Hartford Business.com
May 17, 2008
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After heading off a proxy fight with Arbor Realty Trust Inc., Hartford-based CBRE Realty Finance Inc. began soliciting proxies last week to reelect all seven members of its current board at its annual meeting. The meeting has been set for 8:30 a.m., June 4, at The InterContinental in New York City.
Arbor, which owns almost 10 percent of CBRE shares, had nominated its own slate of seven directors for CBRE. It withdrew that slate April 23 in a settlement that calls for CBRE to include Arbor in negotiations if CBRE begins a process of seeking proposals for an acquisition of any or all of its stock.
After Arbor announced its intentions to nominate its own slate of CBRE directors, CBRE had hired Goldman Sachs to help it consider its strategic alternatives. It continues to work with Goldman Sachs.
Forstone Buys In Bridgeport
Forstone Capital has teamed with joint venture partner based in Florida to acquire 170,000 of commercial space in Bridgeport for $15.7 million.
The deal with Maxwell Real Estate Group, which coincides with Forstone’s one-year anniversary, includes a complex of three buildings and two acres of adjacent land that is suitable for development.
One building with 120,000 square feet is 94 percent leased. A smaller 40,500-square-foot building is 97 percent leased, and a 9,500-square-foot building is completely leased out.
Forstone completed the move in an off-market transaction brokered by Fred Fasinelli of AMS Real Estate.
Brendan Hall, a principal with Forstone, explained that the property appealed to the investment firm because it had a base of high-credit tenants and a solid location within Bridgeport’s commercial district. Hall added that Forstone sees opportunity in Bridgeport and is committed to taking an active role in the city’s development.
“In a time of widespread financial turbulence, this transaction was a significant accomplishment for our company,” he said.
Forstone was launched in April 2007 by Hall and Brett Wilderman. Late last year, the firm acquired a 36-unit apartment complex in Bridgeport.
Online Brokers
The nation’s largest online, full-service real estate brokerage has announced plans to expand its coverage to include Connecticut.
California-based ZipRealty already has agents in 19 states and the District of Columbia and will add Connecticut to the roster by the third quarter of 2008. The planned coverage area includes Hartford, Middlesex, New Haven and Litchfield counties.
ZipRealty said it intends to open an office in Hartford and hire a district director and local licensed agents. The location of the office hasn’t been chosen yet.
ZipRealty President and CEO Patrick Lashinsky said the company is expanding its reach throughout the Northeast.
ZipRealty officially launched in New York last year and has brokered sales in New York City, Long Island and in Westchester County.
The publicly traded company — ticker symbol ZIPR on the NASDAQ — announced in March that it lost $14.9 million in 2007.
New Tenants
The Exchange in Farmington has two new companies calling the 250,000-square-foot office building home.
TRO Jung/Brannen, an architecture and design firm, signed a lease for 6,318 square feet and Re Life Spa for Women, a luxury day spa, signed for 3,778 square feet. The Exchange is owned by the New Boston Fund Inc., a real estate investment, development and management firm.
In Simsbury, Ironshore Insurance Holdings signed a lease for 12,427 square feet at 86 Hopmeadow St., completing the leasing of the 42,000-square-foot building. John McCormick and Pat Mulready of CB Richard Ellis were leasing agents for the deal.
The Geenty Group announced that Atlantic Steel Inc. will be relocating from North Branford to Wallingford after leasing 5,400 square feet at 65 South Turnpike Road.
Bill Clark, of the Geenty Group, represented the landlord, while Steve Cortese, also of the Geenty Group, represented the tenant.
Sean O’Leary is a Hartford Business Journal staff writer.
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