ELIZABETH, N.J. — Glimcher Realty Trust (NYSE: GRT) has closed on a $350 million mortgage loan secured by The Outlet Collection | Jersey Gardens, a 1.3 million-square-foot outlet mall in Elizabeth. The loan includes a fixed interest rate of 3.83 percent with a maturity date in November 2020. Loan proceeds were used to retire the existing $137.1 million secured mortgage on the property, which had an interest rate of 4.83 percent. Additionally, approximately $148 million of the loan was used to reduce all outstanding borrowings on the company’s secured and unsecured credit facilities. Glimcher began development of Jersey Gardens in 1997, and the mall opened in 1999. Close to Newark and New York City, the center is the largest outlet mall in New Jersey and a major tourist attraction, seeing approximately 18 million visitors a year from more than 160 countries, according to Gilmcher.
NEW YORK CITY — Cushman & Wakefield, Inc. has arranged the $80 million trade of 676 industrial-zoned acres on Staten Island’s West Shore. International Speedway Corp. (ISC) sold the parcel to Staten Island Marine Development LLC. The site represents the largest undeveloped waterfront parcel in New York City, according to Stan Danzig of Cushman & Wakefield, who represented ISC in the sale along with Jules Nissim and Stephen Elman. ISC bought the site in 2004 with intent to build an 82,000-person-capacity racetrack. However, ISC met strong public opposition, which resulted in the corporation abandoning its development initiative in 2006. In 2007, Cushman & Wakefield was retained by ISC to market the property.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Sovran Self Storage Inc. (NYSE:SSS), a self storage real estate investment trust (REIT), has entered into several lease agreements to rebrand and operate four self storage facilities formerly known as Westy Self Storage. The properties are located in Danbury and Milford, Conn., and Hicksville and Farmington, N.Y. The 15-year leases were negotiated in an off-market transaction and provide the REIT with an option to purchase the four properties for $120 million during a fixed period of time between February 2015 and September 2016. The REIT is required to make annual lease payments of $6 million, with annual increases of 4 percent per year.
BRANCHBURG, N.J. — Mark Scott’s Commercial Mortgage Capital (CMC) has closed a $26.5 million loan for a 10-building, 276-unit multifamily complex in Neshanic Station, a section of Branchburg. The luxury apartment community, which is known as Whiton Hills at Branchburg, includes 33 one-, 27 two- and 12 three-bedroom units. Whiton Hills features hardwood floors, modern kitchens, washers/dryers in each unit and a balcony or patio, as well as a playground and tennis court. A life insurance company provided the loan.
REVERE, MASS. — Real Estate Capital Partners (RECAP) is teaming up with Covington Realty Partners LLC to develop The Vanguard at Waterfront Square, a 194-unit apartment community in Revere, a northeast suburb of Boston. The $41.7 million master-planned development includes 900 residences in addition to offices, hotels and retail, as well as access to the Revere Beach oceanfront. The Vanguard will span 144,443 square feet and feature a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Chicago-based Covington expects to break ground on the property this month. Covington and New York City-based RECAP,through its RECAP Metropolitan Opportunity Fund III LP, acquired the 1.6-acre site at 800 Ocean Ave. from Eurovest Development for $4.8 million.
PITTSBURGH, PA. — Pennrose has completed construction of The Gateway at Summerset, a 131-unit apartment community in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood. The apartments include open-floor plans featuring gourmet kitchens with granite countertops, stainless-steel appliances and breakfastbars. Rents for one- and two-bedroom apartments range from $1,375 to $2,025 a month. Two-bedroom units include a laundry room and more than 1,000 square feet of living space. One-bedroom apartments span nearly 800 square feet. Amenities at the community include a private, furnished clubhouse with full-service kitchen, fireplace, floor-to-ceiling windows and a 24-hour fitness center. The Gateway, which was built and is managed by Pennrose, follows Phase I of thecommunity called The Reserve at Summerset.
DOVER, N.J. — Gebroe-Hammer Associates has arranged the $4 million sale of Lion Gate at Granny Brook, a 27-unit luxury, garden-style apartment complex in Dover. Located at 91 Park Heights Ave., the apartment community opened in 2012 in the restored Carson & Gebel Co. Ribbon factory building. The three-story brick complex features a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom apartment units, on-site parking and two centralized laundry rooms. The apartments include 12-foot ceilings, ceramic-tile bathroom flooring, granite vanity tops, wall-to-wall carpeting, cherry-tone kitchen cabinets and faux granite countertops. Stephen Tragash, vice president at Gebroe-Hammer Associates, represented both the seller and the buyer in the transaction.
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — Biomeasure Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Ipsen, is relocating to 650 East Kendall Street in Cambridge. Ipsen signed an 11-year, 63,000-square-foot lease at a 282,000-square-foot Class A building, where it will occupy the entire second floor and a portion of the fourth floor. The move-in date is slated for mid-2014. Ipsen, a global specialty care pharmaceutical company, is moving its U.S. research and development operations from Milford to be closer to leading hospitals, universities, and biotech companies. The company currently has operations at 27 Maple St. in Milford. Jack Burns, Adam Subber, Dan Sullivan and Paul Delaney of Cresa Boston represented Ispen in the lease transaction. Steven Purpura and Eric Smith of Richards Barry Joyce & Partners represented the landlord, BioMed Realty Trust Inc.
Performance prospects for the Philadelphia apartment sector remain positive. At mid-year, vacancy was in the low five percent range despite only modest job growth in the first two quarters. Since then, a steady flow of residents moving into apartments has enabled owners to reduce or maintain vacancy and improve asset values. By the end of the year, rental property completions will have risen after several years of limited construction. The current upswing in development will minimally affect market-wide vacancy and rents, and the impact of the new units will be contained to local areas. In Center City, for example, minor vacancy swings and more frequent concession use will occur as new projects are leased up. Generally, strong conditions in the market are encouraging developers and building will progress at a steady pace in the next two years. Nonetheless, the new construction cycle hardly looks forbidding, as the units permitted over the past year would expand multifamily stock only 1.1 percent if all those projects were built. Year to date, 879 new rental units have been placed in service in Philadelphia and it looks like developers will complete 2,600 apartments in 2013, which is up 1,238 units over last year, but …
NEW YORK CITY— Pontiac Land Group of Singapore has joined Hines and Goldman Sachs in the ownership of 53 W. 53rd Street, a 72-story residential condominium development adjacent to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City. In addition to its equity investment, Pontiac Land secured $860 million of construction financing to be funded by a consortium of Asian banks. The 750,000-square-foot tower, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel, will house 145 high-end condominium residences, designed by architect Thierry Despont. Additionally, the building’s lower floors will include 36,000 square feet of new exhibition spaces distributed over three floors, designed for MoMA by architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Hines and Goldman Sachs acquired the 18,000-square-foot site, located between 53rd and 54th streets just west of MoMA, for $125 million from the museum in 2007. Construction is slated to begin in mid-2014, with initial occupancy expected in late 2018.