WESTPORT, CONN. — CBRE has negotiated the sale of two medical office buildings and a boutique office building in Westport, located in the southern coastal part of the state, for a combined $19.4 million. Locally based investment firm HB Nitkin purchased the healthcare assets, which were 89 percent leased at the time of sale, while Greenhouse Offices purchased the third property. Jeffrey Dunne, Steven Bardsley, Jeremy Neuer, David Gavin, Richard Gatto, Fahri Ozturk and Travis Langer of CBRE represented the seller, Leifer Properties, in the deals. CBRE also procured the buyer in the first transaction.
PLAINFIELD, N.J. — Locally based brokerage firm The Kislak Co. Inc. has arranged the sale of Stony Brook Gardens, a 70-unit multifamily property located in the Northern New Jersey community of Plainfield. The sales price equates to roughly $250,000 per unit. The two-story, garden-style property was built in 1961. Joni Sweetwood and Julie Gralla of Kislak represented the seller and the buyer, both of which requested anonymity, in the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — Locally based developer L&L Holding Co. has received $911.4 million in financing for 425 Park Avenue, a 47-story office building that is nearing completion in Midtown Manhattan. L&L Holding, which is developing the building in partnership with BentallGreenOak and Tokyu Land Corp., will use the proceeds to retire existing construction debt and fund the final stages of development, including lease-up costs. Global asset management firm Citadel has already committed to roughly half of the space as the 670,000-square-foot building’s anchor tenant. Additional tenants include Wafra Capital Partners, Hellman & Friedman and Medical Properties Trust. Michael Tepedino and Michael Gigliotti of JLL arranged the financing through a consortium of lenders led by Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies.
PHILADELPHIA — Spark Therapeutics, a locally based firm that devises and delivers gene therapy solutions, will open a 500,000-square-foot life sciences facility in Philadelphia’s University City neighborhood, a project that represents a $575 million capital investment. The facility will be part of a 1 million-square-foot campus at the intersection of 30th and Chestnut streets. Spark Therapeutics has entered into a 99-year ground lease with Drexel University to develop the project. Construction is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2022.
CONEY ISLAND, N.Y. — A joint venture between two locally based firms, Cammeby’s International Group and Rybak Development, will build a 499-unit multifamily property on Coney Island. The property, which will house 40,368 square feet of commercial space, will be developed as part of the Neptune/Sixth mixed-use redevelopment. Units will come in one-, two- and three-bedroom formats, with 30 percent of the residences to be designated as affordable housing. Demolition work is underway at the site, and vertical construction is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2022.
ROCKAWAY TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A partnership between two New Jersey-based firms, KRE Group and Russo Development, has begun leasing Rock Pointe, a 345-unit apartment community in Rockaway Township, located west of New York City in Morris County. Units come in one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans and feature stainless steel appliances, granite countertops and individual washers and dryers. Amenities include a pool, tot lot, walking trails, outdoor grilling areas, fitness center, conference facility, game room, package lockers and a dog park. Rents start at $2,100 per month for a one-bedroom unit. Move-ins are slated to begin in mid-January.
BOSTON — Newmark has brokered the $5.6 million sale of a 9,947-square-foot office and retail building located at 50-52 Broad St. in Boston. The property was originally built in 1853 and is known as The Architectural Building. Robert Griffin, Michael Greeley Joseph, Alvarado, George Demoulas and Casey Valent of Newmark represented the seller in the transaction. Matthew George of Newmark procured the buyer. Both parties requested anonymity.
By Taylor Williams Demand for retail and restaurant space in Northern New Jersey has long been buoyed by spillover tenants that find themselves priced out of premium spaces in New York City. Yet despite the fact that retail rents throughout the city have been depressed for the last 18 months, users have not flocked to Manhattan and Brooklyn at the expense of the fringe markets of Northern New Jersey. In fact, brokers in the latter region see a healthy level of demand from a wide range of users that see opportunity in the current conditions. “The closures of national soft goods retailers that were squeezed by reduced demand and supply chain constraints during the height of COVID-19 left some beautifully built-out spaces,” notes Kevin Pelio, director of leasing at Azarian Group. “This has benefitted local and regional operators who can come into a prominent retail location without the capital-intensive, upfront investment typically required in a normal market.” Pelio adds that the larger trend among brick-and-mortar retailers to reduce initial capital outlays and build-out costs has also led to reductions in landlords’ tenant improvement (TI) allowances. Brian Katz, CEO of Englewood, N.J.-based Katz & Associates, concurs that certain retailers are aggressively …
NEW YORK CITY — American Finance Trust Inc. (NASDAQ: AFIN) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a portfolio of 81 retail centers from CIM Real Estate Finance Trust, a REIT managed by Los Angeles-based CIM Group. The transaction is valued at $1.32 billion. The 9.5 million-square-foot portfolio comprises power retail and grocery-anchored shopping centers, as well as two single-tenant properties. The weighted average lease term of the portfolio is five years, according to CIM. The names and locations of the retail properties were not disclosed. The transaction price comprises primarily cash considerations, as well as $53.4 million in AFIN’s stock and additional considerations based on performance metrics achieved in the first 180 days after closing. The transaction is scheduled to close in the first quarter of 2022. “This immediately accretive off-market transaction represents a unique value creation opportunity,” says Michael Weil, CEO of AFIN. “We are adding significant scale while further enhancing our best-in-class portfolio with pandemic-tested assets on accretive terms.” For CIM Real Estate Finance Trust, the sale repositions the REIT’s retail portfolio to 437 credit-leased retail properties with a weighted average lease term of 10.8 years. The remaining portfolio totals 13.2 million square feet across 45 …
LINDEN, N.J. — New Jersey-based Accurate Builders & Developers has opened Citizen Linden, a 234-unit apartment community that is located about 20 miles south of New York City in Union County. Designed by Thomas J. Brennan Architects, Citizen Linden includes 4,500 square feet of retail space and a 292-space parking garage. Units feature studio, one- and two-bedroom floor plans, and amenities include a fitness center, multiple coworking and conference rooms, a dog park, outdoor grilling and dining areas and a resident lounge with a demonstration kitchen. Rents start at $1,800 per month for a studio apartment.