JERICHO, N.Y. — J.S. Held, a global consulting firm based in Jericho, New York, has acquired Examine Construction Consultants, a firm with multiple offices in Canada that provides construction services on projects throughout North America and France. J.S. Held provides a range of real estate-related services, including property damage assessment, water and fire restoration consulting, equipment consulting and forensic architecture and engineering. Examine, which also has an office in Paris, joins a team that comprises more than 1,000 consultants around the world.
NEW YORK CITY — Volastra Therapeutics, a biotechnology firm focused on treating cancer, has signed an 11,000-square-foot life sciences lease at the Mink Building in West Harlem. The space is located within the Manhattanville Factory District, a 1.1 million-square-foot office and life sciences campus. New York City-based Janus Property Co. owns the building.
LONG ISLAND CITY, N.Y. — Locally based investment firm Botanic Properties has acquired a 97,047-square-foot flex building located at 24-02 Queens Plaza in the Long Island City area of Queens. Apex Technical School has occupied the entirety of the three-story building since 2012. Christopher Peck, Steve Klein and Thomas Pryor of JLL arranged a $24 million fixed-rate acquisition loan through MSD Partners on behalf of the borrower. The seller was not disclosed.
NEW YORK CITY — Brandon Singer, formerly of Cushman & Wakefield, has launched Retail by MONA, a leasing and advisory firm that will serve New York City. MONA is an acronym for Making of a New Age. The company has strategic partnerships with property owners including Aby Rosen and Michael Fuchs, founders of RFR Holding. Singer will serve as CEO of the new entity, which will offer both tenant and landlord representation services. Michael Cody, also formerly with Cushman & Wakefield, will serve as director and co-founder.
FREEHOLD, N.J. — UMH Properties Inc. (NYSE: UMH), a New Jersey-based REIT, has acquired a manufactured housing community in New York for $4.5 million. The 21-acre property offers 163 developed home sites, about 70 percent of which are occupied. The seller was not disclosed. UMH Properties owns and operates 124 manufactured housing communities totaling roughly 23,400 developed home sites across eight states.
NEW YORK CITY — Venture Capital Properties has negotiated a 24,000-square-foot lease at a vacant parcel that formerly housed a warehouse at 5200 1st Ave. in Brooklyn. The tenant, valet parking service Park Pro Systems, will use the property to store its vehicles but will not develop any portion of the site. Jacob Stavsky of Venture Capital Properties represented both Park Pro Systems and landlord John Luhrs in the off-market deal.
NEW YORK CITY — Real estate private equity firm Madison International Realty has signed a 25,000-square-foot office lease at 300 Park Avenue in Manhattan. The company will relocate from a 14,000-square-foot space at 410 Park Avenue in mid-2021. Tishman Speyer owns the 26-story building, which spans 773,056 square feet and was originally built in 1955. Howard Fiddle and Evan Fiddle of CBRE represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Gregory Conen and Samantha Augarten represented Tishman Speyer internally.
WOODBURY, N.Y. — Development and management firm RD Management will open a 1,923-square-foot food hall at Harriman Commons, its 706,230-square-foot retail power center in Woodbury, about 55 miles north of New York City. The food hall will also offer a 3,300-square-foot outdoor dining terrace. Anchor tenants at the center include Walmart, Home Depot and Target. An opening date was not released.
NEW YORK CITY — Real estate advisory and consulting firm SitusAMC Holdings Corp. has acquired the third-party loan servicing and asset management platform of New York City-based Cohen Financial, a division of Truist. Under the terms of the deal, Cohen Financial’s clients and employees will be integrated into SitusAMC. As of August 31, Cohen’s portfolio totaled approximately 6,900 loans with more than $34 billion in unpaid principal balances. SitusAMC will now have a special servicing and asset management portfolio comprised of roughly 10,000 loans totaling more than $130 billion. Truist will retain Cohen’s debt advisory placement platform.
MAHWAH, N.J. — Ascena Retail Group, the parent company of Ann Taylor and Lane Bryant, will sell its plus-size chain Catherines to FullBeauty Brands Operations LLC for $40.8 million, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal. FullBeauty Brands is a New York City-based holding company whose brands include plus-size chains such as Woman Within, Jessica London Inc. and Swimsuits for All. Ascena Retail Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July with plans to close an unspecified but “significant” number of stores.