CB Richard Ellis brokers complete 25-asset portfolio sale: $209m

Jeffrey Dunne, Steven Bardsley, Jeffrey Oram and David Gavin of CB Richard Ellis' New York institutional group collaborated with William Cuddy and Sean Cahill of CB Richard Ellis' Stamford office, Matthew O'Hare of the New Haven office and Tom Mallaney of the Saddle Brook, N.J. office to successfully negotiate the sale of Baker Properties' 25-asset, 1.98 million s/f, warehouse/flex portfolio for $209 million. The team was also responsible for procuring the buyer, Long Island-based Lighthouse Real Estate Ventures, Inc., who purchased the portfolio as part of a 1031 exchange requirement. The 60 Marsh Hill Rd. in Orange, Conn. asset was pulled from the original 26-asset portfolio and will be sold for $11 million to the Southern Connecticut Gas Co., who exercised their first right of refusal purchase option. With this sale included, the 26-assets will trade for $220 million. The portfolio, which was 93% leased at the time of sale, consists of five properties in a corporate campus setting in Morris Plains, N.J., 10 properties located in corporate parks in Elmsford and Port Chester in Westchester County, and 10 properties in Conn. Dunne had the following comments on the sale: "The Baker Portfolio provided Lighthouse with a compelling investment opportunity to acquire a proven, critical mass of best-in-class assets as part of the second-leg of a 1031 exchange requirement. Lighthouse's exchange requirement was driven by their $180 million sale of 100 William St. in Manhattan in late December of 2007. Darcy Stacom and Bill Shanahan, who head CB Richard Ellis' New York City Investment Properties Group, handled the sale for Lighthouse and worked closely with us to complete the 1031 exchange." Marc Baker, president of Baker Properties said, "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. We congratulate CB Richard Ellis and Lighthouse for a successful transaction in a challenging environment. We also wish to thank our tenants for the excellent relationships we have enjoyed for many, many years." The CB Richard Ellis New York Institutional Group specializes in the sale of investment properties in the suburban markets surrounding New York City as well as select regional markets throughout the country. The group services a prestigious client base of institutions, corporations, private investors, developers and REITS and has closed $7.8 billion in property sales in all property types over the last three years. Based on its ability to strategically advise clients through complex real estate and capital market cycles, CBRE has consistently achieved the highest sales prices in each of the region's submarkets. Through its affiliation with L.J. Melody, a leading debt and equity firm, CBRE is also able to provide clients with a comprehensive array of financial instruments and strategies. The group also has a number of attractive investment opportunities currently on the market including: the Columbia Medical Office Portfolio, a 934,012 s/f eight property medical office portfolio in New York, Massachusetts and Florida; the DDR Retail Portfolio, a 12-property, 1,163,981 s/f retail portfolio in New York, Tennessee and Georgia; the Wells/Piedmont NNN Portfolio, a 3.36 million s/f portfolio in 10 states; North Bergen Center, a 123,986 s/f retail center in North Bergen, N.J.; and 225 Summit Ave., a 142,500 s/f office building in Montvale, N.J. CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc., an S&P 500 company headquartered in Los Angeles, is the world's largest commercial real estate services firm (in terms of 2007 revenue). With over 29,000 employees, the Company serves real estate owners, investors and occupiers through more than 300 offices worldwide (excluding affiliate offices). CB Richard Ellis offers strategic advice and execution for property sales and leasing; corporate services; property, facilities and project management; mortgage banking; appraisal and valuation; development services; investment management; and research and consulting. In 2007, CB Richard Ellis was named one of the 50 "best in class" companies by BusinessWeek, and one of the 100 fastest growing companies by Fortune.