NEEDHAM, MASS. — Locally based firm SSG Development has completed a 986-unit self-storage facility at 540 Hillside Ave. in the southwestern Boston suburb of Needham. Westport Properties Inc. will manage and operate the Class A property, which totals 123,000 square feet of climate- and non-climate-controlled space, under its U.S. Storage Centers brand.
HACKENSACK, N.J. — The Kislak Company Inc. has brokered the $3.3 million sale of The Overlook, a 140-unit apartment building in the Northern New Jersey community of Hackensack. The property offers one- and two-bedroom units, most of which have private patios and garages. Daniel Lanni of Kislak represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction. The newly constructed building was fully occupied at the time of sale.
LAWRENCE, MASS. — Unitex, a provider of commercial laundry services, has opened a 90,000-square-foot industrial facility, located north of Boston, in a move that is expected to add about 200 new jobs to the local economy. The facility is located at the site of the former plant of can manufacturer Crown Holdings and will be used to service the metro Boston life sciences and healthcare industries. Seyon Group, a Boston-based investment firm, owns the building in which the facility is situated.
WATERTOWN, MASS. — Boston Development Group (BDG) has received approval from the Watertown Zoning Board of Appeals to move forward with construction of a new life sciences project in the western Boston suburb. Elkus Manfredi Architects is designing the project, which will be built in two phases and will include traditional office, lab and research and development uses. Construction of Phase I, which will feature 200,000 square feet of office and lab space and open green space, is scheduled to begin during the first quarter.
BRISTOL, CONN. — Connecticut-based Chozick Realty has brokered the $43.4 million sale of a 12-building, 496-unit multifamily portfolio in Bristol. The properties were built in the 1960s and 1970s and range in size from 12 to 60 units. Steve Pappas of Chozick Realty represented the seller, Harvest Properties, in the transaction. Pappas also procured a New York-based owner-operator, which will implement a value-add program, as the buyer.
WATERTOWN, MASS. — Locally based brokerage firm ABG Commercial has arranged the $21.5 million sale of a 145,000-square-foot industrial flex building located at 580 Pleasant St. in Watertown, a western suburb of Boston. Bernard Gibbons and Stephanie Deering of ABG Commercial represented the seller and occupant, Fluid Management Systems Inc., in the transaction. The duo also procured the buyer, a partnership between Griffith Properties and a fund controlled by New York-based DRA Advisors. The new ownership plans to convert the building into a life sciences facility that is slated to be complete in summer 2022.
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — JLL has provided a $20 million Freddie Mac loan for the refinancing of Solaris Lofts, a 72-unit apartment building with ground-floor retail space in Jersey City. Built in 2019, the five-story building features studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units averaging 733 square feet and amenities such as a fitness center, dog park, resident lounge and a rooftop deck. Matthew Pizzolato and Thomas Didio of JLL originated the 10-year, floating-rate loan on behalf of the borrower, PERE Holdings.
NEWBURGH, N.Y. — Third-party logistics firm National Freight Inc. has signed a 60,143-square-foot industrial lease at Northeast Business Center, a 141-acre industrial park in Newburgh, about 70 miles north of Manhattan. Bob Scherrik of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Brian Sekel represented the landlord, National Realty & Development Corp., on an internal basis.
NEW YORK CITY — Knotel Inc., a New York City-based flexible workspace provider, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Knotel concurrently has agreed to sell the business to an affiliate of commercial real estate services firm Newmark Group Inc. (Nasdaq: NMRK), which is providing Knotel with $20 million of debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing to help fund day-to-operations. The DIP financing, provided by a Newmark-backed entity known as Digiatech LLC, is subject to court approval. Founded in 2016, Knotel provides custom offices for company’s using an in-house team of architects, interior designers and workplace strategists. The total number of existing Knotel locations was not available, but Knotel has a presence in several global cities, including Amsterdam, Atlanta, Berlin, Boston, Dublin, London, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo, Toronto and Washington, D.C. Amol Sarva, co-founder and CEO of Knotel, cites the COVID-19 pandemic as a black swan event for his firm, which was hampered by companies opting to work from home during the outbreak. “The pandemic created a uniquely challenging operating environment, with significant impacts on leasing velocity and the rate of renewals in key markets, particularly New York …
BUFFALO, N.Y. — ACRES Capital Corp. has provided a $32.5 million construction loan for Auden Buffalo, a 481-bed student housing project that will be located a mile from State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo’s campus. The 154-unit property will offer a fitness center, clubroom, study lounges and a pool. Richard Horowitz, Nicholas Barbato and Justin Horowitz of Cooper Horowitz LLC arranged the debt on behalf of the sponsor and developer, New York City-based DMG Investments. An expected completion date was not released.
