NEW YORK CITY — Apparel retailer GMA Accessories has signed a 23,698-square-foot office lease extension in Midtown Manhattan. The lease term is approximately 12 years, and the space spans the seventh and 10th floors at 389 Fifth Avenue, a 12-story building that was originally constructed in 1922. Max Koeppel of Koeppel Rosen LLC represented the landlord, the Rosen Family, in the lease negotiations on an internal basis. Michael Joseph of Colliers represented the tenant.
BOSTON — A joint venture led by locally based REIT Diversified Healthcare Trust (NASDAQ: DHC) has received $1 billion for the refinancing of the Vertex Pharmaceuticals headquarters facility in Boston. A consortium of lenders — Morgan Stanley Bank, Bank of Montreal, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan — provided the financing, which was structured with a five-year term and a fixed interest rate. Local investment firm RMR Group, which provides asset and property management services for the joint venture, arranged the debt. The majority of the proceeds will be used to retire $620 million in fixed-rate debt on the property, as well as to fund leasing reserves and repatriate cash to investors. Located at 50 Northern Ave. and 11 Fan Pier Blvd. in Boston’s Seaport District, the two-building facility spans approximately 1.1 million square feet. Both buildings were constructed in 2013. Vertex, which produces medicines and therapies for genetic disorders including cystic fibrosis, renewed its lease in August 2024 and will remain the property’s sole occupant through 2044. The joint venture ownership group includes multiple institutional investment groups that were not named in the announcement. Diversified Healthcare’s stake in the property is 10 percent; the company previously sold a 10 percent …
You can be a best-in-class operator with the coolest concept on the block, or you can be a well-capitalized landlord who knows all the right people, but if rapid, sustainable growth in the Boston retail market is what you seek, you might be SOL. According to local brokers, the high-demand, low-supply dynamic that currently exists in most major U.S. retail markets does not fully encapsulate the difficulties that tenants and landlords alike face in growing their footprints in the greater Boston area. As to why growing store counts or portfolios is so challenging in this market, the answer varies depending on who you ask. But a collective recap of all wide-ranging barriers to entry and disruptive forces at play paints a picture of a market that is borderline impenetrable for many tenants and perpetually stagnating for many landlords. “Boston remains an incredibly high-barrier-to-entry market,” says Zach Nitsche, director of retail capital markets in JLL’s Boston office. “A statistic we like to share with clients and industry people that haven’t historically invested in Boston and New England is that less than 5 percent of our total retail product has been constructed after the Global Financial Crisis. So far this year, the …
NEW YORK CITY — Locally based owner-operator BRP Cos. has completed Ruby Square, a 614-unit mixed-income multifamily development in the Jamaica area of Queens. Ruby Square features a mix of studios (seven), one-bedroom units (454) and two-bedroom apartments (153). About a third (185) of the units are affordable for residents earning between 80 and 130 percent of the area median income. The property also offers 50,000 square feet of amenity space across a two-level private park, multiple rooftop lounges, a fitness center, coworking spaces, multiple resident lounges, an indoor basketball court, children’s playroom, pet grooming facilities and a 24/7 attended lobby. Leasing launched in May, at which time market-rate rents started at about $2,800 per month.
WESTAMPTON, N.J. — Mapletree, a development and investment firm based in Singapore, has broken ground on a 250,000-square-foot industrial facility in Westampton, located in Southern New Jersey’s Burlington County. The site spans 22.5 acres and offers immediate proximity to the New Jersey Turnpike. Building features will include a clear height of 36 feet, 44 dock doors, two drive-in doors and parking for 150 cars and 62 trailers. Blue Rock Construction is serving as the general contractor for the project. JLL is the leasing agent. Completion is slated for mid-2026.
NEW YORK CITY — Locally based brokerage firm Ariel Property Advisors has arranged the $20 million sale of a multifamily development site in the Prospect Lefferts Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn. The site at 224-240 Clarkson Ave. is located within an Opportunity Zone and can support up to 150,000 buildable square feet of new development. Sean Kelly, Shimon Shkury and Lawrence Sarn of Ariel Property Advisors represented the seller, private investor Albert Rabizadeh, in the transaction. The buyer was not disclosed.
Partnership Breaks Ground on 66-Unit Affordable Seniors Housing Project in New Brunswick, New Jersey
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — A partnership between Pennrose and The New Brunswick Housing & Redevelopment Authority has broken ground on Hildebrand Commons, 66-unit affordable seniors housing project that will be located in Central New Jersey. The six-story building will offer one- and two-bedroom apartments that will be reserved for households earning 20 to 60 percent of the area median income. Five apartments will be set aside for formerly homeless individuals. Amenities will include a community room, fitness center and an outdoor courtyard. The first move-ins are expected to begin in fall 2026.
NEW YORK CITY — Apparel retailer Capelli Sales has signed a 39,081-square-foot office lease extension in Midtown Manhattan. The lease term is approximately 12 years, and the space spans the eighth, ninth and 10th floors at One East 33rd Street, a 12-story building that was originally constructed in 1913. Max Koeppel of Koeppel Rosen LLC represented the landlord, the Rosen Family, in the lease negotiations on an internal basis. Michael Joseph of Colliers represented the tenant.
RONKONKOMA, N.Y. — Greystone has provided a $166.2 million Freddie Mac permanent loan for The Core at Station Yards, a mixed-use property in Ronkonkoma, located on Long Island. The Core at Station Yards, which is situated within the 2 million-square-foot Station Yards development, comprises 388 apartments and roughly 83,500 square feet of retail and office space. Drew Fletcher, Jesse Kopecky and Bryan Grover of Greystone originated the financing on behalf of the borrower, a partnership between TRITEC Real Estate Co. and The Olayan Group. The loan was structured with a 10-year term and a fixed interest rate.
BELLPORT, N.Y. — JLL has negotiated the sale of The Storage Vault, a 749-unit self-storage facility located at 73 Horseblock Road in the Long Island community of Bellport. Constructed on approximately 5 acres in 2020, The Storage Vault totals 54,750 net rentable square feet of predominantly climate-controlled space. The property also includes 73 RV, boat and trailer storage spaces and 33 drive-up spaces. JLL represented the seller, Storage Vault, in the transaction. The buyer was National Storage Affiliates. The sales price was not disclosed.