The total retail inventory in the Rochester market amounts to 62.5 million square feet. Over the past year, the market has seen an overall decrease in the vacancy rate. The vacancy rate went from 8.0 percent in first quarter 2015 to 7.9 percent in the current quarter. Overall net absorption was positive 182,160 square feet. The general retail sector of the market, which includes all freestanding retail buildings except those contained within a center, reported a vacancy of 4.3 percent at the end of the second quarter 2015. The general retail space in Rochester is 34.3 million square feet. Average rental rates are currently at $12.26 per square foot. The shopping center sector — which consists of 19 million square feet and comprises community centers, neighborhood centers and strip centers — posted 10.9 percent total vacancy and average asking rates of $10.28 in second quarter 2015. Power center space is currently reported to be nearly 4 million square feet with a vacancy rate of 7.5 percent, and a slight decrease in rental rates to $13.46 per square foot. Malls in the Rochester market consist of lifestyle centers, regional malls and super-regional malls. The vacancy rate was 21.2 percent at the …
New York City is booming. The local economy is the strongest it has ever been, with total employment numbers reaching all-time highs totaling over 4.2 million jobs through May 2015. This has led to a strong office market performance during the first six months of 2015, as office-using employment continues to grow, up 2.5 percent over the past 12 months. Demand for space continues to keep availability below 10 percent, and at 9.6 percent, Manhattan availability is down 50 basis points from last year. Despite minimal increases in Manhattan overall asking rents, up only 2.9 percent year-over-year through June, some submarkets are exceeding previous record-high asking rents from 2008. The demand from creative and tech tenants looking for space in Midtown South over the past few years has pushed asking rents up 19.1 percent above all-time highs. Downtown overall average asking rents have reached historical highs this year as well, and at $57.78 per square foot, rents are 10.3 percent higher than the previous highs in 2008. Most of this increase can be attributed to new construction at the World Trade Center site. Despite this, Midtown overall asking rents are still 5.3 percent off historical highs from 2008. Throughout Midtown, …
Chatham Township, N.J. — Kushner Cos. has acquired the Chatham Hill Apartments, a 308-unit rental apartment community in Chatham Township. Joseph Brecher of Gebroe-Hammer represented the seller, Home Properties/Lone Star. Meridian Capital Group arranged acquisition financing through New York Community Bank (NYCB). The property is located on 23 acres and offers a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments featuring fully equipped kitchens with separate dining rooms. Amenities include a community pool with deck, tennis courts and on-site garage parking. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
CHESTER BOROUGH, N.J. — Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP (HFF) has closed the sale of Chester Springs Shopping Center, a 223,000-square-foot, Class A, grocery-anchored retail center in Chester Borough. ShopRite, Marshalls and Staples anchor the property, which is 95 percent leased. Additional tenants include Starbucks, CVS Pharmacy, Burger King, Great Clips, Bagel Café, Subway and Massage Envy. HFF marketed the property on behalf of the seller, Heitman and Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust. Dividend Capital Diversified Property Fund Inc. purchased the asset for $53.8 million (approximately $241 per square foot). The HFF investment sales team representing the seller was led by Jose Cruz, Kevin O’Hearn and Steve Simonelli and supported by Andrew Scandalios and Chris Munley.
NEW HAVEN, CONN. — Tenant Ducci Electrical Contractors and landlord 105 Hamilton LLC have signed a lease for 10,640 square feet of space at 105 Hamilton Street (Tile America Building) in New Haven. The space will accommodate Ducci’s warehousing and storage requirements for several new large multi-year projects in and around New Haven. The space also includes use of a secured outside yard for the storage of large machinery & equipment. Richard Guralnick of O,R&L Commercial was the sole broker in the transaction and represented both the landlord and tenant.
BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — SR International Rock, a wholesale marble and granite distributor, has leased 14,640 square feet at 7E Easy Street in Bridgewater, a 31,622-square-foot industrial facility. James Hodgkins, Jordan Metz, and Kevin Ranski of Bussel Realty Corp. represented the tenant in the transaction. 7E Easy Street is located near I -287 and Route 22. The property offers 14-foot ceiling heights, two drive-ins, eight loading docks, 1,200 amps of electric power, and 25 parking spaces.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Apple Hospitality REIT has closed on the acquisitions of the 102-room Courtyard by Marriott Syracuse Downtown at Armory Square and the 78-room Residence Inn by Marriott Syracuse Downtown at Armory Square for a combined purchase price of $42 million. The Courtyard and Residence Inn hotels, both located at 300 West Fayette Street within the historic Armory Square area of Downtown Syracuse, are approximately two miles from Syracuse University as well as the State University of New York Upstate Medical University and Upstate University Health System. Both hotels opened in 2013.
BOSTON — The CBRE/New England Multifamily Capital Markets team brokered the sale of West Square, a 255-unit infill apartment community in the South Boston neighborhood. CBRE/NE represented the seller, a joint venture between Lincoln Property Company and an institutional partner, and procured the buyer, 5514 D Street 320 Boston LLC, an affiliate of Akelius US LLC. Lincoln Property Co. will manage the property. The community was completed in April 2014 and has 33 apartments set aside under inclusionary zoning for residents at 70 percent of area media income. Akelius has also acquired the adjacent property 339 D Street, which comprises 24 apartment units.
STAMFORD, CONN. — TGM Associates L.P. has sold the 160-unit apartment project TGM Village at Stamford to Cherry Hill, N.J.-based Silverman Group. Jeffrey Dunne and Gene Pride of CBRE Group Inc. brokered the transaction for the property, which is located in downtown Stamford. TGM purchased Village at Stamford in 2008. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
BELLEVILLE, N.J. — Tulfra Real Estate and Hampshire Cos. have completed their acquisition of the former Roche Diagnostics property, a 20-acre parcel at Franklin Avenue and Mill Street in Belleville. The partners plan to redevelop the site and are in the process of considering redevelopment options and plans for the property. The Township of Belleville has conditionally designated Tulfra as the redeveloper of the site under the state’s redevelopment laws. Tulfra Real Estate and its affiliates currently own and manage 4 million square feet of industrial and commercial real estate, encompassing more than 50 buildings with 200 public and private tenants in Northern and Central New Jersey.