ROXBURY, N.J. — A joint venture between Advance Realty Investors and Invesco Real Estate has opened The Shops at Ledgewood Commons, a 450,000-square-foot open-air lifestyle center that is a redevelopment of the former Ledgewood Mall. The property is located in Roxbury, about 45 miles west of New York City. Anchored by a 164,087-square foot Walmart Supercenter that opened in October 2020, the property also houses retailers such as Marshalls, Ashley HomeStore, Men’s Wearhouse, Ulta Beauty, Five Below and Burlington. Restaurant users include Wendy’s, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Five Guys, Panda Express and Starbucks. Jeffery Realty is the leasing agent for the property.
Northeast
FORT WASHINGTON, PA. — Trez Capital has provided a $22 million loan for the redevelopment of a 367,681-square-foot office building in Fort Washington, a northern suburb of Philadelphia. The property was originally built in 1999 on a 28.3-acre site. The borrower, an entity doing business as Alliance HP Virginia Drive LLC, plans to modernize the building with a new entrance, dock doors and amenities. Brett Forman and Scott Mehlman of Trez Capital originated the debt.
Fantini & Gorga Arranges $17.2M Loan for Refinancing of Self-Storage Facility in Darien, Connecticut
DARIEN, CONN. — Fantini & Gorga, a Boston-based mortgage banking firm, has arranged a $17.2 million loan for the refinancing of Hollow Tree Self Storage, a 90-unit facility in the southern coastal city of Darien. The facility spans 83,595 net rentable square feet and includes outdoor vehicle storage space. Casimir Groblewski of Fantini & Gorga arranged the loan through an undisclosed, locally based bank on behalf of the borrower, Connecticut-based Affordable Self Storage Inc.
NORWALK, CONN. — Shawmut Design & Construction has topped off the 24,000-square-foot office headquarters building for global luxury vinyl tile manufacturer HMTX Industries in Norwalk, located in the southern coastal part of the state. The facility will be situated on two acres and will include design studios and galleries. Construction of the four-story building began in June and is scheduled to be complete in 2022.
NEW YORK CITY — Boston Properties Inc. (NYSE: BXP) has entered into an agreement to acquire 360 Park Avenue South, a 450,000-square-foot office building in Midtown Manhattan, for $300 million. The 20-story building is currently fully leased to a single tenant that will vacate the property at the end of the year. Boston Properties will subsequently implement a capital improvement program. The company expects to close on the asset in December. The seller was not disclosed.
NEW YORK CITY — Locally based developer Lightstone Group has received $130 million in construction financing for Lightstone Moxy, a 303-room hotel that will be located on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. MSD Partners LP, an affiliate of the private investment firm of tech magnate Michael Dell, provided a $90 million senior loan for the 16-story project. Lionheart Strategic Management LLC, an affiliate of Fisher Brothers, provided a $40 million mezzanine loan. Tao Hospitality Group will manage the hotel, which will feature multiple food and beverage concepts. Drew Anderman and Benjamin Nevid of Meridian Capital Group arranged the financing.
NEW YORK CITY — Criterion Real Estate Capital has provided a $125 million loan for the refinancing of 817 Broadway, a 140,000-square-foot office building in Manhattan’s Union Square neighborhood. The property was originally built in 1895 and features a 4,000-square-foot rooftop terrace. The borrower, Taconic Partners, which acquired the asset in 2016 in partnership with Nuveen Real Estate, will use a portion of the proceeds to fund tenant improvements and leasing costs.
PRINCETON, N.J. — New York-based private investment firm The Birch Group has acquired 600 and 700 Alexander Park, a 213,110-square-foot office portfolio in Princeton, for $47.3 million. The three-story building at 600 Alexander Drive consists of 141,176 square feet, and the three-story building at 700 Alexander Drive totals 71,934 square feet. Amenities include a cafeteria with indoor and outdoor seating, a fitness center, tenant lounge and walking paths. Kevin O’Hearn and Jose Cruz of JLL represented the seller, BentallGreenOak, in the transaction, and procured The Birch Group as the buyer. Greg Nalbandian, also with JLL, arranged acquisition financing.
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — JLL has arranged a $43 million bridge loan for the refinancing of BELA, a 104-unit multifamily building in Jersey City. The newly built property offers one- and two-bedroom units that average 982 square feet and are furnished with stainless steel appliances, island kitchens and full-size washers and dryers. Amenities include a fitness center, grilling stations, outdoor lounge and a clubroom. BELA also houses 2,600 square feet of ground-floor retail space. Matthew Pizzolato and Thomas Didio Jr. of JLL arranged the floating-rate loan through BrightSpire Capital Inc. on behalf of the borrower, Golden Glades Capital Management.
By Brendan Carroll, director of research, Cushman & Wakefield The rapid emergence of greater Boston in the first two decades of the 21st century as a global center of advanced, technology-assisted biology has been followed by an even faster rate of growth since the start of the new decade. We have reached a critical mass in the greater Boston market, where we have developed a combination of skills, institutions and collaboration between companies that is supported and financed by an investor base that is qualified to evaluate the potential efficacy of new innovations. This landscape has created a self-propagating ecosystem for development and absorption of life sciences properties. The region’s large inventory of lab space has also evolved as a driver of new users into the market as biotechnology groups increasingly focus on speed to market for promising scientific breakthroughs. In response to these drivers, the inventory of biotechnology-focused laboratory space in greater Boston, which eclipsed 20 million square feet in 2016, is now on pace to reach 30.7 million square feet by 2023. Furthermore, the current inventory levels will likely approach and surpass 40 million square feet this decade, as a sizable set of projects are expected to move …