NEW YORK CITY — Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) has agreed to acquire Kate Spade & Co. (NYSE: KATE) for $18.50 per share in cash for a total transaction value of $2.4 billion. The acquisition is an important step in Coach’s evolution, according to Victor Luis, CEO of Coach. “Kate Spade has a truly unique and differentiated brand positioning with a broad lifestyle assortment and strong awareness among consumers, especially millennials,” says Luis. “Through this acquisition, we will create the first New York-based house of modern luxury lifestyle brands, defined by authentic, distinctive products and fashion innovation.” Coach expects the combined company to realize $50 million in savings through improved efficiencies, scale, inventory management and supply chain optimization, according to Kevin Wills, CFO of Coach. So far, the deal looks promising for Coach as shares of its stock closed at $45.20 per share on Tuesday, May 9, the highest mark since 2014. Shares of Kate Spade stock also jumped post-announcement, closing at $18.40 on Tuesday, up from $16.97 on Friday, May 5. Yesterday, Goldman Sachs raised Coach’s rating to buy from neutral. BofA Merrill Lynch is providing bridge financing to Coach for the acquisition. Coach plans to pay the $2.4 billion …
With city-like, apartment-rental living back in vogue, New Jersey — from its urban centers to its suburban bedroom communities — is transitioning to more walkable, transit-focused neighborhoods. From Northern, Central and Southern Jersey’s green, well-manicured garden-apartment courtyards to the sleek Class A high-rises peppering Hudson County’s Gold Coast, multifamily living and investment are catalysts for sustained statewide economic and population growth. The groundwork for this trend — and the ensuing surge in construction expected to peak this year — was established a few years back with the emergence of a state-incentivized transit village designation program. While this movement started in 1999 as a means to revitalize transit-friendly communities through mixed-use development, municipal leaders have only begun to embrace and leverage this type of development and private investment long associated with urban centers. Today, New Jersey has 32 state-designated transit villages and a multitude of emerging transit centers. Early designees include Pleasantville (Atlantic County), Journal Square/Jersey City, Morristown, South Amboy, South Orange, Rahway, Cranford and Matawan. Most recently, they have been joined by relative newcomers like East Orange, Summit, Plainfield, Irvington, Park Ridge and Hackensack as well as budding hubs such as Harrison. One example of how multifamily investment is leveraging …
NEW YORK CITY — Eastern Consolidated has negotiated the $100 million sale of a residential development assemblage in the NoMad neighborhood of Manhattan to the Rockefeller Group. The assemblage includes 170,000 square feet across three contiguous buildings at 30-36 E. 29th St. and includes surrounding air rights. The existing buildings will be razed to make room for a ground-up condominium development with just under 100 feet of frontage on East 29th Street. Eastern Consolidated’s Brian Ezratty represented the three sellers: Extell Development, the owner of 30-32 E. 29th St.; W Brothers, the owner of 34 E. 29th St.; and 29th Street Partners LLC, the owner of 36 E. 29th St. Ezratty and Eastern Consolidated’s Ron Solarz procured the buyer, the Rockefeller Group.
UNION, MOONACHIE AND FAIRFIELD, N.J. — The Stro Cos. has acquired five industrial buildings totaling 210,000 square feet in New Jersey for $14.7 million. The properties were purchased in separate transactions from different sellers including: 1110 Springfield Road, 50 Milltown Road and 60 Milltown Road in Union. The three-building, 128,000-square-foot industrial park is located near Route 22, I-78, The Garden Parkway and Newark Liberty Airport. The park is 98 percent occupied and features industrial units ranging from 10,000 to 30,000 square feet. Stro acquired the property for $7 million. Millington Bank financed the acquisition. 111 Moonachie Ave. in Moonachie. The 52,000-square-foot industrial building features seven units. Located in the Meadowlands, the property is directly across the street from Teterboro Airport. The property was acquired for $5.3 million with one 7,000-square-foot vacancy. Malvern Bank financed the acquisition. 18 Industrial Road in Fairfield. The multi-tenant industrial building spans 30,000 square feet. Stro plans to install upgrades to the exterior of the property, which is accessible from Route 46 and I-80. Bank of New Jersey financed the $2.4 million acquisition.
LIVINGSTON, N.J. — The Azarian Group has acquired Livingston Town Center in Livingston from an affiliate of Onyx Equities for $21.3 million. Livingston Town Center is located at the intersection of East Mount Pleasant Avenue and North Livingston Avenue and includes 65,000 square feet of retail space. Tenants include Destination Maternity, 7-Eleven, Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza, Wells Fargo, Fit 36, Restore Cold Press Juices, X-Tend Barre and 19 others. Amenities include fountain and sitting areas, a parking garage and 114 attached townhomes. Livingston Town Center is 94 percent occupied.
LINDEN, N.J. — Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp. (MMCC) has arranged a $5.6 million industrial warehouse loan for a 161,000-square-foot building located at 601-721 W. Linden Ave. in Linden. Eric Seidel, a director in MMCC’s New Jersey office, arranged the debt placement.
NEWARK, N.J. — Cushman & Wakefield has brokered the $4.8 million acquisition of a 68-unit apartment portfolio in Newark. Cushman & Wakefield’s Brian Whitmer, Andrew Merin, David Bernhaut, Gary Gabriel, Seth Pollack and Ryan Dowd represented the buyer, a private investor. The portfolio includes two communities located one block from each other on Roseville Avenue. Both properties are three stories tall and were built in the early 1970s. The first, 467-479 Roseville Ave., contains 46 units and totals 37,000 square feet on 0.46 acres. The second, 385-391 Roseville Ave., includes 22 units and totals 17,600 square feet on 0.3 acres.
ASHLAND, MASS. — SVN | Parsons Commercial Group | BOSTON has arranged the sale of a 5,728-square-foot office building at 54-58 Union St. in Ashland. Victor Galvani and Garrett Quinn of SVN | Parsons represented the seller, Euroland Real Estate, and procured the buyer, Martel HVAC Corp. Martel, a heating and cooling solutions company, will move its corporate headquarters from Holliston to the property. Eurobrew Inc., a specialty beer importer, formerly owned and occupied the building. The property consists of office space, basement storage and a parking lot.
SPRINGFIELD, MASS. — Liquors 44 is opening its sixth location in western Massachusetts at 1755 Boston Road in Springfield. The company is a locally owned and operated liquor superstore founded in 1987. Matt Halprin of New England Retail Properties was the exclusive broker for the new 24,000-square-foot store on Boston Road.
CLIFTON, N.J. — Ideal Market Place has opened a new location at the Botany Plaza shopping center in Clifton. Ideal Market Place is a brand of the supermarket chain America’s Food Basket (AFB), which specializes in international foods. According to the AFB website, the company operates within all five boroughs of New York, and has expanded into New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. AFB currently operates 43 locations, including the 24,500-square-foot Ideal Market Place in Clifton. Nassimi Realty, a privately held development and investment company, owns Botany Plaza.