MOUNT POCONO, PA. — Metro Philadelphia-based investment firm Agora Commercial has acquired Mount Pocono Plaza, a 195,735-square-foot shopping center located in northeastern Pennsylvania, for $17 million. Regional grocer Weis anchors Mount Pocono Plaza, and other tenants include Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, Harbor Freight, Planet Fitness and Dollar Tree. The center’s occupancy rate at the time of sale was roughly 90 percent. Christopher Munley, Jim Galbally and Colin Behr of JLL represented the seller, New Jersey-based Heidenberg Properties Group, in the transaction.
MARSHFIELD, MASS. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the $9.9 million sale of The Shops at Ocean’s Gate, a 38,247-square-foot shopping center in Marshfield, about 30 miles south of Boston. The center was built on 1.3 acres in 2010 and was 90 percent leased to tenants such as Domino’s Pizza, The Genesis Fit and Sweetfrog Frozen Yogurt at the time of sale. Evan Griffith and Tony Pepdjonovic of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, a limited liability company, in the transaction and procured the buyer, a private investor. Both parties were Massachusetts-based entities that requested anonymity.
NEW YORK CITY — Locally based firm LargaVista Cos. has opened Gaseteria Works, a 23,784-square-foot coworking space in the Long Island City area of Queens. Gaseteria Works offers coworking memberships, fully furnished private suites, meeting rooms and virtual addresses, as well as an onsite team offering concierge and administrative services. JLL manages and leases the space via Flex by JLL, the real estate giant’s flexible office and coworking platform.
NEW YORK CITY — Novartis Inc. has signed a 15,865-square-foot office lease at 452 Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. The pharmaceutical corporation will occupy the entire 12th floor at the 30-story building. Paul Glickman, Ben Bass, Kristen Morgan and Kate Roush of JLL represented the landlord, Property & Building Corp. Ltd., in the lease negotiations. David Stockel and Christopher Menard of CBRE represented Novartis.
OMAHA, NEB. — Mutual of Omaha has broken ground on a 44-story office tower that will act as the company’s headquarters in downtown Omaha. At 677 feet, the building will rise 43 feet above the city’s current tallest building, First National Bank Tower. The 800,000-square-foot development will include a street-level lobby with conference space and an “experience center” spotlighting the company’s history, brand and impact on customers and the community; a sky lobby, welcoming associates from the planned 2,200-stall parking structure; food and wellness services, a fitness center and flexible meeting spaces on the 16th through 20th floors; and conference facilities with a two-story atrium on the 44th floor. Despite the skyscraper’s record-breaking height, the building will be less than half the square footage of the company’s current 1.7 million-square-foot headquarters in Omaha’s Midtown neighborhood. This shift in design is to support flexible work arrangements, including in-person, remote and hybrid models. “As a customer-focused company, we worked closely with our design team to create a headquarters that is appropriately sized, adaptable to ways of working that may emerge in the future and able to serve our policyholders in an effective and efficient manner,” says CEO James Blackledge. Mutual of Omaha’s …
The ‘work from home’ revolution has devastated office building values. By Jason Penighetti Of all the property types, office buildings may wrestle with the pandemic’s damaging consequences the longest. The fallout from COVID-19 will clearly have a lasting economic impact. During the government-mandated shutdowns, businesses — including brick-and-mortar retail stores, restaurants, movie theaters and gyms — suffered tremendous losses. With everyone except first responders and essential workers stuck at home, office occupancy rates plummeted as business districts, commercial developments, roads and public gathering places emptied. Many companies could not survive the shutdowns and were forced to lay off employees or permanently close their doors. During the throes of the pandemic, companies that remained in business were compelled to adapt and learn how to effectively put their employees to work from home. Virtual meetings eventually became commonplace and routine. Then as the pandemic waned, companies began to demand that employees return to the office. While some workers ventured back to the workplace, many expressed a desire to continue to work from home. This widespread sentiment has persisted. In fact, nearly 40 percent of workers would rather quit their jobs than return to the office full-time, and more than half would take …
By Scott Dunwoody, Cushman & Wakefield It’s not too much of a stretch to say that St. Louis’ life sciences sector dates back to Lewis & Clark’s Corps of Discovery and all the scientific findings revealed upon their return to the city in 1806. More than two centuries later, St. Louis remains at the forefront of life sciences. The region is a center of plant science research and a cornerstone of global agriculture technology, with institutions such as Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) and St. Louis University playing critical roles in the biotech and medical fields. These factors translate into significant economic development benefits for the region and a positive impact on the area’s commercial real estate market. St. Louis is home to the largest concentration of plant scientist PhDs in the world. All that talent supports and drives more than 750 plant and medical science organizations across the region, including large employers such as Bayer (formerly Monsanto), Bunge, Benson Hill, IFF, Novus and Pfizer, and has led to significant investments throughout the region. What’s more, St. Louis ranks No. 14 nationally in National Institutes of Health funding, having secured more than $3.3 billion in the past five years. …
CORINTH, TEXAS — Locally based developer Realty Capital Management will build The Parkway District, a 20-acre mixed-use project in Corinth. Situated at the corner of I-35 and Corinth Parkway, the site is located about 40 miles northeast of Fort Worth. Plans currently call for 275 market-rate apartments, 16 townhomes, a select service hotel, 22,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space and a central park that connects the various uses. Texas Bank & Trust provided financing for the land acquisition. Construction will begin over the summer.
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — A partnership between two Chicago-based investment firms, 3L Real Estate and Syndicated Equities, has purchased The Oncor, a 314,514-square-foot office building in downtown Fort Worth. The new ownership plans to convert the building into a 330-unit multifamily community with Class A amenities, including a pool, fitness center, rooftop deck and a business center. The seller and sales price were not disclosed. A construction timeline was also not released.
HOUSTON — The NHP Foundation, a nonprofit real estate corporation based in New York City, has finalized a ground lease with Magnificat Houses Inc. to develop a 149-unit affordable housing project in Houston’s Midtown neighborhood. The property at 3300 Caroline St. will be known as RoseMary’s Place and will be reserved for those currently experiencing homelessness. Life skills training, budgeting, anger management coping skill and interpersonal relationship skills will be among the third-party social services provided at RoseMary’s Place. The City of Houston Housing & Community Development Department provided $18.6 million in financing for the project.