NEW YORK CITY — Mizuho Americas has signed a lease with the Rockefeller Group to occupy 270,000 square feet of office space at 1271 Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan. The long-term lease, which follows the June announcement of Mizuho’s lease of 141,000 square feet in the building, brings the company’s total commitment for 1271 Avenue of Americas to 411,000 square feet. The new lease nearly triples the size of the company’s future U.S. headquarters in the building. Mizuho, a subsidiary of Mizuho Financial Group, will begin to take possession of its space in 2019. The company plans to relocate employees from multiple locations to the 2.1 million-square-foot tower. Mitchell Steir, Matthew Barlow, Steve Berliner and David Goldstein of Savills Studley represented Mizuho, while Mary Ann Tighe, Howard Fiddle, John Maher, Sarah Pontius, Evan Haskell and Dave Caperna of CBRE, in coordination with Ed Guiltinan, Jennifer Stein, Yoshinori Nakamura, Yoko Yamada and Eden Jeon of Rockefeller Group’s in-house leasing team, represented Rockefeller Group in the lease transaction.
The commercial real estate market in the Greater Boston area continued its torrid pace in the first half of 2017. All sections of the commercial real estate market inside Route 128 are white hot, especially after the announcement that General Electric will move its corporate headquarters to the Seaport District. Recent data indicates that Boston has one of the hottest economies in the United States and ranks as one of the top economies in the world. The 2017 Investment Intensity Index ranks Boston as the fourth market in the U.S. and 14th in the world for commercial real estate investment. In the industrial sector, which includes warehouse/distribution and flex/R&D product, vacancies are at the lowest point seen in decades. At the end of the first quarter the vacancy rate decreased to 5.7 percent. Net absorption totaled 2.24 million square feet for the quarter. The fact that the urban industrial market is continually shrinking as aging industrial properties are redeveloped into “higher and better uses” has caused a tremendous displacement of companies from inside Route 128 to areas outside the coveted Route 95 corridor. A dearth of available institutional-quality industrial product exists in today’s market with just over 13 percent of …
NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY — HFF has arranged 16 financings totaling $663 million secured by 15 retail properties and one industrial property totaling 4.6 million square feet in New York and New Jersey. Scott Aiese, Jon Mikula and Mike Tepedino of HFF secured the 16 separate loans with two CMBS lenders, three life company lenders and one bank for the borrower, Urban Edge Properties. The loans include 14 fixed- and two floating-rate facilities with terms ranging from seven to 13 years. Loan proceeds will be used to pay off existing CMBS debt and create additional proceeds, while staggering and lengthening the duration of the borrower’s maturity schedule. The portfolio comprises 98.1-percent-leased retail centers anchored by grocery stores, including ShopRite, Stop & Shop and Aldi; The Home Depot; Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse; Costco; BJ’s Wholesale Club and Walmart; and one multi-tenant warehouse property in East Hanover, N.J. The 16 properties are in dense submarkets with affluent demographics, including 15 located in New Jersey and one in New York.
CHARLESTOWN, MASS. — Callahan Construction Managers has completed the construction of Cambridge College’s campus relocation project. Located in Hood Business Park in Charlestown, the project comprises a 108,000-square-foot tenant fit-out with modern classrooms, laboratories, meeting rooms, offices, administrative areas, studies and lounges. Designed by Wilson Architects, the facility features state-of-the-art audio/visual communications and teaching technologies, as well as ancillary support spaces for the college.
HAVERHILL, MASS. — CBRE/New England has brokered the sale of The Bixby, an apartment property located in Haverhill. A partnership between an affiliate of Boston Andes Capital and William Braucher sold the property to Blackfin Real Estate Investors in a joint venture with True North Management Group for $22.5 million. The 12-story apartment building features 128 units in a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom layouts. Community amenities include a resident lounge with entertainment kitchen, smart televisions, a pool and shuffle board tables, an outdoor riverfront deck, a game room, a fitness center and a landscaped courtyard. Between 2016 and 2017, Boston Andes Capital implemented $4 million in capital improvements at the property. Simon Butler and Biria St. John of CBRE/NE represented the seller and procured the buyer in the deal.
HOLBROOK, DORCHESTER AND WEYMOUTH, MASS. — KeyBank Real Estate Capital has provided $82 million in 223(f) FHA financing to the Corcoran, Mullins and Jennison group for the refinancing of a five-property mixed-income and age-restricted housing portfolio in Massachusetts. The properties are Savin Hills Apartments, an age-restricted, affordable housing asset with a project-based Housing Assistance Payments contract in Dorchester; Ramblewood in Holbrook; and a property in Weymouth. Together the properties total 574 units. Dirk Falardeau, Todd Goulet and Matthew Purcell of KeyBank’s Income Property and Commercial Mortgage Groups originated the loan for the sponsors, Corcoran, Mullins and Jennison Inc. and Corcoran Jennison Co.
CANTON, MASS. — Calare Properties has purchased an industrial property, located at 15-21 University Road in Canton, for an undisclosed price in an off-market transaction. Situated on 17 acres, the 103,200-square-foot property was vacant at the time of sale. The property features 14 loading docks, six drive-in docks, more than 300 parking spaces and flexible floor plans. The name of the seller was not released.
NORWALK, CONN. — HFF has secured $100 million in financing for Merritt 7, a six-building, 1.4 million-square-foot office park in Norwalk. The borrower is a separate account managed by New York-based Clarion Partners. Riaz Cassum and Lauren O’Neil of HFF arranged the five-year, fixed-rate loan through a correspondent life insurance company. Situated on 22 acres along Norwalk River, Merritt 7 comprises six buildings and features a fitness center, conference centers, car care, two full-service cafeterias, a Starbucks Coffee location and a unisex salon. At the time of financing, the office park was 97 percent leased to a diverse tenant roster including General Electric, Factset Research Systems, Datto and Frontier Communications.
PHILADELPHIA — Greystone has provided $20.1 million in Freddie Mac financing for West Village, an apartment community located in West Philadelphia. The three separate Freddie Mac Small Balance Loans feature 10-year terms and interest-only payments for three years with 30-year amortization schedules. West Village features 86 units in a mix of three-, four- and five-bedroom layouts. Community amenities include parking, roof decks for some units and a community courtyard. Jason Yuen of Greystone originated the financing for the borrower, West Village Group.
NEW YORK CITY — Rosewood Realty Group has brokered the sale of a six-story apartment building located at 3971 Gouveneur Ave. in the Kingsbridge Heights neighborhood of the Bronx. Hds Funding Co. sold the property to a private investor for $14.2 million. Built in 1928, the 65,394-square-foot building features 67 units. At the time of sale, 36 of the apartments were vacant. Aaron Jungles of Rosewood represented the seller, while Mike Kerwin and Ben Khakshoor, also of Rosewood, represented the buyer in the transaction.