PHILADELPHIA — CBRE has negotiated the $7.2 million sale of The Retro Apartments, a 21-unit multifamily building located in Philadelphia’s Fishtown/East Kensington neighborhood. The five-story property was built in 2021 and offers one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Samantha Kupersmith and Spencer Yablon of CBRE represented the seller, Stamm Development Group, in the transaction. The buyer was a partnership between private investors Laibel Newhouse and Joel Friedman.
SMITHFIELD TOWNSHIP, PA. — Co-developers DEPG Associates and ARCTRUST have broken ground on a 40,000-square-foot medical office building in Smithfield Township, located in Lehigh Valley. The project, which represents the first of a larger, five-building development for St. Luke’s University Health, will be situated within the 120-acre Smithfield Gateway mixed-use development. Completion of the building is slated for January 2023, and the first phase of the larger project is scheduled for a 2024 delivery.
ALLENTOWN, PA. — iQor, a Florida-based provider of business process outsourcing (BPO) solutions, has opened a 30,000-square-foot office in the Lehigh Valley city of Allentown. The space includes a fitness center and a café and replaces iQor’s old facility in nearby Bethlehem. The company, which more specifically provides customer service, third-party collections and accounts receivable management, employs about 35,000 people across 10 countries.
ERIE, PA. — Community Preservation Partners (CPP) has acquired Methodist Towers, a 138-unit affordable seniors housing community in Erie. About 40 percent (57) of the 13-story complex’s units receive subsidies under a Section 8 HAP contract. The sales price was not disclosed, but CPP plans to spend $20 million on the acquisition and renovation. CPP received tax-exempt bonds and Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTCs) from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA), with construction and permanent loans from Citibank as well as equity raised from the sale of LIHTCs from PNC Bank, to finance the property acquisition and rehabilitation. Cornerstone Group is a partner on the project.
PHILADELPHIA — New York City-based Midwood Investments & Development has broken ground on a 32-story apartment tower at 210 S. 12th St. in Philadelphia’s Washington Square neighborhood. The property will consist of 378 apartments and two floors of retail space totaling approximately 17,000 square feet. Residential amenities will include a pool with a sundeck, fitness center with a yoga studio, rooftop terrace with private event space, a game room, lounge and conference facilities. London-based Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and BLT Architects are designing the project. Specific floor plans and a tentative construction completion date were not disclosed.
PITTSBURGH — Private wealth management firm Glenmede Trust Co. has signed a 7,989-square-foot office lease at the historic Union Trust Building in downtown Pittsburgh. The move-in is scheduled for May. The Union Trust Building originally opened in 1917 and spans 460,000 square feet. The landlord, The Davis Cos., recently completed a $100 million redevelopment of the property, which also houses 40,000 square feet of restaurant space in addition to a fitness center, conference facility and an auditorium.
READING, PA. — JLL has negotiated the sale of Exeter Commons, a 361,095-square-foot shopping center in the Eastern Pennsylvania city of Reading. Grocer Giant Food and Lowe’s Home Improvement anchor Exeter Crossing, which was built in 2009 and was 99.5 percent leased at the time of sale. Other tenants include Ross Dress for Less, PA Wine & Spirits, Five Below, Petco, Staples, Famous Footwear, America’s Best Contacts, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Red Robin, Supercuts and Mattress Firm. Christopher Munley, Jim Galbally and Colin Behr of JLL represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction. Wharton Realty Group purchased the center for an undisclosed price.
By Taylor Williams Industrial brokers and developers throughout New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania are flush with tenant demand, but the frenetic pace and frequency at which revenues and costs change in this market has introduced a whole new set of operating challenges. In terms of the supply side of the market, developers of industrial product, like those of every other property type, have been squeezed by supply chain disruption. Prices and lead times for ordering key materials change radically and often without warning. Developers who try to circumvent these obstacles by ordering way earlier than normal in the process now run an increased risk of having to take delivery of supplies without having all permits and sources of construction financing in place. Such a misfire in timing can create lags in delivery, potentially alienating tenants needing turnkey space and generating additional short-term costs via storage of the materials before construction begins. In addition, misaligning these timelines can spook potential investors that want the certainty of knowing that a project is moving forward. “We’re buying supplies a year in advance and trying to sync up deliveries of those materials with when we expect to have full project approval,” says Peter Polt, …
BALA CYNWYD, PA. — Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE: FRT) will redevelop Bala Cynwyd Shopping Center, a 174,000-square-foot retail and dining destination located in the northwestern Philadelphia suburb of Bala Cynwyd. The $8 million project will include upgrading façade aesthetics, creating common and tenant-designated outdoor dining and gathering areas and improving pedestrian and vehicular circulation. Additionally, up to 80 outdoor seats and eight curbside pickup spaces will be added. Completion is slated for summer 2023. Current tenants at the 23-acre center include ACME Markets, Michaels, Five Guys and Honeygrow. All tenants will remain open during construction.
PITTSBURGH — CIT, a division of First Citizens Bank, has provided a $37.2 million acquisition loan for a 510,000-square-foot distribution center in Pittsburgh that is fully leased to Amazon and e-commerce consulting firm Nogin. The property serves as one of Amazon’s two sortation facilities in the Pittsburgh area. The borrower is Aminim Group, an investment firm with offices in Houston and Jerusalem. Specific loan terms were not disclosed.