PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. — A partnership between South Florida-based PEBB Enterprises and New York-based Sagamore Hill Partners has purchased Soundview Marketplace, a 188,109-square-foot shopping center located in the Long Island hamlet of Port Washington. The 11-acre property was built in phases between 1962 and 1977 and houses tenants such as T.J. Maxx, Target, Walgreens and Ace Hardware. John Bell, Jon Kleinberg and Patrick Heeg of Transwestern represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction.
SOMERSET, N.J. — JLL has brokered the sale of Avalon Somerset, a 384-unit apartment community in the Northern New Jersey community of Somerset. Built in 2013, the property features one-, two- and three-bedroom units with an average size of 1,016 square feet. Amenities include a pool, fitness center, resident lounge and a playground. Jose Cruz, Michael Oliver, Steve Simonelli, Kevin O’Hearn and Nicholas Stefans of JLL represented the seller, AvalonBay Communities Inc., in the transaction. The buyer was a joint venture between Harbor Group International and Azure Partners. Jamie Leachman, Matthew Pizzolato, Amit Kakar and Thomas Didio Jr. of JLL arranged the financing on behalf of the new ownership. The loan was structured with a 10-year term and a floating interest rate.
NEW CASTLE, DEL. — Pennsylvania-based Hersha Hospitality Trust (NYSE: HT) has sold the 192-room Sheraton Wilmington South hotel in New Castle, located south of Philadelphia. The six-story building was constructed in 2011 and renovated in 2020. Amenities include a pool, fitness center, business center and 9,167 square feet of meeting and event space. Jeffrey Davis, Blaise Fletcher, Stephen VanLeer, K.C. Patel, Nikhil Chuchra and Desmund Delaney of JLL represented Hersha Hospitality Trust in the sale of the property to New Castle County. Hersha Hospitality’s stock price closed at $7.49 per share on Monday, Jan. 4, down from $13.74 per share a year ago.
NEW YORK CITY — Transwestern has negotiated a 34,500-square-foot office lease for social services agency Sheltering Arms Children & Family Services at 165-19 Jamaica Ave. in Queens. The six-story building spans 69,000 square feet. Stephen Powers, Lindsay Ornstein, Thomas Hines, Jake Cinti and Alexander Smith of Transwestern represented Sheltering Arms, which plans to relocate to its new space in the third quarter of 2021, in the lease negotiations.
NORWALK, CONN. — JLL has negotiated the $53 million sale of Sheffield SoNo, a 136-unit waterfront apartment community in Norwalk that includes ground-floor office space. Built in 2007, the property features one- and two-bedroom units with stainless steel appliances, quartz countertops, individual washers and dryers and private balconies in select units. Amenities include a heated pool, 24-hour fitness center, outdoor grilling area, resident clubhouse and concierge services. Jose Cruz, Michael Oliver, Steve Simonelli, Michael Oliver, Kevin O’Hearn, Drew Saunders and Nicholas Stefans of JLL represented the seller, a partnership between Avenue Realty Capital and Spirit Investment Partners. The buyer was not disclosed.
FLEMINGTON, N.J. — Local developer Jack Cust will undertake a project in Flemington, about 60 miles west of New York City, that will convert the historic Courthouse Square into a 206-unit multifamily building with 20,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space. The project is part of a larger effort to redevelop and revitalize the town’s business districts and improve walkability via new zoning ordinances and promotion of shovel-ready development sites. Cust will also renovate and expand the Union Hotel, which has been in operation since 1814, with an additional 85 rooms. Redevelopment of Liberty Village, the 162,000-square-foot outlet mall, is also expected to be part of the long-term plan. Global design firm Stantec is currently compiling visual recommendations for the design of the revitalized downtown area. Their conceptual work utilizes stakeholder feedback, and the firm will offer visual recommendations in early 2021. Completion of the separate multifamily redevelopment project is slated for 2022.
WOBURN, MASS. — CBRE has brokered the sale of Washington Crossing, a 205-unit apartment community in Woburn, a northern suburb of Boston. Built in 2003, the property consists of four residential buildings, a clubhouse and multiple freestanding carports. Units average 1,063 square feet, and amenities include a heated pool, fitness center, business center and a theater room. Simon Butler, Biria St. John and John McLaughlin of CBRE represented the seller, an institutional investor advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management, in the transaction. The team also procured the buyer, CWMA Baystate LLC.
NUTLEY, N.J. — Prism Capital Partners has sold 111 Ideation Way, a 157,000-square-foot life sciences building in the Northern New Jersey city of Nutley. The building, which was fully leased at the time of sale, is part of Prism’s 116-acre ON3 campus that is a redevelopment of the former North American headquarters site of Swiss pharmaceutical company Hoffman-La Roche. Prism Capital sold the asset to Chicago-based Harrison Street for an undisclosed price. Andrew Merin, David Bernhaut, Gary Gabriel, Frank DiTommaso Kyle Schmidt, John Alascio and Sridhar Vankayala of Cushman & Wakefield brokered the deal.
PITTSBURGH — The Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh has tapped New Jersey-based Tryko Partners to redevelop the former Fairywood School into a 46-unit affordable housing community for seniors age 62 and older. The majority of the units (39) will be reserved for renters earning 60 percent or less of the area median income. The new community will feature one-bedroom units surrounded by walkable green space. A community building will allow residents to take advantage of financial literacy, nutrition and exercise programs, health screenings and other support services. The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency provided 9 percent low-income housing tax credits for the project. A construction timeline was not disclosed.
By Kurt Yeghian, CEO, and Jared Curtis, president, Existing Conditions Surveys Commercial and institutional real estate developers in the Northeast have one priority mantra for 2021: no more costly surprises. With property deals and development projects resuming in an industry badly scarred by the coronavirus pandemic, the CRE community wants certainty above all — certainty in determining the value of their assets, in acquiring struggling portfolios and in repurposing vacant spaces and structures. As-built conditions form the basic DNA of any development. Nowhere are those specifics more suspect than in the Northeast, where the only record of square footage, dimensions, walls, floors and other structural features are blueprints created decades ago by architectural interns with tape measurers or surveyors relying on low-tech equipment. Property owners encounter inaccurate blueprints more often in the Northeast than in other parts of the country, but it’s a common problem in any region with older development. Smart players in the development community are avoiding expensive surprises — and sometimes uncovering hidden value — by turning to 21st century building documentation techniques. These practices rely on the same digital reality capture technology that has fueled advancements in robotics, self-driving vehicles and drones. Our experience in this …