BOSTON — A partnership between nonprofit owner-operator Beacon Communities and the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association of New England Inc. (CCBA) has broken ground on Pok Oi, an 85-unit affordable housing project in Boston’s Chinatown district. The complex will offer one-, two- and three-bedroom units that will be reserved for renters earning 80 percent or less of the area median income. Nine units will be specifically set aside for citizens experiencing homelessness. Citizens Bank provided construction financing for the project, and MassDevelopment issued tax-exempt bonds. Completion is slated for late 2024.
HAMILTON, N.J. — Locally based developer Denholtz Properties has delivered 800 Horizon Center, a 40,500-square-foot industrial flex building in the Northern New Jersey community of Hamilton. The site is located less than three miles from Exit 7A on the New Jersey Turnpike at the intersection of Interstate 195 and U.S. Route 130. Building features include divisibility to 2,700-square-foot units, a clear height of 26 feet, 15 roll-up doors and roughly 110 car parking spaces. Fennelly Associates has been tapped as the leasing agent as of February 2024.
NEW YORK CITY — VTS, a provider of commercial proptech solutions, has signed a 34,325-square-foot office headquarters sublease at 3 Bryant Park in Midtown Manhattan. The term is six years. The company will relocate from 141 W. 41st St. in the fourth quarter to the entire 14th floor of the building, which was previously occupied by Salesforce. Jim Wenk of Savills, along with Patrick Heeg of Transwestern and Sam Seiler of JLL, represented VTS in the lease negotiations. Sacha Zarba, James Ackerson and Alice Fair of CBRE represented Salesforce. Ivanhoe Cambridge owns 3 Bryant Park.
MINNEAPOLIS — A joint venture between PCCP and Capital Partners has acquired a six-building light industrial portfolio totaling 690,742 square feet in Minneapolis for an undisclosed price. The properties, built between 2001 and 2014, are 91 percent leased to 15 tenants with an average size of 38,400 square feet and a weighted average lease term of 6.3 years. The portfolio was previously under institutional ownership. Peter Mork and Jason Simek, managing partners of Capital Partners, helped design, develop and lease the portfolio throughout the early 2000s when they previously worked for CBRE.
CHICAGO — Life Care Services has opened Clarendale Six Corners, a 258-unit seniors housing community in the Portage Park neighborhood of Northwest Chicago. Rising 10 stories at the intersection of Milwaukee Avenue and Irving Park Road, the property features 114 independent living units with one-, two- and three-bedroom layouts, 98 assisted living units and 46 memory care apartments.
INDIANAPOLIS — Colliers has negotiated the lease-up of a 130,582-square-foot industrial building located at 4740 Victory Lane in Indianapolis. BioPlus Specialty Pharmacy Services LLC, a subsidiary of Elevance Health, leased 47,891 square feet. BioPlus provides pharmacy services for patients living with chronic conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, hepatitis C, autoimmune diseases and rheumatology. Hellman Worldwide Logistics signed a lease for 82,691 square feet. Headquartered in Germany, the company is one of the largest international logistics providers with 489 offices in 173 countries. Jimmy Cohoat and Billy Powers of Colliers represented the landlord, Shear Property Group.
MOUNT PROSPECT, ILL. — Principle Construction Corp. has completed a 21,427-square-foot office and manufacturing expansion for Avery Dennison in the Chicago suburb of Mount Prospect. The company manufactures retro-reflective sheeting. The project encompasses 11,576 square feet of manufacturing and warehouse space and 9,851 square feet of two-story office space. Cornerstone Architects was the project architect and Vivek Singla of CBRE served as project manager on behalf of Avery Dennison. The facility is located at 902 Feehanville Drive.
BARTLETT, ILL. — Lee & Associates has brokered the sale of a 3.4-acre vacant lot near the southeast corner of West Bartlett Road and Route 25 in the Chicago suburb of Bartlett. The sales price was undisclosed. A new multi-story, self-storage facility is planned for the site. Rick Scardino of Lee & Associates represented the seller, Abbott Land. Dan Lynch of Colliers represented the buyer, Berman-Lapetina.
GLENDALE, CALIF. AND NEW YORK CITY — Self-storage REIT Public Storage (NYSE: PSA) has agreed to acquire Simply Self Storage from New York City-based Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc. (BREIT) for $2.2 billion. The deal is scheduled to close during the third quarter. Simply Self Storage is an owner-operator that was founded in Orlando in 2003. The company owns 127 facilities and operates 25 more on a third-party basis for a total of more than 11 million net rentable square feet across 18 states. Roughly 65 percent of Simply Self Storage’s portfolio, which has a collective occupancy rate of 91 percent, is concentrated in Sun Belt markets. “This acquisition reflects the continued execution of our multi-factor external growth platform, which includes acquisitions, development, redevelopment, expansion and third-party management,” says Joe Russell, CEO of Public Storage. “We are pleased to complete this transaction with Blackstone, which has done a tremendous job of growing and improving the quality and operations of the Simply portfolio over the past few years.” “Where you invest matters, and this transaction demonstrates the strong investor demand for the high-quality assets and platforms we have assembled within BREIT,” adds Nadeem Meghji, head of Blackstone Real Estate Americas. …
When reflecting on Charlotte’s multifamily market over the past few years, several major trends drove unprecedented transaction volume — record-level rent growth, positive absorption despite a consistently robust pipeline of deliveries, strong population growth from high in-migration and rapidly increasing homeownership costs pricing residents out of the market. Charlotte has been a popular relocation destination for individuals and families, particularly from the Northeast, Midwest and other parts of the Southeast who are drawn to the low cost of living, warm climate and strong economy. Zillow ranks Charlotte as the No. 1 housing market for 2023, signaling a continued rise in home values and subsequent increased demand for rental housing from the growing population. In-migration has made Charlotte experience explosive growth and bolstered the population to over 2.7 million residents by year-end 2022, a 5.6 percent increase since 2018 compared to the national rate of 1.3 percent. Equally impressive is regional job growth, with non-farm payrolls increasing 7.9 percent over the same time frame. Much of Charlotte’s multifamily growth is attributed to capital investment from new employers across the metro, including Albemarle Corp.’s $180 million investment into a new research campus in University City bringing 200 new jobs, as well as …