WEST HARTFORD, CONN. — Starwood Capital Group has acquired Blue Black Square in West Hartford for a reported $105 million, according to GlobeSt.com. The mixed-use property contains 460,000 square feet of office, medical, retail and apartment space, and is 96 percent leased. The retail component includes tenants such as Crate & Barrel, Cheesecake Factory and Branes & Noble. A partnership between Ronus Properties LLC, Street-Works LLC and JDA Development was the seller. The companies developed the center in 2008.
DUNMORE, PA. — An affiliate of Equilibrium Equities Inc. has acquired the former Ocean Logistics property at Keystone Industrial Park in Dunmore. The 249,000-square-foot industrial building is located on 22 acres and includes “abundant loading doors, car parking and trailer storage,” according to a release by Equilibrium. The property, located at 100 Keystone Industrial Park Road, is a mile from I-81. Super Market Services had acquired the facility in the mid-1970s for use as a distribution center for its health and beauty aid services. The building was vacated in the fall of 2011. Atlantic Real Estate Services Inc. represented the seller, C&S Wholesale Grocers Inc., in the transaction. Metro Bank Inc. provided the financing for the acquisition and renovation of the building. Aaron Lehrfield, Jeannie Bionda, Michael Dougherty and Christine O' Connell of Kaye Scholer represented Deutsche Bank and Prime Finance in the transaction. Kathryn K. Arnold of Shefsky & Froelich represented the borrowers.
NEW YORK CITY — Beech Street Capital has arranged $94.4 million in Freddie Mac loans for the refinancing of a 12-property apartment portfolio in Manhattan's Upper East Side, Lower East Side and the East/West Village neighborhoods. The properties total 488 units. Brothers Henry Moses and Robert Moses, the borrowers, have owned and operated the properties for several years. A Wall Street lender held the bulk of the existing loans. Josh Rhine of Meridian Capital Group LLC originated the fixed-rate, seven-year loans through Beech Street.
PHILADELPHIA — Soloff Realty & Development has started construction of a new, 18,279-square-foot Bottom Dollar Food store at the intersection of Washington Lane and Chew Avenue in Philadelphia. The store will serve the Mt. Airy and Germantown neighborhoods of the city, and is expected to create 45-50 new jobs. The site will also be adjacent to the new Wissahickon Charter School, which is developing a second campus. The property marks the company's seventh store in Philadelphia.
BOSTON — Millennium Partners has selected Cushman & Wakefield to lease the retail section of the $630 million Millennium Tower/Burnham Building project in Boston, which is slated to break ground next month. Located in Boston's Downtown Crossing at the site of a former Filene's Basement store, the project consists of the 1912 Burnham Building and a mixed-use tower that will rise 625 feet. Cushman & Wakefield will serve as retail leasing agent for approximately 182,000 square feet of the 1.4 million-square-foot development. Gene Spiegelman, Kazuko Morgan and Emily Ou will lead the Cushman & Wakefield team representing Millennium Partners. Tenant occupancy in the Burnham Building, a retail and office building that Millennium will restore, is slated for September 2014. Occupancy is expected in June 2015 in Millennium Tower.
NEW YORK CITY — HFF has arranged $150 million in financing for the Madison Belvedere, a 50-story, 404-unit Class A multifamily property near Manhattan’s Madison Square Park. HFF worked on behalf of a pension fund advised by Invesco to secure the loan through Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers. The Madison Belvedere is located at 10 E. 29th St. between Fifth and Madison avenues. Built in 1999, the property consists of studio, one- and two-bedroom units, which are 93 percent leased. Managing directors John Rose and Steven Klein led the HFF team representing the borrower.
GARDEN CITY, N.Y. — AG-Metropolitan 711 Stewart Avenue LLC, a joint venture of Metropolitan Realty Associates LLC and Angelo, Gordon & Co., has sold a 125,000-square-foot office/medical condominium unit at Garden City Square for $16.4 million. The buyer was Great Neck, N.Y.-based Benedict Realty Group. The property, which is 55 percent leased, was recently renovated and provides an infrastructure to meet the needs of office/medical tenants. Jeffrey Dunne, Steven Bardsley, David Gavin, Philip Heilpern, Richard Karson and Martin Lomazow of CBRE represented AG Metropolitan in the transaction. The CBRE team also procured the buyer, which was represented by Robert Watman. Garden City Square also includes two retail condominiums, the 121,000-square-foot BJ’s Wholesale Club and the 55,000-square-foot LA Fitness, which are currently under construction. The retail properties were sold in a separate transaction by CBRE in April for $66.3 million.
NEW YORK CITY — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of 538 East 89th Street, a 10-unit apartment building located in New York City. Peter Von Der Ahe, Scott Edelstein and Seth Glasser of Marcus & Millichap marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a private investor. The asset sold above the original asking price of $6.1 million and closed at more 14 times the gross rent, according to Marcus & Millichap.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — CNY Central has reported that Syracuse developer Ed Green is working with Hueber-Breuer Construction to convert the E.M. O'Donnell building into student housing that likely would open by fall 2014. The building, which was recently used as office space for gas and electrical company National Grid, would appeal to students attending classes at The Warehouse, Green told CNY Central. The Warehouse is a former furniture storage warehouse that was purchased by Syracuse University in 2005 and redesigned as classrooms for arts-related studies. The housing would accommodate about 150 students.
The rising demand for bulk warehouse space among e-commerce users is driving the New Jersey industrial market. After climbing to 14.1 percent during the third quarter of 2010, the vacancy rate for warehouse space for the 10-county region in Northern and Central New Jersey has declined to 12.5 percent during the first quarter of 2013. More than 7 million square feet of inventory has been absorbed since the middle of 2011. Increased demand resulted in rising average asking rents during 2012, the first year of steady increases since 2007. Nearly 90 percent of the net absorption occurred in Central New Jersey, more specifically along the New Jersey Turnpike from exits 7A to 8A, where vacancy rates ascended to as high as 22.5 percent during the third quarter of 2009 and currently stand at 14.4 percent. Adding to the momentum of activity in Central New Jersey is Amazon’s commitment to open two large fulfillment centers here, demonstrating the significant impact that e-commerce is having on the state’s commercial real estate market. The first of these two warehouses, which is slated to open in 2014 in Robbinsville (Mercer County), will generate an estimated 700 jobs and more than $22 million in tax …