HAMDEN, CONN. — The Alphabet Academy, a children's daycare, has leased 12,000 square feet at 2389 Dixwell Ave. in Hamden, the former Colonial Tymes Restaurant. The site will undergo a complete renovation and open in March 2012. Steve Miller of Levey Miller Maretz represented the landlord, 2100 Whitney Avenue LLC. Stephen Press of Press / Cuozzo Realtors represented the tenant.
WILLOW GROVE, PA. — The Real Estate Equity Co. has acquired the 71,000-square-foot Willow Grove shopping center in Willow Grove for $14.6 million. The center is fully net leased to Best Buy, and 8,500 square feet of the shopping center is sublet to Pier 1 Imports. Kevin Mcleron of CBRE's Philadelphia office represented the buyer in the transaction. The seller was Goodman Properties.
Operations will remain tight in the urban core as retailers expand to premier locations in Boston, while stagnant building activity and an uptick in demand will allow operators to backfill under-utilized space in the suburbs. As businesses expand payrolls in the Financial District, residents will migrate toward major employment hubs and entertainment districts in surrounding areas. As a result, global and national retailers will expand or relocate from older centers in peripheral neighborhoods to newer, redeveloped infill properties in Boston. Prime shopping districts in Back Bay, including Newbury Street, Commonwealth Avenue, and Boylston Street will garner the most consideration this year as tenants lease quality, street-level store fronts with high visibility. As available space shrinks in the submarket, vacancy will drop to a metrowide best of 3.4 percent this year, giving owners enough leverage to raise rents. Meanwhile, muted construction and large lease signings will support positive net absorption in third-ring suburbs such as Bristol County and Merrimac Valley submarkets, reducing vacancy an average of 100 basis points this year. Solid retail sales and job growth encouraged tenants to move forward with expansions, underpinning a 60-basis-point decrease in vacancy over the past year to 6.5 percent. In the prior 12 …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services has negotiated the $10.8 million sale of a 19,620-square-foot, two-tenant shopping center, located at 7000 and 7008 Marlboro Pike in Washington, D.C. The center is fully leased by Walgreens and Sherwin-Williams. Dean Zang, Mark Taylor, Derrick Dougherty, Christopher Munley of the Philadelphia office of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller in the transaction. They also procured the 1031 exchange buyer, a private investor from outside the market.
POTTSTOWN, PA. — Sly Fox Brewery has acquired a 32,000-square-foot, Class B flex building, located at 331 Circle of Progress Dr. in Pottstown, for $1.9 million. Sly Fox will be relocating its brewery from Royersford, Pa. Scott Williams of Binswanger's King of Prussia, Pa. office represented the buyer in the transaction. He also represented the seller, Charles Moyer.
WILMINGTON, DEL. — Keystone Property Group has purchased Citizens Bank Center, an 18-story, 221,686-square-foot office tower, located at 919 North Market St. in Wilmington, for $22 million. Jonathan Carpenter and James Wellschlager of Cassidy Turley represented the seller, the Receivership Estate Over Specific Assets of B&R 919 LLC, in the transaction. The building is 80 percent leased.
NEW YORK CITY — In a joint venture, Kalikow Group and Waterbridge Capital have acquired a 30-unit, three building apartment portfolio at 113-117 Elizabeth St. in Little Italy, for $12.6 million. David Kessler represented Waterbridge internally and Aaron Siegel represented Kalikow internally in the deal. The sellers were 113-117 Realty LLC and Elizabeth Blue LLC. The property, which consists of three-bedroom units, will be managed by Kaled Management.
MARLBOROUGH, MASS. — KS Partners has signed Environmental Chemical Corp. to a lease renewal and expansion totaling 18,231 square feet and East Coast Cad/Cam to a 4,804-square-foot lease at 33 Boston Post Rd. in Marlborough. In both transactions, Garry Holmes, Craig Johnston and Jim Bartholomew of R.W. Holmes represented KS Partners, the landlord. Hank Amabile and John Coakly of Grubb & Ellis represented Environmental Chemical Corp. Phil Desimone of Jones Lang LaSalle represented East Coast Cad/Cam.
HAMDEN, CONN. — True Athletics has signed a 10,000-square-foot lease at 850 Sherman Ave. in Hamden. True Athletics is a strength and conditioning facility that specializes in sports performance. The facility is undergoing a complete renovation and plans are to open in early winter. Stephen Press and Albert Scafati represented the tenant in the transaction. Scafati also represented the landlord, Louis M. Landino Family Trust.
NORTH SPRINGFIELD, VT. — Jeld-Wen, Inc. has signed a long-term lease renewal for 212,340 square feet of industrial space at 36 Precision Dr. in North Springfield. A global window and door maker based in Klamath Falls, Ore., Jeld-Wen uses the site for product manufacturing. Bo Mills, Mark Detmer, Will Strong and Jackie Orcutt of the Phoenix office of Cushman & Wakefield represented Jeld-Wen in the transaction. Arthur Ross of Hart Corp. represented the landlord, WE 36 Precision Drive LLC.