ELIZABETH, N.J. — NAI James Hanson has negotiated a 28,900-square-foot industrial lease at 475 Division St. in Elizabeth, located just south of Newark. The 175,000-square-foot building features 18-foot ceiling heights, five loading docks, 10 trailer parking spaces and 2,000 square feet of office space. Barry Cohorsky and John Koch of NAI James Hanson represented the landlord, Tree Realty, in the lease negotiations. Robin Ritter-Ceriello of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant, locally owned trucking company Motion Express.
Despite the negative impact of the pandemic on many areas within commercial real estate, industrial assets continue to attract interest as a favored sector of many lenders and investors. The industrial market is outperforming others throughout this period of disruption. E-commerce growth has resulted in growth in the industrial sector as the need for last-mile delivery and third-party logistics space increases. Similarly, urban infill demand has grown in supply-constrained markets. Finally, the supercharging the industrial sector has created a need for new construction in this asset class, and construction lenders are finding new opportunities to earn higher returns. View higher resolution version of chart above here. Industrial Market Trends In major urban markets — New York City included — residents increasingly expect two-day delivery, next-day delivery and even same-day delivery. As a result of these shrinking delivery windows, the need for local distribution centers and last-mile facilities has increased significantly. The way people purchase and receive products has changed drastically, and the industrial sector must adjust to meet the demand. The nation-wide stay-at-home orders implemented at the outset of the pandemic caused e-commerce to experience exponential growth. People who had never shopped online began adapting to this trend. This created …
ATLANTA AND CANTON, MASS. — Inspire Brands has agreed to acquire fast-food breakfast chain Dunkin’ Brands (NASDAQ: DNKN) in a transaction valued at $11.3 billion. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year. Atlanta-based Inspire Brands is the parent company of restaurant chains such as Arby’s, Jimmy John’s, Sonic Drive-In and Buffalo Wild Wings. In addition to its namesake coffee and breakfast chain, Canton, Mass.-based Dunkin’ Brands also owns ice cream parlor chain Baskin-Robbins, which respectively have about 12,500 and 8,000 locations worldwide. Dunkin’ has about 9,600 locations in the United States. The deal’s price tag equates to $106.50 per share, to be paid in cash, and includes the assumption of all Dunkin’ Brands’ debt. The share price represents a 30 percent premium over the Dunkin’ Brands 30-day weighted average price and a 20 percent premium over its closing stock price of $88.79 per share on Friday, Oct. 23. “We are excited to bring meaningful value to shareholders who have been with us on this journey and believe that Inspire Brands, a preeminent operator of franchised restaurant concepts, will continue to drive growth for our franchisees while remaining true to all that is unique and special …
PITTSON, PA. — A partnership between Endurance Real Estate Group LLC and Blue Vista Capital has sold the 1 million-square-foot Interstate Distribution Center in Pittston, located south of Scranton, for $96 million. The partnership purchased the 225-acre former Techneglas manufacturing site in 2012 and redeveloped the property into a modern bulk warehouse/distribution asset. The new cross-dock building features 40-foot clear heights, 193 dock doors, 421 car parking spaces and 129 truck parking spaces. Gerry Blinebury and Dan Walsh of Cushman & Wakefield represented the partnership in the sale. Jason Webb and Kris Bjorson of JLL represented the undisclosed buyer.
BOSTON — Mill Creek Residential has begun leasing Modera Framingham and Modera Marshfield, two apartment communities totaling 518 units in the Boston area. Modera Framingham offers studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom homes and amenities such as a central courtyard, 24-hour fitness studio, media room, clubhouse with coffee bar, a pet park and pet spa, cyber café and a game room. Modera Marshfield offers the same unit mix and a similar suite of amenities. Mill Creek has six communities in the Boston area including these two properties. According to Apartments.com, rents start at $1,995 per month for a studio apartment at Modera Framingham and $2,225 per month for a one-bedroom at Modera Marshfield.
CARLE PLACE, N.Y. — Simone Development Cos. has unveiled plans for the repositioning of a 60,000-square-foot industrial property in Carle Place, located on Long Island. Simone Development acquired the vacant light industrial/warehouse property this summer from Ansaco Properties LLC. The building was constructed in 1962 and served as the longtime home of Johnson & Hoffman, a metal stamping operation. Simone will renovate the property to suit a single tenant, adding additional loading docks and developing 2.7 acres of additional paved parking area to accommodate tractor trailer, delivery truck and additional vehicular parking.
LONDONDERRY, N.H. — Edgewood Senior Solutions Group has acquired land in Londonderry’s Woodmont Commons to build a senior living community called The Baldwin. Project plans call for 190 independent living apartments. Several of the community’s amenities, including a spa and salon, a convenience store and multiple dining venues, will be open to the public. Edgewood plans to market The Baldwin as a continuing care retirement community by offering a medical clinic for acute needs, as well as priority access to personal care and home healthcare services, small-home model assisted living and memory support residences, short-term rehabilitation and more.
FAIRFIELD, N.J. — Sheldon Gross Realty has arranged the $8.7 million sale of a 77,983-square-foot industrial property located in the Northern New Jersey city of Fairfield. The property offers proximity to Routes 46 and 80, as well as the Garden State Parkway. The buyer was Ridgewood, N.J.-based Stro Cos., and the seller was undisclosed. Bob Nathin of Sheldon Gross Realty brokered the deal.
By Brendan Carroll, research director, Cushman & Wakefield Through the first three quarters of 2020, the Boston life sciences market is seeing record occupancy, a continuation of large new-building leases, stable rents at record levels, high levels of pre-committed new construction and an insatiable appetite for inventory in new submarket clusters. Cushman & Wakefield defines laboratory properties as facilities optimized for the physical scientific research of biotechnology products. COVID-19’s Impact Following a pause of leasing activity in the first quarter of 2020, lease negotiations for laboratory facilities resumed quickly in the second quarter, hitting a level that commercial office properties have still yet to see. While optimism quickly returned for the region’s office-using businesses, widespread execution of remote office-using job functions has proven to be more effective for many of these workforces than market leaders previously envisioned. The consensus among real estate observers suggests a long-term decrease in the percent of in-office workers for traditional office-using functions. However, the importance of the continued use of physical spaces for biotechnology research will not be affected, as this function cannot be accommodated through current and easily envisioned remote work practices. These are highly specialized jobs performed by employees with highly targeted skill …
NEW YORK CITY — Pennsylvania based self-storage REIT CubeSmart (NYSE: CUBE) has entered into an agreement to acquire a portfolio of eight properties in New York City from locally based developer Storage Deluxe for $540 million. The portfolio totals 780,425 net rentable square feet and consists of properties in Brooklyn, Queens and The Bronx that are already managed by CubeSmart. The deal is expected to close during the fourth quarter. CubeSmart will finance approximately 28 percent ($154.6 million) of the sales price with fixed-rate debt.