BOSTON — Commonwealth Ventures has received $75 million in capital from investment partners Bentall Kennedy and a major pension system for the renovation of a 681,000-square-foot office building located at 185 Franklin St. in Boston's financial district. The project will include lobby and common area improvements, construction of a new entrance on High Street, a redesigned entrance on Franklin Street, the addition of 21,000 square feet of ground-level retail space, 110 new parking spaces, improvements to the property's public plaza and the installation of a lighted beacon atop the building. The building will also be renamed 50 Post Office Square. Construction will begin in March and be complete by early 2012. FHO Partners will lease the mostly vacant office component of the building, while Colliers Meredith & Grew will market the retail space.
WASHINGTON, PA. — Concord Hospitality Enterprises has broken ground for the construction of a new Courtyard by Marriott in the Pittsburgh suburb of Washington. The new hotel will be located at 1800 Tanger Blvd. near an existing Tanger Outlets Mall. It will contain 124 suites and will be designed for LEED certification. Braun & Steidl Architects is designing it, and McCay Contracting is the general contractor. Completion is slated for summer 2011.
NEW YORK CITY — International property and infrastructure group Lend Lease has acquired The DASCO Companies, one of the United States' leading developers and managers of health care real estate. The new company will be known as Lend Lease DASCO and will focus on the healthcare sector. It will operate as a separate unit within Lend Lease's Americas region. DASCO President and CEO Malcolm Sina will continue to lead the company as president and managing director.
MIDDLETOWN AND POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. — The Kislak Company has brokered two multifamily sales in New York's Hudson Valley for $20.9 million. In the first deal, Kensington Manor, a 128-unit community located in Middletown, traded for $15.8 million. In the second deal, Forbus Hill Apartments, a 70-unit community located in Poughkeepsie, traded for $5.1 million. Janet Bortz and Barry Waisbrod of Kislak brokered the first transaction, and Bortz handled the second one. The buyers and sellers were not released.
PRINCETON, N.J. — A joint venture between Investcorp International Realty and Lincoln Equities Group has purchased Princeton Forrestal Village, a 550,000-square-foot mixed-use project located in Princeton. Constructed in 1987 and renovated in 2007, the property comprises 10 freestanding buildings containing a mix of office, retail and restaurant users. A separately owned Westin Hotel and Conference Center is also located on the 42-acre site. The buyers' near-term plans include leasing the vacant space at the center, which will include converting some of the vacant retail space to medical office use. The seller's name and the sale price were not released.
NEW CANAAN, CONN. — Cushman & Wakefield has completed the sale of two office buildings in New Canaan for $6.6 million. The buildings, which were fully occupied at closing, total more than 20,000 square feet and are located at 24 and 36 Grove St. The Cushman & Wakefield team of Al Mirin and Kate Schwartz represented the seller, Defgey and Company. The buyer was 24-36 Grove LLC.
EAST TAUNTON, MASS. — Maggiore Cos. will soon break ground for a new 137,000-square-foot industrial project in East Taunton. The building will be located at 60 O'Connell Way within the Liberty and Union Business Center. It is the last building to built as part of the 41-acre park. CB Richard Ellis/New England will lease the building, which will be ready for tenant build-out by July.
BERGEN, N.J. — CommonWealth REIT has purchased a Class A office building from Invesco Real Estate for $20.6 million in an all-cash deal. The 120,000-square-foot, Class A property is located at 5 Paragon Drive in Montvale. The building was fully leased at the time of closing. Tenants include Thomson Reuters, Doosan Engineering and Motorola. The Holliday Fenoglio Fowler team of Jose Cruz, Andrew Scandalios, Kevin O'Hearn and Jeffrey Julien represented the seller.
NEW YORK CITY — Meridian Capital Group has arranged a $22.3 million loan to refinance an eight-story, 65,000-square-foot office and retail building located on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. The property was fully occupied at the time of closing. The mortgage carries a 10-year term and a fixed interest rate; it was provided by UBS Securities. The borrower was not disclosed.
NEW YORK CITY — OppenheimerFunds has signed a 15-year lease for 235,342 square feet at Two World Financial Center a 44-story, 2.3 million-square-foot office tower located in Lower Manhattan. The firm had previously been subleasing the space, which comprises a portion of the building's 10th floor and all of the 11th, 12th, 14th and 16th floors. The Cushman & Wakefield team of Stuart Romanoff, Amy Fox, Robert Constable and Maureen Kelly represented the tenant in lease negotiations. The landlord, Brookfield Properties, was represented in-house by Jerry Larkin and Duncan McCuaig.