NEW YORK CITY — Corona Operating Co. has acquired a conversion site located at 37-10 114th St. in the Corona neighborhood of Queens. Meadows Corona LLC sold the site for $37.3 million. The site offers 226,800 buildable square feet and currently houses an eight-story building with 95,040 square feet above ground with additional built out and useable cellar space of 11,880 square feet. Previously, the building operated as a 200-room hotel featuring a pool, exercise facility, multiple event spaces and parking for 86 cars. The building was vacant at the time of sale. Stephen Preuss of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller in the deal.
CLEVELAND — BGL Real Estate Advisors LLC has arranged an $81 million construction loan for Weston Inc. The company plans to convert the Standard Building, which was originally built for Standard Bank in the 1920s, into a mixed-use building. The building is currently used as Class B office space and will be transformed into luxury apartments with ground-floor retail. Financing consisted of senior construction debt, subordinated bridge debt, municipal city and state agency debt, Federal and State Historic Tax Credit Equity, and Weston equity. Companies involved in the financing include The Huntington National Bank, Fifth Third Bank, First Commonwealth Bank, Peoples Bank, and Cleveland Development Advisors, as well as multiple city and state agencies including the Ohio Water Development Authority and Ohio Development Services Agency.
ST. LOUIS — Lawrence Group has started construction of City Foundry Saint Louis at Cortex, a $340 million mixed-use redevelopment. The building was the former site of the Federal Mogul Foundry in St. Louis, and environmental remediation work on the property is underway. The first phase of the project will include 48,000 square feet of restaurant and food hall space with approximately 20 food stalls and up to four full-service restaurants; 124,000 square feet of creative office space; 133,000 square feet of retail space accommodating up to 45 retailers; a 511-car parking garage in addition to surface spaces; a connector trail to the Great Rivers Greenway Trail System; and amenities such as public plaza spaces, bike sharing, electric recharging stations and a dedicated ride sharing drop-off. The Cortex District is a 200-acre section of Midtown St. Louis centered around several research and technology buildings. A nonprofit joint venture between Washington University in St. Louis, BJC Healthcare, University of Missouri – St. Louis, St. Louis University, and the Missouri Botanical Garden operates the district. “The City Foundry Saint Louis redevelopment represents another example of the continued investment and expansion of the Cortex brand. This will be a tremendous amenity to the …
NEW YORK CITY — An affiliate of Silver Star Motors has topped out the construction of a mixed-use building located at 37-14 36th St. in Queens’ Long Island City. Designed by Montroy Andersen DeMarco, the 10-story, 135,000-square-foot building will feature a Silver Star Mercedes-Benz dealership on the first two floors and 85 apartments on the upper floors. The apartments will be a mix of 30 studios, 27 one-bedroom units, 28 two-bedroom units and two three-bedroom units. Occupancy is expected in summer 2017. The project team includes 1 Oak Contracting, MNS Real Estate, Fogarty Finger Architecture, Dealer Solutions and Design, Gilsanz Murray Steficek, Lilker Engineering, GZA GeoEnvironmental, DeRosier Engineering and Sage Security.
MINNEAPOLIS — Stahl Construction has been selected to build St. Louis Park, an eco-village project in Minneapolis. The mixed-use development will consist of 300 apartments (both affordable and market rate), a hotel and retail space. The development will provide 80 percent of the energy required to run the complex from renewable sources. The transit-oriented community will feature rooftop decks and a one-acre urban forest with public art. Construction on the project is slated to begin next spring. PLACE will serve as the project developer, and STANTEC will provide design services. Other parties involved include MSR Architects, Rachel Contracting, LIFT and Allianz Life.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Balfour Beatty has been awarded a $196 million contract to build the North Block phase of Property Group Partners’ Capitol Crossing development in Washington, D.C. The North Block phase will include the construction of two 12-story, mixed-use office buildings totaling 960,000 square feet that will be connected by a glass connector bridge. Capitol Crossing is a 2.2 million-square-foot project that will span three blocks and seven acres once complete. The project will include 70,000 square feet of retail space, garden promenades, 1,100 parking spaces, a fitness center and 440 bicycle spaces. The average floor plate at Capitol Crossing will be 30,000 square feet. “Property Group Partners has a strong belief in reimagining cityscapes and revitalizing neighborhoods through sustainable building and innovative engineering,” says Leon Blondin, president of Balfour Beatty’s Mid-Atlantic division. “We’re honored to be their construction partner in building this truly historic development in the downtown core that will reconnect long-divided Capitol Hill to the East End. Having already managed the preconstruction, utility relocation and platform construction phases, it’s very gratifying to continue our work to take this project vertical and deliver its first two mixed-use buildings.” Work is scheduled to first begin on the building …
NEW YORK CITY — Newmark Holdings has closed on $30 million in refinancing for 5-9 Union Square West, a mixed-use building in New York City’s Union Square. The eight-story, 105,000-square-foot building is currently over 93 percent leased to a variety of tenants, including Staples and Rockwell Architecture Design. Provided by Amalgamated Bank, the new loan features a seven-year term with a fixed interest rate of 3.13 percent and five years of interest-only payments.
The historic flood of June 2008 is becoming a distant memory as the city of Cedar Rapids prepares for the dedication of the new Northwest Recreation Center, the last public facility to be completed as part of the flood recovery project. The dedication ceremony is slated for Thursday, Aug. 25. The recovery has led to a revitalization of many flood-impacted areas in the city, ranging from residential neighborhoods to the downtown business district. Now the momentum is turning toward several new projects: • This month, tenants will begin moving into the 11-story CRST tower downtown, which features 300 feet of the new flood protection system. • A 28-story, mixed-use tower is being proposed on city-owned property downtown. The development may contain retail, office, hotel and residential space led by Allen Development, an Iowa City developer. • Over 10 downtown housing projects are under construction that will create almost 400 new condo and apartment units, which will bring our core closer to a live-work-play environment. These projects are also putting vacant retail and office buildings to new uses. • The Czech Village-New Bohemia neighborhood continues to grow with historic buildings being renovated and repurposed while augmenting exciting new construction featuring retail, …
NEW YORK CITY — Equicap has arranged a $4.5 million permanent loan for a mixed-use property located in Brooklyn’s Cobble Hill neighborhood. The newly developed building features one ground-floor retail unit and 10 apartments. Daniel Hilpert of Equicap arranged the loan, which features a five-year fixed interest rate, 30-year amortization schedule and three years of interest-only payments.
BROOKFIELD, WIS. — Brookfield Corners LLC has arranged three new leases at The Corners of Brookfield, a 750,000-square-foot upscale lifestyle center 13 miles west of Milwaukee. Free People, Paper Source and Francesca’s will join other retailers such as L.L. Bean, Arhaus, Twigs, Café Hollander, Evereve, Anthropologie and lululemon athletica at the development, which is scheduled to come on line in the spring of 2017. Bradford Real Estate Services Corp. is the development manager for the facility. The Corners of Brookfield will feature 400,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, anchored by a 140,000-square-foot Von Maur department store and a 30,000-square-foot Sendik’s Food Market. The project will also include 244 luxury apartment homes and parking for more than 1,700 cars.