NASHUA, N.H. — A&G Partners has closed the sale of Daniel Webster College’s 53-acre campus, formerly owned by ITT Educational Services, to Hong Kong-based user for $11.6 million. The campus housed 13 buildings totaling 281,000 square feet. The transaction — approved October 25, 2017, by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Indianapolis — followed the closing in November of A&G’s sale of the college’s aviation-specific facilities to Southern New Hampshire University. Assets at the former aviation school included a hangar, flight center, library, gym, townhouse and six additional buildings.
NEW YORK CITY — TerraCRG has brokered the sale of 1501 Pitkin Avenue, a 165,000-square-foot mixed-use building in Brooklyn. POKO Partners sold the property to an undisclosed buyer for $53 million. Built in 1929, the former movie theater has been redeveloped into a mixed-use property featuring retail and educational space. The building features 12,371 square feet of retail space occupied by Pizza Hut, Subway and Dollar Tree, and a 152,404-square-foot charter school that serves 1,000 students. Ofer Cohen, Dan Marks, Matt Cosentino, Fred Bijou and Eric Satanovsky of TerraCRG brokered the deal.
NEW YORK CITY — The School Construction Authority and MPCC, as general contractor, have broken ground for the Public School 144 addition, an expansion at Colonel Jeromus Remsen School, located at 93-02 69th Ave. in the Forest Hills section of Queens. The $52.4 million, four-story addition will house 26 classrooms, an entrance lobby, an outdoor play area, a cafeteria, offices and a medical suite. The Pre-K through fifth grade school currently serves 894 students. Designed by Urbahn Architects, the expansion will accommodate 590 students and eliminate the need for temporary modular, outdoor classroom facilities. The project team includes MPCC, Leslie E. Robertson Associates LERA, Loring Consulting Engineering, YU + Associates Engineers, Edgewater Design, Lumen Architecture, Cerami & Associates and Schiavone Designs.
ATLANTA — SunTrust Community Capital, in partnership with McCormack Baron Salazar and Invest Atlanta, has provided $24.8 million in financing for a new YMCA of Metro Atlanta headquarters. The 54,400-square-foot building, known as the YMCA Center for Leadership and Learning, will be located at 569 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in downtown Atlanta, a half-mile from the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The financing included $22 million in New Market Tax Credits (NMTC) allocation and a $2.5 million Westside Tax Allocation District grant from Invest Atlanta. SunTrust Community Capital served as the sole NMTC investor for the development. The new Leadership and Learning Center will house the YMCA of Metro Atlanta’s administrative offices and will become the new regional YMCA training center for the Southeast, providing training to over 1,500 employees annually. The center will bring 135 YMCA employees to downtown Atlanta, including 25 new jobs and various internship opportunities. The facility is expected to open in early 2019.
PLANO, TEXAS — McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. will build a 90,000-square-foot fine arts center for the Plano Independent School District. The facility, which will be located along Alma Road between 15th Street and West Park Boulevard, will feature a 1,500-seat performance hall, 350-seat studio theater, rehearsal studio and a visual arts gallery. The project will also deliver surface parking for roughly 700 vehicles. Construction of the project, which is valued at roughly $50 million, is expected to begin during the summer of 2018.
WILMINGTON, DEL. — The Philadelphia 76ers and The Buccini/Pollin Group are developing 76ers Fieldhouse in Wilmington. Situated on 8.9 acres, the 140,000-square-foot multi-purpose sports complex and youth training center will be the new home for the 76ers NBA G League affiliate team, the Delaware 87ers. In addition to use by the affiliate team, the facility will be used to provide local youth with new sports programming and opportunities. The Buccini/Pollin Group will manage the development and construction of the facility, which is being designed by Rossetti Architects. The facility is situated on a site currently owned by Riverfront Development Corp.
ATLANTA — Tim Keane, City of Atlanta’s planning commissioner, is tasked with a monumental challenge facing many planners: how to practically design the future for a city on the cusp of a population boom. Citing the Atlanta Regional Commission, Keane said that the Atlanta metro area is on track to add 2.5 million people over the next 25 years, the equivalent of adding the entire metro Charlotte population. The city’s in-town population is also expected to grow from less than 500,000 today to 1.2 million in that same time frame. Adding to the challenge are city departments and communities that are unwilling to change because of a mindset that is resistant to growth. “Everyone thinks that more people is bad,” said Keane, who previously worked in the city planning departments in Davidson, N.C., and Charleston. “They don’t work on the assumption that a clear future for themselves is better with more people. We have to break out of that mentality because the change is happening.” Keane was the keynote speaker at the eighth annual InterFace Multifamily Southeast conference, held on Tuesday, Nov. 28 at the Westin Buckhead in Atlanta. Hosted by InterFace Conference Group and Southeast Real Estate Business, the …
CHARLESTOWN, MASS. — Callahan Construction Managers has completed the construction of Cambridge College’s campus relocation project. Located in Hood Business Park in Charlestown, the project comprises a 108,000-square-foot tenant fit-out with modern classrooms, laboratories, meeting rooms, offices, administrative areas, studies and lounges. Designed by Wilson Architects, the facility features state-of-the-art audio/visual communications and teaching technologies, as well as ancillary support spaces for the college.
NEW PALTZ, N.Y. — The State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz, along with PC Construction, has broken ground on a $14 million Engineering Innovation Hub, located on the university’s campus in New Paltz. The two-story structure will add to the school’s growing mechanical engineering program, house the headquarters and laboratories of the university’s Hudson Valley Advanced Manufacturing Center, provide space for potential business partners under the state’s START-UP NY program, and serve as a business incubator for technology and engineering startups in the mid-Hudson Valley. Urbahn Architects designed the 19,500-square-foot facility, which allows for potential expansion. The project team includes Vanderweil Engineers, CSA Group, Leslie E. Robertson Associates, YR&G, BET Engineering Consultants, Edgewater Design, Lumen Architecture and Ellana Inc.
ATLANTA — Tim Keane, commissioner of planning and community with the City of Atlanta, didn’t mince words when it came to his thoughts on the government’s role with new retail development. “Everyone in this room should have higher expectations for their cities and towns,” says Keane, addressing the crowd during the ICSC Southeast Conference & Deal Making event held at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta in mid-October. The panel discussion, dubbed “Debunking the Retail Apocalypse,” centered on why retail isn’t a dying industry but one that is evolving on a daily basis. For as much discussion about how food and entertainment are helping change the dynamic for retail real estate, the panel agreed that a concerted effort between the public and private sectors is the only way the retail industry can truly adapt with the times. Keane, who previously worked with the City of Charleston, says it’s the local government’s responsibility to allow developers to build the projects that people want. “It’s crazy for developers to have to go through this gauntlet before they can build what everyone wants them to build,” said Keane, who was interrupted by an applause break. Lacy Beasley, president and chief operating officer of …