NEW YORK CITY — Luxury department store retailer Barneys New York has voluntarily filed for bankruptcy protection and has disclosed plans to close 15 of its 22 brick-and-mortar stores. The Chapter 11 filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York indicated that Barneys had more than $100 million in assets and more than $100 million in debts, according to The Wall Street Journal. Barneys plans to keep five of its flagship locations open, including its famous Madison Avenue store. The retailer will also continue operating its downtown Manhattan, Beverly Hills, San Francisco and Boston stores. The company will also keep two Barneys Warehouse locations open in Woodbury, N.Y., and Livermore, Calif., as well as the Barneys.com and BarneysWarehouse.com websites. Barneys will close all other locations, including flagship stores in Chicago, Seattle, Las Vegas, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Santa Monica, Calif. This is the second high-end retail concept to file for bankruptcy this week, the other being luxury movie theater company IPIC Entertainment. Veteran retail consultant Jeff Green says that American shoppers are shying away from uber-luxury retailers like Barneys and IPIC, which saw its same-store sales drop 21.7 percent in first-quarter 2019 compared to …
Northeast
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — RXR Realty, a New York-based developer, has opened 360 Huguenot, a 280-unit multifamily property in New Rochelle, just north of The Bronx. The property offers studio and two-bedroom apartments, with amenities including an outdoor terrace with green space, conference room and a fitness center. The ground floor of the building features 14,000 square feet of retail space and 10,000 square feet of arts and culture space.
LONG ISLAND CITY, N.Y. — Maquette, a New-York based fine art logistics company, has signed a 46,000-square-foot industrial lease in Long Island City. The property, 48-49 35th Street, is a 260,000-square-foot warehouse originally built in 1949. Forrest Mas and Chris Pachios of North River Co., the landlord, negotiated the lease directly with the tenant.
FRANKLIN, MASS. — TMC Holdings & Development LLC will develop a 50,000-square-foot industrial property in Franklin, about 30 miles southwest of Boston. Formerly the site of a glass recycling facility, the property is located in the Marijuana Overlay District with frontage on I-495. TMC Holdings plans to demolish the facility and build a 50,000-square-foot warehouse with 22 to 24-foot clear heights. Construction is slated to begin in fall 2019. John Eysenbach of R.W. Holmes represented TMC Holdings in the transaction, as well as the seller, Strategic Materials Inc.
Fantini & Gorga Arranges $12.6M Loan for Affordable Housing Property in Lynn, Massachusetts
by Alex Patton
LYNN, MASS. — Fantini & Gorga has arranged $12.6 million in permanent financing for Marian Gardens, a 94-unit affordable housing multifamily property in Lynn, about 12 miles northeast of Boston. The property was built in the 1960s and includes two-, three- and four-bedroom townhouse units. Tim O’Donnell, Jason Cunnane and Lindsay Feig of Fantini and Gorga arranged the loan. The borrower and lender in the transaction were undisclosed.
JLL Secures Acquisition Financing for 104,000 SF Office Portfolio in Basking Ridge, New Jersey
by Alex Patton
BASKING RIDGE, N.J. — JLL has secured an undisclosed amount of acquisition financing for a 104,000-square-foot office portfolio in Basking Ridge, about 30 miles west of New York. TD Bank provided the loan, which carries a seven-year term and a fixed interest rate. The property, 180-188 Mount Airy Road, consists of two adjacent buildings and an ancillary structure. At the time of the closing, the buildings were 98 percent leased to a variety of tenants, including Global Bankers Insurance Group and Microchip Technology. The borrower was a partnership between PAG Investments and CIG Properties.
PITTSBURGH — Amazon will construct a 1 million-square-foot distribution center in Pittsburgh, a move that will create 800 new full-time jobs. The property will be Amazon’s 15th operations facility in Pennsylvania. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Amazon will invest $30 million in the facility and that once the jobs are in place, Amazon will receive $1.6 million in job creation tax credits from the state Department of Community and Economic Development. Hillwood, a Fort Worth-based industrial firm, will lead the development of the project, a construction timeline for which has not yet been established.
BOSTON — Foundation Medicine Inc., a manufacturer of medical tests and supplies, has signed a 580,000-square-foot lease for laboratory and office space at 400 Summer Street in Boston. Massachusetts-based WS Development is currently developing the 16-story building, which will total 625,000 square feet, including 30,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. Foundation Medicine will move its headquarters to the building and occupy all of the laboratory and office space. WS Development expects to begin construction later this year and for tenants to move in by 2023. New York-based Morris Adjimi Architects and the Boston office of Stantec are the architects.
Cushman & Wakefield Arranges $26.5M in Development Equity for Seniors Housing Project in New Jersey
by Alex Patton
MONTVALE, N.J. — Cushman & Wakefield Markets has arranged $26.5 million of institutional equity capital from a private equity fund for the development of a 203-unit seniors housing project in Montvale, about 30 miles north of New York City. The community will feature a four-story building on an 11.5-acre site. Cushman & Wakefield acted as exclusive advisor to a joint venture between Pike Properties, Thrive Senior Living and Gallium Real Estate. Construction debt financing of $54.6 million has been secured an undisclosed seniors housing lender and is expected to close in late August. Richard Swartz, Jay Wagner and Jim Dooley of Cushman & Wakefield handled the debt placement.
Northeast Private Client Group Brokers $14.2M Sale of Multifamily Property in Stratford, Connecticut
by Alex Patton
STRATFORD, CONN. — Northeast Private Client Group (NPCG) has brokered the $14.2 million sale of Sherwood and Shakespeare Apartments, a 128-unit multifamily property in Stratford. The property consists of three adjacent buildings at 112 Stratford Ave. Brad Balletto of NPCG represented the seller, Stratford-based Stratcon Properties LLC, in the transaction, and procured the buyer, a Bridgeport-based private investor.