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 …
STORRS, CONN. — HREC Investment Advisors has arranged the sale of the Nathan Hale Inn & Conference Center in Storrs. The University of Connecticut (UCONN) purchased the property for an undisclosed sum. Situated on the campus of UCONN, the property features 98 guestrooms. Ketan Patel and Geoff Davis of HREC represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction.
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 …
NORTH HAVEN, CONN. — Press/Cuozzo Commercial has brokered the sale of a two-building former day care facility located at 20 Peck St. in North Haven. Situated on slightly more than one-half acre, the buildings total 3,830 square feet. The buyer, Lauren Grogan, acquired the property from K&J Holding LLC for an undisclosed sum. The buyer plans to renovate the properties. Stephen Press of Press/Cuozzo represented the seller, while Lou Proto of The Proto Group represented the buyer in the transaction.
NEW HAVEN, CONN. — Colliers International has arranged and closed joint venture equity and construction financing for the development of State Street Lofts in New Haven. Working on behalf of the developer, Post Road Residential Inc., Colliers secured $43 million in construction financing from PNC Bank, as well as joint venture equity capital from an affiliate of The Carlyle Group. Slated for completion in 2016, State Street Lofts will include 235 apartments, 275 parking spaces in an attached garage, 10,000 square feet of amenity space and 4,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. On-site amenities include a fitness center with yoga studio, resident lounge spaces with high-speed Wi-Fi, a library, a resort-style pool with enclosed courtyard, a 7,000-square-foot roof deck, a dog wash station and a bike maintenance room with storage for 240 bikes. Jeff Black and Kevin Phelan led the Colliers team that represented Post Road Residential Inc.
HAMDEN, CONN. — Fantini & Gorga has arranged $12.9 million in first mortgage permanent financing for two medical office buildings in Hamden, a city in southeast Connecticut. Totaling 65,216 square feet, the properties are fully leased and occupied by regional and local medical practices. Casimir Groblewski of Fantini & Gorga arranged the refinancing with a major securitization lender for the borrower, a New England-based real estate developer and investor.
ROCKY HILL, CONN. — Cumberland Farms has acquired a 1.3-acre land parcel at the corner of Cromwell Avenue and France Street in Rocky Hill. The property was acquired from Rue de France LLC and 741 Cromwell Ave. LLC, both subsidiaries of Wethersfield, Conn.-based New England Realty Properties, for an undisclosed price. Massachusetts-based Cumberland Farms is a convenience store chain that operates 600 stores in 11 states. The stores offer any-size coffee for 99 cents, competitively priced gasoline, freshly prepared hot sandwiches, a shake machine and no-fee ATMs.
CHESHIRE, CONN. — O,R&L Commercial has arranged the lease of 12,760 square feet at 150 Sandbank Road in Cheshire. The Rankin Group Inc. will use the industrial/flex space to expand its services in New England and the New York/Mid-Atlantic region. Rich Guarlnick of O,R&L Commercial represented the landlord, Marshall Enterprises LLC, while Tim D’Addabo of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant in the transaction. Additional terms of the lease were not released.
HARTFORD, CONN. — Integra Real Estate Capital has advised a $65 million loan for the acquisition of Constitution Plaza in Hartford. The five-building complex offers 665,000 square feet of office space and 1,743 parking spaces. Meyer Perlman of Integra advised the borrower, a New York-based investment group, on the three-year non-recourse loan, which was provided by a national balance sheet lender.
NORWALK, CONN. — Building and Land Technology has signed 68,500 square feet of office leases at Merritt on the River, a 225,000-square-foot office building located at 20 Glover Ave. in Norwalk. Rocaton Investment Advisors signed a new leased for 21,228 square feet. The company will relocate to the new space this fall from Merritt 7 Corporate Park. Ed Tonnessen and Ethan Rice of JLL represented the tenant in the deal. Wilton Re is also relocating to Merritt on the River from 187 Danby Road in Wilton, Conn. Kevin Foley and William Montague of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant in the 21,480-square-foot transaction. Additionally, Aetna renewed its 5,934-square-foot lease and McKesson Health Solutions renewed its 10,859-square-foot lease. Paul Tortora and William Fitzgerald of JLL represented Aetna, and Kevin McCarthy of CBRE represented McKesson in the transactions.