QUEENSBURY, N.Y. — Beech Street Capital LLC has closed a $7.8 million Fannie Mae DUS loan to refinance the Whispering Pines Apartments, a 190-unit complex in Queensbury. The fixed-rate loan has a 10-year term with 9.5 years yield maintenance and a 30-year amortizing schedule. Whispering Pines was built in 1970 and was recently renovated by the owner. The borrower refinanced this asset to cover the cost of improvements to the apartment property. Kristen Croxton and Greg Reed of Beech Street arranged the deal.
Northeast
PHILADELPHIA — Private equity real estate fund manager BPG Properties LTD has changed its name to Equus Capital Partners LTD. The firm’s new name, Equus, is derived from the Latin word for “horse” and chosen “because the horse symbolizes strength, agility, dependability and hard work, all of which have been hallmarks of the firm’s culture and performance since its inception,” according to a statement released by Equus. No changes will be made in the firm’s operation as a result of its new name. Equus Capital Partners has more than $4.5 billion in assets under management across 11 value-add investment funds.
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Beech Street Capital LLC has closed a $70 million Fannie Mae conventional loan to refinance The Gotham, a 22-story high-rise apartment building in Jersey City. The fixed-rate loan has a 10-year term, 9.5 years yield maintenance, and a 30-year amortizing schedule. The borrower sought a cash-out refinance of The Gotham to invest in other development opportunities. The 220-unit apartment building includes six occupied commercial spaces covering more than 20,000 square feet on the ground floor and a four-story parking garage with 340 spaces. The Gotham is three blocks west of the Exchange Place PATH station and six blocks northwest of the Paulus Hook Ferry
NEW YORK CITY — Brown Harris Steven, a luxury real estate firm, has arranged the sale of The Fine Arts Building for $34 million. Located at 232 E. 59th St. in New York City, the 42,176-square-foot building was built in 1926. Fine Arts Building LLC purchased the six-story commercial property. Howard Morrel of Brown Harris Stevens represented the buyer in the deal. The seller was Battaglia Realty LLC.
CAMDEN, N.J. — Brick, N.J.-based Tryko Partners LLC has purchased The Crestbury, a 392-unit apartment building, for $16.1 million. Built in 1950, the multifamily property features one- and two-bedroom units and is situated within a few miles of bridges heading into Philadelphia. Ridge MacLaren, Andrew Townsend and Clarke Talone of Marcus and Millichap represented the buyer, Tryko Partners, and the seller, a New Jersey-based liability company, in the deal.
LINDENWOLD, N.J. — Quail Run Apartments, also known as Birchwood Gardens, has sold for $7.75 million in Lindenwold, located about 15 miles east of Philadelphia. The 216-unit apartment complex features a mix of one-and two-bedroom layouts, a swimming pool and on-site laundry facilities. Joseph Brecher and Joel Schwartz of Livingston, N.J.-based Gebroe-Hammer Associates arranged the sale.
EWING TOWNSHIP, N.J. — The Opus Group has completed construction on a new 250,000-square-foot corporate headquarter campus for Church & Dwight Co., a manufacturer and marketer of a wide range of personal care, household and specialty products. The campus includes two 125,000-square-foot Class A, energy-efficient office buildings that are connected to allow for employee engagement. The new headquarters centralizes employees previously housed in four separate buildings. Construction began in October 2011 and was completed in late 2012. An investment group, led by Founders Properties LLC, owns the building under a long-term lease with Church & Dwight. The project cost was undisclosed.
The vacancy rate for the 19.7 million-square-foot Cambridge office and lab market decreased from 11.5 percent to 10.3 percent during the third quarter, with more than 150,000 square feet of positive absorption. Year-to-date absorption totals 386,000 square feet, with all of the positive absorption occurring in the lab market. The lab market continues to be the driving engine of the Cambridge market and with four consecutive quarters of positive absorption, it shows no sign of slowing down. The two largest leases of the quarter were signed by Merrimack Pharmaceuticals (110,000 square feet), a homegrown Cambridge company, and Boston Biomedical Inc. (63,000 square feet), which will open an oncology R&D facility in Cambridge. Conditions in the Cambridge office market generally favor landlords despite three straight quarters of modestly negative net absorption. The office vacancy rate stands at 10.9 percent, but with some sizeable commitments expected to transact in the fourth quarter and a number of active tenants touring the market, conditions are tight, particularly in the East Cambridge submarket. Office Market The 10.3 million-square-foot Cambridge office market has been statistically flat for much of 2012, barely moving from 10 percent at 2011 year end to 10.9 percent at the end of …
CAMDEN, N.J. — Tryko Partners LLC has acquired The Crestbury, a 392-unit apartment property in Camden, for $16.1 million. Built in 1950, the property features one- and two-bedroom units overlooking a neighborhood park. Ridge MacLaren, Andrew Townsend and Clarke Talone of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, a New Jersey-based limited liability company. They also procured the buyer.
WOODBURY, N.J. — Bell Lake Apartments at 431 Myrtle Ave. in Woodbury has sold for $3.2 million. Located next to Bell Lake Park, the building comprises a mix of one- and two-bedroom layouts. Outdoor amenities include professionally landscaped grounds and a courtyard, as well as an on-site playground. Joel Schwartz and Eli Rosen of Gebroe-Hammer Associates represented the seller in the transaction. They also procured the buyer.