PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A partnership between GMH Capital Partners LP and Wexford Science & Technology LLC has opened River House, a 270-bed student housing community in downtown Providence. The property’s 174 units come fully furnished and will serve students attending Brown University, the University of Rhode Island and the Rhode Island School of Design, among others. Communal amenities include a 24-hour fitness center, rooftop lounge with outdoor grilling stations and a kitchen bar, a business center, private study rooms and a cyber café with a complimentary coffee bar. Leasing began in February.
Northeast
PITTSBURGH — Rivers Casino Pittsburgh has unveiled plans to develop The Landing Hotel, a 219-room property that will be attached to the casino. Designed by architecture firm VOA, the project is valued at roughly $60 million and will be privately funded. Construction is expected to begin this summer and last 18 months, giving the project an anticipated completion date of early 2021. Rivers Casino Pittsburgh is located along the Ohio River and features 2,708 slots, 128 table games, 55 hybrid gaming seats and a designated sports book area for live sports betting. VOA is the project architect, and Massaro Construction Group is the general contractor. The project is expected to create 128 permanent new jobs
NEWARK, N.J. — MCR, a hospitality owner-operator based in Dallas and New York City, has acquired the 150-room Courtyard by Marriott Newark Downtown. The property, which opened in 2012, is located near Newark Penn Station, Newark Liberty International Airport and the Prudential Center, a live music venue. Hotel amenities include a restaurant, coffee shop, snack shop, a fitness center and more than 4,000 square feet of meeting and event space. The seller and sales price were not disclosed.
MONTVALE, N.J. — HFF has negotiated the sale of 5 Paragon Drive, a 120,000-square-foot office property in Montvale, located near the New York border. The site also houses a Wegmans grocery store and a Life Time Fitness center. Tenants at the property, which was 71 percent leased at the time of sale, include BMW, Benjamin Moore, KPMG and Sharp Corp. Jose Cruz, Kevin O’Hearn, Stephen Simonelli, Michael Oliver and J.B. Bruno of HFF represented the seller, a private equity firm, in the transaction. The buyer and sales price were not disclosed.
NEW YORK CITY — Rosewood Realty Group has arranged the $16.2 million sale of a six-story multifamily building located ar 135-145 W. Kingsbridge Road in the Kingsbridge Heights/Jerome Park area of The Bronx. The 79,000-square-foot building, which houses 58 apartments and nine retail stores, was built in 1922 and sold at a cap rate of 5.4 percent. Aaron Jungreis of Rosewood Realty Group represented the seller, Morgan Group, in the transaction and procured the buyer, a private investor.
MONROEVILLE, PA. — Next Tier Connect has acquired the former Westinghouse Nuclear headquarters campus in Monroeville. The 505,000-square-foot campus is located at 4350 Northern Pike, 15 miles east of downtown Pittsburgh. The property comprises two buildings connected by a common entrance. Other features of the facility include 206,000 square feet of contiguous space on the second, third and fourth floors of the East Tower; a shipping and receiving area with three loading docks. This is the first acquisition by Next Tier Connect, which is a recently formed partnership between New York City-based companies Next Tier HD and RedBird Capital Partners. The new partnership plans to reposition the property and rebrand it as Next Tier Connect — Pittsburgh East. The two buildings are currently home to several Fortune 500 companies for office, call center, business continuity, and data center spaces. Next Tier Connect has also signed new tenants since closing on the sale. In a press release announcing the new company, RedBird and Next Tier HD officials said, “Next Tier Connect will seek to acquire mixed-use, mission-critical real estate properties and data center-related properties across the United States.” Mission-critical real estate assets are purpose-built facilities designed to support the most essential …
MORRISTOWN, N.J. — CBRE has arranged a $53.6 million loan for the acquisition of 445 South Street, a 320,274-square-foot office building in Morristown, located west of Newark. James Gunning, Donna Falzarano and Kyle Saviano of CBRE sourced the financing through Morgan Stanley to finance the sponsor’s prior all-cash acquisition of the property. The borrower was Strategic Real Estate LLC. The building is leased to tenants such as Travelers Insurance, Covanta Energy Corp. and Arch Reinsurance Co., and offers amenities such as a outdoor basketball court, a fitness center, two conference rooms and a full-service cafeteria.
BOSTON — A joint venture between urban developer Accordia Partners and a private equity fund managed by Ares Management Corp. has acquired 2 Morrissey Boulevard, a 425,000-square-foot office complex in Boston. Located in the city’s Dorchester neighborhood, the five-building property was fully leased at the time of sale to Santander Bank. The complex is also situated across the street from the 20-acre site of the former Bayside Expo Center, which the joint venture is redeveloping. Newmark Knight Frank represented the seller, an affiliate of Beacon Capital Partners, in the transaction, and arranged acquisition financing for the buyer.
EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J. — American Equity Partners has purchased One Tower Center, a 23-story office property in East Brunswick, located roughly midway between Trenton and Newark, for $38 million. The property was 39 percent leased at the time of sale, and the new ownership will implement a value-add program that will reimagine the lobby and expand the amenity package. Jeffrey Dunne, Jeremy Neuer, Travis Langer and Zach McHale of CBRE represented the seller, an institutional investor, and procured the buyer in the transaction.
WEST CHESTER, PA. — HJ Sims has arranged $20.5 million for the rebuilding of a portion of Barclay Friends, a nonprofit continuing care retirement community (CCRC) in West Chester, a borough 25 miles west of Philadelphia. In 2017, a fire destroyed the Woolman Building, which housed residential, dining, common areas, administrative space and the memory care programming. While the skilled nursing areas reopened following renovations in 2018, ownership is still finalizing plans to replace the Woolman Building. Barclay’s property and casualty insurance coverage was expected to fund a portion of the replacement facility along with an equity contribution; the remainder was to be provided via external debt financing. Sims arranged the financing package, which will both fund the rebuilding and refinance existing debt. M&T provided the capital. Construction is scheduled to begin this year