PHILADELPHIA — NorthBridge Partners has acquired a 281,000-square-foot, four-building portfolio situated on 27.3 acres in Philadelphia for $25.5 million. The assets are located at 2722 Commerce Way, 2801-17 Southampton Road, 2825-45 Southampton Road and 2191 Hornig Road. The properties offer convenient access to the Interstate 95 corridor. At the time of sale, the portfolio was 94 percent leased to 12 tenants including United Natural Foods Inc., Goodman Distribution and the City of Philadelphia. Frank Roddy of Roddy Inc. represented NorthBridge in the transaction. The seller(s) was undisclosed.
NEW YORK CITY — Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) has negotiated a 19,358-square-foot office lease for mental healthcare provider AbleTo Inc. in the Garment District of Manhattan. The space is located on two floors at 230 West 37th St. AbleTo’s previous headquarters was located on two non-contiguous floors in the same building. Fred Smith, Thomas Burrus and Elizabeth Ughetta of NKF represented AbleTo in the lease negotiations. The landlord, Sioni Group, was self-represented.
WILMINGTON, MASS. — JLL has arranged a $5.6 million loan for the refinancing of a light manufacturing industrial building in Wilmington, a northern suburb of Boston. Local bank Webster Five provided the 10-year, fixed-rate loan to the borrower, Boston-based Rhino Capital Advisors LLC. The property, located at 272 Ballardvale St., was constructed in 1976 and features 20-foot clear heights. Brett Paulsrud and Amy Lousararian of JLL arranged the loan.
NEW YORK CITY — Modell’s Sporting Goods has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. The fourth-generation, family-owned retailer will close all of its 153 stores throughout New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. The New York City-based sporting goods, athletic footwear, active apparel and fan gear retailer was founded in 1889. The company will begin liquidation sales Friday, March 13 and plans to continue operating its online platform. Modell’s lenders, which include Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase, will provide the company with the financial flexibility to operate the business in the near term, including paying employee wages and benefits. According to the New York Post, Modell’s employs 3,623 workers. With the rising competition and plethora of online options to shop for athletic gear, CEO Mitchell Modell cites an “extremely challenging environment for retailers” as a reason for the bankruptcy. “Over the past year, we evaluated several options to restructure our business to allow us to maintain our current operations,” says Modell. “While we achieved some success, in partnership with our landlords and vendors, it was not enough to …
There is a widely held belief that investing in the Chicago office real estate market in 2020 is potentially a bad bet. While some investors are concerned by headlines decrying the fiscal health of Illinois, the supposed overvaluing of Cook County tax assessments and softening of the Chicago market, our experience tells us those fears will create opportunities for contrarian investors willing to dig deeper. Because these misperceptions are scaring away some institutional investors, the time is ripe for continued investment in Chicago office properties to take advantage of opportunities that more cautious investors are passing up. Municipal realities At the state level, much has been written about Illinois’ fiscal health. In a report released in September 2019, government watchdog Truth in Accounting labeled Illinois a “Sinkhole State” and ranked it 49th in the nation for its financial condition. After failing to raise enough revenue by hiking taxes to fund the state’s debt, leaders from Illinois have said that massive pension reform — not tax hikes — is the way out of our current debt crisis. Consequently, office real estate investors should not be overly concerned that the state of Illinois will potentially shift the state’s tax burden onto their …
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JLL: Coronavirus Is Impacting Retail Supply Chains
With the stock market dropping to lows unprecedented since the Great Recession on Monday and the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring the outbreak of COVID-19 a pandemic, concerns are now rising regarding coronavirus’ long-term impact on domestic investments. But will the disease have any impact on brick-and-mortar retail? According to a research report from JLL, while retail supply chains have already been affected, the health of retail as whole depends heavily on how long the pandemic lasts. Certain sectors have already been impacted, and those in the industry can model their current economic outlook on the course SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) took in 2003. However, whether that model will hold as the pandemic evolves remains to be seen. The JLL report explains that the type of short-lived and limited outbreak created by SARS mainly affects the “first and second quarters with many retailers feeling impacts of a disrupted supply chain, but with a subsequent rebound in the following quarters.” Sectors already affected include inventory and complex supply lines. Chinese-manufactured goods may not be able to reach retailers in the coming weeks to months, as the retailers’ existing supply diminishes. Fashion stocks, especially for luxury retailers dependent on Chinese consumers …
ROGERS, ARK. — Cawley Partners has broken ground on a three-story, 150,000-square-foot office building in Rogers that will serve as a regional operations center for Transplace, a provider of logistics technology and services. The Frisco, Texas-based firm will occupy the entire building upon completion, which is slated for May 2021. The property is situated at 4909 W. Magnolia St., three miles west of downtown Rogers. Atlanta-based Corgan designed the building that will include courtyards, lighted pedestrian walkways, a retention pond and more than 1,000 parking spaces. Cawley Partners will serve as owner-developer. Robbie Baty, Bill McClung and Marshall Saviers of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant in the leasing negotiations.
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. — Toronto-based Slate Office REIT has agreed to acquire Cypress Financial Center in Fort Lauderdale for $45.5 million. The 201,305-square-foot building is situated at 5900 N. Andrews Ave., adjacent to Cypress Creek Transit Station and Interstate 95 on the city’s north side. The property was 93 percent leased at the time of sale. The publicly traded REIT expects the deal to close in May. The seller was not disclosed.
HARRISONBURG, VA. — Financial Federal Bank has provided a $38.7 million loan to refinance North 38 Apartments, a 228-unit student housing community near James Madison University (JMU) in Harrisonburg. The property was built in 2009 and offers 816 beds and fully furnished units featuring 55-inch TVs. Communal amenities include a pool, hammock gardens, car care center, sand volleyball court, computer lounge, fitness center, detached garage buildings and multiple dog parks. At the time of the transaction, the property was 94 percent occupied. The community is situated at 1190 Meridian Circle, two miles north of JMU. Rick Wood and Jon Van Hoozer of Financial Federal originated the 12-year loan with three years of interest-only payments, a 30-year amortization schedule and a fixed interest rate below 3.95 percent. The borrower was not disclosed.
DULUTH, GA. — NXT Capital has provided a $19 million refinancing loan for Sugarloaf VI and VII, two office buildings comprising 160,000 square feet in Duluth. The property is situated at 2905 and 2915 Premiere Parkway, 29 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta in Gwinnett County. Property amenities include large lobbies and an outdoor greenspace. C.J. Kelley of CBRE originated the loan on behalf of the undisclosed borrower. Further details of the loan were not disclosed.