CROMWELL, CONN. – CBRE Capital Markets’ debt and structured finance team has secured $21.3 million in bridge financing for Cromwell Square, a 218,000-square-foot shopping center currently anchored by a 100,000-square-foot Kmart in Cromwell. Mark Fisher, Michael Riccio and Alex Furnary of CBRE facilitated the loan on behalf of the borrower, Greenwich-based developer/owner/operator HB Nitkin. The 10-year, fixed-rate bridge loan includes two years of interest-only payments and a 25-year amortization schedule. The loan will be used replace an existing $12.1 million loan and provide additional funds for the buyout of an existing Kmart lease. The store will be replaced with a 65,000-square-foot ShopRite grocery store and other tenants. The redevelopment is anticipated to take 18 months. The property is located at 51 Shunpike Road in Middlesex County, immediately west of Route 9 and 1.5 miles east of I-91 on the northwest corner of Shunpike Road and Route 372.
Employment gains in New Haven and Fairfield counties, coupled with a bustling job market in the New York City metro, have generated high demand for apartments in New Haven and Fairfield counties, overcoming some of the recent negative optics in Connecticut. Newly hired employees are looking for housing. Employers in New Haven and Fairfield counties are set to add 10,500 individuals to the local workforce this year. And although a significant number of tenants work in the boroughs of New York, they prefer Connecticut rentals due to a significant price differential. Even after considering costs for commuting, the value proposition New Haven and Fairfield counties remains very robust as average rents are priced at approximately $2,000 less per month than those in New York City. Market demand for housing in these two counties will create upward pressure on rent this year, advancing average effective rent 1.6 percent to $1,635 per month. In 2015, effective rent closed the year at $1,609 per month — an 18.3 percent pace of growth since 2011. Builders will deliver 2,100 apartments in New Haven and Fairfield counties in 2016, a reduction from the 3,550 apartments that were delivered in 2015; and they are focusing on …
The Connecticut industrial market has changed. The days of large corporate surplus assets littering our industrial parks, mid-teen vacancy rates and discounted lease rates are over — or at least on a hiatus. In the last few years, the market has tightened with many of the larger blocks of space absorbed by various local and national tenants. The last 20 to 25 years saw corporate consolidations, downsizing and the move to cheaper markets dominate our industrial landscape. Left behind were inefficient, large manufacturing facilities in a market losing its manufacturing base. As time went by, these idle, surplus assets were acquired by local and regional investors who eventually made these properties functional again. Over the years, steady absorption has chipped away at vacancy rates, and quality available product has become increasingly difficult to find for tenants. Traditionally, an industrial tenant needing 100,000 square feet or greater would have numerous alternatives to consider and a wide range of quality too. This gave tenants enormous leverage, allowing them to negotiate more flexible and favorable terms and conditions. The relatively recent shift in tide has allowed landlords to control the process and we’ve seen a corresponding upward tick in lease rates. The sales …
Fairfield County, Connecticut, which has traditionally been home to many multi-national financial tenants, is transitioning to become one of the most diverse business environments in the region and attracting some of the biggest names from the TAMI (technology, advertising, media and information), creative, engineering and corporate arenas. This shift in the fabric of the business community may be attributed to major investments made by a number of owners to improve and reposition their office properties to meet the demands of this new type of tenant. Owners are virtually creating new tenant experiences in their buildings, with office space boasting technological efficiencies and tenant amenities designed to support a balance between professional and personal needs. The “if you build, he will come,” quote made famous in the movie Field of Dreams is certainly apropos when looking at the trend of newly renovated properties attracting some of the best tenants in the market. A perfect example is the success at Merritt 7, a six-building, 1.4 million-square-foot office complex that recently completed more than 600,000 square feet of new leases — including a recent 133,000-square-foot lease by Datto Inc., one of the fastest- growing information technology firms in the world for its global …
The Stamford, Connecticut, office market has everything going for it: proximity to New York City, a good transportation system, a wonderful quality of life, a superior public school network, great recreational possibilities being on Long Island Sound and great professionals. The one negative: almost zero growth in the state for the past 25 years in terms of both population and office-using jobs. This lack of growth has led to a very soft economic climate as it relates to office space. The vacancy rate for class A office space has hovered at more than 20 percent for the last seven years or more and has dipped below that only a few times since 1990. Vacancy Rate Favors Tenants In Fairfield County, the point of equilibrium is an office vacancy rate of approximately 15 percent. In other words, when the vacancy rate is 15 percent, neither landlords nor tenants have the upper hand in the negotiation of a lease transaction. In Stamford, the current vacancy rate resides at just over 23 percent — and that gives significant negotiating leverage to tenants that are looking for space. Interestingly enough, landlords of some of the better Class A institutional buildings are willing, and able, …
In Fairfield and New Haven counties, growing rental housing demand will keep apartment vacancy tight throughout the year, despite a second consecutive year of elevated completions. Developers will complete 1,300 units this year, representing a minor drop from the number of apartments delivered last year. More than 700 of these new rentals will be in New Haven County. Another 1,500 rentals, mostly in Fairfield Country, were under construction in the first quarter of 2015, with deliveries slated for next year. Key projects for completion include the 160-unit College & Crown in the city of New Haven. College & Crown is a modern luxury rental in a vibrant community, boasting galleries, shopping, dining and recreational activities, within walking distance to Yale’s main campus and the Yale School of Medicine. New apartments will modernize apartment stock and mark an ongoing effort among developers to tap into unfulfilled demand for newer, amenity-laden rentals. In the first quarter of 2015, recently completed apartments in Fairfield and New Haven counties have been well absorbed. An increase of rental housing inventory may also play a meaningful role in continued growth of the local economy by making it easier for local employers to recruit workers to the …
Large blocks of space in the Connecticut office market have typically been associated with financial services firms and the wide open trading floors found in investment bank offices. However, for a new breed of tenant looking for sprawling, open and contiguous office space, the state of Connecticut currently offers a myriad of choices across multiple submarkets — from Trumbull to Norwalk to Stamford. And recent leasing figures suggest that prospective tenants are taking note. TAMI — or technology, advertising, media and information — tenants are no longer a Manhattan-only phenomenon. CBRE’s Westchester/Fairfield Counties office is increasingly seeing these tenants joining financial services tenants in cherry picking from an abundant group of large spaces. These TAMI tenants often favor the open spaces and giant floorplates that have become known for increasing collaboration and productivity among their employees. They can also offer consolidation and cost savings for companies. One of the most notable recent examples was 2014’s largest lease transaction for Fairfield County, which saw information technology firm Datto lease 100,398 square feet of space at Norwalk’s Merritt 7 Corporate Park. CBRE’s Paul Jacobs, Colin Reilly and Barbara Segalini represented Datto in the lease at the 22-acre campus, which Datto said it …
GREENWOOD VILLAGE, CONN. – NorthStar Healthcare Income has agreed to acquire 15 continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) throughout 11 states for $640 million. The assets, which include nine rental CCRCs and six entrance-fee CCRCs for a total of 3,637 units, were purchased from subsidiaries of Fountains Senior Living Holdings. The deal is expected to close in early June. NorthStar then intends to sign a master net lease with affiliates of the Freshwater Group for the entrance-fee properties. The rental properties will be purchased by a joint venture between one of NorthStar’s subsidiaries and affiliates of Freshwater. The rental properties will be held under a RIDEA (REIT Investment Diversification and Empowerment Act) structure, also known as a (TRS) Taxable REIT Subsidiary structure. NorthStar will manage and control the joint venture’s business and affairs, but will obtain Freshwater’s consent on certain major decisions. The acquisition will be financed with seven-year debt at a fixed rate of 3.9 percent. National seniors living operator Watermark Retirement Communities will continue to manage the day-to-day operations of the portfolio. Watermark is an affiliate of Freshwater. Greenwood, Conn.-based NorthStar is a public, non-traded REIT that originates, acquires, and manages asset equity and debt investments in healthcare real …
Apartment rents and multifamily asset values are rising while vacancy remains low in Connecticut’s New Haven and Fairfield counties. Young professionals and commuters are moving out of suburban areas to reside in downtown locations so they can take advantage of transit-oriented, live-work-play environments. Costly single-family housing is another factor contributing to new residents seeking rentals rather than buying homes. There is a strong demand for apartments, which keeps vacancy low and prompts new development in the region, so much so that delivery of multifamily housing units this year will more than double those built in 2013. Demand however, outweighs the new supply and the current, record-low vacancy levels will be unaffected. Average prices for apartment assets in New Haven and Fairfield counties rose 3 percent over the last year to $169,000 per unit as the overall quality of listings improved. While the region experiences strong rent growth and higher yields than the likes of New York City and Boston, more foreign investors and institutional buyers continue to emerge with sights set on multifamily assets; and in particular, top-tier assets with more than 250 units in primary markets. Properties near Metro North commuter rail stations and employment centers will generate elevated …
Large-scale new retail development in Connecticut has historically been relegated to super-regional markets or traditional retail nodes — north of Fairfield County, for the most part. It’s really a simple formula: strong national and regional retailers typically want to be surrounded by dynamic retail synergy, and if there’s a great enough demand for a specific market, developers jump on the opportunity to capitalize. It’s happened in Manchester/South Windsor, it’s happened in Milford and its happened in Danbury. From time to time we see pockets of development in less traditional markets but overall, developers stick to “less risky” markets where demand is imminent and the municipalities are of the pro-development variety. Recently, though, larger-scale developments in smaller towns are starting to appear more frequently and retailers and brokers seem to be slowly embracing the emerging trend. Are we running out of developable land in the super regional markets? I don’t think this is the case. I think developers are recognizing that well-placed, large-scale retail projects in smaller towns are garnering significant interest from national brands of all sizes. Developers have had success getting the ever-important anchors to these sites, and that is more than half the battle. -Smaller-format retailers follow in …