NARRAGANSETT, R.I. — A subsidiary of Dividend Capital Diversified Property Fund Inc. has purchased Salt Pond Shopping Center for $39.2 million. Located at 91 Point Judith Road in Narragansett, the property is occupied by Stop & Shop, Marshalls/HomeGoods, Sports Authority, West Marine and Dollar Tree. Chris Angelone, Bill Moylan, Nat Heald and Bruce Lusa of CBRE/NE represented the undisclosed seller and the buyer in the transaction.
NORTH PROVIDENCE, R.I. — CBRE/New England’s Capital Markets team has brokered the sale of Windsor at Brentwood, a 240-unit garden-style apartment community located in North Providence. Bower Hill Associates, an affiliate of GID Investment Advisors LLC, sold the property to Brentwood Apartments Limited Partnership, an affiliate of SMC Management LLC, for $25.8 million. Built in 1988, Windsor at Brentwood consists of 12 two- and three-story buildings with a mix of 178 one-bedroom apartments and 72 two-bedroom apartments. The apartments range in size from 541 to 965 square feet. At the time of the sale, 166 units had received kitchen and bathroom renovations along with community amenity upgrades. Simon Butler and Biria St. John of CBRE/NE represented the seller and procured the buyer in the transaction.
COVENTRY, R.I. — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of two retail centers, located at 670-678 and 710-720 Centre of New England Blvd. in Coventry. MTM-CNE LLC sold the assets, which total 16,895 square feet, for $4.4 million to 1465 Third Avenue LLC. Current tenants include 863 Sushi, Cilantro Grille, Royal Nails, UPS, Spring, We-R-Wireless, GameStop, Starkey Hearing, Supercuts and T-Mobile. Bob Horvath and Todd Tremblay of Marcus & Millichap represented both the seller and buyer in the transaction.
WARWICK, R.I. — RE/MAX Commercial has brokered the sale of a 31,500-square-foot medical office building in Warwick. Situated on four acres at 390 Toll Gate Road, the property sold for $3.2 million. The building is occupied by 12 medical groups, including Kent Cardiology, Kent Hospital Lab Services, Bayside Endocrinology, King Opticians, West Bay Surgical Associates and Kent Urology. Andy Kusher and Michael Milano of RE/MAX Commercial represented the seller, Toll Gate Associates. Tom Sullivan of Commercial Realty Advisors represented the buyer, BEM Realty Trust, in the transaction.
Rhode Island’s economy continues to struggle with unemployment that is above the national average. As a result, it has been difficult to get new ground-up development projects started with only a few exceptions. In Johnston, Saletin Real Estate Group has completed construction on the first phase of Johnston Towne Center on Hartford Avenue. The 95,000-square-foot shopping center is anchored by a 40,000-square-foot Price-Rite grocery store. BankRI has also opened a new free-standing facility on the site. In order to make the development a reality, the mayor and town council worked with the developer and issued tax increment bond financing. The project is considered a major redevelopment victory for the town of Johnston, as the construction of Johnston Towne Center required the demolition of the former Stuart’s Plaza shopping center — which had been 100 percent vacant for many years, and had become an eyesore along Hartford Avenue, one of Johnston’s busiest streets. Johnston Towne Center serves as the second victory for the rejuvenation of Hartford Avenue. The former Shaw’s grocery store, which had been vacant for several years and shares the same traffic signal as Johnston Towne Center, is now fully leased to Ocean State Job Lot and Planet Fitness. …
In Providence, the Class A office market has stabilized, thanks to a number of large lease renewals last year as well as new activity in the market. The current vacancy rate for Class A office product is now under 9 percent in the Capital City with an overall office vacancy rate of 14 percent, which represents a decrease of 100 basis points compared to this same point last year. Consequently, this activity has pushed rental rates for Class A space back over $30 per square foot on new deals. Recently, Nortek completed a lease for 24,000 square feet at the Blue Cross Blue Shield building located in the Capital Center district of Providence. Tech startup Swipely has completed its move into more than 25,000 square feet at 10 Dorrance Street. But for the Swipely expansion, the downtown Providence Class B office market remains stagnant. There has been some activity on the capital markets front as well in Providence. The Foundry Associates recently completed its purchase of the former American Locomotive Works (ALCO) site, which totals more than 200,000 square feet of redeveloped office space, for $19.05 million. In addition, Providence-based Paolino Properties recently completed the acquisition of 100 Westminster (300,000 …
In Providence, R.I., the the Class A office market has stabilized. GTECH Center has been successful in leasing up just about all of its available space to four or five tenants. Consequently, The GTECH Building sold for more than $50 million prior to the end of 2012. In addition, the new Blue Cross tower was successful in leasing 10,000 square feet of available space with plenty of continued interest for additional floors from prospects. Also, Bank of America’s move from its former headquarters at 111 Westminster into space located in 100 Westminster and One Financial Plaza has further helped push vacancy rates down for Class A office space. The current vacancy rate for this product is less than 9 percent in the Capital City. Consequently, this activity has pushed rental rates for Class A space back over the $30 per square foot mark on new deals. High Rock Development, which owns 111 Westminster (the former Bank of America building), is currently lobbying the state for tax credits to redevelop the building into apartments. It will be interesting to see, since the 38 Studios collapse, how far the state and city are willing to get involved — or if the building …
Rhode Island is the smallest state in the United States in terms of geographic area. With a population of 1.05 million, it is the eighth least populous state; however, its small geographic area makes it the second most densely populated of all 50 states. This density of population is attractive to retailers looking to expand in The Ocean State. The city of Providence is the only major urban center in Rhode Island. As such, it serves as the cultural and economic hub of the state. Providence Place Mall, one of the most successful urban regional malls in the country, continues to serve as a strong anchor to the downtown area, bringing suburban customers in to the city of Providence to shop and eat at one-of-a-kind retailers and restaurants in the state, including Nordstrom, Cheesecake Factory, Dave & Busters, and Apple. Other than Providence Place, retail activity in the downtown market has been primarily focused on chain restaurants, such as Ruth’s Chris, The Capital Grille and McCormick & Schmick’s, continuing their presence and new local operators opening in the areas adjacent to the downtown core such as Federal Hill (Providence’s “Little Italy”) or along Thayer Street, which is the hub of …
In Providence, 100 Westminster and One Financial Plaza still have ample true Class A space available, but GTECH Center has arguably produced the best return on its tenant investment, essentially leasing up all of its available space to four or five tenants. Consequently, the GTECH Building just sold for more than $50 million. In addition, the new Blue Cross tower was successful in leasing half of its 20,000 square feet of available space. This activity has pushed rental rates for Class A space back over the $30 per square foot mark on new deals. The vacancy rate will dip just below 17 percent as Hasbro officially announced that it has leased approximately 135,900 square feet in the capital city. Finally, it looks like Ameriprise Financial will be moving from Cranston into One Citizens Plaza, which will help the Class A absorption. However, the recent failure of game developer 38 Studios will negatively impact occupancy rates; the company occupied space at One Empire Plaza, a 104,000-square-foot office building in Providence. Looking forward, Bank of America announced that it will vacate its headquarters located at 111 Westminster in April 2013. It is expected that 100 Westminster will absorb employees leaving this 340,000-square-foot …
