NEW JERSEY AND MASSACHUSETTS — Harrison Street, a Chicago-based alternative asset investment firm, has acquired a portfolio of 11 seniors housing properties managed by Brightview Senior Living located throughout New Jersey, Massachusetts and Maryland. The portfolio totals 1,322 units. The New Jersey properties include Brightview Greentree in Marlton, Brightview Mount Laurel in Mount Laurel and Brightview Woodbury Lake in Deptford. The Massachusetts properties include Brightview Concord River in Billerica and Brightview North Andover in North Andover. The seller and sales price were undisclosed.
WILMINGTON, MASS.— Robotics company Symbotic has renewed its 60,000-square-foot office headquarters lease in Wilmington, a northern suburb of Boston. Located at 200 Research Drive, the property accommodates office, lab, research and light manufacturing and warehouse users. Mike Ripp of CBRE represented Symbotic in the lease negotiations. Matt Adams, Torin Taylor, Richard Ruggiero and Rory Walsh of Newmark Knight Frank represented the landlord, Novaya Real Estate Ventures. Symbotic develops robotics and software to improve supply chain management for manufacturers, distributors and retailers
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — Lotus Harvard Enterprises LLC has completed development of 1699 Massachusetts Avenue, a 16-unit apartment building with 1,600 square feet of ground-floor retail space that is located adjacent to Harvard Law School in Cambridge. The property offers two studios, eight one-bedrooms, five two-bedrooms and three two-bedroom units, as well as an adjoining five-bedroom single-family home. Khalsa Design was the architect of the project and Nauset Construction was the general contractor.
REVERE, MASS. — JLL has brokered the $24.1 million sale of Wonderland Marketplace, a 139,507-square-foot shopping center in Revere, a northeastern suburb of Boston. The shopping center is anchored by Marshalls, Big Lots and Planet Fitness and is adjacent to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Wonderland Station. Nat Heald and Chris Angelone of JLL represented the seller, a partnership between Winstanley Enterprises and Surrey Equities, in the transaction. Urban Edge Properties purchased the asset.
Office vacancies are falling across the big metros of the Northeast as robust user demand outpaces the supply of new construction. Deliveries in the last year have primarily been limited to Class A, build-to-suit properties and mixed-use developments. Meanwhile, office tenants are seeking high-end amenities at favorable prices. Nationally, the office vacancy rate stood at 16.8 percent in the second quarter, up slightly from 16.6 percent a year ago, according to real estate research firm Reis. Net absorption for the quarter totaled 3.2 million square feet, down from 3.9 million square feet a year ago. The average asking rent was $33.79 per square foot, up 2.2 percent on a year-over-year basis. Approximately 11.1 million square feet of office space was under construction at the end of the second quarter across Philadelphia, New York and Boston, according to CoStar Group. Helped by approximately 8.3 million square feet of absorption in the second quarter, the average vacancy rate across all three markets was 8.1 percent. Rather than undertake costly new ground-up construction projects, many developers are choosing to redevelop existing assets and efficiently incorporate office space into mixed-use projects. Coworking tenants occupied 54.2 million square feet of office space nationally at the …
BREWSTER, MASS. — OREC Securities has brokered the sale of Pleasant Bay Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in the Cape Cod town of Brewster. The community houses 135 skilled nursing beds and 59 assisted living units. Although the original plan was to split the community into two separate sales, a regional owner-operator bought the properties as a single asset. Laca Wong-Hammond, Chad Elliott, Kevin Laidlaw and Aaron Becker led the transaction for OREC. The seller and price were not disclosed.
BOSTON — Apparel retailer Everlane has signed a 2,300-square-foot retail lease in Boston’s Seaport District. Originally launched in November 2011 as an exclusively online retailer, Everlane will open its sixth brick-and-mortar location at 125 Seaport Boulevard in Spring 2020. The brand markets itself as a transparent and ethically sourced apparel retailer. WS Development is the developer of 125 Seaport Boulevard
DALLAS AND NEWTON, MASS. — Spirit Realty Capital Inc. (NYSE: SRC), a net-lease REIT based in Dallas, has purchased a national single-tenant retail portfolio for $435 million. The portfolio’s seller is Service Properties Trust (NASDAQ: SVC), a net-lease retail and lodging REIT based in the western Boston suburb of Newton. The portfolio spans 26 states and includes 123 stores leased to 54 different concepts. About a third of the portfolio is leased to restaurants, including Wendy’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, KFC, Skyline Chili, Burger King, Rally’s and Popeye’s. The portfolio’s tenant roster also includes service-oriented and furniture concepts such as LA Fitness, Ashley Home Store, O’Reilly Auto Parts, At Home, Mister Car Wash, Carmax, Crunch Fitness and Tire Warehouse. This transaction is part of SVC’s disposition strategy to sell up to $500 million of net lease assets in connection with its $2.4 billion acquisition of retail properties from Spirit MTA REIT, which Spirit Realty Capital manages. “Coupled with our other recent net lease sales and agreements to sell totaling $66 million, we have reached our target of $500 million in net lease asset sales, the proceeds of which will be used to reduce the company’s leverage,” says John Murray, president and …
NEWTON, MASS. — Austin Street Partners, a joint venture between Oaktree Development and Dinosaur Capital Partners, has completed 28 Austin, a 68-unit multifamily development with 5,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space in Newton, a western suburb of Boston. Resident amenities include a fitness room, dog park, resident lounge and rooftop seating with a fire pit. Residents have already moved in. Caffé Nero, a bakery and café, is expected to open in early 2020.
BOSTON — Pennrose Development and LGBTQ Senior Housing Inc. have unveiled plans to convert William Barton Rogers Middle School in Boston’s Hyde Park neighborhood into a 74-unit, LGBTQ-supported affordable seniors housing community. The $33 million project will transform the existing structure into a residential building with 74 units of income-restricted rental units. Tenants must be at least age 62, and the community will be specifically welcoming to seniors who identify as LGBTQ, according to the developers. The original school was built in 1899 on 74,000 square feet of land and closed in June 2015. Boston-based architecture firm DiMella Shaffer designed the project. A construction timeline was not disclosed.