ERIE, PA. — DDR Erie LLC has sold West 38th Street Plaza, a retail center located at 2301 W. 38th St. in Erie, for $1 million. The 96,000-square-foot property includes 78,000 square of vacant, big-box space and a vacant, 4-acre outparcel for future development. Tenants include Subway and Snap Fitness. Bob Havasi and Dan Cooper of Copper Commercial Investment Group represented DDR Erie in the transaction. The buyers were a private group from Erie.
WAWARSING, N.Y. — Nevele Investors LLC has closed on the purchase of Nevele Grande Hotel and Country Club in Wawarsing. The investment group seeks to develop casino gaming at the facility, which must be approved by the state. If approved, the new owners anticipate a $500 million redevelopment to transform the site into a resort and casino. Nevele also plans to preserve the hotel's iconic elements, including the tower, entrance lobby and ice rink and reopen its professional golf course. The hotel, which has been closed since 2009, had slipped into receivership.
BROOKHAVEN, N.Y. — Washington Trust has provided a $10.3 million loan to an affiliate of MCR Development for the financing of a 128-room hotel. The SpringHill Suites by Marriott Long Island Brookhaven is located at 2 Sawgrass Dr. in Brookhaven. Cate Fusco of Washington Trust served as lead lender for the project.
BOSTON — Stuart Dean, an architectural restoration services firm, has started rehabbing a century-old hotel in Boston, known as Fairmont Copley Plaza. The $20 million project is mostly confined to the hotel's 384 guest bathrooms where crews will polish the marble flooring, regrout and seal the marble walls. The project is expected to be complete prior to the hotel's centennial celebration this summer. The hotel will remain open throughout the renovation.
NEW YORK CITY — A vacant industrial property at 1621-29 61st Street, located between 16th and 17th avenues in Brooklyn, has sold for $1.7 million. The site includes 8,000 square feet and currently contains a 6,000-square-foot commercial building. The undisclosed buyer plans to build a synagogue on the site. Jeffrey Shalom and Brian Hanson of Massey Knakal Realty Services represented both parties in the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — Massey Knakal has arranged the $11.4 million sale of three properties in Manhattan's Greenwich Village neighborhood. The sale includes 175-177 MacDougal St., two mixed-use buildings built in 1837. The building contains 10 apartments, two retail spaces and two commercial spaces. The third building is 179 MacDougal St., a one-story building with five retail tenants. The lower level once housed the former Bon Soir club, where Barbra Streisand launched her career. James Nelson of Massey Knakal Realty Services represented both the buyer, an investor, and seller, a long-term owner, in the deal.
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — Homewood Suites by Hilton has opened a four-story hotel in Binghamton. The 79-room hotel is owned by Tom Bedosky and managed by JT LLC. Homewood Suites by Hilton Binghamton/Vestel offer studio, one- and two-bedroom suites. Guest amenities include an indoor pool, fitness center, sports court and nearby walking trails. Located at 3603 Vestal Parkway E., the hotel is minutes from Binghamton University campus and Lockheed Martin Owego.
NEW YORK CITY — New York City-based Eastern Union Commercial has arranged a $34 million loan for the refinancing of a four-building, 580-bed nursing portfolio in New York and New Jersey. Three of the properties are fully operational, while the fourth, a 120-bed skilled nursing facility, is currently under construction. The project is expected to be completed at the end of 2012. Abraham Bergman of Eastern Union secured the 5-year loan through M&T Bank. The borrower is a privately held nursing home owner and management company.
SECAUCUS, N.J. — ZT Group International has signed a 23,451-square-foot office lease at 333 Meadowlands Parkway in Secaucus. ZT Group provides server solutions for large-scale data centers. With the transaction, the 138,000-square-foot office building is now 90 percent leased. Frank Lopriore of Colliers International represented the tenant in the transaction. The owner, Bergman Real Estate Group, was represented in-house.
In the central Connecticut market, owner/users are beginning to seek fair priced industrial facilities that can be financed by mostly local community banks using SBA and some conventional loans. Also we are seeing companies come up from Fairfield County (Bridgeport and Stamford) to take advantage of Waterbury Development Corp. loans and some forgivable grants. One 35,000-square-foot user put up their equipment as collateral to obtain a $500,000 loan for modern space where they could become more productive at a much lower cost of occupancy and expand their workforce. One landlord is buying large vacant industrial facilities at $20 per square foot and rehabbing and subdividing for re-lease programs. We are also seeing some new construction and facility expansions in industrial parks that offer Enterprise zone incentives. Municipal and state Department of Economic and Community Development incentives are driving transactions. These incentives include the Urban Jobs program, Enterprise Zones and Corridors, SBA 504 loans, and tax abatements and other enhancements. Waterbury has four industrial parks and at least five business parks surrounding the city, including Watertown, Plymouth, Naugatuck, Cheshire, Oxford and others. The city of Waterbury offers many perks, and the others offer lower taxes and suburbia. The Naugatuck Industrial Park …