WOOD-RIDGE, NJ—Paul A. Sarlo, mayor of the Borough of Wood-Ridge, and Anthony Marchetta, executive director of New Jersey's Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (NJHMFA) joined representatives from Ingerman to break ground on the affordable apartment community at Wesmont Station. Wesmont Station is a 70-acre mixed-use neighborhood conceived by master developer Somerset Development. In addition to its affordable housing component, the pedestrian-friendly community will also include 27,000 feet of retail space and hundreds of luxury rental apartments and luxury for-sale townhomes.

LEASES

Union Leases on North Broad Street

PHILADELPHIA, PA–PernaFrederick Commercial Real Estate represented the Laborers' District Council Benefit Fund in the lease of about 13,667 square feet of office space in a new five-story building at 665 North Broad Street. The brokerage team of Matt Frederick, a principal, and Joe Viturello, a vice president at PernaFrederick, negotiated the multi-year space contract with Laborers' District Council of the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area, the building owner. Jason Bernardi, a broker with Cushman & Wakefield of Pennsylvania, cooperated with PernaFrederick and represented building ownership in finalizing the terms of the lease, which were not disclosed. The LDC Benefit Fund has been situated in smaller offices at 475 North Fifth Street in Philadelphia and recently moved those operations to the first three floors in the new five-story 25,450 square foot building at 665 North Broad Street.

NAI Mertz Leases 3,500 SF to Lollipops Learning Academy

TREVOSE, PA—NAI Mertz, a leading full-service commercial real estate firm serving southern New Jersey and greater Philadelphia, recently completed a 3,500-square-foot lease on behalf of Lollipops Learning Academy at 3160 Tremont Avenue in Trevose, PA. Zena Charokopos, vice president of NAI Mertz's office division, represented the tenant, as well as the owner of the property, MCG, LLC, in this transaction. This lease brings the 20,000-square-foot office building to 100 percent occupancy. Lollipops Learning Academy joins the two existing tenants at the retail center, Model Consulting, Inc. and Advanced Diagnostic Imaging.

EXECUTIVE APPOINTMENTS

BLOOMFIELD, NJ—Commercial real estate industry veteran Frank Orioli of Westfield, NJ, has joined Prism Capital Partners, LLC as senior vice president of investments. The Bloomfield-based firm says it created the position for Orioli because of its business growth. With more than 20 years of investment and development experience, Orioli is working closely with Edwin Cohen and Gene Diaz, Prism's principal partners, in sourcing new investments for the company. This includes identifying potential acquisitions, vetting these opportunities and, ultimately, orchestrating equity and debt placement. Orioli has been involved in the acquisition of approximately $4 billion in assets across property sectors. Most recently a consultant with FORE Consulting, he also has held senior management positions with major industry players including Rockwood Capital, Principal Global Investors and State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio.

PHILADELPHIA, PA—Marcus & Millichap named Michael Shover an associate vice president,investments. Most recently, Shover was a senior associate of the firm. Shover began as an associate in June 2009. A single-tenant and multi-tenant investment specialist, Shover arranges the acquisition and disposition of retail properties on behalf of clients across the Mid-Atlantic. He is also a director of Marcus & Millichap's National Retail Group, and has earned several internal sales awards from the firm, including its National Achievement Award.