CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — Urban Spaces has sold 85-95 First Street, a 10,000-square-foot retail building in Cambridge, for $11.2 million. The building was competed in June with 4,600 square feet of space preleased to specialty pet food and supply store Loyal Companion. Paint supply store Sherwin-Williams has also agreed to lease 2,900 square feet, and another undisclosed tenant has agreed to lease the remaining 2,500 square feet. Conviser Property Group represented Urban Spaces in the building sale.
PHILADELPHIA — Greystone has provided an $8 million Fannie Mae loan for the refinancing of a portfolio of workforce housing properties totaling 88 units in Philadelphia. All properties received fully amortizing adjustable-rate mortgages. The exact locations of the properties were undisclosed. Anthony Cristi of Greystone originated the loan on behalf of the borrower, La Gioconda Co.
NEW YORK CITY — Cognitive computing services provider Digital Reasoning has signed a 5,819-square-foot office lease in Manhattan. The space is located on the 31st floor of 11 Times Square, a 1.1 million-square-foot commercial tower. The company is moving its New York City office from 853 Broadway and is expected to move into its new space by mid-November. Kyle Wainwright and Paul Ippolito of Newmark Knight Frank represented Digital Reasoning in the lease negotiations. JLL represented the landlord, SJP Properties, along with Zach Freeman on an internal basis. SJP’s project solutions team is constructing a build-to-suit boardroom for the tenant.
IRVINE, CALIF. — A public-private partnership between American Campus Communities (ACC) and the University of California – Irvine has opened Plaza Verde, a 1,441-bed, on-campus residential tower. The community offers fully furnished units and shared amenities including state-of-the-art fitness centers, multi-purpose rooms, outdoor pavilions, an academic success center and group and private study spaces. The community is seeking LEED Platinum status, and features an all-electric system that eliminates the need for natural gas. “In addition to being a healthy and dynamic student community, Plaza Verde is the greenest large-scale student community that has been developed,” says Bill Bayless, CEO of ACC. “We have gone to extensive lengths to ensure sustainability and student-focused design are at the forefront, from initially designing and testing systems for an efficient and comfortable community, then arranging a sizable offset for energy that will actually be achieved.”
LOS ANGELES — R.D. Olson Construction has completed The Curve at West Angeles, a 70-unit, 80,000-square-foot affordable mixed-use community in the Park Mesa Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. The art deco-style project is a joint venture between Related California and West Angeles Community Development Corp., and features 2,000 square feet of retail space in addition to 50,000 square feet of affordable housing reserved for residents over age 62. The five-story community features 24 studios and 45 one-bedrooms ranging from 400 to 630 square feet, as well as one manager’s apartment. The first-floor retail portion of the project can accommodate up to three tenants, and West Angeles Community Development Corp. has a boardroom and leasing office onsite. The development is just blocks away from Destination Crenshaw, a new 1.3-mile art and cultural experience that celebrates the area’s heritage as the largest black community west of the Mississippi River. The Crenshaw/LAX light rail line, which is currently under construction, will have a stop less than a block away. R.D. Olson Construction worked with KFA Architects and Mannigan Design on the project.
CHICAGO — Lathrop Community Partners, a development partnership between Related Midwest, Heartland Housing and Bickerdike Redevelopment Corp., has revitalized the Julia C. Lathrop Homes public housing project in Chicago. Originally built in 1938 as part of the nation’s New Deal public housing effort, the project now consists of a mixed-income residential property. The rehabilitated North Campus includes the original administration building and updated apartment buildings along the re-activated riverfront. The 35-acre project features 16 buildings. Design firm HED served as the executive architect for Phase I of the redevelopment, which is now open. The firm helped with modernizing historic structures, addressing accessibility challenges and coordinating new technology and HVAC systems. When all phases are complete, Lathrop will comprise a total of 1,116 residences, with 494 units leased at market rates, 222 offered to working families that meet affordable housing guidelines and 400 reserved for Chicago Housing Authority households. The flagship amenity at Lathrop is the five-acre riverfront park, reimagined by landscape architectural firm Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates. The project team also included Farr & Associates, JGMA, McGuire Igleski & Associates and Terra.
ELGIN, ILL. — Darwin Realty has arranged the sale of a 90,000-square-foot industrial building located at 501 Davis Road in Elgin. Consideration for the sale was in excess of $5 million. The property features seven loading docks, three drive-in doors, 5,000 square feet of office space and a clear height of 24 feet. Noel Liston of Darwin brokered the transaction. Chicago Logistic Service owned and occupied the building. Navis Industries, which provides plastic packaging films, purchased the building and plans to relocate from a 25,000-square-foot facility in Elgin.
ELK GROVE VILLAGE, ILL. — Pacific Surfaces LLC has signed a 40,000-square-foot industrial lease in Elk Grove Village. The India-based granite distributor has maintained a sales office in Chicago for several years, but this is the company’s first warehouse in the United States. Located at 1300 Mark St., the single-story facility features six docks, several bridge cranes and a clear height of 22 feet. It is situated in Elk Grove Industrial Park. The new property will enable Pacific Surfaces to sell smaller quantities to a broader market. John D’Orazio of Colliers International represented Pacific Surfaces in the lease transaction.
CHANDLER, ARIZ. — Phoenix-based developer George Oliver has purchased a two-building office asset in downtown Chandler for $38.8 million. The buyer plans to invest nearly $14 million of additional capital to redevelop the property into a creative office portfolio. George Oliver purchased the 1987-built Plaza 25 from long-time owner and tenant First Credit Union for $16.3 million. First Credit Union signed a sale-leaseback agreement to continue to occupy the property for a 10-year lease. Including First Credit Union, the building is 79 percent occupied. The new owner will rebrand the property as The Alexander. Additionally, George Oliver acquired the adjacent, 107,510-square-foot Chandler City Center from Tryperion Partners and Griffin Partners for $22.5 million. Located at 55 N. Arizona Place, the property will be rebranded as The Johnathan after undergoing an almost $3 million initial capital investment plan. The rebranding are named for the city’s namesake, Alexander Johnathan (A.J.) Chandler. The Alexander will commence a $5 million shell building transformation in the first quarter of 2020, creating a 112,000-square-foot, five-story, modernized office building at 25. S. Arizona Place. The renovations will improve the building from Class B to a Class A office space, enclosing a current ground-floor plaza and adding shared …
MILLSTADT, ILL. — Barber Murphy has brokered the sale of a 21,000-square-foot industrial building in Millstadt, about 17 miles southeast of St. Louis. The sales price was not disclosed. The property is located at 600 S. Breese St. In-Land Management Group LLC sold the asset to East Washington Street Property LLC. Barber Murphy represented both parties in the sale.
