BURLINGTON, MASS. — Bob’s Discount Furniture has opened a 43,000-square-foot store and showroom at 3 Abbott Park in Burlington, a northwestern suburb of Boston. The space will house furniture with smart technology features, as well as with multipurpose functionalities and furniture that promotes wellness. Based in Manchester, Conn., Bob’s operates about 170 stores across 24 states.
By Taylor Williams If the whole mall redevelopment thing doesn’t work out, you can always become a marriage counselor. Perhaps some additional training and education would be needed for such a career transition to actually take place. But mall and shopping center owners who undertake high-risk redevelopments undoubtedly have firsthand appreciation of the importance of providing clear and courteous communication to the many different groups they deal with, from municipal leaders to longstanding tenants to onsite contract workers. That’s not to say that poor communication will necessarily kill a mall redevelopment. The inability to secure zoning overlay districts, civic partnerships for infrastructural improvements or feasibly priced construction loans in 2024 — these are variables over which mall owners have limited control and can actually sink these projects in their infancy. And those factors only come into play once the development team has done its due diligence and determined what uses and levels of density the project will feature. “After you’ve considered the macro-level needs of the market and the asset itself, you enter a phase that we call ‘the minefield map,’” says Steve Plenge, CEO of Pacific Retail Capital Partners. “Reciprocal easement agreements [that regulate design or tenancy issues] by …
CARNEYS POINT, N.J. — New York City-based Rockefeller Group has broken ground on an approximately 1.1 million-square-foot industrial project in Carneys Point, located across the Delaware River from Wilmington in Southern New Jersey. Rockefeller Group Logistics Center at Carneys Point will consist of two buildings, one totaling 596,443 square feet and the other spanning 530,000 square feet, on a 141-acre site. Building features will include clear heights of 40 feet and parking for 658 cars and 328 trailers. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank provided $114.8 million in construction financing for the project, which is slated for an early 2025 delivery. M+H Architects designed the project, and FCL Builders is serving as the general contractor. CBRE has been tapped as the leasing agent.
MORRISTOWN, N.J. — Locally based developer The Hampshire Cos. has sold Max on Morris, an 85-unit apartment complex located in the Northern New Jersey community of Morristown. Completed in 2023, Max on Morris offers studio, one- and two-bedroom floor plans. Amenities include an entertainment lounge, break room and an outdoor amenity deck with grilling stations. The property also houses four affordable housing units and 14 supportive housing units designed for residents with special needs. Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller and the private buyer in the deal.
MECHANICSBURG, PA. — CBRE has brokered the sale of a 57,000-square-foot office property in Mechanicsburg, located just outside Harrisburg. Built in 1988, the property at 5035 Ritter Road is situated within the 1.9 million-square-foot Rossmoyne Business Center and is leased to the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts. Steve Marzullo and Adam Silverman of CBRE represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction. CBRE also procured the buyer, Triple Crown Corp.
NEWARK, N.J. — A partnership between Deugen Investment Group and Devli Real Estate has acquired a seven-acre industrial outdoor storage facility in Newark. According to LoopNet Inc., the facility at 449 Doremus Ave. was completed earlier this year and totals 30,000 square feet. The site formerly housed a cogeneration power plant, and the new ownership plans to renovate the interior and exterior of the existing structure and repave the site for trailer parking, outdoor storage and car parking uses. The seller was not disclosed.
CHERRY HILL, N.J. — Five new tenants have signed leases totaling approximately 30,000 square feet at Cherry Hill Mall, a 1.4 million-square-foot shopping center in Southern New Jersey. Alo Yoga, Kendra Scott and Signature Workspace are scheduled to open at the property this year. Dry Goods and Rowan have also signed leases at the center, with the latter scheduled to open next spring. Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT) owns and manages the property.
MALDEN, MASS. — The DSF Group, an investment firm with offices in Boston and Washington D.C., has sold Halstead Malden Square, a 195-unit apartment complex located on the northern outskirts of Boston. Built in 2015, the six-story, market-rate building houses studio, one- and two-bedroom units and amenities such as a pool, fitness center, golf simulator, game room, bocce ball court and outdoor grilling and dining stations. Simon Butler, Biria St. John, John McLaughlin and Brian Bowler of CBRE represented DSF Group in the transaction. The team also procured the buyer, an entity advised by Nuveen Real Estate.
PASSAIC, N.J. — BridgeInvest has provided a $34.5 million acquisition loan for The Pennington, a 147-unit apartment complex located in the Northern New Jersey community of Passaic. The Pennington is an adaptive reuse of the former St. Mary’s Hospital complex, a site that spans about 3.5 acres. Units come in one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans. Amenities at the pet-friendly property include a fitness center, children’s play area and a community room. The borrower was locally based investment and development firm The Birch Group.
NEW HAVEN, CONN. — Nonprofit owner-operator Beacon Communities has broken ground on a 76-unit affordable housing project in New Haven. The project will convert a parking lot on State Street and vacant upper-floor spaces on Chapel Street into a complex with studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments and ground-floor commercial spaces. The majority (60) of the units will be affordable to households earning between 30 and 60 percent of the area median income. The other 16 units will serve households that are currently or at risk of experiencing homelessness. Beacon Communities is financing construction of the project through a mix of federal and state tax credits, as well as local incentives and subsidies.