PHILADELPHIA — Global law firm Goodwin has signed a 31,500-square-foot office lease at Schuylkill Yards, a mixed-use development in Philadelphia’s University City district. In early 2024, the firm will relocate from One Commerce Square to the entire eighth floor and part of the seventh floor of the 28-story building at 3025 JFK Blvd. Locally based REIT Brandywine Realty Trust (NYSE: BDN) owns Schuylkill Yards. Greg Soffian of Savills represented Goodwin in the lease negotiations.
INWOOD, N.Y. — CBRE has arranged the sale of a portfolio of light industrial properties situated adjacent to JFK International Airport in the Long Island borough of Inwood for $146 million. A partnership between Onyx Acquisition IV LLC and Starwood purchased the portfolio from limited liability companies controlled by the Elias family. Situated on 18 acres, the portfolio comprises 10 buildings totaling 500,708 square feet. The properties include: 95 Inip Drive, 90 Inip Drive, 71 Inip Drive, 55 Inip Drive, 41 Inip Drive, 100 Inip Drive, 40 Inip Drive, 475 Doughty Blvd. and 447-453 Doughty Blvd. Brian Fiumara and Martin Lomazow led the CBRE team that brokered the transaction. Allan Elias is the executive who represented the family interests. The transaction marks the first time in 50 years that the portfolio was marketed for sale, according to Lomazow. Ben Elias Industries Corp., a discount clothing distributor that occupied much of the portfolio, ceased operations last year. Fiumara says the portfolio offers a value-add opportunity as well as unrivaled accessibility to consumers, infrastructure and labor. — Kristin Harlow
DOYLESTOWN, PA. — Presbyterian Senior Living (PSL) has acquired Pine Run Life Plan Community, a 532-unit continuing care retirement community in Doylestown, located approximately 25 miles north of Philadelphia. The facility offers independent living, memory care and skilled nursing services. Doylestown Hospital sold the property for an undisclosed price, and PSL is partnering with Doylestown Health to operate the community. Additional terms of sale were not disclosed.
MONROE TOWNSHIP, N.J. — CBRE has brokered the $53.7 million sale of a 203,000-square-foot industrial property in Monroe Township, located outside of Trenton in Central New Jersey. The site at 34 Engelhard Drive spans 12 acres, and the building was originally constructed in 1980. Brian Fiumara of CBRE represented the seller, New York-based Clarion Partners, in the transaction. Fiumara also procured the buyer, GLP Capital Partners.
WOODBRIDGE, N.J. — New Jersey-based Cronheim Mortgage has arranged an $11.2 million loan for the refinancing of a Residence Inn hotel located in the Northern New Jersey community of Woodbridge. The 107-room hotel originally opened in October 2012. David Turley led the Cronheim team that arranged the debt through an undisclosed bank. The borrower was also not disclosed.
NEW YORK CITY — Locally based brokerage firm Ariel Property Advisors has negotiated the $4.9 million sale of a multifamily development site in the Mott Haven area of The Bronx that can support 77,750 buildable square feet. The site at 431-439 Concord Ave. comprises two contiguous lots in a Qualified Opportunity Zone that were recently rezoned to support affordable housing usage. Daniel Mahfar, Victor Sozio and Jason Gold of Ariel Property Advisors brokered the deal. The buyer and seller were not disclosed.
NEW YORK CITY — Internet service provider Pilot Fiber NY LLC has signed an office lease expansion at One World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. The tenant now occupies 12,456 square feet on the 46th floor of the 3.1 million-square-foot skyscraper. Michael Thomas and Taylor Bell of Colliers represented Pilot Fiber in the lease negotiations. David Falk, Peter Shimkin, Hal Stein, Jason Greenstein and Nathan Kropp of Newmark, along with internal agents Eric Engelhardt and Karen Rose represented the landlord, a partnership between The Durst Organization and The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.
As the pandemic lockdowns hammered offices and retail properties, investors abandoned those assets and plowed cash into apartments and warehouses, both of which witnessed robust rent growth and appreciation as the economy reopened. But in many cases, apartment investors tapped ultra-cheap, variable-rate financing to overpay for multifamily properties, expecting rental rates to continue to climb and help the deals pencil financially. While in large part rents have grown — albeit not at the same double-digit level seen during 2021 and early 2022 — buyers often made the deals with too much optimism and failed to account for potential risks or often, at least, underappreciated them. Now, not only has the debt on those multifamily assets become considerably more expensive in about a year’s time, but labor, insurance, taxes and other operating costs also have increased. As a result, financial cracks are emerging in the multifamily market, says Jeff Salladin, a managing director with Dallas-based private debt fund Revere Capital. What’s more, because of the typical 12-month apartment lease term, landlords are unable to pass those higher expenses onto tenants in a timely fashion, declares Salladin, leader of the firm’s real estate debt team. Even if multifamily owners could increase rents, …
DELRAN, N.J. — JLL has negotiated the sale of Hartford Corners, a 214,896-square-foot shopping center in the Southern New Jersey community of Delran. Anchored by grocer ShopRite, the center was 95 percent leased at the time of sale to tenants such as Planet Fitness, Five Below, Virtua Health, Five Guys and Mattress Firm. Jim Galbally, Christopher Munley, Colin Behr, James Graf and Patrick Higgins of JLL represented the seller, Principal Asset Management, in the transaction. Jim Cadranell, also with JLL, led the team that arranged acquisition financing on behalf of the buyer, Haverford Properties.
BOSTON — MassHousing has provided $14.5 million in financing for Farnsworth House, a 76-unit affordable seniors housing complex in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood. The seven-story building was originally constructed in 1982 and consists of 69 one-bedroom units and seven two-bedroom apartments. The borrower, Charles H. Farnsworth Senior Housing Corp., will use the proceeds to refinance existing debt, fund capital improvements and preserve the property’s affordability status. Among the improvements planned for the property are roof replacement, parking lot refurbishment, the removal of an underground oil tank and upgrading of the various electrical and security systems and components.