SAN ANTONIO — REOC San Antonio has secured a 5,300-square-foot office lease extension at 555 E. Ramsey Road in San Antonio. According to LoopNet Inc., the property was built in 1997 and totals 26,738 square feet. Blake Bonner of REOC San Antonio represented the landlord in the lease negotiations. Jamie Bracken of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant, Automated Logic Corp, a provider of automated building systems.
EULESS, TEXAS — Automotive repair services provider Dents Dun Rite Inc. has signed a 5,280-square-foot industrial lease in Euless, located in the northern-central part of the metroplex. Jason Finch and Michael Spain of Bradford Commercial Real Estate Services represented the landlord, an entity doing business as Euless Industrial LLC, in the lease negotiations. The representative of the tenant was not disclosed.
HUNTINGTON STATION, N.Y. — A partnership between Dallas-based investment firm Realty Capital Partners and self-storage developer DXD Capital is underway on construction of a 664-unit facility in the Long Island community of Huntington Station. The facility will total 62,125 net rentable square feet of space that will be entirely climate-controlled. Construction began in June and is expected to be complete in August 2024. Extra Space Storage will operate the facility, which will be the first new self-storage project to be built in Huntington Station in nearly three years, according to the development team.
PHILADELPHIA — Tilted 10, an entertainment concept that combines bowling, minigolf, bumper cars, arcade games, laser tag and other activities, has opened a two-level, 103,000-square-foot center at Philadelphia’s Willow Grove Park Mall. The venue will eventually feature a full-service taco bar as well. Other major tenants at Willow Grove Park Mall, which is owned by Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT), include Apple, Bloomingdales, Primark, American Eagle and H&M.
MIDDLESEX COUNTY, N.J. — Locally based brokerage firm Gebroe-Hammer Associates has arranged the $9.7 million sale of a portfolio of three multifamily properties totaling 53 units in Northern New Jersey’s Middlesex County. The portfolio comprises Byron Street Apartments in Carteret (18 units); Townhomes at Veterans Park in Sayreville (20 units); and the Apartments at Edison Station in Edison (18 units). Joseph Brecher and Joseph Gehler of Gebroe-Hammer represented the undisclosed seller and procured the buyer, Golden Sky Equities, in the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — Chelsea Piers Fitness will open a 72,000-square-foot gym at 24-11 Jackson Ave., a 55-story mixed-use tower located in the Long Island City area of Queens. The facility will house indoor and outdoor pools, a basketball court, track, studios for group classes and a member lounge. Erin Grace and Matt Ogle of JLL represented Chelsea Piers Fitness in the lease negotiations. The landlord, a partnership between Tavros Holdings, Charney Cos. and Incoco Capital, was self-represented.
NEW YORK CITY — Lockton Re, a provider of reinsurance services, has signed a 19,326-square-foot office lease at 261 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan’s NoMad district. The company is relocating from 48 West 25th St. to the 10th floor of the 25-story, 450,000-square-foot building. Don Preate of JLL represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Andrew Wiener, Tim Parlante and David Turino internally represented the landlord, The Feil Organization, which recently implemented a $20 million value-add program at the building.
NEW YORK CITY — Locally based firm Extell Development Co. is underway on construction of a 435,000-square-foot medical office project at 1520 First Ave. on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Designed by Perkins Eastman Architects, the 30-story building will occupy a full city block between East 79th and East 80th streets and house ambulatory care and surgical facilities. Foundation completion and vertical construction are scheduled to occur during the third quarter of this year, and full completion is slated for the second quarter of 2025. According to the development team, the facility will be the first privately built medical office tower to be developed on the Upper East Side. Additional building features will include multiple outdoor terraces and mechanical systems to enhance comfort and energy efficiency, as well as ground-floor retail space. The Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) has preleased eight floors totaling 195,580 square feet to serve as the facility’s anchor tenant. Newmark has been tapped to lease the remainder of the space. HSS will house orthopedic and rheumatology physician’s offices, as well as ancillary services for treatment of musculoskeletal conditions. The space will complement the expansion of HSS’ main campus, which will house the newly announced Lauder Family Spine …
It will likely surprise no one, given the wealth of coverage on the issue of reduced office usage, that office vacancy is the top challenge currently facing central business districts (CBDs) worldwide, according to a recent report by JLL. Long and costly commutes, property obsolescence, competition from other submarkets and unstable demand are the other top hurdles for CBDs. Far from pessimistic though, the report — The Future of the Central Business District — says that CBDs can and will adapt to the new landscape, with government officials and commercial real estate players holding the power to “unlock the future potential of CBDs.” Hybrid work presents a hindrance According to research presented in the report, roughly 60 percent of workers “expect flexible arrangements” when it comes to their presence in their offices, with hybrid working arrangements (comprising schedules that are partly remote and partly in-office) becoming increasingly popular. Workers, the report states, now spend an average of 2.3 days of the week remotely, and office vacancy in the United States sits at 20.2 percent. Aside from the implications for the office sector, the woes of which are well documented, the absence of workers from offices translates to reduced foot traffic in retail …
Against the backdrop of rising interest rates, recent financial stress and murkiness over the Federal Reserve’s ultimate direction and economic implications, dealmaking in the first half of 2023 has remained exceedingly challenged across all real estate sectors as wide bid-ask spreads persist. However, compared to other spaces, rental housing in the Southeast remains relatively healthy from a fundamentals perspective, despite supply-driven softening in the near term. This trend is evident in many major markets, including cities like Atlanta. Occupancy and rent growth remain healthy in Atlanta. The rental vacancy rate for Atlanta as of January 2023 reached 5.4 percent, a 0.9 percent decrease over the previous year, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau. This falls below the national average of 5.8 percent for the fourth quarter of 2022. The median rental rate in January 2023 was also up 4.3 percent year-over-year, reaching $1,941. Population growth, employment opportunities, infrastructure investments, a business-friendly environment and other demand drivers continue to intensify Atlanta’s need for housing; and long term, the outlook for rental housing in the metro is very strong. More than 6 million people now live in the region, according to recent Census data. The Atlanta Regional Commission predicts more …