PARAMUS, N.J. — NAI James E. Hanson has arranged the sale of two retail buildings, totaling 7,700 square feet, located in Paramus. Situated on a 34,023-square-foot lot at 144 and 148 Route 4 East, the properties are fully leased to Cleopatra Tile & Bath and Paramus Furniture and Dinettes. Dominic Fittizzi of NAI Hanson represented the seller, Meyn Trust, and the buyer, Urban Edge Properties, in the transaction. The buyer plans to use the buildings as a short-term investment. The acquisition price was not disclosed.
Rhode Island’s retail market continues to improve, although not to the point that new ground-up major projects are feasible. There is considerable activity with retailers expanding and absorbing the existing supply of retail space. In the past few years, a lot of the activity has focused on absorbing the mid-size boxes that went dark after the start of the recession, due to the closings of stores such as Circuit City, Linens ’N Things, and Borders. The leasing activity over the last several years seems to be the final stages of the absorption of these vacant boxes. As the supply of these existing anchor spaces continues to be reduced, the health of the retail market continues to improve with the result being a slight upward pressure on rents. The 500,000-square-foot Garden City Center in Cranston, which first opened in 1948, continues to upgrade its tenants, with The Wilder Company’s ongoing multi-year expansion and renovation of Rhode Island’s premier open-air mixed-use shopping center. New tenants opening over the last year include The Container Store, which has taken 25,000 square feet, as well as French natural skin care retailer L’Occitane and natural burger concept b. good. Additional new leases have been signed with …
SPRINGFIELD, PA. — PREIT has sold its 50 percent interest in Springfield Park, an open-air center located in Springfield, for $20.2 million. The 287,000-square-foot retail center is anchored by Target and Bed, Bath & Beyond. The name of the buyer was not disclosed. The sale represents the company’s continued effort to recycle its capital toward creating a portfolio comprised of high-quality enclosed malls.
EASTON, MASS., ANN ARBOR, MICH., AND MODESTO, CALIF. — Phillips Edison Grocery Center REIT II has acquired three grocery-anchored shopping centers in Massachusetts, Michigan and California. The REIT acquired Highlands Plaza, a 112,869-square-foot Hannaford-anchored shopping center in Easton. Additional tenants include TJ Maxx, Liberty Mutual and Supercuts. The company also acquired Crossroads Towne Center, a 102,275-square-foot Kroger-anchored center in Ann Arbor, and Central Valley Marketplace, an 81,897-square-foot PAQ Food 4 Less-anchored center in Modesto. The acquisition price and name of the seller were not released.
NEW YORK CITY — Forest City Enterprises Inc., a member of Greenland Forest City Partners, has closed on construction financing for 38 Sixth Avenue (formerly known as B3), a 100-percent affordable apartment building located at Pacific Park Brooklyn in Brooklyn. Designed by SHoP Architects, the property will feature 303 apartment units. The New York City Housing Development Corp. (HDC) provided a $83 million first mortgage loan for the construction of 38 Sixth Avenue through the issuance of tax-exempt government debt obligations funded by Citi Community Capital. Additionally, Greenland Forest City Partners is receiving a $10 million subordinate loan from HDC and a $2 million subordinate loan from Citibank. The groundbreaking at 38 Sixth Avenue brings the total number of affordable apartments currently under construction at Pacific Park Brooklyn to 780 units, with the development expected to eventually include 2,250 affordable units.
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, N.J. — Atlantic Beverage Co. has signed a lease for 97,800 square feet of industrial space at 450 Oaktree Road in South Plainfield. The 257,000-square-foot property features 21-foot ceiling heights, 14 tailboards, one drive-in door, more than 150 car parking spaces, parking for 50 trailers and proximity to Interstate 287 and the New Jersey Turnpike. Steve Bussel of Bussel Realty Corp. represented the tenant and the landlord, Paramount Assets, in the transaction.
SOUTHINGTON, CONN. — R. Calabrese Agency has brokered the lease of 3,000 square feet of retail space to Noodles & Company. Located at 832 Queen St. in Southington, the restaurant is the company’s third location in Connecticut. Tony Valenti and Ralph Calabrese of R. Calabrese Agency represented the landlord, West Queen Developers LLC, while Brian Zelman of Zelman Real Estate Brokerage LLC represented the tenant, Hartford Noodles LLC, the Noodles & Company franchisee, in the transaction.
MIDDLEBOROUGH, MASS. — Braintree, Mass.-based Campanelli Construction has completed a 63,000-square-foot renovation of the formerly vacant Cranberry Specialty/St. Luke’s Hospital in Middleborough. The renovation transformed the property into the 72-bed High Point Hospital, a state-of-the-art psychiatric hospital for High Point Treatment Center. High Point currently operates inpatient and outpatient programs in Plymouth, Brockton, New Bedford and Taunton, Mass. The new hospital will create 200 jobs, including physicians, nurses, clinicians, maintenance staff, housekeepers, dietary, mental health and administrative staff, for the area.
NEW YORK CITY — Cushman & Wakefield has brokered the sale of a retail building located at 92-06/08 Jamaica Ave. in the Woodhaven neighborhood of Queens. The 7,760-square-foot building sold for $1.8 million, or $238 per square foot, in an all-cash transaction. The property features 3,200 square feet of first-floor retail space and two 2,280-square-foot office/storage spaces on the second and third floors. Brian Sarath of Cushman & Wakefield arranged the transaction. The names of the seller and buyer were not released.
NEW YORK CITY — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of a multifamily building located at 2405 Tilden Ave. in Brooklyn. The six-unit property sold for $1.1 million. The property sold within 99 percent of the asking price. Derek Bestreich, Erik Rodriguez and Seth Schiffman of Marcus & Millichap’s Brooklyn office represented the seller and buyer, both private investors, in the transaction.