MUHLENBERG TOWNSHIP, PA. — An affiliate of Radnor-based Endurance Real Estate Group and Philadelphia-based Brasler Properties has acquired Berks61, an 18.4-acre industrial land site in Pennsylvania located just outside of Reading. Shortly after acquiring the property, the new ownership secured a build-to-suit agreement with CarbonLITE Holdings LLC, a producer of plastic resins, for the construction of a 270,000-square-foot warehouse and manufacturing facility. The tilt-wall, rail-served building will feature 36-foot clear heights, an ESFR sprinkler system and three drive-in doors. Mark Chubb of Colliers International represented CarbonLITE in the deal. John Van Buskirk, Joel Kreider and Ed Skonecki of Lee & Associates represented the landlord. The partnership also has another project, this one speculative, under development in Berks County that will deliver two buildings totaling approximately 328,000 square feet.
PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA. — Commercial finance and investment advisory firm Virtua Credit has arranged a $14 million loan for the refinancing of the 136-room Hampton Inn by Hilton in Plymouth Meeting, located north of Philadelphia. Built in 1999 and renovated in 2017, the five-story hotel offers an outdoor pool, fitness center, onsite laundry facilities, meeting spaces and 204 parking spaces. The borrower and direct lender were not disclosed.
EASTON, PA. — Meridian Capital Group has arranged a $12.6 million acquisition loan for the 86-room TownePlace Suites by Marriott in Easton, located 17 miles northeast of Allentown. The four-story property is located in Lower Nazareth Township among major corporate entities including Amazon, BMW and Porsche, in addition to several medical centers and shopping centers. The hotel was built in 2009 and offers five king suites, 26 queen suites, nine one-bedroom suites and six two-bedroom suites. Morris Betesh, Philip Galligan and Alex Bailkin of Meridian Capital arranged the financing through a balance sheet lender on behalf of the borrower, Manhattan-based RiverBrook Equities. The 10-year loan includes a 25-year amortization schedule.
ALTOONA AND WASHINGTON, PA. — Florida-based hospitality REIT Chatham Lodging Trust has sold two Marriott-branded hotels in Western Pennsylvania for approximately $10 million. The properties include the 105-room Courtyard by Marriott in Altoona, about 100 miles east of Pittsburgh, and the 86-room SpringHill Suites by Marriott in Washington, located about 30 miles southwest of Pittsburgh. Chatham, which purchased the hotels in 2010 as part of a larger portfolio acquisition, sold the properties at a capitalization rate of 6 percent. The buyer was not disclosed. Chatham CEO Jeffrey Fisher noted that the revenue per available room (RevPAR) at both hotels did not meet the standards of his company’s portfolio, and that disposing of the properties saved the company roughly $4 million in renovation costs.
EXTON, PA. — JLL has negotiated the sale of a 55,000-square-foot retail property leased to Whole Foods Market in Exton, about 50 miles west of Philadelphia. The freestanding building is located at the entrance of the Exton Square Mall near two major thoroughfares, State Route 100 and U.S. Route 30. Austin-based Whole Foods signed a 20-year lease at the property and opened its doors in January 2018. The grocery store also includes a 4,000-square-foot rooftop deck with fire pits for dining. Jim Galbally, Bill Moylan and Colin Behr of JLL handled the transaction on behalf of the seller, Philadelphia-based Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT). A New York-based investment firm purchased the asset for an undisclosed price.
WIND GAP, PA. — Dermody Properties, a Nevada-based investment and development firm, has broken ground on a 557,820-square-foot industrial project in Wind Gap, located in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. The two-building complex will be situated on 73.1 acres about 80 miles from the Port of New York and New Jersey. Building 1 will span 349,920 square feet and Building 2 will total 207,900 square feet, with both facilities featuring 36-foot clear heights. Construction of Building 1 is expected to be complete by the fourth quarter, and construction of Building 2 is slated for completion in early 2020. Lee & Associates is handling leasing of the property, which will be marketed to e-commerce users. Vertek Construction is the general contractor.
PHILADELPHIA — Agree Realty Corp., a Michigan-based publicly traded REIT, has acquired the 11,500-square-foot flagship store of Wawa’s, a chain of gas stations and convenience stores serving the East Coast, for approximately $15 million. The store is situated within the 13-story Public Ledger Building, located adjacent to Independence Hall in the Center City area of Philadelphia. The store is the largest of the Wawa’s chain and includes a bakery, merchandise and an expanded selection of the company’s reserve coffee products. The seller was not disclosed.
PHILADELPHIA — Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) has signed a 54,000-square-foot office lease expansion at the Wanamaker building, a 1.4 million-square-foot office and retail property located in the Center City neighborhood of Philadelphia. Following this transaction, CHOP will occupy more than 300,000 square feet across six floors. The building owner, a partnership between Rubenstein Partners LP and Amerimar Enterprises Inc., is entering the final phase of a capital improvement program for the building, which was originally built in 1911 to house Wanamaker’s, one of America’s first department stores.
LANCASTER, PA. — Presbyterian Senior Living (PSL) will build LongCrest, a $19 million affordable seniors housing apartment complex in Lancaster, located roughly midway between Philadelphia and Harrisburg. A groundbreaking ceremony for the four-acre, 52-unit project is slated for today (Tuesday, May 14). Units will be available to residents earning between 20 to 60 percent of the area median income. LongCrest will also offer both fully handicap-accessible units, as well as units that are accessible for individuals with hearing and/or vision difficulties.
PITTSBURGH — LG Realty Advisors, a privately held development and management firm, has unveiled plans for Liberty East, a $50 million office and retail project in Pittsburgh. Liberty East, which is a redevelopment of the nine-story Penn Plaza building, will ultimately house 246,000 square feet of Class A office space with a 50,000-square-foot retail space on the ground floor that will be occupied by Whole Foods Market. The development will also include an additional 4,600 square feet of retail space and 700 parking spaces. Construction of Phase I of the project, which also includes a $1 million contribution to the upgrading of nearby Enright Park, is expected to begin this summer and wrap up in summer 2021.