BURLINGTON, MASS. — Newmark has arranged a 47,578-square-foot office and life sciences lease in Burlington, a northwestern suburb of Boston. The tenant, metals processor Nth Cycle Inc., has committed to leasing space at Blue Sky Center, a 158-acre campus. Matt Malatesta, Tyler McGrail, Michael Frisoli and Margaret Fee of Newmark represented the owner, Nordblom Co., in the lease negotiations. Nick Amarante and Mekae Hyde of Hughes Marino represented the tenant. Amenities at Blue Sky Center include a fitness center, café, basketball court, gaming area and a golf simulator.
RAMSEY, N.J. — Fashion design firm Marcus Adler has signed a 24,550-square-foot industrial lease in the Northern New Jersey community of Ramsey. According to LoopNet Inc., the single-tenant property at 91 Grant St. was built in 1980. Andrew Somple and Jessica Curry of NAI James E. Hanson represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. An entity doing business as RW Ramsey Realty Corp. owns the building.
MANHATTAN, Kan. — McCarthy Mortenson NBAF, a joint venture between builders McCarthy Building Cos. and Mortenson Construction, has completed the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) in Manhattan, approximately 55 miles west of Topeka and 115 miles west of Kansas City. Development costs for the animal disease research facility were estimated at $940 million. Developed to ensure public health and the safety and security of the nation’s food supply, the 707,000-square-foot facility is located on a 48-acre site. It is designed with stringent containment, blast-resistant and anti-terrorism requirements, as well as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) high-wind design criteria adopted by the Department of Homeland Security. NBAF features laboratories functioning at multiple biosafety levels, including the first facility in the United States with biosafety level 4 containment capable of housing large livestock. The lab portions total 574,000 square feet, while the freestanding, 87,000-square-foot Central Utility Plant houses boilers, chillers, emergency diesel generators and other support elements for the main laboratory facility. In addition to having multiple laboratories, NBAF will also have a biologics development module to explore the development and production of potential vaccines, diagnostic platforms and veterinary medical countermeasures. The property will functionally replace the aging Plum Island Animal …
By Ed Coury, senior managing director, RCS Real Estate Advisors Open-air lifestyle centers can be defined as intentionally designed spaces that are set against beautiful landscapes and house high-quality dining, retail, entertainment, health and wellness uses. These centers are being developed or redeveloped at an increasing rate across the country. Lifestyle centers are particularly popular along “smile” states: California, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina. This particular transformation has been a result of “de-mallification” in the suburbs, in which malls that were once largely indoors and anchored by big department stores are now being converted into mixed-use lifestyle developments. For background, lifestyle centers are not a new phenomenon; they have been gaining popularity since the early 2000s. While few new malls have been built in the last two decades, new lifestyle centers and conversions to lifestyle centers continue to emerge every year. So why are these lifestyle centers so popular, and what does the future of suburban retail look like? Shifting Tastes For one thing, consumer preferences have changed. Today, there is high demand for wellness. In a 2022 consumer report by IT consulting firm Accenture, 80 percent of people surveyed stated that wellness was an …
The Atlanta industrial market needs very little validation when it comes to answering the question “Why Atlanta?” More than a dozen companies started or based in Atlanta have grown over the past decade to valuations above $1 billion. Metro Atlanta had the second highest rate of job growth in the nation among large metro areas (6.7 percent), according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. So rather than ask “Why Atlanta,” the better question is “Where in Atlanta?” As the Southeast’s population continues to grow, the metro Atlanta area continues in equal parts to add density to its thriving urban core as well as expand its suburban reach. With limited geographic barriers to development, outlying towns are quickly becoming absorbed into the definition of the Atlanta area. This persistent growth is placing demand on industrial space at an all-time high, requiring a nuanced view of site selection within the Atlanta MSA. The four corners of the Atlanta market reach nearly 60 miles from the urban center in each direction along highways I-75 and I-85, with new speculative projects under construction as far out as Adairsville, Commerce, Locust Grove and La Grange. Its breadth now includes Bremen and Rutledge in either …
MANASSAS, VA. — Skanska has topped out George Mason University’s new Life Sciences and Engineering Building at the school’s Prince William County Science and Technology (SciTech) Campus in Manassas. The $83.6 million, 132,000-square-foot building will support students enrolled in STEM-H majors, such as kinesiology, materials science, forensic science, bioengineering and mechanical engineering. (STEM-H is short for science, technology, engineering, math and health sciences.) The facility will comprise specialized instructional labs, classrooms, experiential learning laboratories and faculty and administrative offices. The property will also be part of the university’s Innovation Town Center, which will provide students at the SciTech Campus with a residential campus experience from their freshman year through their post-graduate work.
ATLANTA — Hunter Hotel Advisors, a national hospitality brokerage firm based in Atlanta, has arranged the sale of four hotels in Alabama totaling 361 rooms. The assets include Home2 Suites Madison Huntsville Airport, Hilton Garden Inn Madison, Home2 Suites Decatur Ingalls Harbor and Home2 Suites Opelika Auburn. Tim Osborne and Trey Scott of Hunter represented the seller, an undisclosed institutional investment firm, in the sale. The portfolio’s buyer and sales price were also not disclosed.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Northridge Capital, an independent real estate management firm based in Washington, D.C., has sold a historic creative office building in Charlotte’s FreeMoreWest submarket. An undisclosed real estate investment firm based in Charlotte purchased Grinnell Water Works, located at 1435 W. Morehead St., for $19.2 million. Alex Olofson of Stream Realty Partners and Jared Londry of PointBlank Ventures represented Northridge Capital in the transaction. Grinnell Water Works was built in 1930 and offers approximately 52,000 square feet of rentable office space across two floors. The asset was 70 percent leased at the time of sale.
WAYNESVILLE, N.C. — Divaris Real Estate has brokered the $14.8 million sale of Russ Avenue Plaza, a shopping center located at 1153-1220 Russ Ave. in Waynesville, approximately 26 miles west of Asheville, N.C. The 17-acre retail property formerly housed a big-box Kmart store. Jessica Johnson of Divaris represented the seller, an entity doing business as Russ Avenue Plaza LLC, in the transaction. The buyer and future plans for Russ Avenue Plaza were not disclosed.
Dwight Mortgage Trust Provides $12.8M Loan for Pine Island Plaza Shopping Center in Sunrise, Florida
SUNRISE, FLA. — Dwight Mortgage Trust, an affiliate REIT of Dwight Capital, has provided a $12.8 million bridge loan for Pine Island Plaza, a 104,000-square-foot, grocery-anchored shopping center in Sunrise. The borrower was not disclosed. The South Florida shopping center comprises 21 tenants, including an unnamed national grocer that will open its doors in June. This transaction marks Dwight Mortgage Trust’s entry into the retail sector.