EXPORT, PA. — Alside, a manufacturer and distributor of exterior residential building products, has opened its 100th supply center in the U.S. and second location in the Pittsburgh area. The new 37,000-square-foot center opened Jan. 2 at 3003 Venture Court in Export. The center includes Alside-manufactured products such as vinyl siding, as well as garage doors, stone, fencing and decking products.
PHILADELPHIA — Drexel University will break ground this month on a $97.6 million mixed-use project at the Philadelphia-based school.Drexel entered into a partnership with Austin-based American Campus Communities to construct 361,000 square feet of student housing and retail space on land it owns on Chestnut, between 32nd and 33rd streets. Under the agreement, American Campus has a 70-year ground lease with Drexel and will also manage the property. Designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects, the development will include a 19-story residential tower and two eight-story, mixed-use buildings. The project is slated for completion in September 2013.
NEW YORK CITY — A former H&H Bagels property, located at 639 W. 46th St., has sold to an undisclosed buyer for $11 million at a bankruptcy sale in New York City. GA Keen Realty Advisors sold the property on behalf of Chapter 7 trustee Yan Geron, who had filed with the court a stalking horse contract of $10 million for the building. Geron represents the property owner, Third Toro Family Limited Partnership. The two-story building contains 12,500 square feet of space, which previously housed H&H Bagel's manufacturing plant and retail store.
NEW YORK CITY — CIM Group and Kushner Cos. have acquired a 121,000-square-foot office and retail building, located at 200 Lafayette St. in Soho. CIM and Kushner plan to convert the property into Class A retail and office space later this year. Capital One Bank occupies 4,500 square feet of ground-floor retail. About 16,500 square feet of retail and 100,000 square feet of office space are available. The purchase price was undisclosed.
PARSIPPANY, N.J. — Greg Nalbandian of NorthMarq Capital's Parsippany office has arranged $11.9 million for the first mortgage refinancing of the RBS Citizens Bank portfolio. The portfolio includes 16 RBS Citizens Banks branches in New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Delaware. A regional bank provided the 5-year loan, which has a 40-year amortization schedule. The borrower was an undisclosed REIT.
PHILADELPHIA — American Real Estate Capital has closed on a 10-year, $16 million loan for the refinancing of Convention Center Parking Garage in Philadelphia. The 306,377-square-foot property is a five-story parking garage with 12,286 square feet of ground-floor retail space. The parking garage is situated beneath a 279-room Hilton Garden Inn.
NEW YORK CITY — Ariel Property Advisors has arranged the $2.1 million sale of two Central Harlem development sites. The first sale was at 56-58 W. 129th St., which sold for $1.57 million. The seller was an institutional investor and the buyer plans to build condominiums. The second property was 42 E. 132nd St., a 27-foot-wide lot located between Park and Madison avenues. The seller was a private investor and the buyer plans to build affordable housing. In both deals, Michael Tortorici, Shimon Shkury and Victor Sozio of Ariel Property Advisors represented the buyer and the seller.
NEW YORK CITY — A mixed-use building at 195 Smith St., located between Warren and Baltic streets in Brooklyn, has sold for $1.6 million. The three-story property is 3,532 square feet, with one vacant retail unit on the ground floor and two apartments above. Kenneth Freeman of the New York office of Massey Knackal Realty Services represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — Ed Graf of Houlihan-Parnes Realtors has arranged a $1.5 million loan for the first mortgage refinancing of a 42-unit apartment building, located at 3033 Godwin Terrace in the Bronx. The 7-year loan includes a fixed interest rate of 4 percent for the life of the loan and has a 30-year amortization schedule.
In this sluggish real estate market, how is it possible that two major mixed-use projects are under construction? With redevelopment all but halted elsewhere, New Brunswick keeps pushing forward with new opportunities for change for the better. With the assistance of state and federal tax programs through the Urban Transit Tax Credit Program and New Market Tax Credit, projects are becoming a reality. These projects include the Gateway Transit Village and New Brunswick Wellness Plaza which are located within one city block of the New Brunswick Train station. Gateway Transit Village In early 2009, Gateway was the first project to be designated as eligible for the new Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit Program. Under the program, credits are issued against income taxes that would be owed by businesses locating within newly built offices within a mile of a transit center; the credits can then be used to attract tenants, or else be sold as commodities. Fast forward to April 8, 2011 —when Gateway held its topping off ceremony. The Gateway Transit Village, as its name spells out, will serve as a gateway between downtown New Brunswick and Rutgers University. College Avenue, the central spine of the campus will be directly …