BOSTON — The Wentworth Institute of Technology, a private university founded in Boston in 1904, will open a 640,000-square-foot life sciences facility at 500 Huntington Ave. in the city’s Longwood Medical District. Wentworth has selected a joint venture between The Fallon Co., Owens Cos. and Waldwin Development Co. to develop the property. The project is expected to create about 1,900 construction jobs and 1,500 full-time jobs upon completion. A construction timeline for the development, which will include retail and restaurant space, has not yet been finalized.
WILMINGTON, DEL. — 3650 REIT, a Miami-based direct lender, has provided an $85 million loan for the refinancing of WSFS Bank Center, a 371,000-square-foot office building in Wilmington, about 30 miles south of Philadelphia. Developed by Buccini/Pollin Group in 2006, the property serves as the corporate headquarters of WSFS Bank. David Strongwater of Lantern Real Estate placed the loan, which carries a 120-month term, with 3650 REIT on behalf of Buccini/Pollin.
VOORHEES, N.J. — New Jersey-based First National Realty Partners (FNRP) has acquired Eagle Plaza, a 227,000-square-foot shopping center in Voorhees, located in the southern part of the Garden State. A 66,500-square-foot Acme grocery store anchors the center. Other tenants include Ross Dress for Less, Wine Warehouse, Mattress Firm, T-Mobile, Chipotle, H&R Block, Allstate, Sherwin-Williams and South Jersey Federal Credit Union. Brad Nathanson of Institutional Property Advisors, a division of Marcus & Millichap, represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction.
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — JLL has arranged a $25.5 million loan for the refinancing of Nest Micro Apartments, a multifamily complex in Jersey City. Built in 2021, Nest Micro consists of 122 studio apartments and 1,350 square feet of ground-floor retail space. Matthew Pizzolato, Max Custer, Michael Oliver and Salvatore Buzzerio of JLL arranged the loan through Argentic Investment Management on behalf of the borrower, an entity doing business as 190 Academy Urban Renewal LLC.
COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA — The Opus Group has broken ground on River Road Logistics, a 302,300-square-foot speculative industrial building in Council Bluffs. Located at the intersection of Nebraska Avenue and River Road, the development will feature 34 dock doors, two drive-in doors, 50 dedicated trailer parking stalls, 225 car parking stalls and a clear height of 32 feet. More than half of the building has been preleased. The facility is slated for completion in the first quarter of 2023, and Opus plans to build a second building at the site. Opus is the developer, design-builder, architect and structural engineer. Matt Hasenjager and Denny Sciscoe of Cushman & Wakefield/The Lund Co. are marketing the space for lease.
SAINT FRANCIS, WIS. — JLL Capital Markets has brokered the $15.1 million sale of Whitnall Square in Saint Francis, just south of Milwaukee. Pick ’N Save anchors the 133,421-square-foot shopping center, which was constructed between 1989 and 1991. Other tenants include Petco, Planet Fitness, Harbor Freight Tools, Metro PCS, Dollar Tree, Subway, H&R Block, Bangkok House Restaurant, Hariport, Papa Murphy’s Pizza and P.T. Nails. The center is 96 percent leased. Amy Sands, Clinton Mitchell, Michael Nieder and Jaime Fink of JLL represented the seller, Newport Capital Partners, and procured the buyer, Savitar Realty Advisors.
Maverick Commercial Arranges $14M in Permanent Financing for Home Depot-Occupied Property in Chicago
CHICAGO — Maverick Commercial Mortgage Inc. has arranged a $14 million first mortgage loan for a 103,550-square-foot retail property occupied by Home Depot in Chicago’s Chatham neighborhood. Earlier this year, Home Depot signed a new 10-year lease with MG Development LP for the property, which is located at 200 W. 87th St. and includes an exterior garden center. A regional bank provided the 10-year, floating-rate loan, which features a 25-year amortization schedule. Proceeds from the loan paid off the existing lender, provided cash to the borrower and paid for closing costs.
PORTAGE, IND. — Greenstone Partners has negotiated the $8.2 million sale of a 52,798-square-foot industrial building in Portage, a city in northwest Indiana. Completed in June 2021, the building is named The Diversey at AmeriPlex and is situated within AmeriPlex at the Port, a 385-acre industrial park. Tenants at the property include Fagor Arrasate, Johnson Brothers, Shorebags and Dream Big Gymnastics. Jason St. John of Greenstone represented the seller, Indiana-based developer Holladay Properties, and procured the West Coast-based buyer.
CHICAGO — Kiser Group has brokered the sale of a 21-unit apartment building in Chicago’s East Rogers Park neighborhood for $3.2 million. The property is located at 1237 W. Morse Ave. and includes 14 one-bedroom units and seven two-bedroom units as well as nine parking spaces. Danny Logarakis of Kiser represented the seller, who had owned the property for more than two decades and completed upgrades. Logarakis also represented the undisclosed buyer, who is expected to renovate units and increase rents.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) and National Apartment Association (NAA) have praised the Biden administration on the release of the Housing Supply Action Plan, which aims to alleviate the housing affordability crisis and lower costs for renters. Under the plan, the administration outlined new measures that would produce more housing supply, including more affordable housing units, over the course of the next five years. The plan includes several concepts previously proposed in the Build Back Better bill that passed in the House but stalled in the Senate. Though the NMHC and NAA have acknowledged that there is no “single magic bullet” that can solve the nation’s housing shortage, they underlined that the current crisis is the result of decades of policy failures to address the growing shortage of housing production. In their reaction, both associations point to research conducted by Hoyt Advisory Services that found that the U.S. will need to build an average of 328,000 apartments every year through 2030 to keep up with national demand. That mark has only been achieved five times since 1989. The NMHC and NAA states they are particularly encouraged by specific aspects of the proposed policy. The NAA recently …