LONG ISLAND CITY, N.Y. — Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) has negotiated the $40 million sale of a 196,000-square-foot industrial development site located at 24-02 Queens Plaza in Long Island City. Brian Ezratty and Scott Ellard of NKF represented the seller, Atlas Capital Group, in the transaction. Bill Harvey, also with NKF, represented the undisclosed buyer, which plans to develop a 270,000-square-foot facility on the site.
STAMFORD, CONN — Berkeley Insurance Co., a subsidiary of Fortune 500 company W.R. Berkeley Corp., has signed a 63,173-square-foot office lease at Metro Center, a 285,258-square-foot building in Stamford. James Ritman of Newmark Knight Frank, along with internal representative Jeffrey Newman, handled the lease negotiations on behalf of the landlord, Empire State Realty Trust (NYCE: ESRT). Belinda Scanlon of Bernard Realty represented the tenant.
NEWARK, N.J. — A partnership led by New Jersey-based investment firm Onyx Equities has acquired a 10-building, 1.5 million-square-foot office portfolio in Morris County, New Jersey, from Mack-Cali Corp. The portfolio consists of nine buildings in Parsippany and one in Madison. Onyx Equities, which acquired the portfolio in partnership with Taconic Capital Advisors LP, Axonic Capital LLC and Machine Investment Group, will implement a capital improvement plan. JLL brokered the deal.
PHILADELPHIA — Nerd Street Gamers, a provider of infrastructure services for the esports industry, will open The Block, an esports campus at 401 N. Broad St. in Philadelphia. Christian Dyer and Jackie Balin of CBRE represented data center owner-operator Netrality, which owns the 1.3 million-square-foot building, in the lease negotiations. The space will not only function as Nerd Street Gamers’ new corporate headquarters, but it will also include global broadcast studios, dedicated training centers for professional teams and schools and educational space for community partners.
TOMS RIVER, N.J. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of a 45,000-square-foot industrial flex property located at 60 Northampton Road in the coastal New Jersey city of Toms River. Charles Loccisano and Michael Lombardi of Marcus & Millichap co-brokered the sale along with Rosetto Realty Group on behalf of both the buyer and the seller. Both parties were limited liability companies that requested anonymity.
BOSTON — Developer Arx Urban is nearing completion of a 36-unit workforce housing project located at 233 Hancock St. in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood. Boston-based RODE Architects designed the project, construction of which began in December 2018 and is expected to wrap up by the end of the month.
WATERTOWN, MASS. — Amstel Heritage Development has opened The Aver, a 25-unit luxury apartment complex located in the western Boston suburb of Watertown. The unit mix consists of two studio apartments, two one-bedroom units and 21 two-bedroom units with stainless steel appliances, quartz countertops and in-unit washers and dryers. Construction began in 2018.
BEDFORD, MASS. — Total nonresidential construction starts across the country rose by 16 percent from July to August thanks in large part to 201 percent growth in industrial starts, according to the latest report from Massachusetts-based Dodge Data & Analytics. Among the largest industrial projects that contributed to the growth were Facebook’s $1 billion data center project in Gallatin, Tenn., and Texas Instruments’ $740 million fabrication plant in Richardson, Texas. Construction starts in the commercial category, which includes office, hospitality and mixed-use, rose by 36 percent for the month. On year-to-date basis, the volume of total nonresidential starts remains 24 percent lower than the first eight months of 2019. “Construction starts continue to make up ground following the nadir of activity in April,” said Richard Branch, chief economist at Dodge. “The nascent recovery in starts, however, as summer turns to fall. The expiration of enhanced unemployment insurance benefits and small business loans that were provided in the CARES Act, the budget crises facing state and local governments and the impending expiration of the FAST Act on September 30 will all have a dampening effect on starts.”
NEW YORK CITY — Town Sports International Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CLUB), the parent company of New York Sports Clubs, Boston Sports Clubs and Lucille Roberts gyms, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to reports from multiple new outlets including CNBC and The Wall Street Journal. The company filed its petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. Town Sports, which operates about 200 fitness centers throughout the region, said that it does not plan to permanently close the majority of its gyms, which serve about 600,000 members. The fitness chain joins Dallas-based Gold’s Gym and 24 Hour Fitness as the latest operator to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in response to COVID-19, which has forced many such facilities to either close or operate at reduced capacities.
RARITAN, N.J. — Burlington has opened a new store at Somerville Circle Shopping Center, a 150,000-square-foot property located at the intersection of Routes 202/206 and Route 28 in Raritan, about 45 miles southeast of New York City. Burlington has backfilled a space formerly occupied by Toys ‘R’ Us/Babies ‘R’ Us. Other tenants at the center include Staples, Petco, Jersey Mike’s, Burger King and Five Below. Levin Management Corp. manages the property. The square footage of the store was not disclosed.