WILMINGTON, DEL. — Wye Realty Advisors has arranged the $1.7 million sale of a 7,550-square-foot office building in Wilmington. Located at 400 Delaware Ave., the property is fully leased to two tenants, including a Bank of America branch, which was under construction at the time of sale. Wye Realty represented the seller, 400 Delaware Ave. LLC, in the transaction. The buyer was Brantwyn Holdings.
NEW YORK CITY — The American investment team of Bahrain-based Investcorp has acquired 56 industrial properties totaling approximately 4.5 million square feet across seven major American markets. The purchase price was roughly $300 million. The portfolio includes nine warehouses in Minneapolis; 16 warehouse/flex buildings in Dallas; 14 warehouse/manufacturing buildings in Chicago; nine warehouse and flex buildings in Philadelphia and Delaware; five warehouse/manufacturing buildings in Phoenix; two industrial properties in Houston; and one industrial asset in San Antonio. All of the infill properties offer last-mile proximity to major population centers. The seller was not disclosed. “This acquisition gives us the opportunity to expand our presence in this important and growing industrial/warehouse sector in the U.S.,” says Mohammed Alardhi, executive chairman of Investcorp. “This investment further reflects our commitment to growing Investcorp’s footprint in the U.S., which is a key driver of the firm’s overall growth strategy.” At the time of sale, the properties were collectively 90 percent occupied by tenants in the e-commerce, manufacturing, design, wholesaling and food services industries. The sale marks Investcorp’s ninth industrial portfolio acquisition in the last 36 months. Since 1996, Investcorp has purchased more than 550 properties with a total value in excess of $14 billion. …
WILMINGTON, DEL. — Grandbridge Real Estate Capital has arranged a $14.5 million refinancing of Brandywine Apartments, a 444-unit multifamily community in Wilmington. Built in 1978, Brandywine Apartments is made up of 37, three-story, garden-style apartment buildings on 25 acres. Grandbridge arranged a 20-year, fully amortizing loan through a life insurance company for the undisclosed borrower.
NEW CASTLE, DEL. — MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services has arranged the sale of 2160 New Castle Avenue, a 35,500-square-foot commercial property on 5.7 acres in New Castle, five miles south of Wilmington. The sales price was not disclosed. The seller, Rommel Harley-Davidson, is an operator of multiple Harley-Davidson dealerships throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. Rommel Harley-Davidson will transition the New Castle operations to a recently announced new dealership to be built in Middletown. Chris Bennett and Chris Walsh of MacKenzie represented the seller in the transaction. Sean Langford of MacKenzie represented the buyer, a Baltimore-based private investment group. The buyer plans to redevelop the site to include multiple pad sites, one of which will contain a Royal Farms convenience store.
WILMINGTON, DEL. — CBRE has brokered the sale of DuPont Country Club, which occupies more than 500 acres in northern Delaware’s Brandywine Valley, for an undisclosed price. A local investment group that includes former DuPont executives Ben duPont and Don Wirth acquired the property from DowDuPont Co. Jeff Woolson, an executive vice president with CBRE who serves as the managing director of its Golf & Resort Group, handled the transaction, along with fellow professionals in CBRE’s Wilmington office. Established in 1920, the club was originally built as an amenity for DuPont company employees. Recreational amenities include three 18-hole golf courses and 25 tennis courts, complemented by a stately clubhouse measuring approximately 113,000 square feet. A key component of the property is the 60-acre Brantwyn Estate, which features a three-story 28,000 square foot mansion surrounded by manicured gardens that is utilized for weddings and other special events. The new buyers plan to spend $18 million on improvements, which include a swimming pool, fitness center as well as a new driving range. The DuPont championship course has hosted many professional and prestigious amateur golf tournaments over the years, most notably serving as the home of the LPGA Tour’s McDonald’s Championship from 1987 …
WILMINGTON, DEL. — The Buccini/Pollin Group has received a $36.5 million loan to refinance the Westin Wilmington, a 180-room, full-service hotel located at 818 Shipyard Drive in Wilmington. Jordan Roeschlaub, Dustin Stolly, Nick Scribani and Chris Kramer of NKF Capital Markets arranged the loan on behalf of Buccini/Pollin through Goldman Sachs and Quadrant Real Estate Advisors. The hotel is connected to the Chase Center, which is the largest special event facility in the Brandywine Valley with more than 87,000 square feet of meeting space. The property was built in 2014 and features 5,780 square feet of meeting space as well as a restaurant, lounge, indoor pool and fitness center.
NEWARK, DEL. — CBRE has negotiated the sale of 322 Ruthar Drive in Newark for an undisclosed amount. DuPont Transportation & Advanced Polymers acquired the 120,000-square-foot industrial facility. CBRE represented DuPont in the transaction. The seller was undisclosed. DuPont has committed to invest $45 million in the new facility, which will increase its manufacturing capacity for DuPont Kalrez, a specialized engineered material used in a variety of sealing applications.
NEWARK, DEL. — The Chemours Co. is developing Chemours Discovery Hub, a 312,000-square-foot research facility located on the University of Delaware’s Science Technology and Advanced Research Campus in Newark. IMC Construction broke ground on the $150 million project in December 2017. Designed by L2 Patridge, the 15-acre project will consolidate laboratories and offices for approximately 330 scientists, engineers and researchers who will be relocated from Chemours’ New Castle County facilities. The new facility will include more than 100 labs, 50 specialty rooms, cafes, conference rooms and 20 huddle rooms for small group meetings. Project members include Tetra Tech, RDK and O’Donnell & Naccarato. Completion of the four-story building is slated for early 2020. Trammell Crow is representing the owner in the project.
In Delaware’s largest city, Wilmington, it is a tenant’s market when it comes to office leasing. There is much activity and redevelopment to attract new tenants downtown. Rental rates hover around $18 to $21 per square foot for Class B office space and $23-plus for Class A office space. Vacancy for Wilmington and its suburbs combined has decreased to around 13 percent. In the past year, nearly vacant office buildings have garnered activity from new investors looking to purchase at lower price points, freeing up excess capital for renovations or redevelopment. Some office buildings are being redeveloped into residential apartments due to the demand of millennials and professionals who desire a “live-work-play” lifestyle in downtown Wilmington, and who wish to reside near the city’s Amtrak station to take advantage of the easy access to larger cities like Philadelphia, New York, and Baltimore. The Buccini/Pollin Group has been putting hundreds of millions into the construction or redevelopment of residential, office, and hotel, as well as sports and entertainment properties on Market Street and in the Riverfront area. The company recently acquired a 13-story building comprising the former DuPont headquarters and the Hotel DuPont, which will be converted into a mixed-use complex …
WILMINGTON, DEL. — Patterson-Woods Commercial Properties/CORFAC International has arranged the sale of an office building located at 913 Delaware Ave. in Wilmington. Washington Street Realty Co. sold the property to 913 Delaware Avenue, a Series of KD Financial LLC for $1.9 million. The single-story property features 8,100 square feet of office space. Bart Mackey of Patterson-Woods Commercial represented the seller in the deal.