The Pittsburgh retail market remained tight throughout the third quarter of 2011, maintaining a vacancy rate at just over 5 percent. Absorption within the market edged close to 200,000 square feet, with new big box and specialty retailers entering the region. The influx of grocery and discount chains continued with the opening of Trader Joe’s in Pittsburgh’s South Route 19 submarket. The 12,000-square-foot specialty market is the company’s second location in the area. In addition, Fresh Market confirmed its entrance in the Pittsburgh region just down the street from Trader Joe’s. The high-end specialty grocer has purchased a former Roth Carpet site and plans to demolish the existing building in preparation for a new 18,000-square-foot store. Construction is scheduled to commence in the spring of 2012. Big box retailers ALDI, Bottom Dollar, Walmart and BJ’s Wholesale Club are scouting the area for additional locations as well. Bottom Dollar Foods has taken occupancy of more than 60,000 square feet year-to-date and has approximately 40,000 square feet in two new locations scheduled to open in early 2012. The discount food chain prefers to anchor strip centers or neighborhood shopping centers within the area’s suburban submarkets. Though development activity has been largely focused …
CRANSTON, R.I. — The historic Garden City shopping center in Cranston will be renovated and expanded into a new 20,000-square-foot building. Owner Wilder Cos. says the multi-million dollar redevelopment will include breaking up retail spaces formerly held by larger tenants into mid-size and smaller specialty stores. Ann Taylor is among the new stores moving in, and Williams-Sonoma is expected to expand. Other current tenants have signed new multi-year leases including Starbucks and Hallmark. Construction is expected to begin this spring, and should be completed later this year.
HARRISBURG, PA. — Brick, N.J.-based Tryko Partners has acquired the 163-unit Harrisburg Park in Harrisburg for $5.8 million. The apartment property, located at 1410 S. 15th St., was built in 1967 and includes recent upgrades to select kitchens. Ridge MacLaren, Andrew Townsend and Clarke Talone of the Philadelphia office of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, a partnership. They also secured Tryko, a private equity real estate group.
NEW YORK CITY — Massey Knakal Capital Services has closed on a $2.5 million loan for an 8,000-square-foot retail property located on 86th Street in Brooklyn's Bensonhurst neighborhood. The 5-year, non-recourse loan carries a 4.7 percent interest rate. Morris Betesh of Massey Knakal Capital arranged the financing through an undisclosed lender.
ITHACA, DEER PARK, N.Y. — BJ's Wholesale Club plans to open three new stores this month, including two locations in New York: 1900 The Arches Circle in Deer Park, N.Y. and 400 Graham Rd. in Ithaca, N.Y. Each of the 85,000-square-foot stores will feature a BJ's cafe, optical department and Verizon Wireless kiosk. The stores will also hold a grand opening celebration Jan. 28 and Jan. 29. An additional store opening is planned in Gainesville, Va.
NEW YORK CITY — Meridian Capital Group has negotiated a $44 million mortgage loan to recapitalize a 17-story, 160,000-square-foot office building in Midtown Manhattan. The 7-year loan provided by a local savings bank includes a 4.3 percent rate and interest-only payments for the first year. The building is located on East 45th Street and is 98 percent occupied. Tenants include LIM College and AT&T. Allan Lieberman of Meridian arranged the transaction.
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Data center developer Russo Development has secured planning approval to move forward with Somerset Technology Park, a 71-acre data center campus in Franklin Township. The site can support more than 1.5 million square feet in multiple facilities and includes electrical power capacity of 100 megawatts from multiple 69kV feeds. Russo expects to begin site development activities within the next few months. This will be the company's ninth data center development in the New York metropolitan area.
EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Deanna Polizzo and Ernest DesRochers of NorthMarq Capital's New York City office have arranged $12.2 million for the first mortgage refinancing of Summerhill Marketplace, an 88,700-square-foot retail property in East Brunswick. Located at 675 Route 18, the center is anchored by a Stop & Shop. The Royal Bank of Scotland provided the 10-year loan, which has a 30-year amortization schedule.
WEST WARWICK, R.I. —Eaglebridge Capital has secured $746,000 in permanent mortgage financing for a Bank of America branch at 5 Washington St. in West Warwick on behalf of 5 Washington Trust. Brian Sheehan and Ted Sidel of Eastbrigde arranged the loan, which was provided by a regional financial institution. The branch contains 3,400 square feet of space.
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — MIT Federal Credit Union has renewed its 16,573-square-foot lease at 700 Technology Square in Cambridge. Steve James and Greg Larsen represented the tenant in the transaction. Juliette Reiter represented the landlord, Alexandria Real Estate Equities. The credit union serves employees, graduates and undergraduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.