BRIDGEWATER, N.J. —Ashland Inc. has signed a lease for 198,000 square feet of laboratory and office space at a facility in Bridgewater, about 37 miles west of New York City. Ashland will relocate its specialty ingredients unit from Wayne to the new building, located at 10141 Route 202-206 in the New Jersey Center of Excellence complex. Headquartered in Covington, Ky., Ashland provides specialty chemicals, technologies and insights to help its customers create new and improved products and sustainable solutions. John Cunningham, Bryn Cinque and James Bailey of Colliers International represented Ashland in the transaction. Dan Loughlin and Bob Ryan of Jones Lang LaSalle and Jeff Zell and Marc Sobel of JM Zell Partners represented the landlord, Sanofi.
NEW YORK CITY — GFI Realty Services Inc. has arranged the sale of 3506 Newkirk Ave. in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood for $2.6 million. The four-story apartment building includes 29 units and spans 26,126 square feet. The multifamily property was built in 1931. Joseph Landau of GFI Realty Service represented the seller, a local investor, and the buyer, also a local investor, in the transaction.
NORWALK, CONN. — CBRE Group Inc. has arranged a 10-year, 9,000-square-foot lease for Family & Children’s Agency in Norwalk. The nonprofit human service organization is relocating from a nearby 6,000-square-foot property. David Anspach owns the freestanding property, located at 140 Water St. David Block and Barbara Segalini-Stilley of CBRE negotiated the long-term lease on behalf of Family & Children’s Agency, while Wilton-based Silver Pine Real Estate represented Anspach. Family & Children’s Agency, a human services firm, provides strength-based, solution-focused services that respond to the individual needs of children and families, youth, adults and seniors.
NEW YORK CITY — A joint venture between ClearRock Properties and Juster Properties has closed on the purchase of two adjacent Midtown Manhattan properties for $29.5 million. The assets, which total 101,100 square feet, include 9 E. 38th St., a 93,700-square-foot, 12-story office building and 14 E. 39th St. a 7,400-square-foot commercial townhouse with 22,200 square feet of air rights. Both properties are located between Madison and Fifth avenues. ClearRock also has plans to invest $10 million for capital improvements to reposition the properties. The seller was Yeshiva University.
BAYONNE, N.J. — Progress Realty Advisors has arranged $12.3 million in financing for the former Maidenform factory in Bayonne to undergo a transformation into 84 loft-style apartments to be called The Silklofts. The multifamily property will be located at the intersection of 18th Street andAvenue E. The project will include studio-, one- and two-bedroom residences, some live/work residences for artists and an onsite gym and parking. Doug Stern, owner of the property, is the project developer. Leon Cohen of CSR Group, which is also a partner in the project, is the design architect and builder. Kathy Anderson, owner of Progress Realty Advisors, arranged the financing.
NEW YORK CITY — A development site located at 74 Grand St. between Wooster and Greene streets in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood, has sold for $4.9 million. The site has 12,500 square feet of buildable space and is zoned for a live/work for commercial development. James Nelson and Robert Burton of Massey Knakal arranged the sale of the development site.
NEW YORK CITY — Kalmon Dolgin Affiliates Inc. has arranged the sale of an 18, 000 square-foot property, located at 105 Apollo St. in Brooklyn, for $2.6 million. The one-story, 9,000 square foot industrial warehouse building also features 9,000 square feet of available land. HK Marble & Tile Corp. is relocating its operations from Queens to 105 Apollo St. Jeffrey Unger of Kalmon Dolgin Affiliates represented the seller, Wolkow-Braker Roofing Corp., in the deal.
Multifamily markets around the country are thriving and Connecticut is no exception, particularly with regard to Class B and Class C properties. The regional mortgage markets have opened up dramatically, approving deals that would have been snubbed a year ago as the market rebounded from the economic downturn. Today, the multifamily sector is alive and well in all classes and markets throughout Connecticut. When the rebound first began roughly 18 months ago, premium core properties were getting all the attention because of discretionary equity and debt. Lending agencies at the time showed a strong preference for garden-variety Class A suburban and high-rise assets. Terms like “value-add” were barely in their vocabulary then, but now closings labeled as such occur all the time. Outside of the New Haven, Fairfield and Stamford core markets, however, plenty of REO and distressed real estate is still working its way through the pipeline, from markets like urban Hartford to outlying suburban areas. Why the delay? For a long time, investors felt repercussions from the market crash, so we had a case of “a falling tide sinking all boats.” Now, while there’s still no urgency to invest in bank-owned real estate, these assets are slowly but …
ASTON AND BENSALEM, PA. — Miller Investment Management and Hayden Real Estate Investments, partners in MIM-Hayden Real Estate Funds, have acquired five industrial properties, located along the Interstate 95 corridor in Aston and Bensalem, for $35 million. The acquired assets include 105 Commerce Drive, along with 20 and 30 McDonald Blvd. and an 18-acre development parcel, which are located in the I-95 Campus Industrial Park in Aston, about 25 miles southwest of Philadelphia. MIM-Hayden also acquired 3600 Progress Drive, located in the Expressway 95 Business Park in Bensalem, about 20 miles northwest of Philadelphia. The existing buildings total 961,347 square feet of industrial space.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Washington Trust Commercial Real Estate Group has provided $6.2 million in financing to Union Station Parking LLC. The loan will assist Ron Marsella, a Rhode Island-based commercial real estate developer, in acquiring sole ownership of all parking operations at Union Station Plaza located within the Capital Center district of downtown Providence. The loan provided funds for the refinancing of a 160-space parking lot located at 150 Memorial Blvd., which is the major thoroughfare into downtown Providence. The 1.17-acre lot, adjacent to the Marsella’s Union Station Garage, is nearby a number of downtown restaurants, including the Capital Grille, RiRa Irish Pub, Bar Louis and Luxe Burger.