SOUTH BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Locally based developer Woodmont Industrial and Denver-based EverWest Real Estate Investors are underway on a 210,000-square-foot expansion and renovation project in South Brunswick, about 50 miles south of Manhattan. The partnership will renovate a 145,000-square-foot facility at 461 Ridge Road and develop a new, 65,000-square-foot facility. Upon completion, which is slated for this summer, the property will feature a clear height of 32 feet, 30 loading doors and four drive-in doors. Bussel Realty Corp. is marketing the property for lease.
Northeast
NEW YORK CITY — Cushman & Wakefield has negotiated a 25,000-square-foot office lease at 48 W. 25th St. in Manhattan’s Madison Square Park area. Originally constructed in 1920, the building rises 12 stories and totals 127,130 square feet. Ethan Silverstein, Theodora Livadiotis and Bruce Mosler of Cushman & Wakefield represented the landlord, locally based investment manager Savanna, in the lease negotiations. Anthony LoPresti, also with Cushman & Wakefield, represented the tenant, MediaCo Holding Inc. The space comprises the entire second and third floors and will house the broadcast operations of two of the tenant’s local radio stations.
NEW YORK CITY — Architecture Research Office (ARO), a design and consulting firm, has signed a 10,000-square-foot office lease at 1 Willoughby Square in Brooklyn. Designed by FXCollaborative, which also serves as the anchor tenant, 1 Willoughby Square is a 34-story, 500,000-square-foot building in the downtown area. Nick Farmakis and Kate Walker of Savills represented ARO in the lease negotiations. Paul Amrich, Neil King, Zac Price, Alex D’Amario and James Ackerson of CBRE represented the landlord, JEMB Realty Corp.
WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J. — Party City Holdco Inc. (NYSE: PRTY) has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The restructuring process is expected to substantially reduce the company’s debt and optimize its capital structure and liquidity. The company expects to complete the restructuring process in the second quarter of this year. Party City’s more than 800 stores will remain open during the bankruptcy process. The company says it will continue to advance its key initiatives underway, such as converting stores to next-generation prototypes, evolving Halloween City pop-up stores, building out its online shopping experience, establishing localized marketplaces and delivering more compelling assortments and innovation for customers. Party City and some of its domestic subsidiaries filed voluntary Chapter 11 petitions for relief in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. The company’s subsidiaries outside of the U.S., its franchise stores and its Anagram foil balloon business are not part of the Chapter 11 proceedings. The Woodcliff Lake-based party-goods retailer has entered into an agreement with a group holding more than 70 percent of the company’s senior secured first lien notes to support an expedited restructuring. Party City has secured a $150 million commitment from the group in debtor-in-possession financing. Party …
PHILADELPHIA — Landmark Properties, a Georgia-based owner-operator, will develop The Mark Philadelphia, a 909-bed student housing project that will be located at 3615 Chestnut St. in Philadelphia’s University City district. The 34-story tower will offer studio to six-bedroom units that will serve students at the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University. Shared amenities will include a rooftop pool and a hot tub with lounge space, 24-hour study lounges, a computer lab, sauna and a fitness center. The development will also include 55,938 square feet of office space located adjacent to the high-rise community. Landmark Construction will serve as general contractor for the project, which is set for completion in 2026.
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — A partnership between locally based developer Fields Grade and New York City-based Alpine Residential has topped out a 24-story multifamily building at 270 Johnston Ave. in Jersey City. The building will house 169 apartments in studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom formats, as well as 9,000 square feet of retail space. Ten units will be reserved as affordable housing. Amenities will include a pool, fitness center, coworking spaces, outdoor grilling and dining areas, communal kitchen and a game room. MHS Architecture designed the project, and KL Masters Construction Co. is serving as the general contractor. Completion is slated for early 2024.
NEW YORK CITY — Locally based brokerage firm Ariel Property Advisors has arranged the $16.2 million sale of two adjacent multifamily buildings totaling 52 units that are located at 992-1000 Amsterdam Ave. on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The buildings include a combined seven commercial spaces. Victor Sozio, Shimon Shkury, Howard Raber, and Evan Hirsch of Ariel Property Advisors brokered the deal. The buyer and seller were not disclosed.
BILLERICA, MASS. — Newmark has negotiated a 30,665-square-foot lease at Axis Park North, a six-building, 450,000-square-foot office and life sciences campus in Billerica, a northern suburb of Boston. Rory Walsh, Richard Ruggiero, Torin Taylor and Matthew Adams of Newmark represented the landlord, a partnership between Boston-based Camber Development and Wheelock Street Capital, in the lease negotiations. Kevin Kennedy and Tom Hovey of CBRE represented the tenant, ASMPT AEi, a provider of automated cameras and other digital technologies.
AVENEL, N.J. — GenPsych, a provider of mental health services, has signed a 10,043-square-foot medical office lease in the Northern New Jersey community of Avenel. The building at 1030 St. Georges Ave. totals 70,000 square feet. Darren Lizzack and Randy Horning of NAI James E. Hanson represented the landlord in the lease negotiations. The representative of the tenant was not disclosed.
The mere flipping of the calendar to mark a new year has done nothing to inject certainty into the next 12 months. The higher cost of credit that muted commercial real estate investment sales in the second half of 2022 and the attitude of some sellers who refuse to recognize the new pricing reality remain in place in the new year. Many eyes are on the Federal Reserve, hoping for a respite in interest rate hikes after the central bank raised the effective benchmark federal funds rate some 400 basis points to 4.33 percent in less than a year, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Some investors are even hoping for a rate cut. Neither of those is likely, at least in the short term, observes Arthur Milston, a senior managing director of NAI Global in New York City. While inflation has cooled to an annual rate of 6.5 percent from a high of 9.1 percent in June, that’s still far off from the roughly 2 percent annual target that the Fed desires, he adds. That should translate into continued tightening, Milston says, although the question is, how long will the central bank keep raising rates, and …