NEW YORK CITY — Private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice has signed a 144,000-square-foot office lease at 550 Madison Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. The firm is relocating and expanding from the Seagram Building and taking six floors at the 41-story, 800,000-square-foot building. The Olayan Group owns the building, which recently underwent a repositioning and now houses an amenity garden, fitness center and other wellness-based amenities and features. Olayan has also engaged restaurateur Simon Kim to bring a new 15,000-square-foot restaurant concept to the building.
FRAMINGHAM, MASS. — Atlantic Capital Partners, a division of Boston-based Atlantic Realty, has arranged the sale of a 64,917-square-foot retail property in Framingham, a western suburb of Boston, that is leased to grocer Stop & Shop. The site spans 7.6 acres and has an average daily traffic count of more than 68,500 vehicles. Justin Smith, Chris Peterson, Sam Koonce and Danielle Donovan of Atlantic Capital Partners represented the seller and procured the buyer, both of which requested anonymity, in the transaction.
DURHAM, N.H. — Locally based investment firm Torrington Properties has acquired Mill Road Plaza, a 53,280-square-foot shopping center in Durham, about 70 miles north of Boston, for $8.8 million. Grocer Hannaford anchors the center, which sits on 10 acres. Other tenants include Allegiant Physical Therapy, Appledore Family Medicine & Pediatrics, Domino’s Pizza, Mei Wei, Rite Aid and The Works Café. The seller was Colonial Durham Associates. David Choate and Abigail Bachman of Colliers brokered the deal.
WATERTOWN, MASS. — Boylston Properties and J.P. Morgan Global Alternatives have received a $150 million loan from Northwestern Mutual for the refinancing of 100 Forge, a life sciences building located in Arsenal Yards in Watertown, approximately nine miles west of Boston. The nine-story, 165,600-square-foot building opened in January and is now fully occupied by five life sciences companies: Abata Therapeutics, Remix Therapeutics, Mariana Oncology, Vigil Neuroscience and Affini-T Therapeutics. Ayers Saint Gross designed the building. The owners will use the funds to pay off a construction loan sourced from Bank OZK in 2021. JLL Capital Markets arranged the refinancing, with Northwestern Mutual as the lender. The life sciences campus at Arsenal Yards now includes 10 life sciences businesses across three buildings: 100 Forge, 500 Forge and 200 Arsenal Yards Blvd. In addition to owning the properties, Boylston is also the property manager. Arsenal Yards and its proximity to Cambridge and Boston creates a unique urban-suburban experience for life sciences users, according to Boylston. There are dozens of restaurants, bars, shops and fitness studios nearby, as well as a hotel, grocery store, movie theater, childcare services, apartments and open outdoor spaces. “Despite the significant headwinds experienced this year, greater Boston is …
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — Locally based developer King Street Properties has completed a $170 million life sciences project located at 101 Cambridgepark Drive in Cambridge. King Street partnered with California-based Healthpeak Properties on the 160,000-square-foot project, which features both traditional office and laboratory space within a five-story building. The property also includes 3,000 square feet of street-level retail space with outdoor seating. Dimella Shaffer served as the architect of the project, which opened fully preleased. Consigli Construction Co. served as the general contractor.
RYE, N.Y. — New York Blood Center Enterprises will open a 187,000-square-foot headquarters campus in Rye, located in Westchester County. The facility will include space for life sciences research, blood collections, processing and cell therapy manufacturing and traditional office functions. G3 Architects is designing the project, and Consigli Construction Co. is serving as the general contractor. Construction is underway, and completion is slated for the second half of 2024.
ISLIP, N.Y. — New York City-based Eagle Cliff Real Estate Partners has purchased an eight-acre industrial development site located at 4955 Veterans Memorial Highway in the Long Island community of Islip. Eagle Cliff plans to construct a 108,023-square-foot building that will be known as Holbrook Logistics Center and that will clear height of 36 feet, two drive-in doors and 108 parking spaces. Delivery is slated for the third quarter of 2024. Jordan Avanzato, Marc Duval, Nicholas Stefans, Jason Lundy, Jose Cruz and Mark Belenky of JLL brokered the land deal. The seller was an undisclosed local developer. First Citizens Bank provided $19.5 million in construction financing for the deal.
POTTSTOWN, PA. — CBRE has brokered the $5.2 million sale of a 60,000-square-foot industrial property in Pottstown, a northwestern suburb of Philadelphia. Built in 2000, the facility sits on a 10.3-acre site within Pottstown Industrial Park. Stephen Marzullo, Adam Silverman and Paul Touhey of CBRE represented the seller, an entity doing business as Wynnestay LLP, in the transaction. A subsidiary of TMC Properties LLC purchased the asset, which was fully leased at the time of sale to Eastwood Co., an e-commerce firm in the automotive space, for an undisclosed price.
NEW YORK CITY — Locally based brokerage firm GFI Realty Services has negotiated the $3.2 million sale of a 23-unit multifamily building located in the Midwood area of Brooklyn. Built in 1928, the property consists of four studios, 11 one-bedroom apartments, seven two-bedroom units and one three-bedroom apartment. Matthew Sparks of GFI Realty represented the seller, Santa Rosa Realty, in the transaction. Moshe Goldberger, also with GFI Realty, represented the buyer, Aida Abba Realty.
For real estate investors who have an acquisition teed up or who need to refinance, the prospects of finding debt today are arguably the bleakest they have been since the financial crisis 15 years ago. Higher interest rates and concerns over growing distress convinced banks and other lenders to move to the sidelines several months ago, thwarting commercial real estate investment sales. In turn, that is fueling broad uncertainty over what properties are really worth, which only begets more unease among banks. But private debt funds, which typically provide short-term rate bridge loans, are more likely to make deals when banks will not, says Jeff Salladin, a managing director with Dallas-based debt fund Revere Capital. That’s because debt funds like Revere raise capital from sophisticated investors to fund their loans, he says, while banks rely on deposits. That subjects banks to stringent regulatory oversight, which is especially intense in today’s debt climate. “All investors dislike uncertainty, and banks are investors by another definition,” states Salladin, who oversees real estate lending for Revere. “As a result, we could be in the first inning of a golden era for debt funds like ourselves, because we’re more flexible in way banks can’t be.” …