WILLIAMSTOWN, N.J. — New Jersey-based brokerage firm The Kislak Co. Inc. has negotiated the sale of Laurelton Village Apartments, a 176-unit multifamily complex in Williamstown, about 25 miles south of Philadelphia. Built in 1970, the property exclusively offers two-bedroom units that are housed in 14 buildings on a nine-acre site. Amenities include a pool, playground and onsite laundry facilities. Jason Pucci of Kislak represented the seller, an affiliate of New Jersey-based investment firm Kamson Corp., in the deal. Barry Waisbrod, also with Kislak, procured the buyer. The deal traded in conjunction with a 14-unit apartment complex in Bergen County for a combined price of $31 million.
WILMINGTON, DEL. — Law firm Heyman Enerio Gattuso & Hirzel LLP has signed a 13,918-square-foot office lease in Wilmington, Del. The space is located within PNC Bank Center in the downtown area. John Kaczowka of CBRE represented the landlord, Douglas Development, in the lease negotiations. Cindy Fleming of JLL represented the tenant, which is taking space on the ninth floor of the newly renovated building.
MIAMI — Clearline Real Estate, a multifamily development firm with offices in New York City and Miami, has obtained $95 million in financing for the construction of Excel Miami, a 24-story apartment tower. Clearline is developing the 427-unit apartment community at 1550 N.E. Miami Place in the city’s Arts & Entertainment District. The financing includes a $68.5 million senior loan from Centennial Bank and a $26 million mezzanine loan from Southern Realty Trust Inc., which syndicated $13 million to affiliate firm Sunrise Realty Trust. Designed by Arquitectonica, Excel Miami will offer studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments, as well as 13 townhouse loft units. Amenities will include a pool, yoga deck, fitness room, coworking space, screening room and podcast suites. The construction timeline was not released.
SARASOTA, FLA. — Boston-based Wilder has purchased Shoppes at Palmers Ranch, a newly built shopping center in Sarasota totaling 65,417 square feet. WMG Development sold the Publix-anchored center to Wilder and two undisclosed, long-term investment partners for an undisclosed price. Brad Peterson of Colliers represented the seller in the transaction, while Donald Jennewein of Colliers arranged acquisition financing on behalf of Wilder. In addition to the Publix anchor and a Publix Liquors store, Shoppes at Palmers Ranch was fully leased at the time of sale to tenants including Dental Care at Palmer Ranch, Sherwin-Williams, Wellness Animal Hospital, Ann Volcano Nail Lounge and Fuji Sushi Steakhouse.
ODESSA, FLA. — SRS Real Estate Partners has brokered the $14.3 million ground lease sale of a newly built retail property in Odessa, a suburb of Tampa. Lowe’s Home Improvement occupies the 137,554-square-foot property on a 20-year absolute net ground lease. The freestanding store is situated on a nearly 12-acre site at 2317 Gunn Highway. Matthew Mousavi and Patrick Luther of SRS represented the California-based buyer, a private trust that paid for the store in all cash, in the transaction. Patrick Wagor of Atlantic Capital Partners represented the seller, a privately held development firm. Both parties requested anonymity.
CLARKSVILLE, TENN. — Oakley Group, a multifamily investment firm based in Birmingham, Ala., has purchased Pro Park, a 96-unit apartment community located at 850 Professional Park Drive in Clarksville. The three-building, newly built property is situated on a 4.4-acre site roughly 46 miles northwest of Nashville. Developer Bert Singletary sold the community to Oakley Group for an undisclosed price, and Synovus Bank provided an undisclosed amount of acquisition financing for the purchase. The new owner has selected locally based NextGen Properties to operate Pro Park, which is being rebranded to The Oakley at Pro Park. Completed in 2024, the property offers one- and two-bedroom units ranging from 879 to 1,200 square feet in size, as well as a clubhouse, fitness center swimming pool, 20 garages and 64 storage units. The community was 63 percent occupied at the time of sale.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has increased the multifamily loan purchase caps for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for their 2025 production. The two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) will each have caps of $73 billion, or $146 billion combined, which is a 4 percent increase from the 2024 caps of $70 billion apiece. Bob Broeksmit, president and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), says that the move to increase the cap is fitting due to recent moves by the Federal Reserve, which has twice reduced the federal funds rate in recent months. “The 4 percent increase in the multifamily loan purchase caps to $73 billion for each GSE is appropriate, given the slightly improved market conditions and lending activity that’s expected next year due to the slow decline in interest rates,” says Broeksmit. The FHFA will continue to exclude multifamily loans that finance workforce housing communities from the 2025 cap and require the GSEs to have at least 50 percent of their multifamily originations finance “mission-driven” affordable housing. The FHFA will continue to monitor the multifamily mortgage market and “maintains the ability to raise the caps further if necessary to support liquidity in the market.” If …
CHICAGO — High Street Residential, the residential subsidiary of Trammell Crow Co., has completed Flora, a multifamily tower rising 34 stories in Chicago’s Fulton Market neighborhood. The community offers 368 luxury units in a mix of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom configurations alongside penthouse units with condominium-like finishes. Interior amenities include a clubroom, golf and game simulator room, fitness center and yoga studio, private dining space with a chef’s kitchen, dedicated work-from-home areas and a sound recording booth. Flora also features an outdoor amenity deck on the second floor with grilling stations, outdoor televisions and fire pits; a rooftop swimming pool with cabanas; and a dog run and pet washing station. The ground floor is home to 5,118 square feet of retail space, which will be occupied by a restaurant concept by celebrity chef Joe Flamm via local restaurant group Day Off Group. Slated to open in 2025, the restaurant’s name and concept will be announced at a later date. Andrew Becker of Canvas represented High Street Residential in leasing negotiations. The community is part of Trammell Crow’s larger Fulton Park Campus, which includes two existing research and development properties at 400 N. Aberdeen St. and 1375 W. Fulton Market. …
By Ben Reinberg, CEO, Alliance Consolidated Group of Cos. In late September, Texas-based software company Dell became one of the latest major companies to announce a full return-to-office (RTO) mandate. In a leaked memo to employees, Bill Scannell, the company president, wrote, “As we enter a new AI world, in-person human interaction will be more important than ever.” Just a few weeks later, Amazon announced a full RTO policy. And over the summer, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, informed employees that remote team members would not be eligible for promotions. These RTO announcements from major organizations have dotted the web for years following the pandemic, leading many investors to hope for a slow-but-steady march back to busy office buildings and revitalized downtowns throughout the Lone Star State. The actual data, however, tells a much different story. Reports on Texas’ commercial real estate markets indicate that nearly a quarter of all office space is vacant nearly four years after the pandemic. According to CommercialEdge, Dallas’ office vacancy rate is 22.9 percent, and Austin’s is 27.8 percent. Workforce trends reflect a similar situation. Austin was named the No. 1 metro for remote workers in 2023 by Coworking Mag, with nearly a …
By Brian G. Cafferty, partner at GoldMark Partners LLP A popular restaurant can be a significant draw to a shopping center. However, according to a study published by Ohio State University, approximately 60 percent of restaurants fail in their first year, and 80 percent fail before the end of their fifth year. These statistics underscore the importance of landlords being protected in the likely event of a restaurant tenant’s failure. A well-crafted restaurant lease should address the following key items to minimize a landlord’s liability: Secure More Than Just Rent To protect the landlord’s investment and minimize potential losses, the landlord should secure a security deposit of at least two months rent. Additionally, the tenant should grant the landlord a security interest in all of the tenant’s accounts receivables, equipment (including machinery, furniture and trade fixtures) and inventory under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). Keeping the Kitchen (and Lease) Running Clean The lease should require the tenant to contract with a third party for essential maintenance tasks, including grease removal, pest control and regular vent and hood cleaning. The frequency of the hood cleaning will depend on the type of restaurant, but quarterly cleaning is a good rule of …