National briefs: TRD’s monthly roundup of news from across the country

Minneapolis

Minnesota’s tallest office building, the 792-foot IDS Center in downtown Minneapolis, has a trio of new owners — Beacon Investment Properties, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services and Menora Mivtachim Insurance, Commercial Property Executive reported. The companies paid $253 million to Inland American Real Estate Trust, which bought the property in 2006 for $277.9 million. The Philip Johnson–designed tower has 1.4 million square feet, of which 93 percent is leased. The center’s Crystal Court retail plaza has no vacancies. Inland hired HFF, a commercial real estate and capital markets services firm, to find a buyer. HFF also worked on behalf of the buyers to set up a 10-year, $182 million financing package with JP Morgan Chase Bank.

Denver

Luxury home sales in Denver are up by 45 percent from a year ago, according to a report by Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage cited by the Denver Post. In March, Denver had 71 home sales priced above $1 million, compared with the March 2012 total of 49. The month-to-month gain was even greater — 58 percent. February saw 45 houses sold for $1 million or more. Taking the top spot for most expensive sale in March, at $7 million, was a 13,000-square-foot home in the Denver suburb of Cherry Hills Village. Meanwhile, the median sale price of a luxury home fell slightly to $1.28 million last month, down 2.7 percent from the same period of 2012 and 1.5 percent from the previous month. Sellers received an average of 96.1 percent of their asking prices, up from 94.9 percent in 2012. “The Denver metro area’s luxury market has continued its upward momentum with the spring home buying season in full swing,” said Chris Mygatt, president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Colorado. “We’re gradually getting more inventory on the market, but it’s still not enough to meet strong buyer demand.”

Providence

Gaia Real Estate has acquired the 478-apartment Winchester Park & Winchester Wood complex in Providence, R.I., from Equity Residential of Chicago, the Providence Journal reported. New York–based Gaia paid some $55 million, or about $115,000 per apartment, and secured 20 acres of adjacent land in the April deal. CBRE/New England represented the seller and found the buyer. Gaia plans to update the apartments and common areas. Winchester Park, built in the 1970s, has 416 apartments in 63 buildings; the 1985-constructed Winchester Wood has 62 apartments in 16 buildings. The properties share a clubhouse, a fitness center, an outdoor swimming pool and tennis courts.

Phoenix

The Phoenix housing market posted the nation’s biggest annual increase in home prices, the Phoenix Business Journal reported. The 23 percent gain, in the latest Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, puts Phoenix at the top of the 20 largest metropolitan areas. All the cities showed improvement, climbing an average of 9.3 percent in February. The increase, the largest in seven years, represented the second month in a row that every city saw higher prices, which — as David Blitzer of S&P Dow Jones Indices pointed out — has not happened since early 2005.

Boston

Curt Schilling

Red Sox pitching legend Curt Schilling has shaved another $300,000 off the price of his 26-acre estate just outside of Boston, Realtor.com reported. The seven-bedroom, seven-bathroom home in Medfield, Mass., is now listed at $3.2 million — down from $3.5 million. The mansion went on the market five years ago for $8 million. Schilling, who retired from baseball in 2009, is being sued by the state of Rhode Island for allegedly misleading the state in obtaining a $75 million loan for the video game company that he started. The business, called 38 Studios, went bankrupt.

Chris Tucker

Los Angeles

Actor Chris Tucker, of “Silver Linings Playbook” and “Rush Hour” fame, made a profit of $1 million when he sold his Los Angeles-area home for $2.1 million, the Huffington Post reported. The sale of the five-bedroom, seven-bathroom home in Tarzana, which has a pool and a spa, took place in March. Tucker bought the 6,399-square-foot property in 1996.

Los Angeles

Vince Vaughn with his wife, Kyla

Actor Vince Vaughn and wife Kyla have paid $3.93 million for a five-bedroom, six-bathroom house in the Los Angeles suburb of La Cañada Flintridge, Real Estalker reported. The 5,563-square-foot home, situated on three-quarters of an acre, boasts Brazilian cherry wood floors, formal living and dining rooms and a sports court. The couple, who are expecting their second child, can now count actress Angela Bassett as a neighbor.