The New Castle County office market includes roughly 16 million square feet of total inventory with nearly 3 million square feet of that vacant. Vacancy in Class A space has improved somewhat as tenants take advantage of market conditions but these moves have not had much impact on overall vacancy rate. Jackson Cross Partners reports 2014 absorption of 80,000 square feet; although positive, this indicates we have years of recovery before a healthy overall vacancy rate is reached. We are seeing a number of projects that will have some impact on reducing inventory and improving vacancy rates as marginal office space is redeveloped for various non-office uses. These projects include: • A group of local investors purchased 1001 Jefferson Street in the city of Wilmington, which contains 170,000 square feet of office space on approximately 1.4 acres in May 2014, following a failed auction process. The building was recently demolished and the site is now being improved for surface parking, at least temporarily. Although a new office project is not being ruled out down the road, the site is being marketed for other uses, including residential and retail. • 1300 Market Street, also in the City of Wilmington, containing 62,000 …
NEW CASTLE COUNTY, DEL. — KeyBank Real Estate Capital has secured $24.8 million in Fannie Mae early-rate lock loans for two apartment complexes located in subdivisions of New Castle County. A $20.8 million loan was secured for Hampton Walk, a 366-unit apartment complex located in New Castle Hundred. The property was built in 1952 and renovated in 2008. The financing was used to pay off an existing Fannie Mae loan, which was scheduled to mature in 2018. KeyBank also secured a $4 million loan for Driftwood Club Apartments, a 60-unit apartment complex located in Christiana Hundred. Built in 1966, the property was most recently renovated in 2013. The undisclosed sponsor plans to use the financing for future investment opportunities. Jeannie Johnson of KeyBank’s multifamily team arranged the financing for both properties.
WILMINGTON, DEL. — Colliers International has arranged $18.3 million in financing for a two-property multifamily portfolio in Wilmington. The properties, Limestone Terrace and Mill Creek Apartments, offer a total of 292 residential units. The 12-year loan features a fixed term and a 30-year amortization schedule. The loan features an 80 percent loan-to-cost ratio and a rate of 4.64 percent. Kris Wood, John Banas, Dean Costalas and Alex Hails of Colliers negotiated the non-recourse loan.
WILMINGTON, DEL. — NAI Emory Hill has arranged the sale of a warehouse building, located at 1320 Clifford Brown Walk in downtown Wilmington. 1320 CBW LLC purchased the four-story, 83,000-square-foot building, which is situated on two acres of riverfront property along the Brandywine River. The owner plans to convert the property into an 80-unit residential development called The Lofts at Clifford Brown Walk. The building was formerly home to Iron Mountain, Security Archives & Storage Company, and Kaumagraph. Jon Hicky of NAI Emory Hill Real Estate Services represented the seller, Sasco Realty Too Inc., in the transaction. Brett DiClemente of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented the buyer, which is an affiliate of Chatham Bay Group, a Wilmington-based development company.
NEWARK, DEL. — NAI Emory Hill has brokered more than 278,000 square feet of office space leases at its White Clay Corporate Center in Newark. CitiGroup Technology renewed its lease for approximately 88,000 square feet of office space and JP Morgan Chase inked a deal for several spaces totaling 190,000 square feet to accommodate an expansion. Neil Kilian of NAI Emory Hill brokered the transactions, which total more than $11.6 million.
WILMINGTON, DE. — Patterson-Woods Commercial Properties/CORFAC International has brokered the sale of a 3,400-square-foot restaurant and bar located at 115 East Main St. in Wilmington. Mainline Enterprises LLC purchased the property for $1.35 million from LGLB Inc. Currently doing business as 16 Mile Taphouse, the restaurant is affiliated with Georgetown’s 16 Mile Brewing Company. Joe Latina of Patterson-Woods Commercial Properties/CORFAC represented both the buyer and seller in the sale-leaseback transaction.
NEWARK, DEL. — Ingerman has broken ground for the development of Alder Creek, Delaware’s newest affordable housing community. Located in Newark, the community will feature 13 two-story buildings offering a total of 56 one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom apartment units. Each residence will have a private entrance, front porch, rear balcony or patio, and ample parking. On-site amenities include a community building with a meeting room, laundry facilities, fitness center and maintenance space, as well as an after-school program. The project is slated for completion in summer/fall 2015.
The biggest news about Delaware retail is the expansion of Christiana Mall in Newark, Del., and an equally ambitious redevelopment of The Colonnade at Christiana, which is adjacent to the mall. Everyone in the Mid-Atlantic knows that Delaware does not have retail sales tax, thus the driver of Christiana’s expansion and the new projects is simply shopping demand and a geographically dense population base that draws from more than 20 million people in nearby states including Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and even New York. It’s one thing to save $4 when you spend $50 but the money gets real when you can save $80 on a $1,000 shopping tab. (This example is based on 8 percent sales tax that you’d pay in Philadelphia, which is about 30 minutes from Wilmington and has more than 4 million people in its MSA). Christiana’s expansion to 1.1 million square feet and the adjacent 915,000-square-foot The Colonnade is made possible by construction improvements to the I-95 and Route 1 interchange that will give drivers and shoppers better access to the existing and refurbished retail centers. The Colonnade was previously called the Christiana Fashion Center and it is being redeveloped by Frank Acierno and his …
The last quarter of 2012 indicated signs of overall market improvement including increased activity in the office sector, according to most New Castle County owners and leasing brokers. Most professionals anticipated a good start to 2013 based on this performance. Although there are a few bright spots, early reports for 2013 are not yet meeting the expectations that stemmed from the continuing improvement seen last year. It seems most activity so far this year represents smaller deals, which are not resulting in positive absorption. Most tenants are moving to take advantage of the opportunity to upgrade or resize their space. One favorable aspect of the market has been demand for medical office space. A new four-building medical office project that was started last year at Becks Woods on Route 40 in Bear, Del., is nearly fully leased or sold with the last building coming out of ground a few weeks ago. Additional medical projects are planned on Churchman’s Road near Christiana Hospital and on Lancaster Pike at Little Falls although groundbreaking has not yet occurred on either site. Christiana Hospital is nearing completion of its new Emergency Center at Route 1 in Middletown, Del., and we expect there will be …
While the meltdown of the housing market originally benefited the multifamily sector — as more homeowners transitioned to renters — the current recession and its rising unemployment has started to affect activity. “Right now, it is all about the economy,” says Kevin Wolfgang, president of New Castle-based Evergreen Realty and recently elected president of the Delaware Apartment Association. “Our industry is directly affected by the job market, so the increased amount of unemployment has created significant operation challenges.” Multifamily owners in Delaware are weathering the storm by focusing on the operation of the properties — trying to find ways to make them as efficient as possible. This has slowed down sales considerably. Owners who are still receiving a steady cash flow are seeing no reason to sell for less money. “Most investors are very cautious right now,” Wolfgang says. “No one is chasing deals, and there is nothing that I have seen as having a major impact on the market right now.” Evergreen Realty’s main activity has been its purchase and upcoming redevelopment of Hampston Walk Apartments, a 370-unit community located in New Castle. The company purchased the blighted property in mid-2008 and is repositioning it with renovations to unit …