NEW YORK CITY — Savanna, a New York-based private equity and asset management firm, has acquired 141 Willoughby Street, a development site in Brooklyn. The lot is approximately 18,000 square feet and is zoned for retail, residential and commercial use. The purchase price was undisclosed. Savanna purchased the asset in an off-market transaction from the Institute of Design and Construction (IDC). The school currently operates its not-for-profit college at the building on site. Woody Heller, executive managing director and group head of the capital transactions group at Studley, represented IDC in the transaction.
Mixed-Use
NEW YORK CITY — A mixed-use building at 5008 Broadway, located on the corner of Broadway and West 213th Street in Manhattan’s Inwood neighborhood, was sold in an all-cash transaction for $9.8 million. The sales price equates to $201 per square foot. The six-story, 52-unit building spans approximately 48,576 square feet and consists of five commercial and 47 residential units. Robert Shapiro of Massey Knakal arranged the transaction. The buyer was a private investor.
SAN FRANCISCO — Mesa West Capital has provided a $60.8-million first-mortgage loan to finance the fee acquisition of a 142,900-square-foot, mixed-use development in San Francisco. The development is located at 1700 California Street. The Hill Companies, which owns the property’s leasehold improvements, has acquired the fee interest under the development. The funds will cover the property’s fee acquisition, as well as the existing leasehold mortgage refinance. The property features 87,852 square feet of office and medical office space, 47 luxury multifamily units and 7,938 square feet of street-level retail, which is anchored by Ruth’s Chris Steak House. The development was built in 1987 and acquired by Hill in 2001. The property’s commercial component is fully leased, while the residential component is 95 percent leased. Financing was arranged by Ramsey Daya and Chris Moritz of Regency Capital Partners. It was originated by Ronnie Gul of Mesa West.
LOUISVILLE, KY. — GBT Realty Corp. has begun construction on Middletown Commons, a 32-acre mixed-use development located along Shelbyville Road at Interstate 265 in Louisville. The development is slated to cost around $50 million to construct. Middletown Commons will feature more than 225,000 square feet of retail space as well as six outparcels. A sports retailer will anchor the development, and several retailers have signed on to tenant the property, including Hobby Lobby, Liquor Barn, Rack Room Shoes, Ross Dress for Less, Chick-fil-A and Texas Roadhouse. The property is 80 percent pre-leased, and the first tenants are scheduled to open in late 2014. Along with GBT Realty, the project team includes project architect MJM Architects, engineers Gresham Smith and Partners and site work contractor Louisville Paving & Construction. PNC Bank is providing construction financing.
KNOXVILLE, TENN. — Blanchard & Calhoun Commercial, an Augusta, Ga.-based real estate developer and brokerage firm, has purchased a 23-acre waterfront property formerly known as Baptist Hospital in Knoxville for approximately $6.3 million. Blanchard & Calhoun plans to develop a $160 million mixed-use project known as Riverwalk at the Bridges at the waterfront site. The project will include luxury apartments, student housing suites, a waterfront hotel, restaurants, retail and office space. The development is expected to create 2,000 new jobs in the area. Demolition of the existing Baptist Hospital will begin early this year.
ATLANTA — CBRE has arranged a $24.6 million loan for the retail portion of Lindbergh City Center, a 187,751-square-foot mixed-use development located adjacent to the MARTA Lindbergh Center station in Atlanta. Carter developed the transit-oriented project in 2003. Anthem College is the anchor tenant alongside several restaurants and retailers. Bill Tyler, Brian Kelly and Tony Swann of CBRE’s Atlanta office arranged the loan through Prime Finance of New York on behalf of Carter.
BOSTON — Shorenstein Properties LLC has acquired Center Plaza, a transit-oriented, mixed-use property totaling 717,128 square feet in Boston. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Developed by Beacon Capital in phases in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the property includes three nine-story buildings featuring 620,000 square of office space, 77,000 square feet of retail, 19,000 square feet of storage space and a 575-car garage. Shorenstein completed the acquisition of Center Plaza on behalf of its 10th fund, Shorenstein Realty Investors Ten LP, which it formed in 2010 with $1.2 billion of committed capital.
BETHLEHEM, PA. — NAI James E. Hanson has arranged the $19 million sale of 47 acres in Bethlehem, located about nine miles east of Allentown. The buyer, a joint-venture partnership of KRE Group and The Silverman Group, plans to build Madison Farms, a large-scale, mixed-use residential and retail project on the property. The first phase of the development will feature 294 apartments and 123,000 square feet of retail space. ShopRite grocery store will anchor the retail portion of the project, which is expected to open by the first quarter of 2015. Upon completion, Madison Farms will feature 837 residences that will include a mix of apartments, single-family homes and townhomes. John Schilp, senior vice president, and Sig Schorr, vice president of NAI Hanson, represented the buyer and the seller in the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — Madison Realty Capital has closed a $38 million first-mortgage bridge loan for the acquisition of the former St. John's Queens Hospital building at 90-02 Queens Boulevard in the Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens. The borrower plans to use the funds to redevelop the 266,322-square-foot medical facility, which has been closed since its operator went bankrupt in 2009. The new ownership, a group of mostly foreign investors led by developer Steve Wu, will repurpose the building, creating a mixed-use project that will include 144 residential units and 118,213 square feet of commercial and community space. The buyer also acquired the four-story, 89,601-square-foot parking garage located behind the hospital building, which features 290 parking spaces.
NEW YORK CITY — Eastern Consolidated has arranged the sale of 1128 Third Avenue in Manhattan for $9.5 million. Starbucks Coffee occupies the ground floor and anchors the 5,309-square-foot Upper East Side property. The four-story, mixed-use building includes one retail store, one commercial floor and two residential units. Adelaide Polsinelli, senior director and head of Eastern’s retail sales group, arranged the transaction on behalf of the seller, Chicago-based real estate investment firm L3 Capital LLC. Attorneys Joel Rubin and Joshua Kurtz of Seyfarth Shaw LLP also represented the seller. Ronda Rogovin, principal and senior director with Eastern Consolidated, represented the buyer, a local investor. Attorneys Anthony Cornicello of Cornicello, Tendler & Baumel-Cornicello LLP also represented the buyer.