WEXFORD, PA. — HFF has arranged the $13.8 million sale of a 53,000-square-foot, single-tenant retail property in Wexford, approximately 17 miles north of Pittsburgh. Marc Mandel, Steve Schrenk, Coler Yoakam, Mark West and Michael George of HFF represented the seller, a REIT, in the transaction. A private East Coast buyer purchased the asset. Additionally, HFF secured an $8.5 million, 20-year, fixed-rate loan with Protective Life Insurance Company for the buyer. Levin Furniture occupies the building under a triple net lease that expires in 20 years.
LODI, N.J. — The Stro Companies has acquired 240 Route 17, a 26,500-square-foot retail building in Lodi for $4 million. The property was home to a local party good store for decades but was vacant at the time of the sale. Stro purchased the property from the former owner occupant and has plans to upgrade and reposition the asset. The Bank of New Jersey provided acquisition financing.
QUAKERTOWN, PA. — A joint venture of MRP Industrial and Cabot Properties has purchased a nearly 23-acre site in Quakertown for the development of a speculative two-building industrial facility that will total more than 260,000 square feet. Quakertown is approximately 47 miles north of Philadelphia and 14 miles south of Allentown. Known as Park 309, the facility is expected to be completed in late 2018. Brian Knowles and Andrew Komisor of Lee & Associates brokered the transaction on behalf of the joint venture. Building I is a 114,400-square-foot warehouse and building II is 145,800 square feet. Both buildings feature 32-foot clear heights and two drive-in doors.
BETHLEHEM, PA. — HFF has brokered the $30 million sale of a 71-building, 383-bed student housing portfolio at Lehigh University in Bethlehem. HFF represented the seller, Campus Apartments, in the transaction. A private investment vehicle managed by Hong Kong-based Beacon Assets purchased the property free and clear of existing debt. The portfolio has achieved close to 99 percent occupancy during the last two academic years. Lehigh University has an enrollment of more than 7,000 students.
ATHENS, PA. — An affiliate of Phoenix Investors has acquired a 402,000-square-foot industrial and office building located at 101 N. Main St. in Athens, about two miles from the New York state line. The sales price was not disclosed. The property, which was built in 1910, is a vacant former Ingersoll Rand manufacturing plant. Phoenix intends to fully renovate the facility. Phoenix Investors is a national private commercial real estate firm headquartered in Milwaukee.
WARMINSTER, PA. — G.S. Wilcox & Co. has secured $25.5 million in permanent financing for the Jacksonville Station Community, a recently constructed 151-unit, eight-building apartment community in Warminster. The financing was secured with a 10-year term and a 30-year amortization through lender Allianz. The undisclosed borrower was a repeat client of G.S. Wilcox. The community features 12 types of units with a clubhouse and in-ground pool and is located across the street from the Septa Rail Station, which provides direct connectivity to Philadelphia.
KING OF PRUSSIA, PA. — IMC Construction has broken ground on a $32 million medical office building for Main Line Health in King of Prussia. The seven-story, 94,000-square-foot facility will be a specialty care center for women located in the Town Center mixed-use complex at the Village at Valley Forge. Services provided by the center will include primary care, heart health, obstetrics and gynecology, breast health, skin care, and emotional wellness. The team building Main Line Health includes construction manager IMC Construction, architect NELSON, development manager Anchor Health Properties, site/civil engineer Bohler Engineering,and design consultant Perkins Eastman Black.
WEXFORD, PENN. — Institutional Property Advisors (IPA), a division of Marcus & Millichap, has brokered the $61 million sale of Ascent Four Thirty, a 319-unit apartment community located in Wexford, roughly 15 miles north of Pittsburgh. A joint venture between Buligo Capital and Graycliff Capital acquired the asset from The NRP Group. Constructed in 2014, Ascent Four Thirty includes 17 three-story buildings and features a fitness center, resort-style swimming pool with a sundeck and a conference room. Joshua Wintermute, Michael Barron, Daniel Burkons and Victor Nolletti of IPA arranged the transaction on behalf of the seller, and procured the buyer.
CONSHOHOCKEN, PA.— AmerisourceBergen has signed a 400,000-square-foot office lease at Keystone Property Group’s SORA West site in Conshohocken for its new global headquarters. The site includes a 400,000-square-foot office building, 125-room hotel, 1,500-space parking garage, public spaces and restaurants. Binswanger represented AmerisourceBergen in the lease transaction. Currently headquartered in Chesterbrook, Pa., the company is ranked No. 12 on the Fortune 500 and serves as a partner in the pharmaceutical supply chain for thousands of healthcare providers, veterinary practices, livestock producers and global manufacturers. The new headquarters is expected to house around 1,500 employees.
The Pittsburgh industrial market has historically been a relatively small property sector due to several limiting factors, including difficult topography, infrastructure constraints and Pittsburgh’s location between two major industrial markets (Columbus to the west and Pennsylvania’s Central Valley to the east). However, with the emergence of e-commerce fulfillment centers, the growth of the Pittsburgh economy and major infrastructure improvements, we are starting to see strong demand for well-located industrial properties in the region. The size of the industrial market for the greater Pittsburgh metro is 185 million square feet. of which, 23.6 million square feet is flex and 161.1 million square feet is warehouse. Flex vacancy rate is currently 9.4 percent with 98,000 square feet under construction while warehouse vacancy is 5.8 percent with 263,000 square feet under construction. Based upon the tight vacancy and limited new construction in the warehouse space, there is believed to be significant pent-up demand, particularly for Class A users requiring 250,000 to 500,000 square feet. Accordingly, there are a number of planned speculative projects in this size range in the Airport, Butler County and Beaver County submarkets breaking ground in 2018. Lenders in the region are also bullish on the strength of the Pittsburgh …