NEW YORK CITY — Los Angeles-based Parkview Financial has provided a $30 million construction loan for a 59-unit apartment project at 63 Pitts St. on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The 12-story building will house 11 studios, 39 one-bedroom units and nine two-bedroom residences, with 18 units to be designated as affordable housing. Amenities will include a rooftop deck, gym, package room and onsite laundry facilities. The borrower expects to complete the project in July 2022.
PITTSBURGH — Global real estate private equity firm Asia Capital Real Estate has funded a $28.8 million bridge loan for the refinancing of Heinz at 950 North Shore, a 151-unit multifamily building in downtown Pittsburgh. The property was originally built in 1930 as part of the Heinz manufacturing complex and was converted to residential use in 2017. Amenities include bike and kayak storage, a fitness center, game room, business center and outdoor grilling areas. Asia Capital provided the loan, which carried a loan-to-value ratio of 79.8 percent and a two-year initial term with three one-year extension options, to borrower MCM Co. Inc.
Shifting behaviors and expectations for consumers, manufacturers and distributors have made industrial space central to the commercial real estate landscape. “This is an asset class that for 25 years of my 39 years in the commercial real estate business was a boring, middle-of-the-road class. But this steady investment has just exploded,” says Jay Olshonsky, president and CEO of NAI Global. Much of the most recent change has been driven by the particulars of the COVID-19 pandemic. Delivery became a way of life for those socially distancing, creating an instant need for more distribution and warehousing centers. Olshonsky explains that the behavioral changes starting in March of 2020 accelerated trends (online shopping, delivery/pickup services and working from home) that might otherwise have taken five or more years to come to fruition. Olshonsky explains that there are still hurdles for this ascendant product type to overcome, but the changes we’ve seen over the last year will remain. Industrial Not a Bubble “Industrial is here to stay,” says Olshonsky. “COVID accelerated trends that already existed, but those trends were already in motion. We’re seeing some changes that are fundamental.” The need for delivery and warehouses is fed by new expectations: “Ecommerce is the …
WATERTOWN, MASS. — JLL Capital Markets has arranged the $130 million sale of Watertown Mall, a 260,867-square-foot power center in Watertown, a first-ring suburb just west of Boston. The property is 98 percent occupied by 10 tenants, including Target, Best Buy and the Registry of Motor Vehicles. Situated on 17.8 acres at 550 Arsenal St., Watertown Mall is adjacent to the 1 million-square-foot Arsenal Yards, the mixed-use redevelopment of a former armory. Watertown Mall Associates LP sold the property to Alexandria Real Estate Equities, according to local news outlet Wicked Local. The Watertown market has emerged as a popular life sciences and innovation district, according to JLL. It is located less than three miles from Cambridge and seven miles from downtown Boston. Watertown Mall welcomes more than 2.7 million annual customer visits and is home to the No. 1 most-visited Target store in Massachusetts, according to JLL. “With top-performing retail tenants in place, a premier location and demographics, and the potential to successfully support a variety of different uses, Watertown Mall represents an extraordinary opportunity to own one of the last large parcels in the red-hot Watertown submarket,” says JLL’s Chris Angelone. Angelone, along with colleagues Coleman Benedict, Nat Heald, …
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Mack-Cali Realty Corp. (NYSE: CLI) has unveiled the latest phase of the redevelopment of Harborside, a 4.3 million-square-foot mixed-use campus in Jersey City. The redevelopment of the 422,590-square-foot Harborside 1, which is one of five office buildings on the campus, is complete and includes a new façade and lobby, as well as infrastructure upgrades. The building also features a private terrace on the fourth floor with views of the Hudson River and Manhattan skyline. As part of this phase, Mack-Cali also introduced new art installations and public spaces and announced summer programming, including the opening of Smorgasburg, an open-air food market. Harborside also features 71,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, fitness and wellness programming, a 351-room Hyatt Regency hotel, a food hall and a daycare center. In addition, the site can support approximately 3.5 million square feet of new commercial and residential development.
BEDFORD, MASS. — A partnership between boutique investment manager Optimum Asset Management, Boston-based developer Redgate and AEW Capital Management LP has purchased a 52-acre commercial campus in Bedford, located northwest of Boston. The new ownership plans to convert the existing 288,000-square-foot anchor office building into a life sciences facility. The site also has the capacity to support another 300,000 square feet of office, lab and manufacturing space. The seller was not disclosed. Matt Sherry and Jon Schneider of JLL brokered the sale. JLL is also marketing the property for lease.
WEST HARTFORD, CONN. — ER Properties Fund LLC has acquired Westgate Apartments, a 186-unit multifamily community in West Hartford. Built on 10 acres in 1962, the property offers studio, one- and two-bedroom units, as well as a pool and a fitness center. Victor Noletti, Eric Pentore and Wes Klockner of Institutional Property Advisors, a division of Marcus & Millichap, represented the seller, BFN Westgate LLC, and procured ER Properties as the buyer.
NEW YORK CITY — JLL has negotiated the sale of Shoreham, a 179-room boutique hotel located near Central Park in Midtown Manhattan. The 89,681-square-foot property offers a fitness center, business center, restaurant and more than 2,000 square feet of meeting and event space. Jeffrey Davis, K.C. Patel, Michele Mahl, Nikhil Chuchra and Desmund Delaney of JLL represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction. A private investor purchased the asset for an undisclosed price.
WILLOW STREET, PA. — The Kislak Co. Inc., a New Jersey-based brokerage firm, has arranged the $17 million sale of The Villas at Willow Run, a 72-unit multifamily complex in Willow Street, located in Lancaster County. The property was built in 2019 and was fully occupied at the time of sale. Units feature granite countertops, individual washers and dryers and private patios. Matt Wolf and Robert Holland of Kislak represented the seller and buyer in the transaction. Both parties requested anonymity.
By Mark Fogel, president and CEO, ACRES Capital As the state’s second-most populous metro, the Pittsburgh MSA is the anchor of western Pennsylvania. Over the last 20 years, Pittsburgh has pivoted and evolved into a hub for the healthcare, education and technology industries, thus attracting an influx of young, high-earning millennials. Over the last 10 years, Pittsburgh has undergone an economic resurgence. Firms such as Google and Uber have opened regional headquarters in the city, lured by the strong base of talent graduating from Carnegie Mellon University’s (CMU) computer science and robotics programs. In fact, Pittsburgh has been the epicenter for autonomous vehicles (AVs) since the mid-1980s, when CMU’s Robotics Department developed the world’s first self-driving car. AV research, development and testing are expected to be catalysts of growth for the city in the coming years. In addition, the cutting-edge research at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the associated University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, which operates eight hospitals within the MSA and plans to build three more over the next several years, is attracting medical professionals from around the world. These factors, combined with a low cost of living and proximity to high-end amenities, have helped Pittsburgh …
