NEW YORK CITY — Transit Wireless has signed a 32,499-square-foot office lease at 1400 Broadway in Manhattan. Michael Gottlieb, Susan Kahaner, Jennifer Ogden and Martin Cottingham of Avison Young represented the tenant, which is relocating to the 37-story building from 1350 Broadway, in the lease negotiations. Scott Klau, Erik Harris, and Neil Rubin of Newmark, along with internal agents Keith Cody and Shanae Ursini, represented the landlord, Empire State Realty Trust.
NEW HAVEN, CONN. — Institutional Property Advisors (IPA), a division of Marcus & Millichap, has negotiated the sale of West Gate Townhomes, a 135-unit multifamily property in New Haven. Built on 10 acres in 1947, the community is located about four miles from Yale University and features one- and two-bedroom units. Victor Nolletti, Eric Pentore and Wes Klockner of IPA represented the seller, Eagle Rock Advisors LLC, and procured the buyer, West Gate Ventures LLC. The sales price was not disclosed.
PHILADELPHIA — KeyBank has provided financing for the acquisition and renovation of Awbury View Apartments, a 125-unit affordable housing property in Philadelphia that was built between 1924 and 1958 and renovated in 2004. The property sits on 3.6 acres and also houses three commercial spaces. KeyBank Community Development Lending and Investment provided a $6.4 million 4 percent low-income housing tax credit construction loan, and KeyBank’s Commercial Mortgage Group secured a $21.8 million, fixed-rate Freddie Mac tax-exempt loan. Additionally, Key Community Development Corp. provided $10.6 million of equity. Jonathan Wittkopf, Robbie Lynn, Victoria O’Brien and John-Paul Vachon of KeyBank structured the financing on behalf of the borrower, a partnership between Virginia-based Community Preservation Partners East and Hampstead Development Partners, which will invest about $11 million in capital improvements.
NEW YORK CITY — Art logistics company Maquette Fine Art Services has signed an industrial lease expansion at The Matsil Building in the Long Island City area of Queens. The company has committed to an additional 56,200 square feet to bring its total footprint to 150,910 square feet. Chris Pachios and Forrest Mas of North River Co., which owns the 282,350-square-foot property in a joint venture with North Colony Asset Management, negotiated the lease. The deal brings the building, which also houses tenants such as Ralph Lauren and Motorola, to full occupancy. Maquette also recently opened a new storage and operating facility in metro Boston.
WATERTOWN, MASS. — Boston-based Berkeley Investments has purchased the historic Chase Mills building in the western Boston suburb of Watertown with plans to modernize the property’s utility systems and add life sciences space. Over the years, the 97,000-square-foot building, which is located at 64 Pleasant St. and currently houses the headquarters of architecture firm Sasaki, has also served as a paper factory and garment manufacturing plant. Sasaki sold the building, which it has owned and occupied since the 1950s, to Berkeley Investments for an undisclosed price.
BOSTON —Gazit Horizons, a subsidiary of global real estate firm Gazit-Globe, has purchased a 50,000-square-foot office and retail building located at 1430 Massachusetts Ave. in Boston. University Common Real Estate sold the property for $45 million in an off-market transaction. The historic building is located within the Harvard Square area and was originally constructed in the 1830s as a dormitory for the Ivy League university. Gazit Horizons will implement a value-add program that will renovate the lobby, common areas and building systems and will operate the building in a joint venture with private investment firm Hennick & Co.
NEW YORK CITY — Walker & Dunlop Inc. has arranged a $205 million loan for the refinancing of Hudson Research Center in Manhattan’s Midtown West neighborhood. Located along the Hudson River at 619 W. 54th St., the Class A life sciences and medical office property spans 320,000 rentable square feet. Originally built in 1930 as a film-editing house for Warner Brothers Pictures, the Art Deco property came to be known as The Movie Lab Building. Taconic Partners purchased the asset in October 2012 and undertook a capital improvement plan, including creating several floors of research space; updating the building’s façade, interior and crown; and adding tenant amenities such as bike storage and private showers. In 2017, Taconic recapitalized the asset with Silverstein Properties Inc. Since the end of 2013, the number of life sciences jobs nationally has increased by 70,000 per year, according to Walker & Dunlop. Demand for well-located, modernized life sciences and medical office space has soared nationally amid industry growth and lack of available product, adds the finance company. A Walker & Dunlop team led by Aaron Appel and Keith Kurland arranged the loan, with Square Mile providing the funds. The interest-only financing features a floating rate, …
UPPER MACUNGIE, PA. — A partnership between two New Jersey-based firms, KRE Group and Silverman Group, will develop Lehigh Hills, a 273-unit multifamily project that will be located outside of Allentown in the Lehigh Valley community of Upper Macungie. The community will feature a mix of one- and two-bedroom units that will be housed in seven mid-rise buildings. Amenities will include a fitness center with a yoga room, gaming room, conference room, a pool, dog park and a children’s play area. Valley National Bank provided a $44.4 million construction loan for the project, which is expected to be complete in 2022.
MORRISTOWN, N.J. — Amherst Capital Management has provided a $14.1 million acquisition loan for 500 College Road East, a 159,227-square-foot office building in the Northern New Jersey city of Morristown. The property was built in 1984 and was 53 percent occupied at the time of sale. Amenities include a fitness center, conference room and a café. Michael Klein, Greg Nalbaldian and Michael Lachs of JLL arranged the floating-rate loan on behalf of the buyer, a partnership between Bergman Real Estate Group, Eight Fold Capital and Hornig Capital Partners.
VINELAND, N.J. — A joint venture between Aspen Real Estate and Devli Real Estate has purchased MainTree Shopping Center, a 138,000-square-foot retail property in the Southern New Jersey city of Vineland. The sales price was $13.7 million. The new ownership will implement a value-add program at the center, which houses tenants such as GNC and Hair Cuttery. Joe French led a Marcus & Millichap team that represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction.