Restrained development, an unsettled single-family housing market, and growing rental housing demand are driving a robust turnaround in the Hartford multifamily sector, making the market one of the strongest in the country. Vacancy will fall to less than 3 percent in 2012, enabling property owners to raise rents significantly. Some of the greatest gains will likely occur in the North/West Hartford and South Hartford/North Middlesex submarkets, where vacancy rates are less than 3 percent. Overall, vacancy and rents have likely improved sufficiently to justify construction, and many planned projects may accelerate through the pipeline in the quarters ahead. The track record of recently delivered projects will likely embolden developers. For example, in the North/West Hartford submarket, vacancy fell 60 basis points last year after a 264-unit complex came online. The multifamily sector is also getting a lift from the still-struggling single-family housing market, where sales volume fell 20 percent last year. Mortgages remain hard to obtain, and many would-be homebuyers will remain in rentals for an extended period as a result. The Hartford market continues to attract attention from investors, perhaps to a greater extent than other markets of similar size. A slight decline in transaction velocity over the past …
PHILADELPHIA — A groundbreaking was held for a $60 million hotel in Philadelphia — one of the city's first ground-up hotels in nearly a decade. Home2 Suites by Hilton, with 246 guest rooms, will be located across from the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Wurzak Hotel Group and Parkway Corp. will develop the project. The project calls for 2,000 square feet of meeting space and 9,750 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurants. The hotel will be largest hotel for the brand to date. A summer 2013 opening is planned.
NEW YORK CITY — Beech Street has provided a $20.9 million Fannie Mae loan for the acquisition of Gramercy East Apartments in New York City. Built in 1974, the property is a 117-unit mid-rise apartment complex with a 6,000-square-foot health club. Avi Weinstock and Matt Texler of Meridian Capital Group originated the 10-year, fixed-rate loan.
UNION, N.J. — Atlantic Star Trucking Inc. has signed a long-term lease for 60,000 square feet of industrial space at 1835 Burnet Ave. in Union. The company, which specializes in importing and exporting, will use the site for warehouse and distribution purposes. Barry Cohorsky of NAI Hanson represented the owner, Miller Industrial Properties, in the deal. Jones Lang LaSalle's Iselin, N.J. office represented the tenant.
CAMBRIDGE — The Beal Cos. has selected Roundhill Construction to create two separate office and lab space build-outs at One Kendall Square in Cambridge. Roundhill will create 10,000 square feet of laboratory and office space for GnuBIO, a privately held company that develops gene sequencing technology for clinical applications. Roundhill will also fit out 4,500 square feet of office space for Crashlytics, a start-up company that creates debugging and crash reporting software for mobile computer device applications. Owned by The Beal Cos., One Kendall Square is a 770,000-square-foot, mixed-use property.
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Beech Street Capital has arranged a $32 million Freddie Mac loan to refinance Raritan Crossing Apartments, a 376-unit apartment complex in New Brunswick. The property is currently 99 percent occupied. Avi Weinstock and Josh Rhine of Meridian Capital Group originated the fixed-rate loan on behalf of the borrower, a real estate owner and operator. The 7-year loan has a 30-year amortization schedule.
NEW YORK CITY — Johnson Capital and Andrew Glass Brokerage have jointly arranged $13 million in financing for the 99-room Best Western Plus Prospect Park Hotel in Brooklyn. The 11-story, limited-service hotel is located at 764 4th Ave. It was developed by a Brooklyn-based developer on a site that once housed a gas station. A CMBS lender provided the 10-year loan, which will be used to refinance a construction loan.
CRANBURY, N.J. — Hardware manufacturer Howard Berger Co. Inc. has signed a 60,000-square-foot lease expansion at 324 Half Acre Rd. in Cranbury, bringing its headquarters to 297,000 square feet. Stang Danzig and Jules Nissim of Cushman & Wakefield's East Rutherford, N.J. office represented the owner, US Industrial REIT II, in the deal. CBRE represented the tenant.
DEVENS, MASS. — In a joint venture, Hackman Capital and Calare Properties have acquired the former Evergreen Solar Plant at 112 Barnum Rd. in Devens, for an undisclosed amount. The 448,000-square-foot manufacturing facility is situated on 25 acres. Evergreen Solar constructed the facility in 2010.
ALLENDALE, N.J. — In a joint venture, Loeb Partners Realty and Red Pine Capital Partners have purchased 75 Commerce Dr., an industrial facility in Allendale for $15.85 million. The 114,206-square-foot flex property includes 90,22 square feet of office and lab space and 23,984 square feet of warehouse space. At the time of sale, the property was leased to two tenants: Aptuit, a pharmaceutical company; and Energizer Holdings' Playtex Division, a personal care products company. Andrew Merin, David Bernhaut, Gary Gabriel, Jared Zimmel, Frank Caccavo, Jason Goldman, Marc Petrella and Andrew Siemsen of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller in the transaction.