NEW YORK CITY — HLTH, which organizes conferences and events for the healthcare industry, has signed a 19,000-square-foot office lease expansion and renewal at 10 Grand Central in Midtown Manhattan. The firm is growing its footprint from 7,000 to 19,000 square feet on the sixth and seventh floors. Marx Realty owns the 35-story building and completed a $48 million redesign and capital improvement program in 2019. JLL represented the landlord in the lease negotiations.
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Utilizing Tax Credits to Create Affordable Housing in High-Opportunity Communities
The Section 42 Low-Income Housing Credit program has been America’s primary tool in the effort to construct affordable homes for low- and moderate- income households and ease renter cost burdens since 1986. This public-private partnership has created or preserved more than 3.1 million rental units, accounting for over 30 percent of the nation’s affordable housing stock. Congress is considering legislation that would materially expand and strengthen the tax credit program. In addition to several technical changes to tax credit accounting and rules governing the use of private-activity bond financing, the legislation would authorize increases in credit allocation in 2021 and 2022. The impact of these changes would be substantial, catalyzing construction of more than 100,000 additional units per year over a 10-year period, perhaps trimming the number of rent burdened low-income households by half. Building more affordable housing will represent a significant step toward reducing housing instability and economic inequality in America. But are quantitative gains alone enough? Constructing affordable housing in low-poverty, high-opportunity census tracts is challenging. The following discussion explores some ways in which developers, lenders and credit allocating agencies can increase the level of affordable housing construction in low-poverty, high-opportunity areas (LPHOA) and optimize the …
NEW YORK CITY AND AUSTIN, TEXAS — Blackstone Inc. (NYSE: BX) has agreed to acquire American Campus Communities (NYSE: ACC) in a deal valued at $12.8 billion, including the assumption of debt. ACC is the largest publicly traded owner, manager and developer of student housing in the United States. Blackstone plans to take the company private through Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc. and Blackstone Property Partners, which unlike its traditional private-equity funds can hold properties as long-term investments, according to media sources. This move comes as the price of public equity has been more expensive than private institutional capital over the past few years, according to Bill Bayless, co-founder and CEO of ACC, in a letter to employees. During that time, many of the private players in the sector were able to acquire and develop more aggressively than the cost of public equities permitted. The purchase price represents a premium of 22 percent against ACC’s 90-day, volume-weighted average share price as of April 18, and a 30 percent premium over the company’s closing stock price on Feb. 16, the day prior to ACC disclosing an indication of willingness from Blackstone to acquire the Austin-based firm. This transaction marks Blackstone’s largest investment …
By Taylor Williams Industrial brokers and developers throughout New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania are flush with tenant demand, but the frenetic pace and frequency at which revenues and costs change in this market has introduced a whole new set of operating challenges. In terms of the supply side of the market, developers of industrial product, like those of every other property type, have been squeezed by supply chain disruption. Prices and lead times for ordering key materials change radically and often without warning. Developers who try to circumvent these obstacles by ordering way earlier than normal in the process now run an increased risk of having to take delivery of supplies without having all permits and sources of construction financing in place. Such a misfire in timing can create lags in delivery, potentially alienating tenants needing turnkey space and generating additional short-term costs via storage of the materials before construction begins. In addition, misaligning these timelines can spook potential investors that want the certainty of knowing that a project is moving forward. “We’re buying supplies a year in advance and trying to sync up deliveries of those materials with when we expect to have full project approval,” says Peter Polt, …
BOYLSTON, MASS. — Rand-Whitney, a packaging company owned by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, will open a 384,000-square-foot industrial facility in Boylston, located in Worcester County in the central part of the state. Design-build firm PROCON broke ground on the project earlier this month. When fully operational in April 2023, the new packaging facility will have the potential to manufacture 300 million boxes annually and will add between 50 and 100 new jobs to the local economy.
BALA CYNWYD, PA. — Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE: FRT) will redevelop Bala Cynwyd Shopping Center, a 174,000-square-foot retail and dining destination located in the northwestern Philadelphia suburb of Bala Cynwyd. The $8 million project will include upgrading façade aesthetics, creating common and tenant-designated outdoor dining and gathering areas and improving pedestrian and vehicular circulation. Additionally, up to 80 outdoor seats and eight curbside pickup spaces will be added. Completion is slated for summer 2023. Current tenants at the 23-acre center include ACME Markets, Michaels, Five Guys and Honeygrow. All tenants will remain open during construction.
PITTSBURGH — CIT, a division of First Citizens Bank, has provided a $37.2 million acquisition loan for a 510,000-square-foot distribution center in Pittsburgh that is fully leased to Amazon and e-commerce consulting firm Nogin. The property serves as one of Amazon’s two sortation facilities in the Pittsburgh area. The borrower is Aminim Group, an investment firm with offices in Houston and Jerusalem. Specific loan terms were not disclosed.
HACKENSACK, N.J. — Locally based brokerage firm The Kislak Co. Inc. has arranged the $36 million sale of The VUE Hackensack, a 78-unit apartment complex in Northern New Jersey. The property was built in phases between 2015 and 2017 and consists of six one-bedroom units and 72 two-bedroom units with an average size of 1,205 square feet. Amenities include a fitness center, resident lounge and virtual doorman service. Andrew Scheinerman of Kislak represented the seller, an entity doing business as 295 Polifly Realty LLC, in the off-market transaction. Scott Davidovic, also with Kislak, procured the buyer, Sutton Equity LLC.
CONSHOHOCKEN, PA. — Lutron Electronics has signed a 27,000-square-foot office lease at Seven Tower Bridge in the northern Philadelphia suburb of Conshohocken. The Pennsylvania-based energy products manufacturer will occupy space at Seven Tower Bridge, a 260,000-square-foot building situated along the Schuylkill River that is owned by a partnership between American Real Estate Partners and Oliver Tyrone Pulver Corp. (OTP). Tyler Vandegrift of JLL represented Lutron Electronics in the lease negotiations. Esther Pulver of OTP, in conjunction with Ken Kearns of Cadence Real Estate Advisors, represented the landlord.
NEW YORK CITY — JPMorgan has unveiled plans to build 270 Park Avenue, a 60-story skyscraper rising 1,388 feet in Midtown Manhattan, for the financial firm’s new global headquarters. Construction is scheduled for completion by the end of 2025. 270 Park Avenue replaces a previous building, which was designed in the late 1950s for about 3,500 employees. The new project will feature 2.5 million square feet of flexible and collaborative space. The asset will offer 2.5 times more outdoor space on the ground level of Park and Madison avenues, with wider sidewalks and a large public plaza. The office tower will also include a food hall, health and wellness center, communal spaces, HVAC filtration systems and a conference center. The property will be fully powered by renewable energy sourced from a New York State hydroelectric plant and will operate on net zero carbon emissions. The asset will include technology to help it run efficiently, including intelligent building systems that use sensors, AI and machine learning systems to adapt to energy needs; advanced water storage and reuse systems to reduce water usage by more than 40 percent; and automatic solar shades connected to HVAC systems for greater energy efficiency. JPMorgan is …