WORCESTER, MASS. — Shawmut Design & Construction has topped out a $325 million academic building that will be part of the UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester. The nine-story, 350,000-square-foot building will primarily be used to house and conduct biomedical research. Construction originally began in November 2020 and is slated to be complete in 2024.
CONSHOHOCKEN, PA. — LCOR, a developer with three offices in the Mid-Atlantic region, has begun leasing The Birch, a 304-unit apartment community located in the northern Philadelphia suburb of Conshohocken. The property offers studio, one- and two-bedroom units and 17,000 square feet of amenity space that houses a pool, fitness center, lounges and a golf simulator. Rents start at $1,755 per month for a studio apartment. The first move-ins will begin on Sept. 1.
ALLENTOWN, PA. — Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital has arranged a $20 million loan for the renovation and construction of Cityplace North & South, a 204-unit apartment complex in the Lehigh Valley city of Allentown. The North Building is a conversion of a hotel into apartments that opened in early 2020, and the South Building is ground-up construction. An undisclosed life insurance company provided the loan. The borrower was also not disclosed.
CHERRY HILL, N.J. — Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT) has welcomed several new tenants to Cherry Mill Mall in metro Philadelphia. Apparel brands Psycho Bunny and Levi’s have signed leases for 2,390 and 3,000 square feet with plans to open in mid-2023 and late 2022, respectively. Seafood restaurant Eddie V’s has also committed to 8,685 square feet and is targeting a spring 2023 opening. Laura Pomerantz of Cushman & Wakefield represented Levi’s in the lease negotiations. Steve Gartner and Drew Schaul of CBRE represented Psycho Bunny, and David Orkin, also with CBRE, represented Eddie V’s.
HOLMDEL, N.J. — LT Apparel, a manufacturer of children’s clothing, has opened a 13,086-square-foot office within Campus, a 72,000-square-foot flexible workspace located within the Bell Works mixed-use development in the Central New Jersey community of Holmdel. Jeff Garibaldi, Tara Keating and Lindsey Florio of The Garibaldi Group represented the landlord, Inspired by Somerset Development, in the lease negotiations. Global cloud communications firm Vonage has also committed to an undisclosed amount of space at Campus, which houses breakout rooms and conference facilities.
CHANDLER, ARIZ. — Tech giant Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) has signed a definitive agreement with the infrastructure affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM), a global alternative asset management firm, to fund the expansion of its Ocotillo semiconductor manufacturing campus in Chandler. Under terms of the agreement, the companies will jointly invest up to $30 billion in the buildout, with Intel providing 51 percent and Brookfield Infrastructure Partners providing 49 percent of the total project costs. Dubbed the “Semiconductor Co-Investment Program,” the partnership will create two new production facilities on the 700-acre campus, which Intel established in 1980. Santa Clara, Calif-based Intel will retain majority ownership and operating control of the two new chip factories. No construction details or timeline were disclosed. Semiconductors, or chips, are an essential element of most all electronic and computing devices, including electric vehicles, phones, tablets, TVs, home appliances, solar panels and gaming consoles. “Semiconductor manufacturing is among the most capital-intensive industries in the world,” says David Zinsner, Intel’s chief financial officer. “Our agreement with Brookfield is a first for our industry, and we expect it will allow us to increase flexibility while maintaining capacity on our balance sheet to create a more distributed and …
Similar to the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, a gap has started forming with price expectations between apartment owners and investors. The price disparity at the start of the pandemic was driven namely by market uncertainty, adjustments to underwriting assumptions and increases to lender and insurance escrow requirements. As the pandemic played out, we saw a mass exodus from denser gateway cities, an influx of government stimulus money and a phasing out of state-specific stay-at-home orders that allowed the economy to open back up. Capital moved away from the retail and hospitality industries hit the hardest, with the multifamily sector reaping the benefit. The second half of 2020 saw a dramatic rise in rents, occupancy and new lease and renewal signings. These trends led to a calming of the debt and capital markets, paving the way for the price gap between buyers and sellers to evaporate as an unprecedented wave of investment flooded into the multifamily space, with 2021 hitting a new high of $213 billion of investment volume, well above the previous peak of $129 billion in 2019, according to Yardi Matrix data. Now midway through 2022, we’re seeing a buyer-seller price gap begin to take …
DALLAS — Rent growth and occupancy rates will likely not be as robust in 2022 compared with the prior year, but the U.S. apartment market remains quite healthy, according to a CBRE panel of experts who highlighted the strengths of the sector during an Aug. 8 webinar. Rent growth registered in the double digits in many active markets in 2021, but monthly rents are still affordable in relation to the average renter’s income, the panelists said. Additionally, developers are building apartment communities with the work-from-home tenant in mind. These two key trends will support a healthy market throughout the remainder of 2022, according to CBRE. The panel presenters included Julie Whelan, CBRE’s global head of occupier thought leadership; Jen Siebrits, head of U.K. research; and Matthew Vance, head of U.S. multifamily research. The panelists concurred that while consumer confidence is low, other trends, such as wage growth, indicate apartment demand will remain steady. This will especially be true if developers continue to meet demands to accommodate hybrid and remote workers by incorporating workspaces into units and common areas of the apartment communities they’re building. “Housing demand in the U.S. remains exceptionally high,” said Vance. “It has brought occupancy rates to historic levels. …
PLANO, TEXAS — Ziegler has arranged $197.7 million in bond financing for The Outlook at Windhaven Forefront Living, a seniors housing community in Plano. The property, which is in development, will comprise 153 independent living apartments, 30 independent living cottages, 32 assisted living units and 24 memory care units. The financing comprises $109.5 million of tax-exempt bonds, $88.2 million of tax-exempt mandatory paydown securities and $1.3 million in taxable bonds, all of which were sold publicly to institutional investors. The borrower is Forefront Living.
HOUSTON — Fort Worth-based investment firm Fort Capital has acquired a portfolio of 23 light industrial buildings totaling 711,399 square feet that are located throughout the Houston area. The properties provide access to major transportation arteries such as Interstates 10, 45 and 610, as well as the Sam Houston Tollway and U.S. Highways 290 and 59. The Class B portfolio was 76 percent leased at the time of sale to 125 tenants with footprints ranging in size from 833 to 24,439 square feet. The seller and sales price were not disclosed. Los Angeles-based lender PCCP LLC provided a $72 million acquisition loan for the deal.
