Here is what your fellow Columbia Business School Real Estate Alumni have been doing recently. If you don’t see your news mentioned, please let us know.

Congratulations to the following CBS alumni named in the 50 most important figures of commercial real estate finance by Commercial Observer:

#5: David Bouton ’96
#7: Kara McShane ’00
#25: Jeff Fastov ’92

La Mesa Office Complex Refinanced
A La Mesa office complex has been refinanced with a 10-year loan of $20.5 million with an interest rate of 2.98%. Allied Office Plaza-SPE, LLC/ HFH, Ltd. received the loan from Starwood Mortgage Capital, LLC. Built in 1982, the 121,000 square-foot Allied Plaza at 7777 Alvarado Road is comprised of two buildings that were 98% occupied at the time of the refinancing. Palmer Capital brokerage assisted in the refinancing. The owners of the complex were represented by Christopher H. Locke, CEO of HFH, and Patty Carroll, the on-site manager and HFH director of commercial leasing.

Muss Development Nabs $52M Refinance at Flushing Plaza
Muss Development nabbed a $52 million refinancing for its mixed-use property in Flushing, Queens, Commercial Observer has learned. Bank of America provided the 10-year, fixed-rate loan for Muss’ 233,436-square-foot building at 41-61 Kissena Boulevard, also known as Flushing Plaza. The deal was arranged by Cushman & Wakefield’s Gideon Gil and Alex Lapidus.

Seritage Growth Properties Announces Promotions and Organizational Restructuring
“Having reviewed our business and strategy with a fresh perspective, it was clear that we needed to realign our human capital and streamline our processes to position ourselves to execute on the exciting opportunity set we have at Seritage. To that end, we are proud to recognize the contributions of Andrew, Mary and Eric and welcome Ed to the team. We firmly believe these talented individuals in these expanded roles will be instrumental to executing our value-creation strategies more efficiently and effectively,” stated [Andrea] Olshan

Opportunity Zone Site in Prince William County Fetches $17M
The project will provide housing options for the 50,000-plus military, civilian, contractor and Department of Defense personnel working at nearby Fort Belvoir, a rapidly growing Army base less than eight miles from the planned community, said Scott Meyer, PTM’s chief investment officer. “Like with a lot of things, COVID-19 has accelerated trends—and this area in particular was already growing—and there’s been even more of a push over the last 12 months towards suburban living, and not everyone can afford a house,” Meyer told Commercial Observer. “So, we’re looking to build this apartment community at an attainable price point for a lot of people living in the area, whether they’re commuting into Washington, D.C., once a week or five days a week. This is a very, very nice place to live that’s proximate to D.C. at a much more affordable price point.”

Can Biophilic New Offices Save NYC’s Commercial Market?
“This is a way of bringing in fresh air: It’s open to the outside [and] it brings in more greenery and sunlight,” said Erik Horvat, managing director of real estate at Olayan America. (The Olayan Group, which has a global real-estate portfolio, owns [550 Madison, which will open a 21,000 sf public “garden” space during the second quarter of 2022.]) Horvat adds the tower should open this year, and this outdoor amenity will offer tenants a chance to step away from the office and recharge outside. “[The pandemic] didn’t really change the plans or designs of what we were doing, but it really meets the moment anyway,” said Horvat. “It just happens that people are really going to have a desire for fresh air.”

Common Tapped to Operate Co-Living Units at Washington, DC Community
W5 Group chose the company to manage 239 beds at its i5 Union Market property. Raphael Sidelsky, W5’s chief investment officer, told Multi-Housing News that Common will only be managing the co-living units while Bozzuto will continue to manage the conventional units of i5…. Sidelsky told MHN that Common would make for an excellent co-living manager because of its diversified portfolio, emphasis on the tenant experience and knowledge of the Washington, D.C. market.

Mission Valley Office Building Sells to Virginia Firm, Anchor Health Properties, for $25.3 Million
“We are very selective about the medical properties we acquire, and the Rio Vista Plaza building has all the attributes that are most important to us,” said James Schmid, Anchor Health’s chief investment officer.

Naftali Credit Partners Closes $10 Million Mezzanine Loan for Mixed-Use Development in Philadelphia’s Growing University City
“We are thrilled to offer Thylan Associates support as they make progress at this exciting new development,” said David Hochfelder, Chief Investment Officer at Naftali Group. “We have no doubt 4224 Baltimore Avenue and its elevated residential and retail offerings will help lead the impressive transformation of the University City submarket in Philadelphia.”

Miami’s Real Estate Boom: Too Good to be True?
Tillman suggested that there will always be opportunity in middle-income and affordable housing. “You have a lot of luxury product out there. We don't know how big that demand is, but we do know for sure the need for accessible housing,” he said. “More than a third of the people who live here are cost-burdened, meaning over 30% of their income is going towards rents.” He said more public financing is needed to build affordable product but opportunity zones can help entice private capital.

Perseverance Rewards DJM with $70M Recap of SoCal Mixed-Use Waterfront Asset
“The DJM team has done an incredible job of redeveloping and remerchandising Lido Marina Village,” Neville Rhone Jr., co-founder and managing partner of Arc Capital Partners, said in a statement. “The property is a best-in-class example of a dynamic mixed-use environment.”

Simon Mall in South Florida is Adding a Hotel
In a February earnings call, Simon CEO David Simon said that in spite of the pandemic, the company had collected 90% of net billed rents for the second, third and fourth quarters combined. Of Florida, he said, “It's really showing green shoots, vibrant economy. The only element that's missing to make that really hot would be international tourism.”