LOWELL AND BILLERICA, MASS. — A partnership between Marcus Partners and Rhino Capital Advisors has acquired a 180,000-square-foot industrial portfolio in metro Boston. The portfolio consists of two buildings, one in Lowell and the other in Billerica, both of which are northern suburbs of Boston. The sales price was $13.5 million. The seller was not disclosed. Brett Paulsrud, Amy Lousararian and Madeline Joyce of JLL arranged $9.1 million in fixed-rate acquisition financing through Webster Five Cents Savings Bank for the deal.
NEW YORK CITY — NorthMarq has provided a $44.5 million Freddie Mac loan for the refinancing of Briarwood Gardens, a 514-unit multifamily property located in the Jamaica area of Queens. The property was built in the 1950s and offers studio, one- and two-bedroom units, as well as a playground, dog park and onsite laundry facilities. Robert Ranieri of NorthMarq originated the fixed-rate loan. The borrower was not disclosed.
NEW YORK CITY — Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp. (MMCC) has arranged a $34.4 million bridge loan for the refinancing of a 117-unit apartment building in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. The property, which includes 4,000 square feet of commercial space, was originally built as a pencil factory and was converted to multifamily in 2012. A private lender provided the five-year loan, which was structured with a 3.65 percent interest rate, three years of interest-only payments and a 75 percent loan-to-value ratio. Steven Rock of MMCC originated the debt. The borrower was not disclosed.
NEW YORK CITY — Mortgage banking company Merchants Capital has arranged a $51 million construction loan and $28.4 million in Freddie Mac Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) to fund the redevelopment of Manhattan’s historic Park 79 hotel into an affordable housing property for seniors. The borrower and project developer, Fairstead, will oversee renovations that will reconfigure the seven-story building into 77 apartments along with multiple community spaces, including an indoor/outdoor community room, dining room and meeting rooms. Additional rehabilitation will be done throughout the building, including creation of a common dining and recreation room, social services offices and an outdoor garden area. Upon completion, the property will employ two full-time social service coordinators to work alongside residents in organizing community programming events. The hotel originally opened in 1899 as “The Indiana.” The redevelopment is expected to be complete in 2022.
HAMILTON, N.J. — CBRE has negotiated the sale of Kuser Industrial Center, a 145,950-square-foot industrial property located just outside of Trenton in Hamilton, for $29.6 million. The property is under construction and is expected to be complete in February. Brian Fiumara, Michael Hines, Brad Ruppel and Lauren Dawicki of CBRE represented the seller, Scannell Properties, in the transaction. The buyer was Cohen Asset Management. CBRE will also handling leasing of the property.
BALA CYNWYD, PA. — Locally based investment firm Keystone Property Group has sold a 132,986-square-foot office building located at 150 Monument Road in Bala Cynwyd, a northeastern suburb of Philadelphia. The six-story building is situated on 6.5 acres and recently underwent a full renovation. Brett Segal and Doug Rodio of JLL represented Keystone Property Group in the transaction. The buyer, FLD Group, purchased the asset for an undisclosed price.
EAST HARTFORD, CONN. — Connecticut-based Goman + York has brokered the sale of a 57,000-square-foot property formerly known as William Seely School that is located near the junction of I-95 and State Routes 12 and 184 in East Hartford. The new owner, Connecticut-based DonMar Development, plans to redevelop the 14-acre property into a 280-unit apartment community. Goman + York represented the seller, the Town of Groton, in the transaction. A construction timeline for the redevelopment was not disclosed.
SOUTH BRUNSWICK, N.J. — An undisclosed wholesale distributor of home furnishings and housewares has signed a 192,000-square-foot industrial lease in South Brunswick, located in between Trenton and Newark. San Francisco-based Terreno Realty Corp. (NYSE: TRNO) owns the property. The lease term is 10 years.
STOCKHOLM AND CONSHOHOCKEN, PA. — EQT AB, a private equity firm based in Stockholm, has agreed to purchase Exeter Property Group, an industrial real estate owner and developer based in the Philadelphia suburb of Conshohocken. EQT plans to purchase Exeter using $800 million in EQT shares and nearly $1.1 billion in cash for a total acquisition price of nearly $1.9 billion, including the refinancing of Exeter’s existing $300 million in debt. Founded in 2006, Exeter has approximately $10 billion in assets under management. In addition to industrial properties, Exeter also owns life sciences and office space in the United States and Europe. Exeter has 37 offices in North America, Europe and Asia. EQT expects Exeter’s revenue in 2020 to total $135 million. Exeter’s recent acquisitions include Creekview Corporate Center in metro Dallas, a 193,000-square-foot industrial building in Illinois and a new distribution center in Pennsylvania totaling 1.2 million square feet. The company also recently developed a 673,920-square-foot speculative industrial building in the St. Louis suburb of Edwardsville, Ill. Upon completion of the transaction, Exeter will operate as EQT Exeter and will be part of the EQT Real Estate Assets division, which comprises EQT Infrastructure and EQT Real Estate. EQT Exeter …
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US Commercial, Multifamily Construction Starts Down 20 Percent in 2020, Says Dodge Data
HAMILTON, N.J. —The value of commercial and multifamily construction starts in 2020 tumbled 20 percent to end the year at $193.4 billion, according to Dodge Data & Analytics. Within the top 20 metropolitan areas that the Hamilton-based research firm tracks, the fall was more severe as that group’s starts fell by 23 percent in value, or $111.1 billion. Overall, commercial real estate starts fell 26 percent in value to $104 billion, while multifamily building activity slid by 11 percent to $89.5 billion. Richard Branch, chief economist for Dodge Data, says that the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant negative impact on commercial and multifamily construction across the country with only a few markets seeing year-over-year increases in construction starts compared to 2019. “The construction sector will show signs of recovery in 2021, but, the road back to full recovery will be long and difficult. The effects of the pandemic on the U.S. economy and building markets will be felt for several years,” says Branch. “While some areas stabilized over the summer, the current wave of the virus has further hindered activity.” Only one metro area in Dodge Data’s top 10, Phoenix, reported a year-over increase in construction starts. The No. 7 …