FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Development and management firm Breslin Realty will undertake a 62,450-square-foot expansion project at a Walmart Supercenter store in the Long Island city of Farmingdale. The project will increase the total size of the store located at Republic Plaza to 219,450 square feet. The center also houses tenants such as Chili’s Grill & Bar, Panera Bread, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Halal Guys and Blaze Pizza. A construction timeline was not released.
LEVITTOWN, N.Y. AND MILFORD, CONN. — Wren Kitchens, a United Kingdom-based designer and manufacturer of kitchens, has signed leases in the Long Island city of Levittown and in the Connecticut city of Milford to open retail showrooms. The spaces will span 19,500 and 21,350 square feet, respectively. Adam Weinblatt and Marc Frankel of Newmark Knight Frank represented Wren Kitchens in the lease negotiations. Brian Schuster of Ripco Real Estate represented the landlords. Both showrooms are scheduled to open by late 2020 or early 2021.
WATERBURY, CONN. — Locally based brokerage firm R. Calabrese Agency LLC has arranged the sale of a 24,000-square-foot warehouse and manufacturing building in Waterbury, located north of New Haven. New York-based investment firm Turnpike Drive LLC purchased the asset for $1.2 million. The seller was 715 Straits Turnpike LLC. Bob Bowden of R. Calabrese represented both parties in the transaction.
ALLENTOWN, PA. — NAI Summit has brokered the sale of a 4,113-square-foot retail building located at 2071 SW 31st St. in Allentown. Sarah Finney-Miller of NAI Summit represented the seller, LEAD 112 LLC, in the transaction. The buyer, 3030 Lehigh Street, plans to renovate the property and convert it into an automotive service center.
By Tom Weitzel, managing director, JLL The Philadelphia office market at the moment is running in place, which is to say that there is certainly energy being expended, but it is going nowhere fast. Tenants and landlords alike are partnering with real estate experts to navigate this challenging time. However, while office users evaluate businesses and study workforces, the benefit of making a decision has not yet outweighed the downside of making a wrong decision, so most users are adopting a “wait-and-see” approach. Tenant Perspective Tenants are finding it challenging to make long-term decisions about their office spaces given the lack of clarity in the future. Business leaders and executives are tasked with considering factors such as health and safety, productivity, profitability and overall employee morale on a daily basis as they evaluate their physical office space usage during COVID-19. Throughout the region, executives continue to balance health and safety concerns with operational needs as they advance office re-entry plans. They are also assessing the current productivity of their employees compared to that at the beginning of the pandemic. Many companies that we have spoken with have cited declining productivity and creativity from their employees. At the same time, these …
NEW YORK CITY — New York City-based investment firm RFR has purchased 522 Fifth Avenue, a 23-story office tower in Midtown Manhattan. Morgan Stanley, which currently occupies the building, sold the property for $350 million. The office building neighbors Bryant Park and is situated near Grand Central Terminal and Rockefeller Center. RFR is hoping to find a single tenant to fully occupy the 575,000-square-foot property when Morgan Stanley moves out in 2024. Morgan Stanley’s CEO James Gorman told Bloomberg TV that the firm will need much less real estate going forward and that 90 percent of the company’s workforce is working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aby Rosen, co-founder and CEO of RFR, and A.J. Camhi, executive vice president and head of RFR’s internal leasing team, are leading the leasing efforts for 522 Fifth Avenue. “We acquired 522 Fifth Avenue with the vision of working with a single user to create a custom, marquee headquarters in the premier midtown location,” says Rosen. “The vacancy is a remarkable blank canvas, well-positioned to respond to the requirements of a forward-thinking company looking for the prestige and exclusivity of a full building and New York City presence.” In 2014, Morgan Stanley sold …
ISELIN, N.J. — Cushman & Wakefield has brokered the $140 million sale of a 470,692-square-foot office building located at 194 Wood Ave S. in Iselin, located west of Staten Island. The sales price equates to $297 per square foot. Anchored by IBM, the property is located within the Metropark corporate office campus and was fully leased to seven tenants at the time of sale. Andy Merin, David Bernhaut, Gary Gabriel, Kevin Donner, Frank DiTommaso, Kevin Carton and Todd Elfand of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, AIG, in the transaction. The buyer was New York City-based investment firm Opal Holdings.
TETERBORO, N.J. — Madison Marquette has added Teterboro Landing, a 383,000-square-foot retail power center in Teterboro, about 20 miles northwest of New York City, to its leasing portfolio. The property was built in 2015 and was fully leased at the time of sale to tenants such as Panera Bread, BJ’s Brewhouse, Chick-fil-A, Habit Burger, European Wax and T-Mobile. BIT Teterboro Landing Shops Urban Renewal LLC owns the center.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Developer WinnCos. has completed Liberty Lofts at Sibley Square, a $23.6 million workforce housing project in Rochester. The property, which is a redevelopment of a historic 1.1 million-square-foot building, adds 104 units to the local supply. Fifty-three units are available at rents of up to 60 percent of the area median income (AMI); three units are available at rents up to 100 percent of AMI; and 48 units are available at rents of up to 110 percent of AMI. The Architectural Team of Chelsea, Mass. designed the project, and DiMarco Constructors served as the general contractor.
MALDEN, MASS. — JLL has negotiated the $7.3 million sale of a 50,000-square-foot industrial property in the northern Boston suburb of Malden. The property is located on 1.8 acres at 60 Winter St. in a Qualified Opportunity Zone and was fully leased at the time of sale of sale to aerospace and defense contractor Enjet Aero. Michael Restivo and Matthew Sherry of JLL represented the seller, a private family, in the transaction. Eastern Real Estate acquired the asset in an off-market transaction.