METHUEN, MASS. — Standard Communities, the affordable housing division of Los Angeles- and New York-based Standard Cos., has acquired Mills Falls Apartments, a 97-unit mixed-income community in the northern Massachusetts city of Methuen. The building was originally constructed in 1826 as part of the Methuen Cotton Mills facility and converted to a residential use in 2001. Communal amenities include a lobby, community rooms, a fitness center and laundry rooms, each of which will receive upgrades. Standard’s acquisition was completed in partnership with the Massachusetts Housing and Finance Agency (MassHousing), the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) and the Methuen Housing Authority.
ORANGE, N.J. — Los Angeles-based Parkview Financial has provided a $12.5 million construction loan for The Legacy, a 51-unit apartment project in the Northern New Jersey community of Orange. The unit mix will include one- and two-bedroom residences that feature stainless steel appliances, quartz countertops and in-unit washers and dryers. Onsite amenities will include a resident lounge area, fitness center and a rooftop terrace. The borrower was an affiliate of New Jersey-based KW Contracting Construction Corp. Construction is underway, and the project is expected to be complete in summer 2022.
When the pandemic took hold and rents of commercial properties began to waver, many experts in the industry expected a flood of distressed properties to hit the market in mid- to late 2020. To date, however, that hasn’t happened to a large extent. Valuation firms assumed they would get busier as properties fell upon hard times. Karl Finkelstein is vice president of Business Development and senior managing director for Valbridge Property Advisors, an independent, commercial valuation and advisory services firm based in Naples, Fla. with 80 offices nationwide. Finkelstein spoke recently to REBusinessOnline and explains that while not many high-profile sales have happened, other factors have kept those in his area of the industry busy in recent times. Finkelstein covers likely outcomes for distressed properties in 2021 and which sectors are performing well. A flight to quality, low rates and a reevaluation of shifting pandemic timelines have meant that the valuation business has its work cut out for it. Asset Type Winners and Losers There isn’t much surprising in the list of property types experiencing difficulties at the moment. Lodging properties (especially those tied to conventions), fly-to resorts, urban retail and standalone restaurants (particularly those without drive-thrus) all experienced a …
NEW YORK CITY — Locally based development and investment firm L&L Holding Co. is nearing completion of 425 Park Avenue, an office tower in Midtown Manhattan. Designed by British architecture firm Foster + Partners, the building rises 47 stories and 897 feet, spanning an entire city block. L&L is co-developing the property with Tokyu Land Corp. and will co-manage it with BentallGreenOak. The development is valued at $1 billion, according to the New York Post. The development team has received a temporary certificate of occupancy, and the exterior tower crane has now been dismantled and removed, signaling that the end of construction is near. The building’s glass and steel façade is now fully enclosed. The initial groundbreaking occurred in 2016, when the anchor tenant initially signed its lease, according to the Post report. That tenant is financial services firm Citadel Enterprises, which has preleased 331,800 square feet. That figure represents approximately half of the building’s total amount of leasable office space. The building also includes 9,552 square feet of retail space on the ground floor and 8,829 square feet of retail space on the mezzanine level. L&L has also begun the interior build-out of the tower’s amenity floor, which will feature …
PITTSBURGH — CBL Properties, a Tennessee-based retail REIT, has debuted Live! Casino Pittsburgh, a $150 million entertainment destination that operates out of the company’s Westmoreland Mall in metro Pittsburgh. The Cordish Cos. of Baltimore developed the 100,000-square-foot casino and will operate it under its Live! brand, which is known for baseball-themed entertainment destinations in Atlanta, St. Louis and Arlington, Texas. The two-level destination replaces a former Bon-Ton department store and offers an array of entertainment and fresh dining concepts, including American Kitchen + Craft Bar from celebrity chef Guy Fieri. CBL also plans to open a casino at York Galleria in York, Pennsylvania.
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. — CBRE has negotiated the $84.2 million sale of Gaslight Commons, a 200-unit apartment community in South Orange, about 20 miles west of New York City. The sales price equates to $421,000 per unit. Built in 2002, the property features one- and two-bedroom units that are furnished with stainless steel appliances, tile backsplashes, granite countertops and walk-in closets. Amenities include a pool, business center, fitness center and a resident clubhouse. Jeffrey Dunne, Gene Pride, Jeremy Neuer, Steve Bardsley, David Gavin and Travis Langer of CBRE represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction and procured Pacific Urban Residential as the buyer.
PEABODY, MASS. —Locally based investment firm Longpoint Realty Partners has acquired a 217,592-square-foot industrial property located at 11 Centennial Drive in Peabody, a northern suburb of Boston. The property is situated within the 300-acre Centennial Park mixed-use campus and was fully leased to drug wholesaler Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH) at the time of sale. Robert Griffin, Tony Coskren, Ed Jarosz, Matthew Pullen, Rick Schuhwerk, Samantha Hallowell, Lizzie Kusbit and Dominick Romano of Newmark represented the seller and the buyer in the transaction.
HANOVER, MASS. — Cushman & Wakefield has arranged a $29.8 million loan for the construction of Benchmark of Hanover, a seniors housing project that will be located approximately 20 miles south of Boston. The borrower is a joint venture between Benchmark Senior Living and Iron Point Partners LLC. The property will feature 97 units of assisted living and memory care. Rick Swartz, Jay Wagner, Sam Dylag, Jack Griffin and Joseph Carbone of Cushman & Wakefield placed the debt through an undisclosed lender.
NEW YORK CITY — Ready Capital has closed a $9.5 million loan for the refinancing of a four-property, 20,000-square-foot multifamily and retail portfolio in the Central Queens submarket of New York City. Proceeds will also be used to renovate and stabilize the portfolio. The borrower and specific loan terms were not disclosed.
EAST WINDSOR, N.J. — National Tree Co., a New Jersey-based provider of decorative Christmas items, has signed a 608,442-square-foot industrial lease in East Windsor, a suburb of Trenton. The tenant will occupy the entirety of the building at 150 Milford Road, which is owned by Nevada-based Dermody Properties, for the next seven years. Andrew Warren with Atlantic Real Estate Services represented National Tree Co. in the lease negotiations. Mindy Lissner of CBRE represented the landlord.