New Jersey’s industrial market is showing signs of continued improvement, as evidenced by increased investment sales activity and the return of speculative development to the region. A number of significant development projects are already in progress, as well as a few proposed projects, including 2.8 million square feet of new construction at 2450 U.S. Highway 130 and 2.6 million square feet at Cranbury Half Acre Road, both located in Cranbury and within the Exit 8A submarket, which benefits from a central location that provides tremendous access to points both north and south. The Central New Jersey industrial market continues to have positive momentum with 583,653 square feet of positive net absorption in the third quarter, leading to a decline in the overall vacancy to 7.8 percent from 8.0 percent in the previous quarter. The vacancy rate is now below the 10-year historical average of 8.3 percent, an impressive recovery from a peak vacancy of 10.7 percent in the third quarter of 2009. Overall, market fundamentals remain strong and demand is expected to remain high for the remainder of 2012 and into 2013 based on a sizable number of tenants in the market and pending deals expected to close within the …
BOYLSTON, MASS. — CTA Construction has completed the new, 126,000-square-foot Tahanto Regional Middle/High School for the Berlin-Boylston Regional School District. The $33 million project replaces a 98,000-square-foot school building, which is in severe disrepair. The former school will be demolished by this June. The new building features two separate entrances for the middle and high school, along with a shared auditorium, dining commons and gymnasium. Site work for the project included new athletic fields and parking areas. The project team included the Tahanto Regional Middle/High School Building Committee; PMA Construction Services, the project manager; and HMFH Architects, the project architect.
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — Suffolk Construction has placed the final steel beam on the Broad Institute's 75 Ames Street expansion project. Suffolk is constructing a $175 million, 375,000-square-foot research and development facility in Kendall Square in Cambridge. The expansion will increase the Broad Institute's research space to 500,000 square feet. The new facility will provide a collaborative space where researchers can develop advancements in biomedicine. The project is scheduled for completion in January 2014.
NEW YORK CITY — G&H Building Co. has sold three apartment buildings, constructed in the early 1900s, in the Jamaica section of Queens for $16.4 million. The deal includes two six-story apartment buildings and one four-story walk up building, totaling 159 units. The three properties, located at 153-19 89th Ave., 138-42 90th Ave. and 90-25 138th Place, total 164,900 square feet. Daniel Shragaei of GFI Realty Services represented the seller in the transaction. Yosef Katz, also of GFI, represented the buyer, a local investor.
SHIPPENSBURG, PA. — WRDC has acquired the Shippensburg Shopping Center, a 142,965-square-foot property on Walnut Bottom Road in Shippensburg. Chad Stine and Brad Rohrbaugh of Bennett Williams represented the seller, Hill Management, in the transaction.
PRINCETON, N.J. — SES Americom has extended its lease for 79,000 square feet of office space at 4 Research Way in Princeton. The company, which owns and operates 52 geostationary communication satellites, uses the location as its U.S. headquarters. Marc Trevisan and Robert Rudin of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant in the transaction. The landlord, National Business Parks, was represented in-house by Vincent Marano and Tom Stange.
BOSTON — Loews Hotels & Resorts has agreed to buy the 225-room Back Bay Hotel in Boston from The Doyle Collection. The financial terms were not disclosed. The hotel, located at the corner of Bekeley and Stuart streets, was built in the 1920s as the Boston Police Department Headquarters, and occupied as such until the late 1990s. The property was redeveloped in 2004. The hotel includes meeting and event space and two dining options, Cuffs, an Irish Bar, and the Stanhope Grille. The deal is expected to close next month.
NEW YORK CITY — New York City's Human Resources Administration (HRA) has signed a 20-year lease for 200,000 square feet at The BankNote Building in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx. HRA will occupy three floors of the 400,000-square-foot property, once the location of American Bank Note Co. printing presses that printed currency, postage stamps, war bonds and stock certificates for nearly 76 years. The building owner, Taconic Investment Partners, secured a $17.9 million tenant improvement loan for the HRA build-out, which was provided by Lance Capital LLC.
BETHLEHEM, PA. — Team Capital Bank has acquired Penn Corporate Center, a 74,000-square-foot office building at 3001 Emerick Blvd. in Bethlehem for $11.2 million. Team Capital is a fast-growing state member bank (also known as a de novo bank) that provides traditional retail and commercial banking products, mortgage banking and commercial lending. John Crampsie of NAI Summit represented the seller, GSE Realty East, in the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — Alterra USA Holdings Limited, a reinsurance and insurance company, has signed a lease for 27,342 square feet of office space at 1185 Avenue of Americas in New York City. The company will occupy the entire 16th floor. Scott Cahaly of Jones Lang LaSalle represented the tenant in the transaction. The building owner, SL Green Realty Corp., was represented in-house by Howard Tenenbaum and Gary Rosen.