MANCHESTER, N.H. — Developer and general contractor North & South Construction Services has completed Signature on Elm, a 35-unit multifamily project in Manchester, located near the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border. Signature on Elm houses studio, one- and two-bedroom units, with 15 residences being earmarked as workforce housing, as well as 8,000 square feet of retail space. Rents for market-rate units start at $1,500 per month for a studio apartment. North & South developed the project in partnership with the Strafford Economic Development Corp.
NEW YORK CITY — Long Island-based investment firm Wexcor Capital has purchased two contiguous apartment buildings in Manhattan’s Washington Heights area for $5.8 million. The six-story buildings were constructed in 1914 and house 61 rent-stabilized units. Aaron Jungreis, Ben Khakshoor and Alex Fuchs of locally based brokerage firm Rosewood Realty Group represented both Wexcor Capital and the seller, Barberry Rose Management, in the transaction. The deal traded at a cap rate of 9 percent.
PARAMUS, N.J. — Barnes & Noble has opened a 35,000-square-foot store in the Northern New Jersey community of Paramus. The bookseller is backfilling a space formerly occupied by Big Lots at 765 Route 17 S. Marc Palestina of New Jersey-based brokerage firm The Goldstein Group represented Barnes & Noble in the lease negotiations. Joe Dougherty of Metro Commercial represented Big Lots, which previously occupied the space.
Commercial property conversions can offer significant advantages over conventional ground-up real estate developments. Conversions can provide a head start on construction with established entitlements, existing structures, in-place utilities and entry to choice locations in otherwise built-out submarkets. Consider the Universal Buildings, Post Brothers’ conversion of two 1960s-era office buildings into more than 600 residential units and ground-floor retail just north of the District of Columbia’s Dupont Circle. The 15-story complex will feature a two-level, glass-walled fitness and recovery center with more than 10,000 square feet of training zones, equipment and classrooms. The developer is housing the fitness center and other amenities in a new atrium that replaces the upper levels of structured parking originally built within one of the former office buildings. “The location is incredible — there is probably no greater location in any major city in the country for conversion,” says Josh Guelbart, Post Brothers’ Co-Chief Operating Officer. “Having the entire block means we have light, air and hilltop views of Kalorama, Adams Morgan and Dupont Circle, three of the finest residential neighborhoods in the District. There isn’t room for new buildings of scale in those neighborhoods, and that really made this existing, large building attractive to us.” …
PARAMUS, N.J. — First Mile Properties, an affiliate of New York City-based investment firm Crown Acquisitions, has purchased a 287,704-square-foot office building in the Northern New Jersey community of Paramus. The five-story building, which was originally constructed in 1985, was 96 percent leased at the time of sale with an undisclosed financial services firm serving as the anchor tenant. David Bernhaut, Gary Gabriel, Frank DiTommaso and Seth Zuidema of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, a joint venture between DRA Advisors and Onyx Equities, in the transaction. The quartet also procured First Mile Properties as the buyer.
HUDSON, MASS. — Los Angeles-based investment firm TruAmerica Multifamily has acquired J Highlands at Hudson, a 158-unit complex located on the western outskirts of Boston. Built on 12 acres in 2005, the property offers one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Amenities include a fitness center, resident clubhouse, community kitchen, playground, basketball court, dog park and outdoor grilling and dining stations. Mike Coyne, Travis D’Amato, Maggie McFarland and Brendan Shields of Walker & Dunlop represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction. Russell Dey and Trevor Fase, also with Walker & Dunlop, arranged acquisition financing for the deal.
NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH, MASS. — BWE has provided a $13.1 million Freddie Mac acquisition loan for Branches of North Attleboro, a 104-unit seniors housing property in North Attleborough, located near the Massachusetts-Rhode Island border. The property offers assisted living and memory care services and amenities such as a salon, fitness center, library, courtyards and various recreational spaces. Taylor Mokris and Ryan Stoll of BWE originated the nonrecourse, fixed-rate loan on behalf of the undisclosed borrower. Benchmark Senior Living operates the property.
NEW YORK CITY — JLL has arranged the $7.5 million sale of a 26-unit apartment building located at 200 Mott St. in Manhattan’s Nolita neighborhood. The seven-story building houses one- and two-bedroom units and a retail space that is leased to an Italian restaurant. Hall Oster, Guthrie Garvin, Teddy Galligan, Conrad Martin, Braedon Gait and Bradford Burton of JLL represented the seller and procured the buyer, both of which were private investors that requested anonymity, in the deal. The buyer plans to implement a value-add program.
SUMMIT, N.J. — Cushman & Wakefield has brokered the $2.8 million sale of a mixed-use building in the Northern New Jersey community of Summit. The fully leased building at 351-353 Springfield Ave. consists of three apartments and two retail spaces, as well as a three-car garage. Andy Schwartz, Jordan Sobel, Andre Balthazard and Dan Bottiglieri of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller and procured the buyer in the transaction. Both parties requested anonymity.
NEW YORK CITY — Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO) is nearing completion of a $750 million repositioning of PENN 2, a 1.8 million-square-foot office building that sits atop the Penn Station transit hub in Midtown Manhattan. PENN 2 will sport architectural features such as a modern glass curtain wall, a triple-height lobby that opens onto a new plaza on 33rd Street and a six-story podium comprised of 105,000 square feet of column-free, double-height space. Above the 33rd Street plaza is a 280-person town hall space with a flexible seating system that can support large-scale keynote talks, private media screenings, banquets, conferences, workshops and open-floor exhibitions. PENN 2 also offers 72,000 square feet of outdoor green space, including an outdoor terrace atop the podium and a landscaped 17,000 square-foot rooftop park that is available to all tenants. The building sits across the street from Madison Square Garden, which houses its global headquarters within the office space. The larger PENN District campus is home to major tenants such as Meta, Morgan Stanley, Amazon, The Hartford, Cisco Systems and Samsung. “The reimagined PENN 2 appeals directly to innovation-oriented companies seeking an ultra-premium, hospitality-infused office environment that offers a one-seat ride for workers throughout the …