LOWELL, MASS. — NorthMarq has arranged a $5.5 million Freddie Mac loan for the refinancing of Mill Falls Apartments, a 72-unit multifamily asset in Lowell, located north of Boston near the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border. The property features one- and two-bedroom units. Robert Ranieri of NorthMarq arranged the 10-year loan, which carried a fixed interest rate and a 30-year amortization schedule, on behalf of the undisclosed borrower.
WEST CHESTER, PA. — Pennsylvania-based Kendal Corp. has completed construction of Preston, an expansion of its Barclay Friends seniors housing community in West Chester, approximately 25 miles west of Philadelphia. Preston features 60 new apartments, including 20 for memory care services, across 61,000 square feet. The building was named after Dr. Ann Preston, a 19th century Quaker activist who was one of the first women in America to become a medical doctor.
By Alex Patton Retail real estate investors in Boston are cautiously evaluating the risk profiles of tenants even as businesses reopen following temporary closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The emerging consensus is that until a vaccine is developed to safely treat the virus, the safest investments are tied to essential tenants with reliable incomes. That short list includes grocers, drugstores, home improvement businesses and liquor stores. Like the rest of the country, all nonessential retail businesses in Massachusetts were forced to close temporarily in early March, for what was originally expected to be a short period. After several weeks, the commonwealth’s government implemented a phased reopening system that allowed some retail businesses to resume operations. However, after months with significantly reduced income, a number of small retailers are declaring bankruptcy and permanently closing stores to save money. “The underlying question that permeates the retail investment industry, as an investor or a lender, is how much of the income is durable? In other words, which retailers are going to survive?” asks James Koury, senior managing director of investments at the Boston office of Institutional Property Advisors (IPA). “A vaccine would be a game-changer, but we can’t know if it will …
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Health Corp. (NYSE: CVS) reported total revenue of $634 billion in the second quarter, a year-over-year increase of 35.2 percent. The company’s net income also rose by 48 percent to roughly $5 billion during the period, suggesting that revenues are rising while costs are remaining relatively flat. The Woonsocket, Rhode Island-based pharmacy and convenience store chain, which acquired insurance giant AETNA in late 2018, saw its stock price open at $65.53 per share on Wednesday, Aug. 5, giving it a year-to-date increase of nearly 20 percent. CVS announced plans to close 22 underperforming stores during the first quarter, but has kept all its U.S. locations open throughout the COVID-19 pandemic as an essential retailer. As of 2019, CVS operated just shy of 10,000 stores across the United States.
MALDEN, MASS. — Callahan Construction Managers has completed a project in the northern Boston suburb of Malden that redeveloped the former Malden Center transit station into a 550,000-square-foot mixed-use destination. Rebranded J. Malden Center, the property now connects the Malden MBTA station with 25,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, 320 residential apartments and a civic office condominium that now serves as Malden City Hall. CBT Architects designed the project. Jefferson Apartment Group developed the multifamily component, which offers a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom units and 30,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor amenity space.
NORTH BRUNSWICK, N.J. — German discount grocer Lidl has opened a 28,000-square-foot store at Brunswick Shopping Center, a 288,000-square-foot retail center located in North-Central New Jersey. Other tenants at the property include LA Fitness, Muscle Maker Grill, GNC, Dollar Tree, Sally Beauty, McDonald’s, Sherwin Williams and Community Dental. New Jersey-based Levin Management Corp. represented the landlord in the lease negotiations. The representative of the tenant was not disclosed. Lidl now operates 10 stores in New Jersey.
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — CBRE has negotiated two office leases totaling 6,200 square feet at 23 Vreeland Road in Florham Park, about 30 miles west of New York City. International export company Hockman-Lewis inked a 4,600-square-foot lease, while law firm Bakos & Kritzer committed to a 1,600-square-foot space. Jonathan Meisel, Dan Casey and Erin Wenzler of CBRE represented the landlord, Eastman Cos., in the lease negotiations. Dylan Tusinac and David DeMatteis of Cushman & Wakefield represented Hockman-Lewis, while Bakos & Kritzer was self-represented.
CEDARHURST, N.Y. — Avison Young has arranged the sale of a 4,523-square-foot retail property located at 424 Rockaway Turnpike in the Long Island town of Cedarhurst. Todd Korren and Amanda Gorozdi of Avison Young represented the seller, Lighting Your Way LLC, in the transaction. The buyer was an undisclosed user that will also occupy the space.
NEW YORK CITY — The average asking rent for retail spaces throughout Manhattan fell to $688 per square foot during the second quarter, the first time that figure has fallen below $700 per square foot since 2011, according to a new report from CBRE. The average asking rent represents a decline of 11.3 percent from that period in 2019 and a 3.6 percent decrease from the first quarter of this year. New York City is a month into Phase III of the state’s reopening plan, which allows outdoor dining, office and retail and personal care services to operate with social distancing and other sanitation guidelines in place. The state legislature also recently passed a bill to provide $100 million in rent relief and aid to commercial users impacted by the pandemic. The report noted that despite these initiatives, travel restrictions and lack of tourism caused quarterly retail sales to fall 15 percent to $33.4 billion, maintaining pressure on some retail users to make rent even as average rates are falling.
BOSTON — Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) has negotiated the $42.4 million sale of 8 Newbury Street, a 17,023-square-foot office and retail building located in Boston’s Back Bay area. A Rolex flagship store occupies the ground- and second-floor retail spaces of the property, which was originally built in the 1920s. Robert Griffin, Geoffrey Millerd and Paul Penman of NKF represented the seller, a joint venture between UrbanMeritage and L&B Realty Advisors, in the transaction. The trio also procured the buyer, a partnership between Chile-based family office Corso and GLL Real Estate Partners, an international real estate fund manager based in Germany.
