BOSTON — KS Partners LLC has acquired 15 Court Square, an 11-story office building with ground-floor retail space in downtown Boston. The sales price was undisclosed. The 82,000-square-foot property, which is also known as 15 Pi Alley, includes an on-site tailor, 24-hour maintenance and an ATM. At the time of sale, 15 Court Square was 98 percent leased. KS Partners acquired the building from Brickpoint Properties, which had owned the property since 1978. KS Partners plans to fully renovate the lobby and common areas of the property and add amenities such as a lounge, conference room, fitness center and bike room.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — KeyBank has provided a $5.4 million construction loan and $6.7 million in 9 percent tax credit equity for the construction of Elim Townhomes in Buffalo. The two-acre property will feature 30 townhome units, available to households earning 50 percent of the area median income. Additionally, six of the 30 units will be set aside for individuals and families with physical, hearing or vision impairments. The borrower was Belmont Housing Resources. Terms of the financing were not disclosed. Other investments in Elim Townhomes included $3.1 million in permanent financing from the New York State Housing Trust Fund and a $900,000 permanent, long-term HOME loan from the City of Buffalo.
CHICAGO — Net absorption in office markets across the United States exceeded new construction in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to Cushman & Wakefield. This enabled the national office vacancy rate to drop to 13.2 percent. Nationwide absorption during the fourth quarter totaled 20 million square feet and marked the 33rd consecutive quarter of positive absorption since 2010. The total volume of space under construction increased slightly to 114.2 million square feet in the fourth quarter, up from 113.2 million in the third quarter. A total of 13.7 million square feet of new office projects delivered in the fourth quarter, bringing the total for 2018 deliveries to 52.7 million square feet, the second-highest amount of new space completed since 2010. Relative to inventory, the markets with the highest construction figures are San Mateo, Calif.; Austin, Texas; Nashville, Tenn.; Seattle; and Midtown Manhattan. On the west side Office markets in the Western United States performed the strongest in 2018 and accounted for 22.6 million square feet of net absorption, the highest volume since 2015. The lowest vacancy rates were seen in tech-driven markets like Seattle (6.2 percent vacancy) and San Francisco (6.4 percent). According to Cushman & Wakefield, the western …
HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. — NorthMarq has arranged a $4 million loan to refinance an 82,835-square-foot industrial facility in Hauppauge. The property is located at 90 Nicon Court. NorthMarq arranged the 10-year, permanent loan for the borrower, 90 Nicon Realty LLC, through lender Lincoln Financial Group. The non-recourse loan features a fixed interest rate of 4.33 percent and a 25-year amortization schedule. The building is currently fully occupied by W.B. Mason.
NEW YORK CITY — Benchmark Real Estate Group has acquired a six-story, mixed-use building in Manhattan for $21 million. Located at 35 Bedford St., the property consists of 33 apartments and three retail units. The building was constructed in 1900 and is part of the Greenwich Village Historic District Extension. Aaron Jungreis of Rosewood Realty Group represented both Benchmark and the seller, Renaissance Properties, in the transaction. Benchmark plans to fully renovate the property.
WEST HAVEN, CONN. — Pearce Commercial has negotiated the $1.9 million sale of an 18,728-square-foot apartment building in West Haven. Located at 405 Main St., the three-story property contains 16 units. The building was recently renovated with new kitchens and appliances as well as hardwood floors throughout. Jamie Cuzzocreo of the Pearce North Haven Commercial office represented the buyer, Cocolorus Properties, in the transaction. The seller was Vesta Greenview Apartments LLC.
TOMS RIVER, N.J. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the $5.2 million sale of Toms River Shopping Center in Toms River. The 52,616-square-foot retail center is located along the Garden State Parkway. Michael Lombardi and Charles Loccisano of Marcus & Millichap’s New Jersey office represented the buyer and seller in the transaction, both private investors.
Matt Rocco, president of Grandbridge Real Estate Capital, realizes this year may not maintain the exact same lending velocity as last year. However, he sees plenty of opportunities in workforce and affordable housing, as well as in industrial real estate. This, combined with plenty of capital, may keep competition fierce for strong commercial assets in the foreseeable future. Many believe lending velocity may slow this year compared to 2018. What is your take on this? Rocco: We expect transactional velocity will be flat or down slightly as compared to 2018. This year and 2020 only have modest maturity activity. As a result, many new refinancing assignments will come from floating-rate loans that are converting into fixed-rate loan terms. Given the very flat yield curve, we anticipate many clients will move from these floating-rate loans to match their ownership objectives. They will likely seek fixed-rate loan terms at the same coupon rate as their floating-rate alternatives. We also expect lending volume from CMBS, agency and life insurance companies to be flat or slightly down in 2019 compared to the record year in 2018. Are there any specific product types that seem particularly attractive in 2019? Rocco: We expect to see robust …
Mark Gould, national production manager of M&T Realty Capital Corporation, believes the seniors housing continuum of care may hold vast opportunities for those with the know-how and discipline to weather any short-term storms. Where do lending opportunities – and challenges – lie in 2019? Gould: We have been active in the seniors housing sector for a very long time. We see this asset class continuing to grow in 2019 as the U.S. aging population will drive growth. Challenges will lie with inexperienced parties trying to capitalize on the favorable demographic trends who do not fully understand the complexity of operating in the healthcare space. Wage pressures and nurse staffing shortages will further heighten the operating challenges in this space. I also think dollar volumes will stay steady. Rising rates have placed some DSC [debt service coverage] limitations and have required more equity into deals. There didn’t seem to be as many large portfolio deals in fiscal year 2018, which we believe resulted in a heightened number of transactions. This is an indication of a healthy market. Does the seniors housing market have room to grow beyond its 2018 activity? Gould: We are seeing some very innovative solutions from our customers that …
Hilary Provinse, executive vice president and head of mortgage banking at Berkadia, highlights the trends, strategies and activity attendees should have on their radar ahead of MBA CREF 2019 in February. Coming off a strong and surprisingly consistent year in 2018, we’re feeling good about 2019. The year is off to an interesting start to say the least, and we’re keeping our eye on several factors. These include Treasury rates, the regulatory environment, tariffs and development costs that will impact our business. Even keeping these in mind, however, there are positive factors that point to the potential for continued economic strength and activity in the multifamily market. Fundamentals of the Economy Remain Very Strong Unemployment continues to fall, and jobless claims remain extraordinarily low. Despite the recent decrease in consumer confidence — volatile in its own right — it remains near the highest levels since 9/11. GDP growth also remains strong with consumption, investment and government outlays all supportive. Multifamily Demand-Supply Dynamics Remain Solid The percent of population living in multifamily units has experienced a slow, but consistent, increase since the 2008 financial crisis. Loan maturities are expected to increase in 2019 versus 2018 across several sources. Maturities are inevitable events that …