NEW YORK CITY — Meridian Capital Group LLC has arranged $25 million in acquisition financing for a multifamily property in Brooklyn on behalf of Benjamin Werber of Werber Management. A regional commercial lender provided the 10-year loan, which features a fixed interest rate of 3.5 percent. Josh Rhine, vice president at Meridian Capital Group, negotiated this transaction. Originally built as condominiums, the property includes 54 luxury units. The building is located at 202 Eighth St.
NEW YORK CITY — A private Korean-American investor, through his representative in the United States, Tony Park of PD Properties, has purchased a 16,000-square-foot office/retail building in Manhattan for $16.4 million. The six-story property is located at 4 E. 46th St. in the Diamond District and includes 30,000 square feet of unused air rights. The seller was DJM Post Production, a longtime owner that occupied the building for 47 years. David Schechtman, Steven Zimmerman and Paul Nigido of Eastern Consolidated represented DJM and procured the buyer with assistance from Tony Park and Elad Dror of PD Properties. The buyer plans to utilize the property for personal use. Vitae Restaurant recently signed a 10-year lease for the ground-floor retail space, while the upper floors are vacant. Attorneys in the transaction include William Weisner of Tarter Krinsky for the seller and Samuel Ahne of Ahne Law PC for the buyer.
REVERE, MASS. — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the $16.4 million sale of the ground lease on a 120,224-square foot BJ’s Wholesale Club retail store in suburban Boston. The sales prices equates to $136 per square foot. Robert Horvath and Todd Tremblay, both vice presidents of investments in Marcus & Millichap’s Boston office, represented the seller, William Thibeault, owner of Rumney Marshview LLC. The buyer is a local private investor. BJ’s Wholesale Club signed its original 15-year ground lease in March 2008. Built in 2009 on a 13.8-acre parcel, the property is located approximately six miles from downtown Boston at 5 Ward St. in Revere.
NORWOOD, MASS. — CMI Property Inc. has purchased two retail buildings totaling 80,208 square feet, located on an 8.5-acre-site in Norwood, about 20 miles south of Boston. Elliot & Co. LLC represented the buyer, as well as the seller, the Zoppo family, in the transaction. The details of the transactions were not disclosed. The properties are located at 560 – 570 Boston Providence Highway.
It's been quite a turbulent ride; however, recovery is underway. Although retail inventory in Eastern Massachusetts/Greater Boston showed only slight gains, the decline in vacancy more than made up for it. At year-end 2012, total retail inventory totaled 189.5 million square feet. The amount of retail space in the region has increased 13.1 percent during the past 10 years. However, the recession took a toll on new development, and we’ve seen only a slight gain of 0.1 percent in the past 24 months. This slowdown has benefited the retail environment by increasing the demand for existing space. Approximately 2 million square feet of unoccupied space was filled during the year, which brought the vacancy rate to 7.8 percent from 8.9 percent a year ago — the largest drop in more than a decade. As a result, the year ended with net absorption totaling 2.05 million square feet. There wasn’t much movement among the ten largest communities in terms of retail space, although Braintree replaced Leominster at number 10. Boston has the largest amount of retail space, of course, followed by Cambridge. Natick, Brockton, and Danvers complete the list of the top five communities in terms of total retail square footage. …
NEW YORK CITY — City Council members have approved the demolition of the landmark 5Pointz warehouse in Long Island City and a $400 million development replacing it. Demolition work at the 5Pointz property, which has become a tourist attraction as a mecca for graffiti art, could start by the end of this year or in early 2014, according to Jerry Wolkoff, the owner of 5Pointz and the developer behind the new project, according to The Wall Street Journal. The new development will include a 47-story tower and a 41-story tower, which will include a total of 1,000 apartments and 50,000 square feet of retail space. Wolkoff also says the project will feature 12,000 square feet of studio space to be rented first to artists, who previously occupied space at 5Pointz. To readThe Wall Street Journal’s full story, click here.
NEWARK, N.J. — Swedish construction company Skanska AB it has signed an additional contract for the building of new office tower for Prudential Financial Inc. in Newark. Skanska previously signed a $117 million contract with Prudential to build the property in July. The 20-story tower, which will span approximately 217,600 square feet, will have an adjoining parking garage and ground-floor retail. The project aims to achieve LEED Gold certification. Construction is underway, with the project slated for completion in March 2015.
PURCHASE, N.Y. — Simone Healthcare Development and Fareri Associates have broken ground on new four-story, 85,000-square-foot medical office building (MOB) in Purchase, an eastern suburb of White Plains. The MOB development is located at 3030 Westchester Ave. in the Harrison Executive Medical Park. WESTMED Medical Group, a physician-owned and managed multi-specialty group practice, will fully occupy the building beginning in January 2015. Rob Astornio, county executive of Westchester County, says the project marks the first new office construction in the county in 25 years.
STAMFORD, CONN. — Institutional Property Advisors (IPA) has arranged the sale of Parallel 41, a newly constructed, fully stabilized, 124-unit apartment complex in downtown Stamford. Victor Nolletti and Steve Witten, executive directors at IPA, advised the seller, 1340 Washington Associates LLC, in the transaction. Hartford-based Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers represented the buyer, an institutional investor. Built in 2012 on 1.7 acres, the 128,588-square-foot property is located at 1340 Washington Blvd., within a few blocks of the Stamford train station. Community amenities include a roof deck with city views, outdoor kitchens, 46-inch outdoor televisions, pingpong, outdoor shower and chaise lounges. The property also features a resident lounge with a linear fireplace, platform bar and banquette for seating, multiple flat-panel televisions and a barista station. RMS Cos., the developer of Parallel 41, is also completing several other luxury apartment properties in the area.
MALVERN, PA. — Liberty Property Trust has completed the operating partnership of Cabot Industrial Value Fund III for $1.5 billion. The transaction has increased Liberty's industrial platform by approximately 23 million square feet and added 177 properties in 24 new and existing Liberty industrial markets. Approximately 58 percent of the total portfolio is located in existing Liberty industrial markets, including Chicago, South Florida, Houston, New Jersey, Maryland and Central Pennsylvania. The remaining approximately 10 million square feet is located in 10 markets in which Liberty does not currently have a presence, including Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth and Southern California. The acquisition was funded through a combination of sources including proceeds of $834.1 million from an offering of 24.2 million common shares, $450 million of 4.4 percent senior notes due 2024 and the assumption of $230 million in mortgage debt.