tempus Ex Machina Inc., a sports data firm, represented by Elie Reiss of Skylight Leasing; Lisanti Capital Growth LLC, represented by Todd Hershmann and Alex Rosenblum of Newmark and Bradford Allen Realty Services LLC, a real estate firm, represented by Glenn Isaacson of Bradford Allen.

Xomox Jewelry Expands to West 40th Street

Norman Bobrow & Co. signed a lease for Xomox Jewelry at 240 West 40th St., where it is expanding its business and taking 13,500 square feet, comprising the entire ninth floor.

The fine jewelry manufacturer is moving from 151 West 46th St., where it occupied 6,500 square feet. The new 10-year lease has an asking rent of $52.

Michael Nazarian and Matt Kashani of Norman Bobrow & Co. represented Xomox and Daniel Lolai. Joel Kubie and Eric Siegel of LSL Advisors represented the landlord, the Sioni Group.

“We showed our client many options,” said Nazarian, who said the client agreed to leave the submarket they originally wanted, after seeing the high-end building finishes at 240 West 40th St. “The landlord also works efficiently and quickly, reassuring that our customer can move in on time.”

Photo courtesy of Sage Realty

Photo courtesy of Norman Bobrow & Co.