HULL, MASS. — Cornerstone Realty Capital has arranged a $6.5 million construction loan for a 42-unit multifamily project in Hull, a town located on Nantasket Beach. The property will consist of studio and one-bedroom units, as well as 1,600 square feet of ground-floor retail space. Units will feature stainless steel appliances, granite countertops and living areas with a mix of vinyl-wood flooring and carpeting. The loan carried an 85 percent loan-to-value ratio, 24 months of interest-only payments and a 30-year amortization schedule. A contingent of community bankers provided the financing. The borrower was not disclosed.
BOSTON — Gene editing firm CRISPR Therapeutics has signed a 263,500-square-foot life sciences lease at The 105, a new development in Boston’s Seaport District by Breakthrough Properties. Construction of The 105 began earlier this year and is expected to be complete in early 2022. Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Newmark Knight Frank represented Breakthrough Properties, which was launched in 2019 by New York City-based Tishman Speyer and biotech investment firm Bellco Capital. Gene editing refers to technologies that give scientists the ability to change an organism’s DNA.
BOSTON — Vitus, a national owner and builder of affordable housing, is underway on the redevelopment of Fort Hill Gardens and Esperanza Trust, two communities totaling 82 units in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood. Vitus expects to invest about $100,000 per unit, with construction expected to be complete this winter. The kitchens, bathrooms and living rooms will all be upgraded with fresh paint and new doors and windows. Both properties will also receive exterior improvements such as new roofing and curb and walkway upgrades.
BOSTON — MassHousing, an independent public agency that funds affordable housing projects in Massachusetts, has provided a $30.3 million in loans for the refinancing, renovation and preservation of affordability of Newcastle Saranac in Boston’s South End neighborhood. The borrower, a partnership between Fenway Community Development Corp. and Schochet Cos., acquired the property in 2018 when its 97 affordable housing units were at risk of being converted to market-rate residences. The financing package consists of a $17.6 million tax-exempt construction and permanent loan, a $10.5 million tax credit equity bridge loan and $2.25 million in Section 13A preservation financing. The latter piece of the capital stack preserves the affordability of units, 38 of which are reserved for renters earning 30 percent or less of the area median income (AMI); 31 of which are for households earning 60 percent or less of AMI; 13 of which are restricted for tenants earning 90 percent or less of AMI; and 15 of which are earmarked for renters earning 100 percent or less of AMI.
FALL RIVER, MASS. — Boston-based investment firm Rhino Capital Advisors has purchased a 200,000-square-foot data center located in the southern Massachusetts city of Fall River. Rhino Capital is acquiring the center in a sale-leaseback deal in which the seller has committed to a new 10-year lease at the newly built property. Brett Paulsrud and Madeline Joyce of JLL arranged a $10.3 million acquisition loan through Cambridge Savings Bank on behalf of the new ownership.
STOUGHTON, MASS. — Stubblebine Co., a locally based brokerage firm and member of CORFAC International, has arranged the $4.2 million sale of a 78,000-square-foot industrial portfolio in the southern Boston suburb of Stoughton. The portfolio consists of three buildings that are primarily leased to Peak Party Rentals. David Stubblebine, James Stubblebine and David Skinner represented the buyer, Tosca Drive LLC, in the transaction. Mark Donahue of Donahue Associates represented the seller.
SPRINGFIELD, MASS. — MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) has reopened its casino in the western Massachusetts city of Springfield at 25 percent of its original capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As of July 13, there were 112,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in the state of Massachusetts and 8,330 deaths. At this time, the resort’s 240-room hotel and spa remain closed, limiting the amenity options for guests to the 125,000-square-foot casino and three of the property’s food and beverage establishments, which will also operate at limited occupancies. Valet parking is also unavailable at this time. Employees and guests are required to wear masks in public settings, and plexiglass barriers have been installed in certain areas where social distancing is difficult to maintain. MGM has also set up handwashing stations throughout casino floor and will use digital menus as its restaurants to minimize sharing of surfaces.
BOSTON AND CHICAGO — Investcorp, a global private equity firm based in Bahrain, has sold a 1.8 million-square-foot portfolio of industrial buildings located in the Boston and Chicago areas for $200 million. The Boston component of the portfolio includes a warehouse, distribution center and flex building totaling roughly 1.1 million square feet. The Chicago component features three cold storage properties totaling approximately 700,000 square feet. Investcorp initially acquired the portfolio, which was 98 percent leased at the time of sale, in 2017. The buyer was not disclosed.
SPRINGFIELD, MASS. — CBRE has arranged the sale of Pynchon Terrace and Edgewater Apartments, a pair of multifamily assets in Springfield, Massachusetts, for $76 million. Pynchon Terrace was built in 1971, renovated in 2006 and totals 250 units in three- and four-bedroom floor plans. Edgewater Apartments was constructed in the mid-1970s, renovated in 2006 and features 362 units that comprise a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments and three- and four-bedroom townhomes. Simon Butler, Biria St. John, John McLaughlin, Jeff Kunitz and Mike Canori of CBRE represented the seller, Silver Street Development Corp., in the transaction. The team also procured the buyer, Los Angeles-based investment firm BLVD Capital.
MATTAPAN, MASS. — MassHousing, an independent public agency that funds affordable housing projects in Massachusetts, has provided $22.6 million in financing for the construction of Cote Village. The affordable housing project is located in Mattapan on the southern outskirts of Boston. The project involves the redevelopment of a vacant structure into a 76-unit mixed-income residential building with one-, two- and three-bedroom units. The borrower and developer is a partnership between the Planning Office for Urban Affairs and Caribbean Integration Community Development. Bilt-Rite Construction is the general contractor, and Davis Square Architects is designing the project. A construction timeline was not released.