NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Matrix Development Group has broken ground on a new 550-car parking deck at its mixed-use Plaza Centre complex in downtown New Brunswick. The parking garage will provide parking for tenants of the complex’s two office buildings, located at 303 and 317 George St., as well as spaces for future development at the property. The Plaza Centre complex includes 210,000 square feet of office space known as Plaza I and II, the land being developed into the parking garage and more than two acres of land for future development. Plaza I is a 100,000-square-foot office building featuring open and flexible floor plans. Plaza II is a five-story, 110,000-square-foot brick office building with a reflective glass exterior façade.
NEW YORK CITY — Ariel Property Advisors has arranged the sale of a four-story, 20-unit multifamily property at 35-48 Steinway St. in Queens for $3 million. The sales price represents $234 per square foot, or $150,000 per unit. Michael A. Tortorici, Shimon Shkury, Victor Sozio, Jonathan Berman and Randy Modell of Ariel Property Advisors represented the seller, a real estate investment group, and procured the buyer, a local investor.
NEW YORK CITY — Colliers International has arranged an eight-year, 17,000-square-foot relocation and expansion at 469 Seventh Ave. in New York City for Summit Business Media. The B2B media and information company, which serves the insurance, financial services and investment advisory markets, will occupy the entire 10th floor. Summit will move from its 475 Park Ave. location into its new expanded space by July. Eric Meyer and Martin Meyer of Colliers arranged the lease on behalf of the building owners. Alan Wildes of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant in the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — Rocco’s Tacos and Tequila Bar has signed a 15-year lease to occupy 14,500 square feet at 339 Adams St. in Brooklyn. The location is the first in New York City for the Florida-based chain, which offers Mexican food and several brands of tequila. Ross Spitalnick of Muss Development and RKF’s Ariel Schuster and Brian Segal represented the landlord, Muss Development LLC. The Shopping Center Group represented Rocco’s Tacos in the transaction.
NORWOOD, N.J. — Alfred Sanzari Enterprises has hired NAI James E. Hanson to serve as exclusive leasing agent for an industrial/flex park in Norwood, located about 10 miles northeast of Paramus. The properties are located at 335, 375 and 385 Chestnut St. and 10 Maple St. and include almost 167,000 square feet of space. The NAI Hanson team of Michael Walters, Andrew Somple and Nicholas Herrick are serving as the leasing agents for the properties. Sanzari recently completed a number of upgrades at the complex, which now features freshly painted warehouse space, new office windows, new front awnings and loading dock improvements.
BOSTON — Interior construction is now complete for The Perseus Books Group’s new 12,000-square-foot office, located at 44 Farnsworth St. in Boston. The nine-story building includes 96,000 square feet of office space, according to CoStar Group. The independent publishing company is relocating from Cambridge to the new space. The Perseus Books Group is moving 30 employees into the new space, as well as one of their divisions, Da Capo Press. Construction Coordinators Inc. provided construction management services, and Leslie Saul & Associates was the architect for the project.
The last quarter of 2012 indicated signs of overall market improvement including increased activity in the office sector, according to most New Castle County owners and leasing brokers. Most professionals anticipated a good start to 2013 based on this performance. Although there are a few bright spots, early reports for 2013 are not yet meeting the expectations that stemmed from the continuing improvement seen last year. It seems most activity so far this year represents smaller deals, which are not resulting in positive absorption. Most tenants are moving to take advantage of the opportunity to upgrade or resize their space. One favorable aspect of the market has been demand for medical office space. A new four-building medical office project that was started last year at Becks Woods on Route 40 in Bear, Del., is nearly fully leased or sold with the last building coming out of ground a few weeks ago. Additional medical projects are planned on Churchman’s Road near Christiana Hospital and on Lancaster Pike at Little Falls although groundbreaking has not yet occurred on either site. Christiana Hospital is nearing completion of its new Emergency Center at Route 1 in Middletown, Del., and we expect there will be …
ORANGETOWN, N.Y.— Bloomberg LP has signed a lease for a new 131,805-square-foot, build-to-suit data center in Orangetown, located about 13 miles west of White Plains. The center is being developed by a joint venture of Russo Development and Sentinel Data Centers, which will retain ownership of the property. Upon completion, the facility will be a single-story property with infrastructure to provide more than seven megawatts of data capacity. The project is slated for completion in mid-2014. The Rockland County Industrial Development Agency endorsed Orangetown’s resolution to provide the project with a partial tax abatement package and Bloomberg’s lease agreement is conditional upon final authorization by the county executive.
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. — EEA Industries LLC and SWH Residential Partners LLC broke ground Thursday on The Gateway, a luxury apartment community located at 9 W. South Orange Ave. in South Orange. Upon completion, The Gateway will include 57 one- and two-bedroom residences, as well as a virtual concierge and approximately 9,100 square feet of retail space. River Drive Construction is serving as construction manager for the project, which was designed by architectural firm Jarmel Kizel.
NEW YORK CITY — Massey Knakal has arranged the sale of four apartments in Manhattan’s East Village for $29 million, or $1,044 per square foot. The five-story, walk-up buildings are located at 195, 199, 201, and 203 E. 4th St. between Avenues A and B. The buyer and seller information was not disclosed. The building includes a combined total of 46 apartments and 27,770 square feet. Ownership has recently renovated all of the buildings’ common areas, installed a coin-operated laundry room, upgraded the electric and installed a new intercom system. The owners are also in the process of creating private backyards for many of the lower rear floor units.