PHILADELPHIA — Locally based developer NewCourtland has completed a 178-unit mixed-income adaptive reuse project in Philadelphia’s East Falls neighborhood. The project converted the former Eastern Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institution, which originally opened in 1956 and has been vacant since 2013, into a 12-story residential complex that includes 40 affordable housing units for seniors. NewCourtland won a bid for the 14-acre site in 2015 and subsequently brought in architecture firm Looney Ricks Kiss to facilitate the transition of the site into a mixed-income property.
PITTSBURGH — An affiliate of New Jersey-based intermediary Cronheim Mortgage has arranged a $10 million loan for the refinancing of the 98-room Fairfield Inn & Suites hotel in downtown Pittsburgh. The hotel was built in 2019. The nonrecourse loan features a floating interest rate and flexible prepayment options. David Turley of Cronheim Mortgage arranged the loan through an undisclosed bridge lender based on the West Coast. The borrower was a joint venture partnership between Blue Vista Capital, Woodmont Lodging and Milestone Hospitality Management.
EDISON, N.J. — NAI DiLeo-Bram has brokered the $5.5 million sale of a 21,929-square-foot retail center in Edison, located roughly midway between Newark and Trenton. The center at 1825 Route 27 consists of a 13,769-square-foot plus vacant basement space and an 8,160-square-foot building whose three units are fully leased. Marc Shein and Robert DiLeo of NAI DiLeo-Bram represented the seller, Sam Ash Properties Corp., in the transaction. Remax represented the buyer, an undisclosed, out-of-state grocer that also plans to occupy the building.
NEW YORK CITY — GrowthCurve Capital LP has signed a 13,350-square-foot office lease in Midtown Manhattan. The private equity firm is relocating from 1301 Avenue of the Americas to the 33rd floor of the 990,000-square-foot building at 250 W. 55th St. Peter Turchin, Caroline Merck, Arkady Smolyansky and Ali Gordon of CBRE represented the landlord, Boston Properties, in the lease negotiations. Jonathan Luttwak and James Cassidy of DHC Real Estate Services, along with Louis D’Avanzo of Cushman & Wakefield, represented the tenant.
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Equity Residential to Acquire 11-Property Multifamily Portfolio from Blackstone for $964M
CHICAGO AND NEW YORK CITY — Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) has agreed to acquire an 11-property apartment portfolio from Blackstone (NYSE: BX) for $964 million. The acquisition is the largest U.S. multifamily purchase by any public real estate investment trust in the past seven years, according to reports by The Wall Street Journal. The portfolio includes four properties totaling 1,357 units in Atlanta; four properties totaling 1,237 units in the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area; and three properties totaling 978 units in Denver. Further details on the communities were not disclosed. The properties were attractive to Equity Residential — one of the largest owners of multifamily assets in the U.S. with 79,738 units across 299 properties — due to their locations in markets where the Chicago-based firm is targeting growth, as well as the properties’ appeal to high-end renters. The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter and will include separate transactions with Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Blackstone Real Estate Partners and Blackstone Property Partners. Eastdil Secured, RBC Capital Markets, Santander and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) acted as Blackstone’s financial advisors in the transaction. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett served as Blackstone’s legal counsel. Neal Gerber & Eisenberg, Hogan …
By Taylor Williams Heath Ledger, squaring off against Batman as The Joker, observed, “so this is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immoveable object.” The late great actor’s metaphor for the stalemate that ensues when entities of equal and opposing power collide could almost be used to describe the current state of the Boston retail market. For while the sector continues to see high levels of tenant demand and the locale retains an array of proven demand drivers, the lack of new supply means that a ceiling of sorts on the growth of the market as a whole is taking shape. And the factors that form the foundation of this ceiling are very unlikely to bend, much less break. Minimal gains in new inventory have long plagued the Boston retail market, and the current scenario is no exception. According to data from CoStar Group, the market added 518,000 square feet of new space in the 12-month period that ended June 30 but absorbed approximately 1 million square feet of space during that time. Vacancy thus remains extremely tight at 2.3 percent. In formulating its latest report on the Boston retail market, CoStar noted that Beantown retailers would “largely …
BOSTON — JLL has arranged $27.3 million in acquisition financing for a portfolio of two industrial buildings totaling approximately 315,000 square feet in New England. The addresses were not disclosed, but the buildings are located in Central Massachusetts and the greater Hartford area. Andrew Gray and Ryan Parker of JLL originated the nonrecourse financing through an undisclosed life insurance company. The borrower was locally based investment firm Northbridge Partners. Both buildings are leased to tenants on long-term deals.
WAYNE, PA. — Tremont Realty Capital, a division of metro Boston-based investment firm RMR Group, has provided a $27 million loan for the refinancing of a 138,065-square-foot industrial property in Wayne, a northwestern suburb of Philadelphia. The building at 400 Devon Park Drive was originally constructed in 1969 and features clear heights of 20 to 24 feet. JLL arranged the loan, which was structured with a three-year initial term with two one-year extension options. The borrower was a joint venture between Mainstreet Capital Partners and Contrarian Capital Management.
EXTON, PA. — Locally based developer Hankin Group has broken ground on Phase II of Haywood Business Park, a 70,000-square-foot industrial flex project in Exton, about 35 miles west of Philadelphia. Phase II of Haywood Business Park is being developed on a speculative basis and will consist of two 35,000-square-foot buildings that can support light manufacturing, warehousing and research-and-development uses. Leasing is underway on the first building, which features a clear height of 20 feet, four dock doors and 54 parking spaces. Construction of that building is slated for an early 2025 completion. Phase I of Haywood Business Park delivered 105,000 square feet of product.
EDISON, N.J. — Colliers has brokered the $8 million sale of a 29,000-square-foot warehouse in the Central New Jersey community of Edison. The building at 6 Olsen Ave. includes 3,000 square feet of office space and 100 parking spaces. Jacklene Chesler and Patrick Norris represented the seller in the transaction. Christopher Galiano of NAI DiLeo-Bram represented the buyer, which also plans to occupy the building. Both parties requested anonymity.