NEW YORK CITY — The Britannia Group has negotiated the $23 million sale of a 41-unit apartment property in the South Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. Britannia’s Jacob Rogosnitzky and David Zlotnick represented the buyer, a German family, in the acquisition of the property at 218 S. 3rd St.
FORT LEE, N.J. — PMZ Realty Capital has arranged a $23.7 million construction loan for Hyatt Place Fort Lee. The 168-room property will offer rooms including work desks, refrigerators, coffee makers and an in-room safe. The hotel also features complimentary breakfast.
EAST ORANGE, N.J. — Gebroe-Hammer Associates has arranged the $11.3 million sale of 44 apartment units at 75 Prospect St. in East Orange. The property is known as Castle on Prospect. Gebroe-Hammer’s David Oropeza represented the seller and procured the buyer, a longtime East Orange investor, in the transaction. Built in the late 1920s, the property includes three two bedroom/one bath units, three two bedroom/two bath units, 21 three bedroom/two bath units, 17 four bedroom/three bath units and one five bedroom/four bath unit.
FRANKLIN, MASS. — Institutional Property Advisors (IPA), a division of Marcus & Millichap, has brokered the sale of The Estate at Franklin, an 81-unit seniors housing facility in Franklin. Mark Myers, Joshua Jandris and Matthew Andriano of IPA represented the seller, a family-owned real estate development company, and procured the buyer, a privately held real estate investment and property management firm. Completed in 2014, The Estate at Franklin is located seven miles from the 141-bed Landmark Medical Center.
WARRENDALE, PA. — Teen apparel retailer Rue21 filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday, May 15 with plans to reorganize and restructure its assets and debts. In April, the company began to close approximately 400 underperforming stores of the 1,179 stores that it operates. The company stated Monday that it may evaluate further store closures as it continues to manage its real estate lease portfolio. The company expects to emerge from Chapter 11 in fall 2017 with a significantly deleveraged balance sheet. The company has obtained $125 million in debtor-in-possession financing, enabling it to continue day-to-day operations, including payment of employee wages, payment of vendors and honoring customer programs, such as gift cards. Kirkland & Ellis LLP is Rue21’s legal advisor, Rothschild Inc., as its investment banker and financial advisor and Berkeley Research Group as its restructuring advisor.
NEW YORK CITY — Strategic Capital has made a $140 million equity investment for a multifamily development in the Hudson Square neighborhood of Manhattan. Strategic’s investment consists of equity and mezzanine components invested in a joint venture with Cape Advisors and Forum Absolute Capital Partners (FACP). Strategic Capital will co-develop the property with Cape Advisors. Strategic Capital is the investment arm of China Construction America (CCA), which is the American subsidiary of China State Construction and Engineering Company (CSCEC). The site is located at 110 Charlton St. and 537 Greenwich St. When complete, the project will span 280,000 square feet with 170 residential units, ground-floor retail and parking. Plaza Construction, an affiliate of Strategic Capital is the general contractor for the project. Construction will begin in June and sales for the condominiums will begin in spring 2018.
LONG ISLAND CITY, N.Y. — A $15 million, 21,000-square-foot expansion of the LaGuardia Community College library is now complete. The college, part of the City University of New York (CUNY), has an enrollment of more than 50,000. The expansion converted a section of the second floor of the college’s E-Building into additional space for the library. The work makes the library 58 percent larger and doubles its capacity to 732 seats. The expansion also includes media rooms, 11 group study rooms, reading rooms, a media lab, faculty suites, archive space and 50 offices.
FORT LEE, N.J. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the $4.5 million sale of 201 Main St., a 9,500-square-foot retail property located Fort Lee. Greg Babaian, Michael Lombardi and Steven Schiavello of Marcus & Millichap’s New Jersey office marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a private investor. The team also secured and represented the buyer, another private investor.
NEW YORK CITY — Eastern Consolidated has arranged a lease for Viand Cafe at 517 Columbus Ave. in Manhattan. The restaurant has operated a location in the Hotel Beacon at 2130 Broadway for more than 15 years. The restaurant is taking a 1,856-square-foot space at the corner of 85th Street and Columbus Avenue previously occupied by Jackson Hole restaurant, which closed last year. Eastern Consolidated’s Ben Biberaj and Harris Bulow represented Viand Café in negotiating a 15-year lease for the retail space, which includes 70 feet of frontage and a 490-square-foot basement. Rafe Evans and Eric Fisher of Walker Malloy & Co. represented the landlord, Shared Equities LLC.
The news is rife with stories regarding retail bankruptcies, store closures, challenges facing conventional shopping centers, and consolidations by department and specialty stores. Although not immune to some of these challenges, the Manhattan retail environment has enjoyed much activity during the second half of 2016 and the first part of 2017. To be sure, some submarkets and certain retail corridors have seen an increase in vacancies and a corresponding fall in asking rents. However, a number of new retailers have entered the market and certain strong retail brands have right-sized or repositioned themselves in the market. One high-profile shopping center opened its doors, and there is considerable retail development underway. It’s a big story but here are some highlights. Lower Manhattan There has been considerable focus on Lower Manhattan in the past several years, and this continues. On the grand scale, the opening in August 2016 of Westfield’s World Trade Center was the culmination of years in planning, constructing and leasing this $1.4 billion development. This multi-level project contains an assortment of national and international tenants, including fast fashion and better retail stores, such as Victoria’s Secret, Sephora, H&M, John Varvatos and London Jewelers. A 60,000-square-foot Eataly is the principal …