WORCESTER, MASS. — Spinnaker Healthcare Advisors, a Rhode Island-based division of RE/MAX Commercial, has brokered the $5.4 million sale of Eastern Medical Center. The 23,000-square-foot medical office building is located in the Central Massachusetts city of Worcester. The property was built in 2006 and was fully leased at the time of sale. Andy Kushner and Mike Milano of Spinnaker represented the undisclosed seller and procured the buyer, Sood Realty Trust, in the transaction.
WORCESTER, MASS. — Massachusetts-based Galaxy Life Sciences, in partnership with the Worcester Business Development Corp. (WBDC), has acquired land for the development of a $50 million biomanufacturing facility in the Central Massachusetts city of Worcester. The facility will be situated on six acres within The Reactory, a 46-acre life sciences campus that is a redevelopment of a site formerly occupied by Worcester State Hospital. Infrastructure work on the site is expected to begin this fall. Kelleher & Sadowsky represented the development team in its acquisition of the land.
STOUGHTON, MASS. — An affiliate of multifamily investment and management firm Bell Partners has sold Bell Stoughton, a 240-unit apartment community in Stoughton, a southern suburb of Boston. Built in 2012, the property offers one- and two-bedroom units averaging 958 square feet and amenities such as a pool, fitness center, business center and theater room. Simon Butler, Biria St. John and John McLaughlin of CBRE represented the seller in the transaction and procured the buyer, Bell Stoughton LLC.
PITTSBURGH — Dick’s Sporting Goods will open three new stores in the Northeast region this month. The Pittsburgh-based retailer will debut two new stores in Massachusetts, a 45,000-square-foot location at Cape Cod Mall in Hyannis and a 48,000-square-foot location at Westgate Mall in the Boston suburb of Brockton. Simon Property Group and New England Development are the respective owners of those malls. A third, 65,000-square-foot store will open at Macerich’s Deptford Mall, located just outside Philadelphia in New Jersey.
LOWELL, MASS. — NorthMarq has arranged a $5.5 million Freddie Mac loan for the refinancing of Mill Falls Apartments, a 72-unit multifamily asset in Lowell, located north of Boston near the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border. The property features one- and two-bedroom units. Robert Ranieri of NorthMarq arranged the 10-year loan, which carried a fixed interest rate and a 30-year amortization schedule, on behalf of the undisclosed borrower.
By Alex Patton Retail real estate investors in Boston are cautiously evaluating the risk profiles of tenants even as businesses reopen following temporary closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The emerging consensus is that until a vaccine is developed to safely treat the virus, the safest investments are tied to essential tenants with reliable incomes. That short list includes grocers, drugstores, home improvement businesses and liquor stores. Like the rest of the country, all nonessential retail businesses in Massachusetts were forced to close temporarily in early March, for what was originally expected to be a short period. After several weeks, the commonwealth’s government implemented a phased reopening system that allowed some retail businesses to resume operations. However, after months with significantly reduced income, a number of small retailers are declaring bankruptcy and permanently closing stores to save money. “The underlying question that permeates the retail investment industry, as an investor or a lender, is how much of the income is durable? In other words, which retailers are going to survive?” asks James Koury, senior managing director of investments at the Boston office of Institutional Property Advisors (IPA). “A vaccine would be a game-changer, but we can’t know if it will …
MALDEN, MASS. — Callahan Construction Managers has completed a project in the northern Boston suburb of Malden that redeveloped the former Malden Center transit station into a 550,000-square-foot mixed-use destination. Rebranded J. Malden Center, the property now connects the Malden MBTA station with 25,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, 320 residential apartments and a civic office condominium that now serves as Malden City Hall. CBT Architects designed the project. Jefferson Apartment Group developed the multifamily component, which offers a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom units and 30,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor amenity space.
BOSTON — Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) has negotiated the $42.4 million sale of 8 Newbury Street, a 17,023-square-foot office and retail building located in Boston’s Back Bay area. A Rolex flagship store occupies the ground- and second-floor retail spaces of the property, which was originally built in the 1920s. Robert Griffin, Geoffrey Millerd and Paul Penman of NKF represented the seller, a joint venture between UrbanMeritage and L&B Realty Advisors, in the transaction. The trio also procured the buyer, a partnership between Chile-based family office Corso and GLL Real Estate Partners, an international real estate fund manager based in Germany.
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — MassHousing has provided $87.2 million in financing for the renovation and preservation of a 300-unit affordable housing community located at 808 Memorial Drive in Cambridge. MassHousing provided the borrower, Homeowners Rehab Inc., with a $61.5 million tax-exempt construction and permanent loan, $24.9 million in taxable and tax-exempt tax credit equity bridge financing and a $787,763 interest reduction payment (IRP) loan. The project will also use $8.9 million of income during the construction period for development costs. Renovations are expected to be complete by the end of 2022. Bruner Cott is designing the project, and NEI General Contracting is handling construction.
CANTON, MASS. — Dunkin’ Brands Group (NASDAQ: DNKN) reported a total decrease in revenue of 20 percent during the second quarter and announced that it will close about 350 stores worldwide during the second half of the year. These closures follow the company’s announcement to shutter about 450 stores that are housed in Speedway gas stations and convenience marts. Canton, Mass.-based Dunkin’, which also owns Baskin-Robbins, reported that approximately 90 percent of its international locations for both Dunkin’ and Baskin-Robbins were open as of July 25. Dunkin’s stock price opened at $68.61 per share on Friday, July 31, down from $81.58 per share a year ago.