KANSAS CITY, MO. — Ready Capital Structured Finance has arranged a $13.3 million loan for the acquisition of an industrial portfolio in Kansas City. The portfolio includes Rivergate Center, a five-building, 238,976-square-foot industrial property located at 1500-1634 N. Topping Road, and Midtown Park, a four-building, 320,400-square-foot property consisting of two office/warehouse buildings and two distribution buildings. The fixed-rate loan features a 60-month term and will also be used for the renovation and stabilization of the portfolio. The borrower was not disclosed.
SCOTTSBURG, IND. — Strawberry Fields REIT LLC has received a $4.4 million HUD guaranteed loan for the refinancing of The Waters of Scottsburg, a skilled nursing facility in southern Indiana. The 99-bed facility is currently 69 percent occupied. Strawberry Fields, which owns 57 facilities largely located in the Midwest, acquired the building in 2014. The fixed-rate loan features a 35-year term.
NORTHLAKE, ILL. — Bridge Development Partners LLC has completed the Phase I expansion of the freezer facility at Bridge Point Northlake, a 55-acre business park on the site of a former distribution facility for Dominick’s grocery chain in Northlake. Phase II of the expansion, a 61,469-square-foot build-to-suit for candy maker Fannie May, is currently underway. Located at 555 Northwest Ave., Phase I is now available for lease and features a 162,000-square-foot cooler facility and a 256,752-square-foot freezer facility. Each property features clear ceiling heights of 32 to 40 feet. Bridge Development Partners acquired the site in partnership with Hunt Realty Investments and Akard Street Partners. John Suerth and Jason Lev of CBRE, who represented the previous owner in the sale, have been retained to market all three properties at Bridge Point Northlake.
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — New Brunswick Development Corp. (Devco) has begun site preparation on the Ferren Mall Parking Deck for The Hub @ New Brunswick Station in New Brunswick. Devco expects site construction of the 1.7 million-square-foot mixed-use redevelopment project to begin in April. JLL is Devco’s marketing agent for The Hub, which will be located on four acres in downtown New Brunswick directly across from the New Brunswick train station. When completed, The Hub @ New Brunswick Station will encompass multiple buildings with a flexible design to meet office or lab requirements including technology, office or research use. The development is slated to include high-rise residential units and retail at street level.
NORTH HILLS, NEW YORK — Cushman & Wakefield has arranged the $14.7 million sale of a two-story medical office building located at 3111 New Hyde Park Road in North Hills. Cushman & Wakefield’s Ben Efraimov, Jonathan Hageman and Patrick Yannotta handled the transaction. The property traded at a 6 percent cap rate. The building spans 24,600 square feet and is 100 percent occupied by three medical tenants. Integrated Medical Professionals occupies the front of the building and leases 13,800 square feet. Northern OBGYN and Aesthetic Dermatology are located in the rear of the property and occupy a combined 10,800 square feet. The property features 115 parking spaces and sits on 1.8 acres between Hollow Lane and Dakota Drive.
SECAUCUS, N.J. — CBRE’s Global Port Logistics Group has brokered three lease transactions at two separate industrial properties in Secaucus. In the first transaction, CBRE represented VER, a provider of audio, video, lighting, rigging and media services, in a 223,000-square-foot lease at 50 Meadowlands Parkway. The space is part of Harmon Cove Industrial Park. VER will operate in an office and showroom featuring 30-foot ceilings and ESFR sprinklers. The CBRE team that facilitated the transaction included William Waxman, Mike Shellow, Mindy Lissner, Kevin Dudley, Steven Beyda, Robert Pine, David Gheriani and Kyle Saviano. In the second and third transactions, the same CBRE team represented landlord Bhasin Properties in lease transactions with David Donahue and Jay Joshua Inc. David Donahue, a menswear retailer, signed a 27,440-square-foot lease, while Jay Joshua Inc., an import business, signed on for 9,195 square feet at 1 County Road. JLL represented David Donahue, while Jay Joshua Inc. negotiated with CBRE directly.
TROY, N.Y. — KeyBank has provided a total of $18.2 million in financing for the Martin Luther King Revitalization Apartments in Troy. The Troy Housing Authority partnered with Beacon Communities Development to renovate and preserve 104 units of affordable housing through HUD’s Rental Assistance Demonstration Program. The property was built in 1971. Key’s Community Development Lending & Investing group (CDLI) provided a $6.2 million construction loan and will also invest up to $12 million in Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) direct equity to finance the first phase, which includes the preservation of 46 units for residents earning between 30 and 80 percent of the area median income. Joe Eicheldinger and Victoria O’Brien of Key’s CDLI team helped arrange the financing, made possible by an allocation of LIHTC from New York State Homes and Community Renewal. Additionally, the project required the approval and support of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
STAMFORD, CONN. — RHYS has negotiated the $10.3 million sale of two office/retail buildings located at 111 and 123 High Ridge Road in Stamford. Combined, the three-story buildings offer 40,000 square feet of office and retail space. The 100 percent leased portfolio sits on just over an acre, with more than 150 parking spaces on site. Christian Bangert of RHYS represented the buyer, A & E High Ridge, in the transaction. Karen Dome and Robert Haile of Coldwell Banker Commercial represented the seller, High Ridge Plaza LLC.
ORLANDO, FLA. — Darden Restaurants has agreed to purchase Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen for $780 million in an all-cash transaction. Cheddar’s was founded in 1979 in Arlington, Texas, and now has 165 locations, including 140 owned and 25 franchised, across 28 states with average annual restaurant volumes of $4.4 million. “We are excited about the opportunity to be a part of Darden,” says Ian Baines, CEO and president of Cheddar’s. “Our operating philosophy and values are similar. Additionally, Darden’s expertise will enable us to further capitalize on our growth potential.” Baines will remain as president of Cheddar’s. He will report to Gene Lee, Darden’s president and CEO. The transaction is expected to be complete in Darden’s fiscal 2017 fourth quarter. It is subject to customary closing conditions. “Cheddar’s is a great fit in the Darden portfolio because it complements our existing brands,” says Lee. “This addition will also enable Darden to further strengthen two of our most important competitive advantages: our significant scale and our extensive data and insights.” Orlando, Fla.-based Darden Restaurants Inc. owns and operates more than 1,500 restaurants. Darden’s portfolio currently includes Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze and Eddie V’s.
E-commerce and the growth of the digital age have become important factors in the tightening industrial real estate market. With single-digit vacancy rates becoming the norm in nearly all of the Greater Boston submarkets, existing product cannot supply the space necessary to meet current market demand. Consumers’ shopping attitudes have changed, and retailers are having to adjust their strategies to meet their needs. In 2016, the Greater Boston industrial market recorded vacancies averaging 6.8 percent, the lowest in more than 15 years. The thriving e-commerce industry has been a large factor in the spike in demand. Last year, major e-commerce tenants like Amazon, FedEx and Wayfair expanded their presence in the Boston market with new leases on distribution centers, pushing 2016 absorption to almost 6 million square feet, an all-time record. Retailers are now looking to expand their coverage with multiple warehousing locations, pushing for facilities proximate to their specified consumer base. Instead of having one regional warehouse/distribution center, retail giants have zeroed in on infill submarkets surrounding cities to locate multiple warehouses close to the population center. Just last year, Amazon leased a 96,600-square-foot warehouse in Everett, minutes from Downtown Boston, which would become a base for grocery and …