IRVINGTON, N.J. — The NRP Group, a Cleveland-based developer, has broken ground on a 56-unit affordable housing project in the Northern New Jersey community of Irvington. The five-story, mid-rise building will offer a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom residential units that will be reserved for residents earning 60 percent or less than the area median income. Five of the 56 units will be set aside for residents with special needs. Amenities will include a fitness center, children’s playroom, computer room, laundry facilities and an onsite management/leasing office. Financing partners include the New Jersey Housing Mortgage Finance Agency, JPMorgan Chase Bank, Hudson Housing, The Township of Irvington and Greater Newark LISC.
NEW YORK CITY — Fashionphile, a California-based provider of resale services for women’s apparel and accessories, has signed a 60,000-square-foot office lease at the Starrett-Lehigh Building in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. The building encompasses 2.3 million square feet of office and retail space and a full city block along 11th and 12th avenues and 26th and 27th streets. Jason Frazier and Jesse de la Rama of CBRE represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Dan Birney and Denise Rodriguez represented the landlord, RXR Realty, on an internal basis along with Jeffrey Fischer, Evan Haskell, Mary Ann Tighe and Sacha Zarba of CBRE. The lease term was 10 years, and the asking rent was $70 per square foot.
NEW YORK CITY — Locally based real estate giant SL Green Realty Corp. (NYSE: SLG) has received a $3 billion loan for the refinancing of One Vanderbilt, a 1.7 million-square-foot office tower in the East Midtown neighborhood of Manhattan. Designed by Kohn Pederson Fox Associates and located across the street from Grand Central Station, One Vanderbilt rises 77 stories and 1,401 feet, making it the tallest building in Midtown Manhattan. SL Green developed the property, which carried a price tag of $3.3 billion, in partnership with Houston-based Hines and the National Pension Service of Korea. One Vanderbilt includes 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurant space. In terms of tenant amenities, the building features a 30,000-square-foot space with meeting areas, a club-style lounge, curated food offerings and an outdoor terrace that faces Grand Central. A consortium of financial institutions led by Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs provided the debt, which was structured with a 10-year term and all-in fixed interest rate of approximately 2.94 percent. Other lenders that contributed to the financing included Bank of America, Bank of China, Bank of Montreal, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Barclays Capital Real Estate Inc. and Citi. Chatham Financial acted as an advisor …
By Joel Marcus, partner, Marcus & Pollack LLP What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object? The longstanding physics conundrum encapsulates the situation in which New York City property owners currently find themselves, and for better or worse, they’re about to discover the answer to the age-old question. City government has squeezed increasing sums of property taxes from its real estate stock in each of the past 25 years, but the pandemic is changing everything. The basic fact is that 53 percent of New York City revenues come from real estate taxes. Fueled by rising rents that are tied to high costs of new construction, the city property tax base has grown and enjoyed record tax revenues in recent years. Total real property tax revenue was almost $30 billion in 2020, according to the city’s annual property tax report. Historically speaking, no major event in recent memory has been responsible for a pause in the year-over-year tax increases — not the Financial Crisis of 2018, nor Hurricane Sandy, nor even the events of September 11. It seems as though only a global pandemic has this particular power. COVID-19 has affected every element of New York City’s economy, but …
TOMS RIVER, N.J. — Multifamily investment and management firm Universe Holdings has acquired Mariners Cove, a 225-unit townhome community in the coastal New Jersey city of Toms River, for $60 million. Built in 1972 and renovated in 2013, the waterfront property features two-bedroom units, about 90 percent of which offer water views. Amenities include a fitness center, playground and a pet play area, according to Apartments.com. Spencer Yablon of CBRE represented both Universe Holdings and the undisclosed seller in the transaction. Mariners Cove was 98 percent occupied at the time of sale.
PHILADELPHIA — CBRE has negotiated the sale of a 140,913-square-foot life sciences building located at 3701 Market St. in Philadelphia. Built in 2000, the property was leased to Penn Medicine and Drexel University at the time of sale. Robert Fahey, Jerry Kranzel, Bruer Kershner, Erin Hannan and Jack Corcoran of CBRE represented the seller, University City Science Center, in the transaction. Steven Doherty and Nick Harris of CBRE arranged an undisclosed amount of acquisition financing on behalf of the buyer, San Francisco-based GI Partners, which purchased the eight-story building for an undisclosed price.
SPRINGFIELD, MASS. —The Michaels Organization has purchased Bergen Circle Apartments, a 201-unit mixed-income housing property in Springfield, located in the western part of the state. MassHousing provided Michaels with a $13.3 million construction loan along with a $7.9 million repair loan to fund a renovation program that will include HVAC upgrades, new flooring and appliances and new window installation. The community offers two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments, 118 of which are restricted to households earning up to 50 percent of the area median income (AMI). Fifty-two units restricted to those earning up to 80 percent of AMI. The remaining units are rented at market rates. The general contractor for the renovation program is Michaels Construction; the architect is Urban Practice.
WEST HAVEN, CONN. — O,R&L Commercial LLC has brokered the sale of Savin Rock Plaza, a 62,722-square-foot retail center in West Haven, located in the southern coastal part of the state. The sales price was $3 million. Phil Marshall of O,R&L represented the buyer, DeLaurentis Management Corp., which plans to implement a capital improvement program, in the transaction. The seller was not disclosed.
NEW YORK CITY — Ariel Property Advisors has arranged a $12.4 million loan for the refinancing of a 36-unit multifamily building in The Bronx. Eli Weisblum of Ariel Property Advisors led the debt placement for the newly constructed building. The borrower and direct lender were not disclosed.
CHICAGO AND NEW YORK CITY — Ventas Inc. (NYSE: VTR) has entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire New Senior Investment Group (NYSE: SNR), a New York City-based owner of independent living communities across the country. The deal between these two seniors housing real estate investment trusts (REITs) is valued at $2.3 billion, including $1.5 billion of debt. The transaction will bolster the number of independent living communities for Ventas, which as of March 31 owned (fully or partially) 1,200 properties. As of first-quarter 2021, 48 percent of Ventas’ portfolio was classified as independent living. Post acquisition, Ventas expects independent living will comprise 58 percent of its portfolio. New Senior currently owns 103 properties across 36 states, with a large concentration clustered in California, North Carolina, Florida and Oregon. The portfolio was a little more than 80 percent occupied as of May 31, and the average age of residents was 81. The only New Senior property that isn’t independent living is Watermark at Logan Square, a continuing care retirement community located in Philadelphia. The acquisition will deepen Ventas’ relationship with seniors housing operators such as Atria Senior Living and Holiday Retirement, which announced last week their plans to merge …