PITTSBURGH — The parent company of First National Bank (FNB) has signed a 160,000-square-foot office lease to open its corporate headquarters at the upcoming FNB Financial Center development in downtown Pittsburgh. The development will feature a 24-story tower with 387,000 square feet of Class A office space, 20,000 square feet of retail space and a two-story parking structure. The FNB headquarters will anchor the tower and its technology branch will occupy 2,000 square feet of retail space. The tower will be situated on the site of the former Civic Arena, home of the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team, which will comprise multiple structures and over 1 million square feet of office, residential, retail and green space. Buccini/Pollin Group and the Penguins are co-developers of the mixed-use development, which is slated for completion in 2022.
Development
HOUSTON — Hines has begun construction on Phase II of Boulevard Oaks Business Park, a project that will deliver approximately 1.1 million square feet of industrial space across six buildings. Boulevard Oaks Business Park spans 120 acres and is located in southwest Houston. Phase I of the project delivered 450,000 square feet of new industrial space across four buildings that is now 95 percent occupied. Phase II is expected to be complete in the third quarter of 2020. Burton Construction is the general contractor for the project, and Powers Brown is the architect of record. Cushman & Wakefield handles leasing of the property.
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Marriott International has opened a 170-room Springhill Suites hotel at 2315 N. Main St. in Fort Worth’s Historic Stockyards district. The six-story property features a fitness center, outdoor pool, complimentary breakfast and 11,500 square feet of meeting and event space. In addition, a food and beverage concept from local chef Tim Love is scheduled to open at the hotel in early 2020. OGC Main Street LP owns the hotel, and Oldham Goodwin Group manages it.
LOS ANGELES — Santa Monica-based BLT Enterprises has completed the sale of a former gas station and parking lot in Los Angeles. Wiseman Residential acquired the fully entitled property for $13.7 million. BLT, in partnership with KFA architects, Dale Goldsmith as land-use counsel and other consultants, obtained entitlements through the City of Los Angeles’ Transit Oriented Communities ordinance for a six-story, 119-unit apartment building at the site. Located at 11261 Santa Monica Blvd., the property will feature 17 affordable housing units, a variety of floor plans, a gym, outdoor patios and barbecues, as well as open space and community gathering areas. Anthony Muhlstein and Brian Bowis of Newmark Knight Frank represented BLT Enterprises, while Wiseman Residential was self-represented in the deal.
GREELEY, Colo. — OZ Architecture has completed design work on WellAge Greeley, a 71,000-square-foot senior living community in Greeley, approximately 55 miles north of Denver. Rocky Mountain Senior Housing is developing the 92-unit community, which WellAge will operate. The property sits on 3.5 acres and will offer independent living, assisted living and memory care. The community is scheduled to open in second-quarter 2020.
NEW YORK CITY — Flex and meeting-space provider Convene has opened a 73,000-square-foot event venue at Brookfield Place, an office and retail center in Manhattan. Commonly referred to as the World Financial Center, Brookfield Place is situated across the street from the World Trade Center and houses numerous retail, restaurant and entertainment tenants. Convene’s new event space is located at 225 Liberty St., backfills the vacant Saks Fifth Avenue store and contains two large event spaces with capacity for 500 people each, as well as a coffee shop and café. Brookfield Properties is the landlord.
Ariel Property Advisors Brokers Sale of 16,500 SF Residential Development Site in Brooklyn
by Alex Patton
NEW YORK CITY — Ariel Property Advisors has brokered the $3.3 million sale of 99-103 Grove Street, a 16,500-square-foot development site in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn. The site is zoned for residential construction and offers close access to several transportation nodes, including the J, L and M subway lines. The Buren café and Sunrise Sunset wine bar are also located nearby. Sean Kelly, Shimon Shkury and David Khukhashvili of Ariel represented the seller, Brookland Capital, in the transaction. The team also procured the buyer, which was undisclosed.
CHICAGO — Skender has begun interior construction of the new 85,000-square-foot headquarters for AbelsonTaylor in Chicago’s Old Post Office building. AbelsonTaylor, a health and wellness advertising agency, is relocating from its current offices at 33 W. Monroe St. The new space will accommodate private offices, workstations, an open collaboration area and break room. Skender is working in collaboration with HED, Syska Hennessy Group and Cushman & Wakefield to complete the project by March 2020. Skender is the contractor for nearly 500,000 square feet of office space at the Old Post Office project, including buildouts for Walgreens and PepsiCo. Owner and developer 601W Cos. is redeveloping the 2.8 million-square-foot former post office in an $800 million project.
ASHLAND, VA. — Rochester, N.Y.-based Wegmans Food Markets Inc. will invest $175 million to establish a new regional distribution operation in Hanover County, 13 miles northeast of Richmond. Located along Sliding Hill and Ashcake roads in Ashland, the new campus will allow the grocer to expand its distribution network on the East Coast and grow its retail footprint, while creating 700 new jobs. Wegmans currently has over 100 stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts and North Carolina. No construction timeline was given for the new Virginia campus. The economic development agency Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) worked with Hanover County and a second economic development agency, the Greater Richmond Partnership, to secure the project. VEDP will administer a $2.4 million grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist Hanover County with the project. According to Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s office, the state of Virginia competed directly with the state of North Carolina for the project.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Candy and sweets retailer IT’SUGAR has opened a 22,000-square-foot store at American Dream, a newly opened entertainment and retail destination in East Rutherford, a western suburb of New York City. The official opening was Saturday, Dec. 14. The first floor of the three-story store offers giant candy, sugar sculptures and more than 5,000 square feet of candy bins with a variety of sweets. The second floor houses branded candies, including Sour Patch Kids, Swedish Fish and Reese’s. In spring 2020, a café called Oreo TWISTiD will open on the third floor, which overlooks the theme parks of American Dream’s entertainment atrium.