WESTPORT, CONN. — Washington Trust’s Commercial Real Estate Group has provided a $10.5 million loan to 180 Westport Partners LLC for the acquisition and renovation of a mixed-used property in Westport. The 32,103-square-foot office/retail space is located in Westport’s downtown retail corridor at 180 Post Road, just one block from Main Street.
NANTUCKET, MASS. — NorthMarq Capital’s Boston regional office has arranged $1.7 million for the refinancing of the Albert G. Brock Building in Nantucket, an island 30 miles south of Cape Cod. The 5,897-square-foot, multi-tenant office property is located at 53 Main St. A life insurance company provided the 20-year loan, which is self-amortizing. Doug Nickerson, vice president at NorthMarq, arranged the loan.
NEW YORK CITY — Vornado Realty Trust has acquired the land and air rights above a development site at 220 Central Park South in Manhattan for $194 million. Extell Development Co., builder of the nearby One57 luxury-condo tower, was the seller, according to Bloomberg. Vornado says the deal will enable the company to begin work on a 920-foot luxury residential condominium tower at the site. Robert A.M. Stern Architects will design the 472,000-square-foot tower, which will have unobstructed views of Central Park.
HOPEWELL, N.J. — Cushman & Wakefield has arranged the $90.8 million sale of 1100, 1150 and 1200 Merrill Lynch Drive, a trio of Class A office buildings in Hopewell. A partnership including Fortress Investment Group, Sansome Pacific Properties, Normandy Real Estate Partners and Skyline Pacific Properties sold the 380,000-square-foot complex to American Real Estate Partners. The buildings are part of Merrill Lynch’s 12-building, 1.8 million-square-foot Hopewell campus and house the firm’s global wealth and investment management division. Cushman also arranged $60 million in acquisition financing for the office portfolio. Andrew Merin, David Bernhaut, Gary Gabriel, Brian Whitmer and Grace Braverman of Cushman & Wakefield's metropolitan capital markets group represented the sellers in the transaction. Mark Ehlinger and John Alascio of Cushman & Wakefield's equity, debt and structured finance team arranged acquisition financing on behalf of the American Real Estate Partners.
NEW YORK CITY — RFR has unveiled a $65 million capital improvement plan for its 530,000-square-foot office tower located at 285 Madison Ave. in Manhattan. RFR plans include redesigning the office tower as a green building and achieving LEED-Silver certification. The tower’s infrastructure will get a boost with new elevators and HVAC system, and the entrance and lobby of the 1920s-era building will be redesigned. Additionally, 40,000 square feet of retail space will be offered.
NEW YORK CITY — HFF has arranged a $62.4 million construction loan for the redevelopment of 12 East 13th Street, a residential condominium project in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village neighborhood. HFF worked on behalf of the borrowing team of DHA Capital, Continental Properties and Ramius. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance provided the non-recourse loan. Proceeds of the loan will be used to redevelop an eight-story parking garage into a 12-story, luxury residential condominium property called 12 East 13th Street. The building is located south of Union Square between University Place and Fifth Avenue. The project is slated for completion by spring 2015. Michael Gigliotti, associate director, and Andrew Scandalios, senior managing director, led the HFF team representing the borrower.
MARLBOROUGH, MASS. — Colliers International has arranged $60 million in bridge financing for 200 Forest St., a 527,580-square-foot office building in suburban Boston. The research and development facility is located adjacent to Interstate 495 in the Forest Street Office Park in Marlborough. 200 Forest Street is part of the 109-acre former Hewlett-Packard campus acquired vacant by the Atlantic Management in 2011. Atlantic plans to use the loan to reposition and redevelop the property into a Class A, mixed-used development and pay off the original acquisition financing. Plans for the mixed-use project include the redevelopment of two existing office buildings; 350 units of multifamily housing; a 150-key hotel; and up to 75,000 square feet of retail. A state-of-the art diagnostic lab facility is currently under construction at 200 Forest St. for the property’s first tenant, Quest Diagnostics. Dave Douvadjian, Tom Welch and Brian Gaswirth led the Colliers’ Boston-based capital markets team in the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — DelShah Capital LLC has purchased 100-102 Christopher St. in the West Village neighborhood of Manhattan for $26.8 million. The 21,849-square-foot, five-story white brick building includes 37 apartments. Recently renovated units feature new hardwood floors, kitchens with stainless steel appliances, marble baths and washers and dryers. The property also includes three ground-floor retail spaces, occupied by high-end clothing company Rag & Bone. The sellers were Jeffrey Kaye and Robert Morgenstern of Stone Street Properties, who purchased the building in 2011. Recent work to the property included renovation of the lobby, boiler room and common hallways.
PHILADELPHIA — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the $13 million sale of Beechwood Gardens, a 160-unit apartment property in northeast Philadelphia. The sale equates to $81,250 per unit. Clarke Talone, Ridge MacLaren and Andrew Townsend, investment specialists in Marcus & Millichap’s Philadelphia office, represented the seller, a New York-based limited liability company, and the buyer, a local limited liability company. Beechwood Gardens is located at 9805 Haldeman Ave. and is in close proximity to U.S. Route 1 and Interstate 95. Built in 1967 on 5.7 acres, Beechwood Gardens includes 80 one-bedroom units and 80 two-bedroom apartments. More than two-thirds of the units have been renovated.
NEW YORK CITY — AVANT Capital Partners has originated a $1.4 million bridge loan secured by a condominium portfolio in Brooklyn. The developer of the portfolio used the two-year loan, which carries an interest rate of 10.75 percent, to pay off a discounted construction loan. The 13-story building includes a vacant ground-floor retail space and 38 residential condominiums that were completed and brought to market in 2009. The property is located at 55 Flatbush Ave. in the the Fort Green neighborhood of Brooklyn. Adam Luysterborghs, founding principal at AVANT, originated the loan.