WASHINGTON, D.C. — Commercial and multifamily mortgage loan originations were 18 percent lower in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to a year ago, and increased 76 percent from the third quarter of 2020, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Quarterly Survey of Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Bankers Originations. A decrease in originations for hotel, retail, office and healthcare properties led the overall decline in lending volumes when compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. There was a 79 percent year-over-year decrease in the dollar volume of loans for hotel properties, 72 percent dip for retail properties, 6 percent decline for office properties and a 12 percent decrease for healthcare properties. Industrial property loan originations increased 15 percent, while multifamily property lending rose 14 percent. Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s vice president of commercial research, says that unsurprisingly the data shows that the property types most affected by the pandemic struggled to transact. “Borrowing and lending remain weakest for the property types most impacted by the pandemic — particularly hotel and retail buildings,” says Woodwell. “Multifamily, led by government-backed financing from FHA, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, continued to see the strongest commercial mortgage activity.” Among investor types, the dollar volume of loans …
MORRISTOWN, N.J. — Amherst Capital Management has provided a $14.1 million acquisition loan for 500 College Road East, a 159,227-square-foot office building in the Northern New Jersey city of Morristown. The property was built in 1984 and was 53 percent occupied at the time of sale. Amenities include a fitness center, conference room and a café. Michael Klein, Greg Nalbaldian and Michael Lachs of JLL arranged the floating-rate loan on behalf of the buyer, a partnership between Bergman Real Estate Group, Eight Fold Capital and Hornig Capital Partners.
CHICAGO — Skender has completed the interior construction of the 200,000-square-foot Walgreens Technology Center of Excellence within Chicago’s Old Post Office. The office will eventually welcome hundreds of employees, including e-commerce, mobile, pharmacy technology and digital team members as well as Walgreens Boots Alliance information technology personnel. The office space spans multiple levels and features a staircase, open and private offices, collaboration and conferencing spaces, data rooms, lounge spaces and a kitchen. Walgreens was the first major tenant to commit to space at the Old Post Office redevelopment project in 2018. Stantec Inc. served as the architect and engineering firm on the project, and Mace served as the owner’s representative.
CONGERS, N.Y. — JLL has negotiated the $6.5 million sale of an 81,780-square-foot office property that is situated on 7.5 acres in Congers, about 40 miles north of New York City. JLL represented the seller, The Arc Rockland, an organization that provides services to people of all ages with intellectual and other developmental disabilities, in the transaction. The buyer was Portables Unlimited Inc., a Nanuet-based wholesaler of T-Mobile products.
By Dan Palmeri, Senior Director, Tenant Advisory Group, Cushman & Wakefield As with most of the country, Las Vegas’ office market has been significantly impacted since COVID-19 restrictions started back in March. While many businesses have been allowed to operate at limited capacities, we’ve also seen many larger office users elect to work from home over the past nine months. This increase in work from home scenarios has naturally created a large increase in sublease availabilities in the market. Prior to March 17, 2020, we were tracking 24 subleases consisting of 555,000 square feet, with two of those spaces being 257,000 square feet and 61,000 square feet, or roughly 57 percent of the overall inventory. Since March, we’ve seen the number of availabilities increase to 70 with a total of more than 1.2 million square feet of space. This represents an increase of 118 percent. We’re tracking an additional 313,000 square feet of pending subleases that have yet to hit the market. This will bring the total to 78 options, with six of the availabilities being 50,000 square feet or larger. Large tenant activity was minimal over the past nine months. The most significant transaction was NYU Grossman School of …
THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS — NAI Partners has negotiated a 16,000-square-foot office headquarters sublease for exploration firm Ring Energy at 1725 Hughes Landing Blvd. in The Woodlands, about 30 miles north of Houston. Charlie Neuhaus and Harry Holmes of NAI Partners represented the tenant, which is relocating from Midland, in the lease negotiations. Jerrod McQuain of JLL represented the sublandlord.
BOSTON — A joint venture between affiliates of Magellan Development Group, RAS Development, Cypress Equity Investments and USAA Real Estate will develop a 194,000-square-foot life sciences facility and a 450-unit apartment building in the Somerville area of Boston. The development represents the first phase of the master plan for the revitalization of Union Square, a project that will ultimately span 2.4 million square feet of commercial and residential space. The project also includes the addition of an MBTA Green Line station. Daniel Kaufman, Frederic Wittmann and Brett Paulsrud of JLL arranged construction financing through Bank OZK for both the life sciences and the multifamily components of the project.
CHICAGO — Workbox Coworking Co. has signed a 15,295-square-foot, full-floor lease at 306 West Erie in Chicago. Workbox expects to occupy its space in mid-2021. North Wells Capital and Urban Innovations recently completed the expansion and redevelopment of the office and retail property. Additionally, the developers have commenced construction on the street-level buildout for Fairgrounds Coffee & Tea, which is slated to open in mid-2021. The location will be the brand’s sixth in the Chicagoland area. The building is part of Verso, a three-building collection in Chicago’s River North. JLL is the leasing agent for 306 West Erie and the entire Verso portfolio.
REDONDO BEACH, CALIF. — Hawkwood Ventures has purchased Linq, a two-building creative office campus located at 2400 Marine Ave. in the Los Angeles suburb of Redondo Beach. EverWest Real Estate Investors sold the property for $24 million. Developed in 1964 and renovated in 2018, Linq features a total of 50,000 square feet of office space with private tenant entrances, glass roll-up doors, skylights and a wrap-around boardwalk, as well as new power, landscaping, lobby, restrooms and signage. At the time of sale, the property was fully leased to multiple tenants. Steve Solomon, Kristen Bowman and Andrew Harper of JLL represented the seller, while the buyer was self-represented in the transaction.
OAKBROOK TERRACE, ILL. — J.C. Anderson has completed a 108,723-square-foot office buildout for Bosch at One Tower Lane in Oakbrook Terrace. The project scope included a 92,840-square-foot space on the top five floors of the office building as well as a 15,883-square-foot separate space known as “the annex,” which will serve as a testing and lab facility. Bosch is relocating approximately 350 employees from its Automotive Aftermarket Division at 2800 S. 25th Ave. in Broadview, Ill. The new space includes conference and training rooms, private offices and open seating areas. The top floor boasts a 360-degree view of the Chicago skyline. Whitney Architects provided architectural services and Cushman & Wakefield provided project management services. Bosch, a supplier of technology and services, operates in four different business sectors: mobility solutions; industrial technology; consumer goods; and energy and building technology.