TORONTO, CANADA — Toronto-based Avison Young has acquired Kwartler Associates, a New Jersey-based asset management firm. The purchase expands Avison Young’s business-line coverage in New Jersey and throughout the Tri-State market, adding 27 employees to the firm’s office in Morristown, N.J. Founded in 1980, Kwartler Associates manages more than 5.1 million square feet of office, industrial and flex space across 50 assets, including more than 2.2 million square feet of exclusive agency leasing and management assignments in Bergen and Morris counties, two of New Jersey’s most active office and industrial submarkets. Effective immediately, Kwartler President Daniel Frank will become a principal with Avison Young and be responsible for overseeing business development for the firm’s asset and property management business in the New Jersey and suburban Tri-State markets.
Northeast
PHILADELPHIA — CBRE Group Inc.’s Capital Markets Debt & Structured Finance team has arranged $2.4 million first mortgage refinancing secured by 449 East Tioga Street in Philadelphia. Constructed in the 1960s, the manufacturing and distribution center features 294,148 square feet of industrial warehouse space, 22-foot clear heights and 34-by-34-foot column spacing. Case Paper has used the property as a distribution center since 1999 and has a current lease expiration date of 2019. James Gunning, Donna Falzarano and Evan Kleppe of CBRE arranged the refinancing with a CMBS lender for the borrower, B&W Associates, for a five-year term.
NEW YORK CITY — JLL has brokered a new, direct lease for AKF Group LLC at One Liberty Plaza in Lower Manhattan. The engineering firm signed a 15-year lease for 57,018 square feet of space at the 2.3 million-square-foot commercial office building owned by Brookfield. AKF will occupy the entire 44,378-square-foot 22nd floor and a portion of the 23rd floor at the building, which is located across from the World Trade Center. The firm is consolidating its presence downtown from locations at 1501 Broadway and 330 West 42nd Street in Midtown. Paul Mas, Michael Shenot, Ruby Hwang and Roxanne Tehranian of JLL represented the tenant in the transaction. Brookfield was represented in-house by Jeremiah Larkin and Duncan McCuaig, along with David Falk, Peter Shimkin, Hal Stein and Nick Berger of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank.
NEW YORK CITY — Cignature Realty Associates has brokered the sale of a six-building portfolio in northern Manhattan. Adam Mermelstein/Tree Top Development purchased the portfolio, which features 147 apartments and four retail stores, from a local real estate fund for $24.5 million. The portfolio includes 565 West 139th Street, 27-29 Audubon Avenue, 79 Audubon Avenue, 516 West 169th Street and 507 West 170th Street. Located in Hamilton Heights, 565 West 139th Street is a six-story, 75-foot-wide elevator building. The remaining buildings are located in Washington Heights across the street from Columbia Medical Center. Lazer Sternhell and Peter Vanderpool of Cignature Realty represented both the buyer and seller in the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — Eastern Consolidated’s Capital Advisory Division has arranged an $18 million short-term bridge loan on behalf of East 47th Street LLC (City Centre Properties). The loan will be used to facilitate the sale of a multi-lot development site assemblage in the Rockefeller Center area of Manhattan. HID Acquisition Group LLC, affiliated with Hidrock Realty Inc., is acquiring two 25-foot-wide lots — 12 East 48th and 13 East 47th streets — from City Centre Properties. Additionally, Hidrock acquired 14 East 48th Street from the First Church of Religious Science through an assignment of a contract between the church and City Centre. The sale price for the entire assemblage was $47 million. HID Acquisition plans to raze the existing structures and develop a 31-story residential condo tower on the site. The project will include a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments, as well as amenities targeting the international pied-a-terre market. Jonathan Aghravi and Matthew Hirsch of Eastern Consolidated’s Capital Advisory Division arranged the new financing. City Centre Properties was represented in the assemblage sale transaction by R. Stuart Gross and Chris Matousek of Eastern Consolidated. Additionally, Eastern Consolidated acted as the sole intermediary in both the assemblage site …
BOSTON — New York City-based Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. (ACC) has filed a master plan with the City of Boston for Faneuil Hall Marketplace. Designed by Elkus Manfredi Architects, Faneuil Hall Marketplace will include an enhanced public realm, glass retail pavilions, a new colonnade, rotunda space and a new boutique hotel, as well a redesigned exterior streetscape. Tenants that have already signed on for Faneuil Hall Marketplace include Uniqlo’s Boston flagship location, Ghirardelli Café and the children’s book-themed Make Way for Ducklings store. The project team includes Biederman Redevelopment Ventures and Watertown, Mass.-based Sasaki Associates.
KING OF PRUSSIA, PA. — Cronheim Mortgage has arranged a $12 million loan for an office building located in King of Prussia. The 102,204-square-foot building was converted into a multi-tenant office building in 2007. The property features high ceilings, large open floor plates, low loss factor and easy access from an oversized parking field. At the time of closing, the property was 85 percent leased to four tenants. David Turley and Janet Proscia of Cronheim Mortgage arranged the three-year, fixed-rate loan. The debt was sourced from a regional bank, which funded a 65 percent LTV loan on a non-recourse basis.
BRAINTREE, MASS. — New Boston Fund Inc., a private equity real estate investment, development and management firm, has secured two lease extensions at Granite Woods Corporate Center in Braintree. Law firm Smith & Brink has leased 15,861 square feet and VHA Inc. signed for 7,500 square feet. New Boston Fund acquired the office center, which comprises two office buildings totaling 168,000 square feet, in June 2008. Since the acquisition, New Boston Fund has spent $3.2 million in building upgrades. David Goodhue and Caleb Hudak of Colliers International represented New Boston Fund in both transactions. Stephen Woelfel, also of Colliers, and J.R. McDonald of Cushman & Wakefield represented Smith & Brink in the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — SL Green Realty Corp. has entered into an agreement to acquire commercial condominiums units in the newly constructed office building located at 55 West 46th St. in Midtown Manhattan. SL Green will acquire 319,000 square feet of vacant office space on floors 22 to 34 and a retail store on 46th Street, as well as the building’s parking garage and fitness center. As part of the sales agreement, the seller has the option to include the second floor in the transaction, which consists of 28,000 square feet, for an additional purchase price of $20 million. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close before the end of the year. Designed by Skidmore Owings & Merrill and completed in 2013, the glass-and-steel structure features efficient column-free space and floor-to-ceiling windows on all office floors. Additionally, the property includes on-site parking, a fitness center and bike storage.
NEW YORK CITY — New York City-based Savanna has completed the sale of 80 Broad Street, a 423,000-square-foot office building in New York’s Financial District. Broad Street Development acquired the property for an undisclosed price. After acquiring the property in 2011, Savanna completed an extensive capital improvement program including a lobby renovation, façade upgrade, modernized elevators and upgrades to the common area bathrooms and corridors. Adam Spies, Douglas Harmon, Joshua King and Adam Doneger of Eastdil Secured represented Savanna in the sale. Attorneys Leo Leyva, Jordan Metzger and Tara Ryan of Cole, Schotz, Meisel, Forman & Leonard P.A. served as the seller’s counsel in the transaction.