NEW YORK, NY—RKF arranged a 9,000-square-foot lease with Berenik Boutique & Talenthouse NY, a first-of-its-kind curated retail and creative workspace concept store. The location will open in July at 419 Broome Street, in the heart of SoHo's vibrant fashion market. RKF executive vice president Beth Rosen and associate Emily Simmonds represented landlord Broad Broome in the transaction. Berenik Boutique & Talenthouse NY was represented by Storefront.

PHILADELPHIA, PA—Holliday Fenoglio Fowler arranged $65 million in preferred equity and construction financing for the development of The Hamilton, a 10-story, 279-unit, luxury apartment building in Philadelphia, PA. HFF worked on behalf of the developer, Radnor Property Group, to arrange both construction financing and preferred equity. HFF arranged a $48.5 million construction loan from the Santander Commercial Real Estate office in Philadelphia and $16.5 million in preferred equity from an insurance company. Due for completion in 2018, The Hamilton will consist of studio, one- and two-bedroom unit layouts. The HFF team representing the developer was led by managing directors Ryan Ade, Rob Hinckley and David Giancola and associate director Michael Pagniucci.

NEWARK, NJ—Waramaug LS Hotels, in joint venture with a China-based investor, has acquired the SpringHill Suites by Marriott Newark Liberty International Airport hotel in Newark, New Jersey. Located adjacent to Newark Liberty International Airport, the property is a 200-room, six-story, all-suite hotel that opened in 2004.

MAPLEWOOD, NJ—NAI James E. Hanson has negotiated the sale of an 11,500-square-foot office building located at 2115 Millburn Avenue in Maplewood, NJ. NAI Hanson's Josh Levering, Ken Lundberg, Nick DePaolera and Pat Lennon represented the seller, Millburn Property Management in the sale to Millburn Ave. Specialty Realty. 2115 Millburn Avenue is a two-story, 11,500-square-foot office building located in the Maplewood/Millburn professional corridor of Millburn Avenue. The buyers purchased the building for conversion from a multi-tenant office building into a headquarters medical facility.

NEW YORK, NY—HAP Investments celebrated the completion and TCO approval for its East Harlem project HAP 5 at 329 Pleasant Avenue. The event was attended by HAP principals Eran Polack and Amir Hasid, HAP Chairman Dr. Hans Wagner, the leasing team of Klara Madlin and Ann Ferguson of Klara Madlin Real Estate and the HAP professional development team. Also present were finance professionals from UC Funds and Guggenheim Partners as well as design team members representing the noted designer of the development, Karim Rashid. The project, a boutique eight-story residential rental building, is located in one of the city's most sought after up and coming neighborhoods. HAP 5 has begun leasing and is already in contract on a number of units. Pictured, from left: Abe Kohn, Lee Karlin, Michelle Arrington, Eran Polack, Hans Wagner, Amir Hasid, and Sariel Engel.

BENSALEM, PA—Mrani Eyebrow Threading & Spa is the latest tenant to join the diverse retail mix at Centre Plaza in Bensalem. The beauty-focused service provider leased 1,700 square feet at the 43,550-square-foot shopping center, according to commercial real estate services firm Levin Management Corporation of North Plainfield, NJ, the property's exclusive leasing and managing agent. Levin leasing representative Jordan Korris arranged the long-term lease.

Notables

NEW YORK, NY—Industry veteran and Forest City Ratner senior vice president Howard Klein is leaving the company after 19 years. Howard has been a senior finance/capital markets executive for the NY subsidiary of Forest City Realty Trust, the Cleveland-based REIT, and led construction and permanent financings totaling over $7 billion. The move comes as Forest City continues its restructuring and deleveraging efforts in conjunction with its previously announced divestiture of its retail portfolio. Before Forest City, Klein held finance positions at the Related Companies and JP Morgan Chase.

BROOKLYN, NY—An innovative new library and environmental education center is coming to Greenpoint. Funded in part by the Greenpoint Community Environmental Fund, the new Greenpoint Library and Environmental Education Center will promote environmental awareness, education and advocacy while providing a needed forum for community members to learn about the history of the neighborhood as well as its unique and ongoing environmental challenges. The branch will offer space for community groups dedicated to addressing environmental issues to hold meetings and host public programming and workshops. The project was made possible by a $5 million grant from the Greenpoint Community Environmental Fund, and more than $10 million from the Brooklyn Public Library.

BRIDGEWATER, NJ—Cushman & Wakefield has been named leasing agent for 440 Route 22 East in Bridgewater. The 198,376-square-foot, class-A office building is under new ownership, with a substantial capital improvement program set to launch this fall. Cushman & Wakefield's Shawn Straka and Bill Brown, based in Morristown, NJ, are heading the assignment on behalf of American Equity Partners, which purchased 440 Route 22 earlier this year.

PHILADELPHIA, PA—Jones Lang LaSalle promoted Dodie L. Williams to vice president and PDS lead while Robert Fogarasi has been hired as vice president, projects. Williams joined the company in 2008 as an associate project manager. In her new role, she will supervise the PDS team in Center City Philadelphia; Berwyn, PA; Cherry Hill, NJ; Lehigh Valley, PA; Wilmington DE; and Mechanicsburg, PA. Fogarasi will direct, manage and execute significant project management assignments for JLL.

Here is a roundup of deals, transactions, and other news around the northeast from the last week.

Deal Tracker

NEW YORK, NY—Equity Office signed a new ten-year lease with leading online legal marketplace NYIS at 5 Bryant Park, its 34-story Class-A office tower in Midtown Manhattan. NYIS, which provides attorney marketing and case management services, will utilize 3,094 square feet of prebuilt space across a portion of the tenth floor for its first Manhattan office location starting in the fourth quarter of 2017. In an unrelated transaction, Equity Office signed a lease expansion and extension with VTS, which will double the size of VTS's headquarters to 31,700 square feet at 114 West 41^st Street, a fully modernized 22-story office tower just steps from Bryant Park in Midtown Manhattan. VTS also signed a lease extension, which will keep its headquarters at 114 West 41^st Street through 2024.

NEW YORK, NY—RKF arranged a 9,000-square-foot lease with Berenik Boutique & Talenthouse NY, a first-of-its-kind curated retail and creative workspace concept store. The location will open in July at 419 Broome Street, in the heart of SoHo's vibrant fashion market. RKF executive vice president Beth Rosen and associate Emily Simmonds represented landlord Broad Broome in the transaction. Berenik Boutique & Talenthouse NY was represented by Storefront.

PHILADELPHIA, PA—Holliday Fenoglio Fowler arranged $65 million in preferred equity and construction financing for the development of The Hamilton, a 10-story, 279-unit, luxury apartment building in Philadelphia, PA. HFF worked on behalf of the developer, Radnor Property Group, to arrange both construction financing and preferred equity. HFF arranged a $48.5 million construction loan from the Santander Commercial Real Estate office in Philadelphia and $16.5 million in preferred equity from an insurance company. Due for completion in 2018, The Hamilton will consist of studio, one- and two-bedroom unit layouts. The HFF team representing the developer was led by managing directors Ryan Ade, Rob Hinckley and David Giancola and associate director Michael Pagniucci.

NEWARK, NJ—Waramaug LS Hotels, in joint venture with a China-based investor, has acquired the SpringHill Suites by Marriott Newark Liberty International Airport hotel in Newark, New Jersey. Located adjacent to Newark Liberty International Airport, the property is a 200-room, six-story, all-suite hotel that opened in 2004.

MAPLEWOOD, NJ—NAI James E. Hanson has negotiated the sale of an 11,500-square-foot office building located at 2115 Millburn Avenue in Maplewood, NJ. NAI Hanson's Josh Levering, Ken Lundberg, Nick DePaolera and Pat Lennon represented the seller, Millburn Property Management in the sale to Millburn Ave. Specialty Realty. 2115 Millburn Avenue is a two-story, 11,500-square-foot office building located in the Maplewood/Millburn professional corridor of Millburn Avenue. The buyers purchased the building for conversion from a multi-tenant office building into a headquarters medical facility.

NEW YORK, NY—HAP Investments celebrated the completion and TCO approval for its East Harlem project HAP 5 at 329 Pleasant Avenue. The event was attended by HAP principals Eran Polack and Amir Hasid, HAP Chairman Dr. Hans Wagner, the leasing team of Klara Madlin and Ann Ferguson of Klara Madlin Real Estate and the HAP professional development team. Also present were finance professionals from UC Funds and Guggenheim Partners as well as design team members representing the noted designer of the development, Karim Rashid. The project, a boutique eight-story residential rental building, is located in one of the city's most sought after up and coming neighborhoods. HAP 5 has begun leasing and is already in contract on a number of units. Pictured, from left: Abe Kohn, Lee Karlin, Michelle Arrington, Eran Polack, Hans Wagner, Amir Hasid, and Sariel Engel.

BENSALEM, PA—Mrani Eyebrow Threading & Spa is the latest tenant to join the diverse retail mix at Centre Plaza in Bensalem. The beauty-focused service provider leased 1,700 square feet at the 43,550-square-foot shopping center, according to commercial real estate services firm Levin Management Corporation of North Plainfield, NJ, the property's exclusive leasing and managing agent. Levin leasing representative Jordan Korris arranged the long-term lease.

Notables

NEW YORK, NY—Industry veteran and Forest City Ratner senior vice president Howard Klein is leaving the company after 19 years. Howard has been a senior finance/capital markets executive for the NY subsidiary of Forest City Realty Trust, the Cleveland-based REIT, and led construction and permanent financings totaling over $7 billion. The move comes as Forest City continues its restructuring and deleveraging efforts in conjunction with its previously announced divestiture of its retail portfolio. Before Forest City, Klein held finance positions at the Related Companies and JP Morgan Chase.

BROOKLYN, NY—An innovative new library and environmental education center is coming to Greenpoint. Funded in part by the Greenpoint Community Environmental Fund, the new Greenpoint Library and Environmental Education Center will promote environmental awareness, education and advocacy while providing a needed forum for community members to learn about the history of the neighborhood as well as its unique and ongoing environmental challenges. The branch will offer space for community groups dedicated to addressing environmental issues to hold meetings and host public programming and workshops. The project was made possible by a $5 million grant from the Greenpoint Community Environmental Fund, and more than $10 million from the Brooklyn Public Library.

BRIDGEWATER, NJ—Cushman & Wakefield has been named leasing agent for 440 Route 22 East in Bridgewater. The 198,376-square-foot, class-A office building is under new ownership, with a substantial capital improvement program set to launch this fall. Cushman & Wakefield's Shawn Straka and Bill Brown, based in Morristown, NJ, are heading the assignment on behalf of American Equity Partners, which purchased 440 Route 22 earlier this year.

PHILADELPHIA, PA—Jones Lang LaSalle promoted Dodie L. Williams to vice president and PDS lead while Robert Fogarasi has been hired as vice president, projects. Williams joined the company in 2008 as an associate project manager. In her new role, she will supervise the PDS team in Center City Philadelphia; Berwyn, PA; Cherry Hill, NJ; Lehigh Valley, PA; Wilmington DE; and Mechanicsburg, PA. Fogarasi will direct, manage and execute significant project management assignments for JLL.