NEWTOWN, CONN. — New Jersey-based investment firm First National Realty Partners (FNRP) has acquired Sand Hill Plaza, a 163,500-square-foot shopping center located in the southern Connecticut community of Newtown. A 61,450-square-foot Stop & Shop grocery store anchors the center, which originally opened in 1990 and also houses tenants such as T.J. Maxx, Mattress Firm, Verizon, Great Clips and Quest Diagnostics. Justin Smith and Chris Peterson of Atlantic Capital Partners represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction.
BOSTON — International developer Skanska has completed a 118,000-square-foot expansion project in Boston for Brookline High School. The new building sits partially atop the MBTA’s Brookline Hills station and features lab space, classrooms for general use, dedicated event space, dining and food service areas, a library and collaboration spaces. Skanska also demolished a large portion of the existing campus to build a new, 70,000-square-foot wing with biology and chemistry labs/classrooms, collaboration and maker spaces, a culinary arts kitchen and a student restaurant/café.
MASSAPEQUA, N.Y. — Breslin Realty, a Long Island-based investment firm, has acquired Massapequa Plaza, a 50,000-square-foot shopping center in Nassau County. Tenants at the center include Costello’s Ace Hardware, Rite Aid, Northwell Health GoHealth Urgent Care, Great American Jewelry, Pequa Spirits Wine & Liquor, Gino’s Tuscany Restaurant, Sal’s Meat Market, Three Amigos Fresh Mexican Grill and Fit Body Boot Camp. The seller and sales price were not disclosed.
PITTSBURGH — Private wealth management firm Glenmede Trust Co. has signed a 7,989-square-foot office lease at the historic Union Trust Building in downtown Pittsburgh. The move-in is scheduled for May. The Union Trust Building originally opened in 1917 and spans 460,000 square feet. The landlord, The Davis Cos., recently completed a $100 million redevelopment of the property, which also houses 40,000 square feet of restaurant space in addition to a fitness center, conference facility and an auditorium.
NEW YORK CITY — SL Green Realty Corp. (NYSE: SLG) has entered into an agreement to purchase 450 Park Avenue, a 33-story office building in Midtown Manhattan, for $445 million. The seller, Oxford Properties, is also a tenant in the 337,000-square-foot building, which was originally designed by Emery Roth & Sons. Other office users include Banco Bradesco and BDT Capital Partners, and the retail space will soon house a showroom for luxury automaker Aston Martin. Darcy Stacom, William Shanahan and Doug Middleton of CBRE brokered the deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter.
NEW YORK CITY — Chase Bank has provided a $60.8 million loan for the refinancing of a portfolio of seven light industrial properties totaling 199,457 square feet in New York City. Three of the properties are located in Brooklyn; two are in Queens, and two are in The Bronx. The Class B properties offer clear heights ranging from 16 to 28 feet, 20 loading positions, some office finish and ample parking. The portfolio was fully leased to eight tenants at the time of the loan closing. Greg Nalbandian, Jim Cadranell, Michael Lachs and Alex Staikos of JLL arranged the 10-year, nonrecourse loan, which carried a fixed interest rate, on behalf of the borrower, metro Philadelphia-based Seagis Property Group.
NEW YORK CITY — New York City-based developer HAP Investments is nearing completion of a 112-unit multifamily project located at 225 W. 28th St. in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. The 20-story building’s one- and two-bedroom units and three penthouses feature custom white oak cabinetry and marble countertops, and amenities include a pool, fitness center with a sauna and steam room, children’s play area and a rooftop deck with grilling areas. HAP Investments has received a temporary certificate of occupancy (TCO), allowing the first move-ins to commence, and expects to receive a permanent certificate this fall. More than 60 percent of the units were preleased at the time of the TCO issuance.
WILMINGTON, MASS. — Boston-based mortgage banking firm EagleBridge Capital has arranged $38 million in debt and joint venture equity financing for a 210,945-square-foot office and lab complex in the northern Boston suburb of Wilmington. Located at 181 and 187 Ballardvale St., the two buildings sit on a combined 15.4 acres and each span approximately 105,000 square feet. Ted Sidel and Brian Walsh arranged the financing, specific terms of which were not disclosed, on behalf of an unnamed borrower.
HOLMDEL, N.J. — CentralReach, a provider of electronic medical record software, will open a 25,000-square-foot office at Bell Works, an office and retail campus owned by Somerset Development in the Northern New Jersey community of Holmdel. The company will relocate from its current office in Matawan late this summer. CentralReach employs about 400 people who work remotely on a full-time basis and views the new office as a “collaboration-focused space” that represents “the office of the future.” CentralReach is designing the space in collaboration with G3 Architects and NPZ Style & Décor.
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Lee & Associates’ First-Quarter 2022 Economic Rundown by Sector
Lee & Associates’ newly released Q1 2022 North America Market Report scrutinizes first-quarter 2022 industrial, office, retail and multifamily outlooks throughout the United States. This class-by-class review of commercial real estate trends for the first quarter of the year focuses on how real estate is adjusting to long-term post-COVID attitudes. Lee & Associates has made the full market report available here (with further breakdowns of factors like vacancy rates, market rents, inventory square footage and cap rates by city), but the overviews offered below provide sweeping looks at the overall health and obstacles for four major commercial real estate sectors. Industrial: Rents Pushed on Strong Demand Strong demand for industrial space throughout North America continued in the first quarter as vacancies fell to record lows and rent growth hit double digits. First quarter net absorption in the United States totaled 92.8 million square feet, which was up 25 percent year over year but down 35 percent from the 143-million-square feet average of the last three quarters of 2021. Annualized rents rose 10.1 percent in the U.S. and the average vacancy rate fell to 4.1 percent. Part of this trend was due to a pause in new construction starts early in the pandemic. However, …