SALEM AND WILMINGTON, MASS. — Eastern Union has provided $31 million in financing for a pair of skilled nursing facilities totaling 265 beds in Massachusetts. The first property is a 123-bed facility in Salem, and the second is a 142-bed clinic in Wilmington. The overall package was structured with limited recourse, a three-year term, an 85 percent loan-to-value ratio and a floating interest rate. Proceeds will be used to refinance existing debt and fund capital improvements. Nachum Soroka and Jacob Shonland of Eastern Union handled the transaction. The borrower was not disclosed.
MIDDLETOWN, PA. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of Oak Grove Apartments, a 30-unit multifamily complex in Middletown, a southern suburb of Harrisburg. All units are two-bedrooms. Craig Dunkle and Mher Vartanian of Marcus & Millichap represented the buyer and seller in the transaction. Both parties requested anonymity.
WEST ISLIP, N.Y. — Piazzetta Italian Kitchen & Bar has signed a lease to open a 3,000-square-foot restaurant at a 19,757-square-foot retail center in the Long Island hamlet of West Islip. The center is under construction at 425 Union Blvd. and will house other tenants such as 7-Eleven and Brownstone Coffee. Christopher Mayor and Lawrence Densen of Island Associates Real Estate brokered the lease negotiations. The restaurant will be the chain’s fifth.
NEW YORK — JLL Capital Markets has arranged $393 million in construction financing for a project that will convert a 399,029-square-foot office building at ABC/Disney’s former headquarters building in Manhattan into a life sciences facility with purpose-built research and lab space. The borrower, a partnership controlled by New York City-based developer Taconic Partners and investment firm Nuveen Real Estate, purchased the building at 125 West End Ave. in 2019 for $230 million. With the vacating of the property by its primary tenant, which operated out of the building from 1985 until its lease expired in January of this year, the partnership is set to begin construction. The senior lender on the four-year, floating-rate financing package was a fund backed by Apollo Global Management, while Oaktree Capital Finance also provided mezzanine debt for the project. Evan Pariser and Geoff Goldstein of JLL placed the financing. The 125 West End Ave. building is located less than a quarter-mile from Lincoln Square and is close to the 1, 2 and 3 subway lines as well as West Side Highway. Additionally, the project is situated just 18 miles from the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. The existing building’s specs allow …
LEWISBERRY, PA. — Pet products supplier Chewy Inc. (NYSE: CHWY) has signed a lease to open a 732,000-square-foot distribution center at Goodman Logistics Center Newberry in Lewisberry, located just south of Harrisburg. The opening of the company’s new fulfillment center, which will be its fourth in Pennsylvania, is expected to bring about 400 new jobs to the region. Bart Anderson of CBRE represented the landlord, Goodman Group, in the lease negotiations. A tentative opening date was not released.
BOSTON — A partnership between Lendlease and Ivanhoe Cambridge has acquired land at 60 Guest St. within Boston Landing, a mixed-use destination in the Allston/Brighton area, for the development of a 320,000-square-foot life sciences building. The parcel sold for $67 million. The project will be situated on 1.1 acres, rise nine stories and offer traditional office space in addition to lab and research/development space. SGA Architects is designing the building, construction of which is targeted to begin in June 2022. Coleman Benedict and Kerry Hawkins of JLL represented the seller of the land, NB Development Group, and procured the partnership as the buyer.
SAYREVILLE, N.J. — New York City-based investment firm AMS Acquisitions has sold Gillette Towers, a two-building, 136-unit seniors housing facility in the Northern New Jersey community of Sayreville. In 2019, AMS purchased the property, which then consisted of a single 80-unit building, for $13 million. The company then developed a 56-unit building that is nearing completion, while the original building is now fully leased. The buyer was a partnership between A&RW Properties LLC and its affiliates JYW Holdings LLC and Nadlan Capital Inc.
FORT LEE, N.J. — Locally based developer Weiss Realty Co. is planning a 31-unit apartment project at 2130 Center Ave. in Fort Lee, located across the Hudson River from Upper Manhattan. Designed by architecture firm Bilow Garret Group, the 36,800-square-foot project will include parking for 51 vehicles and amenities such as a rooftop terrace, fitness center and coworking spaces. The site is located immediately adjacent to the I-95 thoroughfare leading up to the George Washington Bridge. Approval from the Fort Lee Planning Board is still pending. Weiss and his development firm have been honored by the Greater Fort Lee Chamber of Commerce in the past for their contributions to the evolving city.
BERGENFIELD, N.J. — A partnership between Diversified Properties and The Hampshire Cos. has acquired a 40,000-square-foot industrial property at 72 N. Washington Ave. in Bergenfield, located northwest of Manhattan. The two-story building was fully leased at the time of sale. Greg Sabato and Tom Consiglio of Resource Realty of Northern New Jersey represented the seller in the off-market transaction. Sabato and Consiglio also represented the partnership in its negotiations of a long-term lease modification and extension with the building’s only tenant, Cooper Electric, which occurred prior to acquisition.
By Taylor Williams It shouldn’t come as a surprise that most commercial real estate professionals expect a year that follows a global pandemic to be an improvement from the previous one. But the anticipation of a drastically strong rebound across an entire region seems a bit unusual, especially given that mass vaccination and herd immunity are still months away, ensuring that much of 2021 will to some degree be marked by similar COVID-19 headwinds to property types like office, retail and hospitality. Yet in the true spirit of the commercial real estate industry, optimism is prevailing, at least according to the results of Northeast Real Estate Business’ annual forecast survey of brokers, developers/owners/managers, as well as lenders and financial intermediaries. The survey encompassed approximately 150 professionals throughout the region across these three groups. Based on majority responses, brokers expect leasing activity to pick back up to varying degrees across all asset classes. Owners see major opportunity to grow their portfolios, particularly with regard to distressed assets whose pricing levels have come down due to occupancy and cash flow concerns. Piggybacking on the elevated opportunity for more investment volume are greater opportunities for lenders to finance new developments and acquisitions — …