The dense markets of northern and central New Jersey are showing some encouraging signs of momentum. Over the past 18 months, retailers have flocked to places like Paramus, Millburn, Wayne, Totowa, Springfield/Union, Livingston, East Hanover and Jersey City/Secaucus, to name a few. They are well aware that the major malls and retail corridors of Northern New Jersey, in particular, draw lots of traffic from nearby New York City. The pace of new construction has been sluggish in part because lenders now demand equity stakes of around 40 percent on projects that used to be financed at 70 or 80 percent. Therefore new supply is limited, which is helping to push up rents and drive down vacancies. In the northern and central parts of the state, in fact, the vacancy rate now stands at about 10 percent—a big improvement over the 20 percent average of 2010. Paramus, the state’s top retail market, has seen quite a nice recovery. Here, rents of smaller stores of less than 3,000 square feet now range from $35 to $60 per square foot. At stores of 5,000 to 10,000 square feet, space is leasing for between $30 and $40 per square foot. Paramus’ medium boxes, which …
WOODBRIDGE, N.J. — A joint venture between Bergman Real Estate Group and Gottesman Real Estate Partners has purchased Aspen Corporate Park, a 91,700-square-foot, two-building office park in Woodbridge. The property is located at 1460 and 1480 Route 9 North, opposite the Woodbridge Center Mall. Andrew Merin, Gary Gabriel, David Barnhart and Jared Zimmel of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, a partnership between Ivy Equities and Meritage Properties, in the transaction. They also represented the buyer.
NEW YORK CITY — A development site at 152-154 Leroy St. has sold for $10.2 million in Manhattan. The site, which is currently used as a parking lot, has approximately 27,980 buildable square feet. A development project could have potential water views and is near Hudson River Park. James Nelson of Massey Knakal represented the seller in the transaction and Elaine Tross of Halstead Property represented the buyer.
NEW YORK CITY — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the $3.6 million sale of 16-18 Bedford Ave., a seven-unit apartment building in Brooklyn. Matthew Fotis, Shaun Riney and Michael Salvatico of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, a private investor. They also represented the buyer, a fund manager.
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — RCG has acquired 12 apartment units at 11-21 Pine St. in Cambridge for $2.3 million. David Ross, Robert Tito, Gina Barroso and Robert Tito Jr. of NAI Hunneman represented the seller, First Cambridge Realty, in the transaction. They also procured the buyer.
EWING, N.J. — Urge Fitness has signed a lease for a new 13,000-square-foot exercise facility to be developed in the Ewing Square Shopping Center, located at 968 Parkway Ave. in Ewing. Construction is slated to begin this fall and the club is expected to open before the holidays. The Goldstein Group is the property landlord.
NEW YORK CITY — TIAA-CREF has purchased 1511 Third Avenue on the Upper East Side for $60 million. The 60,000-square-foot retail building is one block south of East 86th Street, the main retail artery in the neighborhood. The property is fully leased to long-term tenants Gap and Equinox. Bob Knakal and Thomas Gammino of Massey Knakal represented both parties in the transaction.
PRINCETON, N.J. — Chambers Street Properties has acquired 701 and 801 Charles Ewing Blvd., a two-building laboratory and office campus in Princeton. The buildings total 110,765 square feet and are fully leased to a specialty chemical company. Built in 2009, the properties are situated within the Princeton South Corporate Center. Chamber Street added more than 5.5 million square feet to its portfolio in 2012, mostly fully leased office and warehouse properties.
NEW YORK CITY — Eastern Union Funding has arranged a $47.4 million loan for the acquisition of the Westbourne apartment complex in Manhattan. The five-building, 182-unit property occupies a full city block along West 137th Street. The purchase also included a new Duane Reade store with a 20-year lease. Shaya Ackerman of Eastern Union arranged the loan on behalf of Bonjour Capital, which acquired the property from Extell. Investors Bank provided the 10-year loan, which includes a 3.7 percent interest rate.
PORTLAND, MAINE — Chatham Lodging Trust has acquired the recently opened Hampton Inn Portland Downtown — Waterfront Hotel for $28 million. The deal includes an adjacent land parcel, which can be sold or used for future development. The six-story, 122-room hotel is located at 209 Fore Street in the Old Port district. The ground floor of the hotel includes the separately-owned Sebago Brewing Co. Island Hospitality Management will oversee operations at the hotel.