PHILADELPHIA — Keystone Property Group has landed a new life sciences tenant at The Curtis, the metro Philadelphia-based developer’s 912,245-square-foot facility in Philadelphia that is a redevelopment of a former printing press. Aro Biotherapeutics Co., a developer of genetic medicines, has committed to an undisclosed amount of space at the 12-story building. Bob Zwengler, Anthony Pell, Matt Knowles and Paul Touhey of CBRE represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Tim Conrey, Lisa Berger Baskin and K.J. Kulik of Scheer Partners represented Keystone.
ERIE AND MECHANICSBURG, PA. — HJ Sims has arranged $47.6 million in financing for Bethany Village Retirement Center and Springhill, two seniors housing properties that are respectively located in Mechanicsburg and Erie. Bethany Village includes two campuses with 400 independent living units, 100 assisted living units, a 69-bed skilled nursing center and amenities. Springhill features 158 independent living and 35 personal care units, plus an 80-bed skilled nursing facility. The loans refinance bonds from 2012 and include a $20.4 million bank loan and tax-exempt, fixed-rate bonds totaling $27.2 million. The borrower was Asbury Communities Inc.
PITTSBURGH — ibex, a Washington, D.C.-based provider of global technology solutions, has signed a 32,528-square-foot lease at Penn Center East, an office and retail campus in Pittsburgh. The campus features a tenant lounge, fitness facility and conference center. Dan Adamski and Nick Francic of JLL represented ibex, which plans to hire about 400 people to its regional workforce, in the lease negotiations. The name and representative of the landlord were not disclosed.
OLYPHANT, PA. — A partnership between developer Endurance Real Estate Group and Boston-based Cabot Properties is underway on construction of Olyphant Logistics Center, a 1 million-square-foot speculative industrial facility that will be located in Lackawanna County. The partnership acquired the 112-acre site from Langen Development Economics LLC. Building features will include a clear height of 40 feet, 477 car parking spaces, 237 trailer parking stalls and an ESFR sprinkler system. Completion is slated for fall 2022. JLL has been appointed as the leasing agent.
MALVERN, PA. — Bridge Office, a subsidiary of Bridge Investment Group, has acquired Lindenwood Corporate Center, a 280,034-square-foot office campus in Malvern, a northwestern suburb of Philadelphia. The property was built in 1985 and houses tenants such as PQ Corp., Siemens Corp. and Cisco Systems. The new ownership plans to invest about $8 million in capital improvements.
PHILADELPHIA — A partnership between New York City-based developer The Plymouth Group and private investment firm Centerbridge Partners LP has broken ground on Budd Bioworks, a 450,000-square-foot life sciences project in Philadelphia. The property will be located at the site of the former plant of The Budd Co., a defunct manufacturer of automotive parts, in Philadelphia’s “Cellicon Valley” area. Budd Bioworks represents Phase I of a larger, 2.4 million-square-foot life sciences development. The development team also plans to incorporate residential, restaurant and retail uses in subsequent phases of the repositioning of the larger Budd Co. campus. Colliers International has been tapped to lease the life sciences component of the project.
VALLEY VIEW, PA. — CBRE has negotiated the $25.7 million sale of an industrial development site in Valley View, about 120 miles northwest of Philadelphia. The buyer, California-based Panattoni Development Co., plans to develop two speculative buildings that will total approximately 2.4 million square feet and that will be known as Rausch Creek Logistics Center. Michael Hess, Bart Anderson and Patrick Lafferty of CBRE represented the seller, Tremont FT LLC, an affiliate of Viridian Partners, in the transaction.
FORT WASHINGTON, PA. — Trez Capital has provided a $22 million loan for the redevelopment of a 367,681-square-foot office building in Fort Washington, a northern suburb of Philadelphia. The property was originally built in 1999 on a 28.3-acre site. The borrower, an entity doing business as Alliance HP Virginia Drive LLC, plans to modernize the building with a new entrance, dock doors and amenities. Brett Forman and Scott Mehlman of Trez Capital originated the debt.
KUTZTOWN, PA. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of a 546-unit self-storage portfolio in the Eastern Pennsylvania city of Kutztown. The portfolio consists of two existing facilities totaling 22,243 net rentable square feet across 131 climate- and non-climate-controlled units, as well as a development site for which 148 climate-controlled and 268 non-climate-controlled units have been proposed. Nathan Coe, Brett Hatcher and Gabriel Coe of Marcus & Millichap represented the buyer and seller, both of which were private investment groups based in Eastern Pennsylvania that requested anonymity, in the transaction. Sean Beuche of Marcus & Millichap assisted in closing the deal as the broker of record.
PHILADELPHIA AND IRVINE, CALIF. — Independence Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: IRT), a publicly traded apartment REIT based in Philadelphia, has agreed to acquire Irvine-based Steadfast Apartment REIT Inc. On a pro-forma basis, the combined company is expected to have a total enterprise value of approximately $7 billion and be equally owned by shareholders of both firms. Post-merger, the company will operate under the Independence Realty Trust banner and trade under the same stock symbol. The portfolio will total 131 apartment communities comprising approximately 38,000 units across 16 states. The combined company’s 10 largest markets by unit count would be Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, Oklahoma City, Louisville, Columbus, Indianapolis, Raleigh-Durham, Houston and Memphis. According to an investor presentation, the portfolio averages $1,231 in effective rent per month and is 96.2 percent occupied. The combined company would rank at No. 26 on the National Multifamily Housing Council’s (NMHC) 2021 ranking of the top 50 apartment owners. Neither Independence Realty Trust nor Steadfast Apartment REIT is on the NMHC Top 50 Owners ranking for 2021. Both companies expect the transaction to close during the fourth quarter of 2021, subject to customary closing conditions, including approval of both companies’ stockholders. The boards of directors …