NEW YORK CITY — The groundbreaking has occurred for the new Lower Eastside Girls Club Center for Community. The project is located at the intersection of Avenue D and East 7th Street on the Lower Eastside of Manhattan. The 12-story project includes the 30,000-square-foot Girls Club Center on the bottom three floors and 78 mixed-income apartment units on the upper nine floors. The Girls Club will include classrooms, a planetarium, a library, art and dance studios, a broadcasting station, a fitness center, a photography and digital media center, environmental learning labs and technology workshops. The third-floor terrace will feature a green roof, and the bottom floor will feature a gift shop and café on the bottom floor as well as the Sweet Things Bakery. The project is seeking LEED-Gold certification. Completion is expected in mid-2012. The developer is The Dermot Company, and the project architect is Cutsogeorge Tooman & Allen Architects.
PLAINFIELD, N.J. — Gebroe-Hammer Associates (GHA) has brokered the sales of two distressed multifamily portfolios for a total of $22.1 million. The first deal involved the approximately $16.1 million sale of a 268-unit portfolio. The properties are all located in Plainfield and include 108 units at Netherwood Village, 102 units at Watchung Gardens and 58 units at Greenbrook Village. Steven Tenenbaum of GHA arranged the deal as Bankruptcy Court-approved broker. The buyer was a private investor. The second deal involved the approximately $6 million sale of a 141-unit portfolio, also located in Plainfield. The properties include Cornell Apartments, Pingry Arms and Executive Arms. GHA's Joel Schwartz arranged the sale on behalf of the seller, which is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The buyer is Plainfield Park LLC, which had owned the portfolio several years prior.
NEW JERSEY — KeyBank Real Estate Capital has secured a total of $106.7 million in Freddie Mac funds for seven senior housing properties in New Jersey. In the first deal, KeyBank originated a $100 million loan for a portfolio of six properties on behalf of a joint venture between an affiliate of The Carlyle Group and Fanwood, N.J.-based Chelsea Senior Living. The properties are located in East Brunswick, Fanwood, Manalapan, Montville, Tinton Falls and Warren. In addition, KeyBank provided a $6.75 million loan for Metuchen Senior Apartments in Metuchen. The borrower was Gary Kline. Terms of the loans were not disclosed.
NEW YORK CITY — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of a 1,916-square-foot retail building located at 1714 86th St. in Brooklyn, New York City. The property traded for $700,000, or $365 per square foot. Jeb Hollingsworth and Matthew Fotis of Marcus & Millichap's Brooklyn office represented the seller and the buyer, both private investors.
MANCHESTER AND DEWITT, N.Y. — Arbor Commercial Funding has arranged a total of $10.12 million in Fannie Mae DUS funding for two New York multifamily communities. A $5.48 million loan was secured for Clover Crossings Apartments, a 72-unit community located in Manchester. A $4.64 million loan was secured for Maplewood Apartments in DeWitt. Both loans carry 10-year terms and 30-year amortization schedules. Ronen Abergel of Arbor's New York City office originated the loans.
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — Novartis has announced plans to complete a 5-year, $600 million expansion of its research headquarters campus in Cambridge. An additional 400,00 square feet of laboratory, office and retail space will be constructed on 4 acres the company is currently leasing from MIT, which is located adjacent to Novartis' campus. Construction is expected to begin in 2011. Novartis currently occupies 1 million square feet of laboratory and office space; it is the city's largest corporate employer.
NEW YORK AND MASSACHUSETTS — Healthcare Trust of America (HTA) has entered into agreements to acquire a portfolio of nine medical office buildings for $196.64 million. The portfolio, which totals 960,000 square feet of space, consists of properties located in Albany, N.Y.; North Adams, Mass.; and Temple Terrace, Fla. The medical office buildings are located on and off hospital campuses, and include single- and multi-tenant buildings. The average building age is 8 years. The portfolio was 98 percent leased at the time of closing. The seller's name was not released.
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — Cambridge-based architecture and planning fir Bruner/Cott has completed two new residence halls for Lesley University in Cambridge. The project is the first ground-up construction completed at the school since 1973. The first building consists of a five-story residence hall with ground-floor retail space that faces Massachusetts Avenue. The second building is a three-story, wood-framed residence hall located on Wendell Street. Both of the buildings were designed to match the character of the respective streets.
VOORHEES, N.J. — The Township of Voorhees has signed an agreement with Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT) that will relocate the Voorhees Town Hall to PREIT's Voorhees Town Center project. The township will own the 24,300-square-foot space, which will open next spring on the second level of the mall. PREIT is in the middle of an $83 million redevelopment of Voorhees Towen Center that is repositioning it as a mixed-use destination center. In addition to the mall, the project contains an office building and 425 luxury apartments and condominiums.
ROBINSON, PA. — Arbor Commercial Funding has arranged a $13.76 million Fannie Mae DUS loan for Westpointe Apartments, a 291-unit multifamily community located in Robinson. The loan carries a 10-year term and a 30-year amortization schedule. Ronen Abergel of Arbor's New York City office originated the financing on behalf of the undisclosed borrower.