NEW YORK CITY — SL Green Realty Corp. (NYSE: SLG) has sold 635-641 Sixth Avenue in Manhattan’s Midtown South neighborhood for a gross sales price of $325 million. The office property comprises two adjoining buildings rising eight stories and totaling 267,000 square feet. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter and generate net cash proceeds to SL Green of approximately $312.5 million. The buyer was undisclosed. SL Green acquired the asset in 2012 for $173 million. The Manhattan-based office landlord completed a redevelopment of the buildings in 2015, featuring a new lobby, elevators, building systems and a penthouse rooftop equipped with a bocce court and event space. The buildings date back to the early 1900s and once housed the Simpson Crawford Department Store. Today, the property is 94 percent leased. Software company Infor is the anchor tenant and recently executed a renewal and extension of its lease through 2030. “New York City’s revitalization continues as does the demand for Class A office buildings,” says Harrison Sitomer, senior vice president of SL Green. “The disposition at a sales price of more than $1,200 per square foot is a result of extensive repositioning and leasing efforts at the property.” …
Northeast
NEW YORK CITY — Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) reported approximately $4.7 billion in net sales for its 2021 fiscal first quarter that ended on May 1, an increase of about 56 percent from $3 billion in net sales during that period last year. Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette cited the windfalls of federal stimulus funds and the expanding vaccine rollout as key to the company exceeding expectations. In addition, Gennette said that more Macy’s customers are engaging with its online platform, enabling the New York City-based retailer to post a 34 percent increase in digital sales from the first quarter of 2020. Macy’s has revised its full-year guidance and is now projecting to generate between approximately $21.7 billion and $22.2 billion in net sales this year; previously it had estimated that range to be roughly $19.7 billion to $20.7 billion. Macy’s stock price opened at $19.44 per share on Tuesday, May 18, up from $5.55 per share a year ago.
GOULDSBORO, PA. — Atlanta-based investment firm MDH Partners has acquired a 390,000-square-foot industrial property in Gouldsboro, located outside of Scranton. Built in 2002, the property was fully leased to Broadrange Logistics at the time of sale. Building features include a clear height of 30 feet, 42 dock doors, 130-foot truck court depths and an ESFR sprinkler system. The new ownership plans to expand the property by 160,000 square feet, with construction set to begin in the first quarter of next year. The seller was Exeter Property Group. Nick Murphy of Eastdil Secured brokered the deal.
MILFORD, CONN. — Valley Tool & Manufacturing LLC has acquired 8.1 acres in Milford, located in the southern coastal part of the state, for the development of a 100,000-square-foot industrial facility. Jon Angel of Angel Commercial LLC represented Valley Tool & Manufacturing in its site selection and acquisition of the land assemblage, which consists of seven parcels that were purchased in two separate transactions. Construction is underway, and the facility is expected to open by the end of the year.
NEWARK, N.J. — A team of industry professionals that includes New York-based Legacy Engineers and New Jersey-based architecture firm Clarke Caton Hintz (CCH) is underway on the $50 million redevelopment of Newark Symphony Hall. The building was originally constructed in 1905 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. The development team is repositioning the building in three phases over five years. Earlier this month, the team unveiled the new façade and streetscape. The project will also upgrade the city block, adding bike lanes, a central island and transportation access. New Jersey-based consulting firm Reh + Main Design & Development managed the selection process of the historic preservation architect for the initial phase of the project.
NEWARK, N.J. — Bellwether Enterprise has provided $7.9 million in Freddie Mac permanent financing for Aston Heights, a newly constructed mixed-income property located at 685 MLK Blvd. in Newark. The property totals 154 units, 51 of which will be set aside for public housing and be subsidized by the Newark Housing Authority. In addition, 49 units will be subsidized by a long-term Section 8 Housing Assistance Program (HAP) contract. The borrower, Pennrose Properties, developed the property in conjunction with the Newark Housing Authority. Victor Agusta of Bellwether Enterprise originated the financing, which retires the original Freddie Mac construction loan.
NEW YORK CITY — Paramount Group Inc. (NYSE: PGRE) has announced plans to overhaul the base and interior spaces at 60 Wall Street, a 47-story office tower in Lower Manhattan’s Financial District. The project is set to kick off when the building’s sole occupant, Deutsche Bank, vacates the tower next summer. Paramount Group plans to invest $250 million for the renovation, according to New York Business Journal. Originally built in 1989, the 1.6 million-square-foot tower is LEED Gold-certified and sits along Wall Street with Pine Street bounding the property on the north. Paramount Group, a New York City-based owner and manager of Class A office towers, has tapped architectural firm Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) to oversee the renovation. The firm has also selected Paul Amrich and Howard Fiddle of CBRE to lease and manage 60 Wall Street for tenants to replace Deutsche Bank. The revitalization plan includes opening the base of 60 Wall Street’s façade with new triple-height windows and a vast skylight to allow for more natural lighting. The renovation is set to also include the installation of a 100-foot green wall, which will improve air quality and provide greenery to the tower’s public spaces. The indoor green wall …
By Taylor Williams Demand for industrial space continues to surge throughout New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania, prompting developers to undertake more projects on a speculative basis and avail themselves to the classic mantra of “If you build it, they will come.” E-commerce users, spanning every industry from building materials to electronics to food, continue to spearhead the demand side of the equation. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2020, a year in which a global health crisis spurred furious increases in online shopping, e-commerce sales accounted for 14.4 percent of all retail sales, up from 7.3 percent in 2015. That figure is expected to grow to nearly 20 percent by 2024. Lenders are eager to finance speculative industrial projects, and developers are scouring the Mid-Atlantic for viable sites as spec projects increasingly account for bigger portions of their portfolios. “Pre-COVID, and even dating back several years, you might see 20 percent of the Mid-Atlantic industrial projects being done as build-to-suits,” says Rob Borny, senior vice president of capital deployment and head of the East Region for Nevada-based Dermody Properties. “It’s now moving toward being significantly less [build-to-suit activity] due to robust tenant demand, as well as the shorter lead …
LEXINGTON, MASS. — A partnership between Greatland Realty Partners and Singerman Real Estate has acquired a 288,528-square-foot office/research and development campus located at 10 Maguire Road in the northern Boston suburb of Lexington. The four-building property is located near the I-95/Route 128 and Route 3 interchange and features an open-air food hall with indoor and outdoor seating. JLL is marketing the property for lease to life sciences and technology users.
MERIDEN, CONN. — CBRE has negotiated the $34.8 million sale of Alvista Willow Brook, a 180-unit apartment community in Meriden, located roughly midway between Hartford and New Haven. Built in 2005, the property offers amenities such as a fitness center, pool and a leasing office. A CBRE team of Jeffrey Dunne, Simon Butler, Biria St. John, Gene Pride, Jeremy Neuer, Steve Bardsley, David Gavin and Travis Langer represented the seller, an affiliate of Phoenix Realty Group, in the deal. The team also procured the buyer, Beachwold Residential.