QUINCY, MASS. — CBRE has negotiated the sale of The Residences at Munroe Place, a 111-unit multifamily property located in the southern Boston suburb of Quincy. The property was built in 2003 and includes 10,100 square feet of retail space that is leased to Starbucks, JPMorgan Chase, T-Mobile and Miam Miam Macaronerie. Simon Butler, Biria St. John and John McLaughlin of CBRE represented the seller, 1205 Hancock Street LLC, an entity controlled by Structure Tone Equities LLC, in the transaction. The trio also procured the buyer, a joint venture between John M. Corcoran & Co. and an institutional investor.
Mall and shopping center owners nationwide are faced with the vacancy of major big box anchors that have closed their doors due to the continued uptick in online retail and changing shopping habits and desires of today’s consumers. Often massive, these two-story, or even three-story spaces seem impossible to fill with the decline of most brick and mortar retail stores. Developers are being challenged to think outside the [big] box to find new tenants and creative uses for the space. Malls were originally thought of as community centers for neighborhoods during the mall boom. That attitude fell by the wayside as malls removed their socially engaging aspects and lost their sense of place — instead of being a place for the community to gather, the mall became simply a place to shop. Now, largely expedited by the pandemic, there have been seismic shifts in retail and shopper habits/what the consumer wants out of their shopping experience. The key word here is experience. Malls have had to readapt to fill in vacant spaces from large department stores that consumers no longer favor. This has opened up a lot of atypical uses, from distribution centers to residential to entertainment components to medical facilities. …
BOSTON — Cabot Properties Inc. has sold its Value Fund V portfolio in two separate transactions for a total of $2.8 billion. Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc. (BREIT) acquired the portfolio, which features logistics properties in the United States and Europe. The U.S. portfolio includes 102 properties totaling 15.2 million square feet located in major logistics markets such as the Inland Empire, California; Eastern Pennsylvania; South Florida; and the New York metropolitan area. In a separate transaction, Blackstone’s European Core Plus business and its affiliates acquired the remaining European properties, which feature 22 properties totaling 2.2 million square feet of industrial space. The properties are located in European markets such as the Midlands, North West and South East in the United Kingdom; Amsterdam; and Düsseldorf in Germany. “The sale of our Value Fund V portfolio completes our most ambitious logistics property investment program over the past 20 years,” says Franz Colloredo-Mansfeld, chairman and chief executive officer of Cabot. “This portfolio was created through 90 transactions, including 24 development projects throughout the U.S., U.K. and Europe completed over the past five years. We are pleased to have now completed approximately $5 billion in three transactions with Blackstone Real Estate over …
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — Rockport Mortgage has arranged $86.6 million in financing for Park Lake Apartments, a 240-unit affordable housing property located in the Long Island community of Hempstead. Park Lake Apartments consists of 14 two-story buildings on an 11-acre site. The borrower is an entity controlled by Metropolitan Realty Group and Silver Street Development Corp. The proceeds of the loan, in connection with equity from the sale of the 4 percent Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, will be used acquire and rehabilitate the property. Rockport Mortgage arranged the loan, which was structured with a fixed interest rate and a 40-year amortization schedule following the two-year construction period, through HUD’s 221(d)(4) program. Renovations are expected to last about 18 months and will include upgrades to cabinets, countertops, appliances and fixtures, flooring and utility systems.
NEWTOWN SQUARE, PA. — GMH Communities, in partnership with AEW Capital Management, has broken ground on Caswell at Runnymeade, a 249-unit apartment community in Newtown Square, located about 15 miles west of Philadelphia. Units will come in one-, two- and three-bedroom formats and range in size from 805 to 1,623 square feet. Residences will feature private balconies/patios, stainless steel appliances, walk-in closets and energy-efficient appliances. Amenities will include a pool, outdoor grilling areas, a fitness center, movie theater, golf simulator, clubrooms, coworking space and a lounge area. Preleasing is scheduled to begin next winter, with full completion of the project slated for spring 2023.
FORT MONMOUTH, N.J. — A joint venture between New Jersey-based Somerset Development and PulteGroup will undertake a multifamily redevelopment project at the Lodging Area, a 15-acre site in Fort Monmouth, located in the central coastal part of the Garden State. The Lodging Area currently houses eight buildings, two of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, that will be repurposed into 36 affordable housing units. The development team will demolish the other six buildings to develop 144 townhomes. Including infrastructure such as a waterfront walkway, the project represents a total capital investment of about $30 million and is expected to generate more than 200 new construction jobs.
STAMFORD, CONN. — Digital Currency Group, which invests in bitcoin and other blockchain technology companies, has signed a 90,000-square-foot office lease in Stamford. The company will occupy two floors at Shippan Landing, a 17-acre, six-building waterfront office campus that is owned by a joint venture between an affiliate of Rubenstein Partners LP and George Comfort & Sons. The lease term is 12 years, and Digital Currency Group plans to relocate from 250 Park Avenue in Manhattan in late 2022. Michael Mathias of Savills represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Trip Hoffman, Mike Norris and Adam Klimek of Cushman & Wakefield, along with internal agents Peter Duncan and Dana Pike, represented ownership.
NEW YORK CITY — Ghost kitchen operator Kitchen United has opened a 6,400-square-foot space at 307 W. 38th St. in Midtown Manhattan where it will offer takeout and delivery of brands such as Wingstop, Jersey Mike’s Subs and Chili’s, among others. The location is the third in New York City for Kitchen United, which also recently software and ghost kitchen developer, Zuul. The acquisition saw Zuul’s existing locations in the Soho and Hudson Yards neighborhoods rebranded as a Kitchen United MIX centers last month.
ELMONT, N.Y. — New York Arena Partners, a group comprised of Oak View Group, Sterling Project Development and the New York Islanders, has completed construction of UBS Arena, a 745,000-square-foot venue in the Long Island community of Elmont that will serve as the NHL team’s new home. Designed by Populous and JRDC Urban Architecture specifically for hockey and music events, the 17,250-seat arena features a seating bowl that is pushed further toward the ice than in standard basketball-first arenas. The design team also added certain elements to limit sound reverberation and echoes throughout the venue. UBS Arena also includes 10 bars, a 23,000-square-foot locker room and players’ campus, weight and equipment rooms, training areas, offices and video rooms. Musical artists playing at the venue will have access to private spaces with lounges, dressing rooms and dedicated dining areas.
TINTON FALLS, N.J. — Developer WinnCos. and nonprofit Soldier On are nearing completion of a $23 million affordable housing project in Tinton Falls, located in the northern coastal part of the state. The property is reserved for military veterans, including those transitioning from homelessness, and offers services such as telehealth, homeownership guidance, credit counseling and legal counseling. In addition to apartments for veterans up to 80 percent of the area median income (AMI), the community includes a mix of residences for those earning up to 30 and 50 percent of AMI. All 70 units feature a one-bedroom floor plan. The community is slated to open next month, and about 80 percent of the 70 residences have already been leased. Construction began last fall.