PHILADELPHIA — New York Life Real Estate Investors has provided a $45 million loan to refinance The Versailles, a 113-unit apartment building in the Rittenhouse Square section ofPhiladelphia. Located at 530 Locust St., the property was built in the 1920s and was recently renovated. New York Life Real Estate Investors, whose parent company is New York Life Insurance Co., provided the 12-year, fixed-rate loan for the borrower, Philadelphia-based family office Spring Creek.
READING, PA. — Hunt Real Estate Capital has secured a $35.2 million cash-out refinance for a four-property multifamily portfolio in Reading. The properties include a 161-unit multifamily community built in 1960; a 97-unit apartment complex built in 1969; a 77-unit, garden-style apartment complex built in 1968 and a 156-unit, garden-style apartment complex built in 1950. The Fannie Mae multifamily loans have a 12-year term and 30-year amortization schedule. The borrower was undisclosed.
SCRANTON, PA. — Trammell Crow Co. has acquired a 90-acre site at the Valley View Business Park in Scranton. The company plans to build a 1 million square-foot speculative distribution facility on the site. The sales price was undisclosed. The building is scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2019 and will feature 40-foot clear heights, 311 trailer parking spots, 277 car parking spots, 159 dock positions and ESFR fire protection. Trammell Crow purchased the site from the Scranton Lackawanna Industrial Building Co., the industrial development affiliate of the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce. CBRE Allentown was given the leasing assignment for the project.
BETHLEHEM, PA. — Larken Associates has acquired Pinnacle @ 65, a 10-story, 102,000-square-foot, mixed-use building in Bethlehem. The sales price was undisclosed. Located at 65 E. Elizabeth Ave., the property includes 48 residential units as well as 38,000 square feet of office and retail space. The building underwent a full renovation in 2017, including upgrades to the exterior façade, windows and common area corridors. Amenities include laundry and dry cleaning pick-up and drop-off, private storage units, and a package concierge system. Larken Associates acquired the property from Post Road Management.
By Michael Prifti Technology is moving quickly across many different industries. Architects are now using emerging technology like virtual reality (VR) to improve experience for clients, tenants and the general public. An architecture firm can use VR to accomplish many different goals. VR can be used as both a design tool and a marketing tool. As a design tool, one can create impressive virtual mockups with the technology. To be used as a marketing tool, it is important to figure out the overall goals of the project, such as how interactive and immersive the VR models need to be. For example, higher quality VR models require higher computer processing power. In general, VR sets have become much more affordable, and jumping into this emerging technology doesn’t necessarily require a large investment. Today, VR headsets can be found for under $500, and the software has become so intuitive that nearly anyone can be taught how to produce very basic VR ready models in about 15 minutes. While two-dimensional renderings will likely never disappear, the use of virtual reality is becoming more widespread throughout the industry. 2D drawings or 3D models can give you a general idea of a building’s scale, but VR …
PHILADELPHIA — Standalone memory care facilities were the darling of seniors housing three to five years ago, but more recently this property segment has been tagged as the dog of the industry amid overbuilding concerns and lease-up challenges. “They get bashed at every conference,” says J.P. LoMonaco, president of Valuation & Information Group headquartered in Culver City, California. The conventional wisdom is that many investors and lenders have soured on the product. Not so fast, says Wendy Nowokunski, president of Northbridge Cos., who cautions against making blanket statements about this specialized niche within seniors housing. “Actually, standalone memory care is our darling.” The private company based in Burlington, Massachusetts, operates 17 seniors housing communities serving over 2,000 residents across New England. Five properties in Northbridge’s portfolio are standalone memory care communities, including three in Maine and two in Massachusetts, each ranging in size from 60 to 70 units. “Those communities run at 100 percent occupancy all the time. We have waiting lists,” says Nowokunski, who adds that Northbridge has established partnerships with local hospitals to meet the needs of seniors with memory issues. “It all comes down to programming and knowing the disease process, and having the right people in the …
RADNOR, PA. — IMC Construction has broken ground on Penn Medicine Radnor, a four-story, 250,000-square-foot medical center in Radnor. Located at 145 King of Prussia Road, the center will house a heart and vascular center, cancer care, women’s health, orthopedic and rehabilitation medicine, neurosciences and other medical subspecialties. An outpatient surgery suite will include six surgical and four endoscopy rooms, along with radiology and laboratory services. Brandywine Realty Trust will purchase and serve as the designated developer and manager of the site, and develop an adjacent office space and a hotel on property. The outpatient center is expected to be complete in Spring 2020.
PHILADELPHIA— Ballard Brands, a Covington, Louisiana-based restaurant and hospitality group whose brands include PJ’s Coffee of New Orleans, WOW Café and New Orleans Roast Coffee & Tea, has expanded its restaurant holdings to include several Latin American concepts in Philadelphia. Brothers Paul, Steven and Scott Ballard of Ballard Brands recently purchased Philadelphia-based Garces Group — which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year — resulting in the inception of IdEATtion Hospitality. The brothers purchased Garces in partnership with Mississippi native Ronnie Artigues and Philadelphia investor David Maser. Garces restaurants and catering companies were founded by Chef Jose Garces, an Iron Chef and James Beard Award winner. IdEATion Hospitality now leverages the resources of two established brands, Garces and Ballard Brands. As part of the acquisition, the Ballards and their investment partners acquired several popular and award-winning Garces Philadelphia restaurants: Amada, Tinto, Village Whiskey, The Olde Bar, JG Domestic, Volvér and their full-service catering division, Garces Events. Chef Garces remains in a leadership position as chief culinary officer. Artigues will serve as CEO of the Philadelphia-based operations. “Chef Jose is a culinary expert who brings a renowned reputation and vision to our team and we’re thrilled for the new partnership,” …
CONSHOHOCKEN, PA. — Wedding dress retailer David’s Bridal has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Conshohocken-based company says it plans to keep its more than 300 David’s Bridal stores and online platform open and operating without disruption. According to Monday’s announcement, “orders will arrive on time and bridal appointments will not be impacted” as the company says it has sufficient liquidity to operate during the court-supervised restructuring process. David’s Bridal announced on Nov. 15 its restructuring support agreement (RSA) with the vast majority of its term loan lenders, senior noteholders and equity holders. The filing of Chapter 11 is the next step in the RSA, which David’s Bridal says will reduce the company’s debt by more than $400 million. “The plan will allow us to reduce our debt significantly while continuing to run our business as usual,” says Scott Key, CEO of David’s Bridal. “We will be able to move through the court process very quickly. And in the end, we will be able to allocate even more of our resources toward making strategic investments in digital technologies and talent that will drive long-term growth and operational excellence at David’s Bridal.” Real Estate Implications While David’s Bridal says it …
PITTSTON, PA. — HJ Sims has arranged $17.5 million in financing for United Methodist Homes. The funds will finance an expansion project at the organization’s Wesley Village continuing care retirement community in Pittston, located between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre in Central Pennsylvania. The project will add an undisclosed number of independent living units to the property, through a series of cottages named Brooks Estates. Citizens Bank provided the funds.