HYATTSVILLE, MD. — ECHO Realty LP and its partner The Bernstein Cos. have broken ground on The Gateway at University Town Center, an 83,400-square-foot mixed-use property in Hyattsville. The two-story asset will be located at the intersection of East-West Highway and America Boulevard. The property will be anchored by a 54,400-square-foot Safeway and feature tenants such as Unleashed by Petco, Phenix Salon and an undisclosed medical office practice. ECHO has selected Facchina Co. Inc. as the site work contractor for the development and will select a general contractor for the development in the near future.
Mixed-Use
NEW YORK CITY — Teaneck N.J.-based Treetop Development has completed two transactions in New York City. In the first transaction, Treetop Development, along with its partner, Latus Partners, sold a four-building rental portfolio to E&M Associates for $29 million. The portfolio consists of 82 two- and three-bedroom apartments and 11 commercial spaces located at 1917 Seventh Ave., 110 St. Nicholas Ave., 120 West 116th St. and 100 West 116th St. Aaron Jungreis of Rosewood Realty Group brokered the transaction. Treetop Development utilized the first transaction as a springboard to acquire an apartment portfolio located on Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard in Harlem. The company purchased the portfolio of 41 rental homes and six commercial spaces from Sugar Hill Capital Partners for $11.25 million. The properties are located at 2261 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd., 2267-2269 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd., 2271-2273 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd. and a vacant lot at 2265 Adam Clayton Blvd. Peter Vanderpool of Cignature Realty served as broker for the transaction, while Efram Friedman of Herrick Feinstein provided legal counsel to Treetop Development.
NEW YORK CITY — Eastern Consolidated has arranged the sale of 15-17 West 116th Street, a mixed-used property in Central Harlem. Malcolm Shabazz Court LLC sold the property to 15 West 116 LLC for $13.8 million in an off-market transaction. Constructed in 2005, the nine-story building features 38 apartment units and ground-floor retail space. The property is under a 20-year 421A tax abatement program with 12 years remaining, which does not prohibit the owner from acquiring new financing from any institutional lender. The transaction was subject to the purchaser being approved by two city agencies (The NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development and Housing Development Corp.), along with the assumption of subsidized financing. Peter Carillo and Andrew Sasson of Eastern Consolidated represented the seller; Carillo also procured the buyer in the transaction. Gregory Reid of Reid Rodriguez & Rouse provided legal counsel for the seller, while Ira Nesenoff of Nesenoff & Miltemberg was the attorney for the buyer.
NEW YORK CITY — Eastern Consolidated has arranged the sale of a three-building, mixed-used portfolio located in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood for $15.5 million. The portfolio includes a 19,150-square-foot building at 3600 Broadway, an 11,500-square-foot property at 3604 Broadway, and a 13,053-square-foot asset at 3610 Broadway. The portfolio, which totals 43,703 square feet, is occupied by Dunkin’ Donuts, Baskin-Robbins and The Chipped Cup, among others. Matthew Sparks of Eastern Consolidated represented the seller and procured the buyer for the transaction. Jeffrey Goldberg of Sadis & Goldberg LLP provided legal counsel for the buyer, while Robert Teitelbaum of Konner Teitelbaum & Gallagher provided legal counsel for the seller.
NEW YORK CITY — TerraCRG has brokered the sale of a mixed-used development site at 608-614 Franklin Avenue in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood. Located on the corner of Franklin Avenue and Dean Street, the approximately 21,929-square-foot site has 141 feet of frontage on Franklin Avenue and 153.7 feet on Dean Street. Additionally, the property was recently zoned to R7A/C2-4, which allows for more than 75,650 buildable square feet or up to 100,875 buildable square feet with the addition of inclusionary housing. Crow Hill Development sold the property for $17.5 million or $231 per buildable square foot. Ofer Cohen, Melissa DiBella, Dan Marks, Peter Matheos, Michael Hernandez and Joseph Terzi of TerraCRG represented negotiated the sale of the property.
AUBURN, N.Y. — First Niagara Financial Group has provided $2.7 million in financing for WST33 LLC/Soules and Dunn Development Group’s Plaza of the Arts complex, which is located at 161 Genessee St. in Auburn. The 20,000-square-foot development offers medical office, retail and restaurant space. Additionally, Grant Avenue Development will relocate and consolidate its headquarters from Roanoke, Va., to the new development. Grant Avenue Development owns and operates more than 40 restaurants on the East Coast, including Arby’s, Domino's Pizza and Tim Horton’s franchises. WST33 LLC broke ground on the $5 million project last year. The Plaza of the Arts is expected to have a total economic impact of $50 million annually.
NEW YORK CITY — Eastern Consolidated has brokered the sale of 143-155 Roebling Street, a commercial loft building located in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood. Redsky Capital LLC purchased the former needlework factory from Metroeb Realty 1 LLC for $33.3 million. The six-story, 141,389-square-foot building features 42 fully occupied commercial units, three elevators and a full-building sprinkler system. Additionally, the property features three sides of frontage along Roebling Street, Hope Street and Metropolitan Avenue. Gabriel Saffioti of Eastern Consolidated represented the seller, and, along with Ben Tapper, also of Eastern Consolidated, procured the buyer in the transaction.
PLANO, TEXAS — West Plano Village, a mixed-use project under construction at the northeast corner of the Dallas North Tollway and Parker Road, is nearing completion. The project was first announced before the recession started, but is now months away from opening. Cencor Realty Services is developing the project, set to open in early 2015 with 90,000 square feet of retail space and 60,000 square feet of second-floor office space fronting the Tollway and Parker Road. Residential developer Amli Residential is constructing 264 apartments in a four-story configuration. The apartments are set to open later this year. When completed, the site’s restaurants will include Kona Grill, Princi Italia, Mi Dia From Scratch and Pakpao. Other tenants will include AT&T and Charles Schwab. Michelle Caplan with The Weitzman Group is handling retail and office leasing at West Plano Village. Dallas-based Hodges & Associates is the project’s architect.
NEW YORK CITY — Ariel Property Advisors has brokered the sale of the leasehold at 840 Westchester Avenue, a commercial building in the Morrisania section of the Bronx. The newly constructed property sold to a local investor in a 1031 exchange for $18.4 million. The two-story property features 174 feet of prime Westchester Avenue frontage, 53,705 square feet of above-grade space for four office and retail units, 24,300 square feet of below-grade space for a 74-space parking garage, and 83,321 square feet of air rights. Victor Sozio, Scot Hirschfield, Jason Gold and Shimon Shkury of Ariel Property Advisors represented the seller, an affiliate of Columbus Pacific Properties, and procured the buyer in the transaction.
MINNEAPOLIS — PCCP LLC has provided a $43.1 million senior loan to Provident Real Estate Ventures LLC for the renovation and repositioning of Mayo Clinic Square, a 217,354-square-foot mixed-use project in downtown Minneapolis, formerly known as Block E. Located at 600 Hennepin Ave., the property was originally developed in 2001 as a mixed-use shopping and entertainment center. The building is now undergoing a renovation to the exterior façade, interior atrium and skyway level entrance. Several new restaurant spaces are also being added. The property also features a parking deck and billboard space. Earlier this year, the Mayo Clinic announced that it would open a sports medicine facility in partnership with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx Ownership group. The facility will focus on sports medicine, enhanced athletic training, rehabilitation and physical therapy. The sports medicine facility is scheduled to open later this year. The Timberwolves have signed a long-term lease to use the property as its corporate office and state-of-the-art practice and training facility.