JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Marcus & Millichap has completed the sale a six-unit apartment property located in Jersey City. The facility, built in 1900, features 5,100 rentable square feet with three-one bedroom and three-two bedroom units. The property recently underwent renovations that included a new roof, all new electric and new furnace/boilers. Declan Devlin of Marcus & Millichap’s New Jersey office, represented the seller, an undisclosed private investor, and procured the buyer, an undisclosed local investor. The sales price was $420,000.
Job cuts among financial and professional services firms will cause office fundamentals to weaken in Boston this year, but modest amounts of new construction will temper the supply and demand imbalance. With layoffs at State Street Bank, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and Fidelity Investments projected to total in the thousands, a resulting decline in office space demand will drive up vacancy for the second consecutive year. In the CBD, negative net absorption of approximately 550,000 square feet will raise the average vacancy rate nearly 200 basis points to the high-11 percent range. While tenant demand across the metro will wane in the near term, tighter construction financing and lingering economic concerns have reined in development activity. Completions in 2009 will drop off from last year and will represent only a 0.6 percent expansion of metrowide inventory, helping to offset reduced employment-generated demand. Weakening fundamentals and an uncertain economic outlook will underpin conservative buyer expectations this year. As a result, deals will be underwritten assuming higher vacancy rates and rent declines, elevating cap rates metrowide. Currently, initial yields are averaging in the high-6 percent to mid-7 percent range, up about 25 basis points to 50 basis points over the past …
BETHLEHEM, PA. — Development has commenced for The Plaza on 8th, a 9.5-acre retail and office complex located at the corner of Eighth and Eaton avenues in Bethlehem. The project will be built on the site of the former offices of Bethlehem Steel Corp., which have been demolished to make way for the new construction. Phase I will include the demolition, site improvements and traffic flow improvements. In addition, a commercial building, a retail strip center, a future restaurant, and pad sites for CVS/pharmacy and PNC Bank will be built. Phase I construction costs are estimated to total $19.5 million. Phase II will include the construction of a multi-story, Class A office building. PNC and CVS will break ground for their buildings this summer. The developer of The Plaza on 8th is locally based DB3 LLC. Allentown, Pa.-based Summit Management & Realty Co is serving as project manager, listing agent and property manager.
SALEM, N.H. — Chestnut Hill, Mass.-based WS Development has begun the redevelopment of Stateline Shopping Center, a 230,000-square-foot retail property located in Salem. The primary focus of the project will be the construction of a new anchor location for Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse. The retailer’s new building will contain 102,000 square feet as well as a 29,000-square-foot outdoor garden center. It is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2010. Other components of the shopping center redevelopment will include architectural updates to existing buildings, stormwater drainage improvement and roadway improvements on the center’s Route 28 frontage. Current tenants Namco and Sovereign Bank will remain open during construction.
EWING, N.J. — The grand opening will be held this weekend for The Jefferson, 235-unit residential condominium project located in Ewing. Developed by Iselin, N.J.-based American Properties Realty, The Jefferson comprises 10 three-story buildings. All of the units contain two bedrooms and include up to 1,635 square feet of living space. Prices start at $209,990. Amenities at the Jefferson include a 3,500-square-foot clubhouse with a fitness center, a clubroom, a meeting room, a library, a conference room and a business center. Other amenities include an outdoor pool, a playground and a bocce court. Phase I of the project, consisting of 49 homes, is more than 40 percent sold and the first residents are expected to move in this summer. The clubhouse opened in March. At the grand opening, three model units will be unveiled, which were designed by Atlanta-based Design Environments, the same interior architect that designed the clubhouse.
YORK AND WILKES-BARRE, PA. — York-based ROCK Commercial Real Estate has completed three sales in eastern Pennsylvania. In York, ROCK represented both parties in the sale of the historic Rosenmiller mixed-use building, located at 33-41 W. Market St. The building contains 25,762 square feet. The buyer was 33-41 West Market Street LP. In Wilkes-Barre, ROCK again represented both parties in the sale of a 14,548-square-foot warehouse located at 705 Casey Ave. The buyer was Post Family LP. Finally, ROCK represented both parties in the sale of a 4,888-square-foot warehouse, located at 300 Shady Lane in York. The buyer was Shady Lane Partners LLC. The sellers in all three transactions were not disclosed.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — NorthMarq Capital has arranged $4.6 million in first-mortgage financing for Creek Hill Apartments, a 126-unit multifamily property located in Rochester. The loan includes a 5-year term and a 20-year amortization schedule. It was arranged by Sam Berns of NorthMarq’s Upstate New York regional office on behalf of the undisclosed borrower. The lender was a regional bank.
GLASSBORO, N.J. — Construction is underway on Glassboro’s new, $300 million Rowan Boulevard retail corridor. The Rowan Boulevard project is the heart of a downtown revitalization, which is forming a new 26-acre, 100-foot wide corridor stretching a third of a mile from the foot of the Rowan University campus to the center of downtown. The new boulevard will feature broad tree-lined sidewalks, dozens of stores, restaurants featuring café-style sidewalk dining, residential condos and town homes, a new student housing campus, a hotel-conference center, pedestrian plazas and a town square. The new corridor will feature several mixed-use buildings that will offer 185,000 square feet of retail space, 307,000 square feet of residential space and 40,000 square feet of office space. The project will also include a 107-room Holiday Inn Express & Suites hotel/conference center, with an adjacent 5,000-square-foot restaurant. Construction is set to begin in July on a 36,000-square-foot Barnes & Noble self-standing bookstore, complete with a Starbucks Café. The first phase of a new apartment-style housing complex for 884 Rowan University students is slated for completion in September, and site work for the second phase is already underway. Completion of the entire project is set for 2012. The project is …
PHILADELPHIA — NAI Bluestone Real Estate Capital has secured $36.5 million in senior debt for the Glen at Shawmont Station, a Class A, 202-unit multifamily complex located in Philadelphia. The Glen at Shawmont Station is a garden style apartment community consisting of 10, three-story buildings situated over 18 acres. The property is nearly 100 percent occupied with amenities such as a combination leasing office/clubhouse, which includes a full size kitchen, a leasing office, a sample apartment unit, an exercise facility and a cyber café with wireless Internet access. The loan was structured and secured on behalf of Hunters Pointe Associates, an affiliate of the Andorra Group. Freddie Mac provided $30 million in senior permanent financing and an additional $6.5 million was secured from local banks and collateralized by additional real estate assets. The 10-year, senior permanent loan is fixed at 6.2 percent and amortized over 30 years.
NEW YORK CITY — NAI Friedland Realty has completed the $20 million sale of a 144,000-square-foot warehouse. Located at 1080 Leggett Ave. in the Hunts Point area of the Bronx in New York City, the warehouse was purchased from Paradise Foods by Manhattan Beer Distributors. Situated on 4.9 acres, the 1950s warehouse features 22-foot high ceilings and is in close proximity to area highways and transportation, and it is adjacent to an active rail site. Steve Kornspun of Friedland represented Manhattan Beer in the transaction.