The I-81 and I-78 Corridor continued to generate new construction in the second quarter with 5.6 million square feet of new spec space delivered to the market this year, approximately 70 percent of it vacant at the end of the quarter. The spec construction helped drive a slight increase in overall vacancy to end the quarter 5.3 percent, 20 basis points higher than a year ago.

Deal Tracker Daily

NEW YORK, NY—RFR arranged a three-floor, 8,918-square-foot lease agreement with Totokaelo, a purveyor of beautifully designed and thoughtfully curated fashion and objects, at 190 Bowery, a six-story, 38,000-square-foot newly renovated, landmarked office and retail property located in the heart of the coveted NoHo neighborhood. Totokaelo is a business subsidiary of Herschel Capital Corp., the Vancouver-based owner of accessories brand Herschel Supply Co. Totokaelo has signed on for the space at 190 Bowery through early 2018. RFR continues to seek long-term tenants for 190 Bowery.

PRINCETON, NJ—Boston Properties has acquired 103 Carnegie Center Drive for $15.8 million from Mack-Cali Realty Corporation. Mack-Cali drew broad interest in the class A office building in the Princeton-Route 1 submarket that is home to many of the state's largest corporations. The Cushman & Wakefield team of David Bernhaut, Gary Gabriel and Brian Whitmer, supported by Frank DiTommaso II and Andrew Schwartz handled the transaction.The approximately 96,000 net rentable-square-foot, three-story office building includes flexible floor plans accommodating tenants from 500- to 15,000 square feet at the location, which is equidistant to New York and Philadelphia. Carnegie Center is a 560-acre master-planned corporate setting close to hotels and many Princeton area amenities.

HACKENSACK, NJ—Three law firms have renewed leases totaling 40,300 square feet at Court Plaza South in Hackensack. Located at 21 Main Street, Court Plaza South is part of the three-building Court Plaza office complex, owned and managed by Alfred Sanzari Enterprises. The transactions were negotiated in-house by Stephen C. Jennings, vice-president of leasing and marketing. In the largest transaction, full-service regional law firm Archer P.C. (formerly Archer & Greiner) renewed its 30,300-square-foot lease. Archer was represented by Jack Fatigati of The Garibaldi Group. Litigation firm Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck renewed its lease for 7,500 square feet. Kevin J. Murphy and Peter T. Rossi of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank served as tenant's broker in the transaction. General practice firm Springstead & Maurice, which occupies 2,500 square feet, also renewed its lease at the mirrored-glass complex.

WALDWICK, NJ—Urstadt Biddle Properties acquired the Waldwick Plaza Shopping Center in Waldwick, NJ, a 26,500 square foot shopping center, whose tenants include a US Post Office, Supercuts, Verizon, Massage Envy, The Little Gym, and local tenants such as a liquor store, dry cleaner, nail salon, and Italian restaurant. Waldwick Plaza is located at the traffic-lighted intersection of Franklin Turnpike and Wyckoff Avenue, the most prominent retail location in the town of Waldwick. The property is near UBP's Rite Aid Plaza, also on Franklin Turnpike in Waldwick, which affords UBP the benefit of economies of scale for management.

SUMMIT, NJ—NAI James E. Hanson has negotiated a lease for 2,375 square feet of office space to The Biber Partnership AIA at 480 Morris Avenue in Summit, NJ. NAI Hanson's Andrew Kirshenbaum and Tom Ryan represented the landlord, Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook & Cooper, in the exclusive listing. 480 Morris Avenue is a two-story, 12,000-square-foot office building on one of Summit's busiest thoroughfares. With ample parking and easy access to Route 24, Interstate 78 and the Summit Train Station, 480 Morris is the highly accessible, well maintained type of office in high demand among today's professional tenants. The current master tenant, Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook & Cooper, was searching for a tenant to occupy and sublease a portion of their second story office space. The Biber Partnership, an architectural firm, will relocate from its existing location in Summit and will utilize the space as their new headquarters.

METUCHEN, NJ—Suburban Square, a 33-unit multifamily property at 95 Central Avenue, near the Metuchen train station, recently changed hands in a private transaction brokered by Rose Real Estate. The transaction price was not disclosed. Lauren Rose Federgreen, founder and president of Rose Real Estate, handled the transaction. The property was built in 2014.

PHILADELPHIA, PA—Brandywine Realty Trust plans to relocate its Radnor, PA headquarters to the new, Brandywine-owned, developed, and managed, FMC Tower at Cira Centre South in the University City section of Philadelphia, PA. With properties—most notably, Cira Centre, the FMC Tower and evo at Cira Centre South, the new IRS Philadelphia Campus, and the pending Schuylkill Yards project, Brandywine has worked with other key University City stakeholders to help position University City as a hub of technology, research and innovation. The re-location of the company's corporate headquarters to Cira Centre South signifies Brandywine's commitment to Philadelphia and belief in the future of the burgeoning University City and West Philadelphia neighborhoods.

Money Moves

PHILADELPHIA, PA—Rittenhouse Capital Advisors announced today that it arranged $4 million in acquisition financing for a commercial parcel which is under a long-term lease with convenience store chain Royal Farms. The parcel is located in the Bridesburg section of Northeast Philadelphia. The financing, placed with a bank balance sheet lender, provided a seven-year fixed rate at 4.15 percent with a 10-year term and a 20-year amortization. The loan also featured limited recourse and a highly flexible prepayment structure.

PHILADELPHIA, PA—R. Bradford Mills recently joined Avison Young's Philadelphia headquarters as vice president. Specializing in corporate and nonprofit tenants, Mills brings 25 years of experience in commercial real estate development, redevelopment, consulting and brokerage comprising 8 million square feet of transactions valued at over $1 billion. At Avison Young, Mills will represent and advise corporate and nonprofit tenants in Center City. Previously, Mills served as commercial real estate advisor at Tactix and was CEO of Octavia Hill Association, Inc., a Philadelphia housing company, where he made many operational improvements.

Here is a roundup of the latest leases, sales and other transactions in the Northeast middle markets.

This week by the numbers

Demand for industrial space continued to build momentum in the Philadelphia and I-81 and I-78 markets during the second quarter of 2017, driving overall asking rents to their highest level since the beginning of 2015 in the Philadelphia market, according to two Industrial MarketBeat reports released by Cushman & Wakefield's Philadelphia research team. The commercial real estate services firm projects that substantial construction activity in the Southern New Jersey submarket will help drive a robust second half of the year.

“The Philadelphia industrial market's Q2 overall vacancy rate declined to 3.7, down 170 basis points from the same quarter of last year, while overall asking rental rates have increased 9.5 percent from a year ago to $4.95,” says Jared Jacobs, Cushman & Wakefield's research manager. Asking rental rates for warehouse and distribution space rose 1.4 percent to $4.25 per square foot.

The I-81 and I-78 Corridor continued to generate new construction in the second quarter with 5.6 million square feet of new spec space delivered to the market this year, approximately 70 percent of it vacant at the end of the quarter. The spec construction helped drive a slight increase in overall vacancy to end the quarter 5.3 percent, 20 basis points higher than a year ago.

Deal Tracker Daily

NEW YORK, NY—RFR arranged a three-floor, 8,918-square-foot lease agreement with Totokaelo, a purveyor of beautifully designed and thoughtfully curated fashion and objects, at 190 Bowery, a six-story, 38,000-square-foot newly renovated, landmarked office and retail property located in the heart of the coveted NoHo neighborhood. Totokaelo is a business subsidiary of Herschel Capital Corp., the Vancouver-based owner of accessories brand Herschel Supply Co. Totokaelo has signed on for the space at 190 Bowery through early 2018. RFR continues to seek long-term tenants for 190 Bowery.

PRINCETON, NJ—Boston Properties has acquired 103 Carnegie Center Drive for $15.8 million from Mack-Cali Realty Corporation. Mack-Cali drew broad interest in the class A office building in the Princeton-Route 1 submarket that is home to many of the state's largest corporations. The Cushman & Wakefield team of David Bernhaut, Gary Gabriel and Brian Whitmer, supported by Frank DiTommaso II and Andrew Schwartz handled the transaction.The approximately 96,000 net rentable-square-foot, three-story office building includes flexible floor plans accommodating tenants from 500- to 15,000 square feet at the location, which is equidistant to New York and Philadelphia. Carnegie Center is a 560-acre master-planned corporate setting close to hotels and many Princeton area amenities.

HACKENSACK, NJ—Three law firms have renewed leases totaling 40,300 square feet at Court Plaza South in Hackensack. Located at 21 Main Street, Court Plaza South is part of the three-building Court Plaza office complex, owned and managed by Alfred Sanzari Enterprises. The transactions were negotiated in-house by Stephen C. Jennings, vice-president of leasing and marketing. In the largest transaction, full-service regional law firm Archer P.C. (formerly Archer & Greiner) renewed its 30,300-square-foot lease. Archer was represented by Jack Fatigati of The Garibaldi Group. Litigation firm Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck renewed its lease for 7,500 square feet. Kevin J. Murphy and Peter T. Rossi of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank served as tenant's broker in the transaction. General practice firm Springstead & Maurice, which occupies 2,500 square feet, also renewed its lease at the mirrored-glass complex.

WALDWICK, NJ—Urstadt Biddle Properties acquired the Waldwick Plaza Shopping Center in Waldwick, NJ, a 26,500 square foot shopping center, whose tenants include a US Post Office, Supercuts, Verizon, Massage Envy, The Little Gym, and local tenants such as a liquor store, dry cleaner, nail salon, and Italian restaurant. Waldwick Plaza is located at the traffic-lighted intersection of Franklin Turnpike and Wyckoff Avenue, the most prominent retail location in the town of Waldwick. The property is near UBP's Rite Aid Plaza, also on Franklin Turnpike in Waldwick, which affords UBP the benefit of economies of scale for management.

SUMMIT, NJ—NAI James E. Hanson has negotiated a lease for 2,375 square feet of office space to The Biber Partnership AIA at 480 Morris Avenue in Summit, NJ. NAI Hanson's Andrew Kirshenbaum and Tom Ryan represented the landlord, Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook & Cooper, in the exclusive listing. 480 Morris Avenue is a two-story, 12,000-square-foot office building on one of Summit's busiest thoroughfares. With ample parking and easy access to Route 24, Interstate 78 and the Summit Train Station, 480 Morris is the highly accessible, well maintained type of office in high demand among today's professional tenants. The current master tenant, Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook & Cooper, was searching for a tenant to occupy and sublease a portion of their second story office space. The Biber Partnership, an architectural firm, will relocate from its existing location in Summit and will utilize the space as their new headquarters.

METUCHEN, NJ—Suburban Square, a 33-unit multifamily property at 95 Central Avenue, near the Metuchen train station, recently changed hands in a private transaction brokered by Rose Real Estate. The transaction price was not disclosed. Lauren Rose Federgreen, founder and president of Rose Real Estate, handled the transaction. The property was built in 2014.

PHILADELPHIA, PA—Brandywine Realty Trust plans to relocate its Radnor, PA headquarters to the new, Brandywine-owned, developed, and managed, FMC Tower at Cira Centre South in the University City section of Philadelphia, PA. With properties—most notably, Cira Centre, the FMC Tower and evo at Cira Centre South, the new IRS Philadelphia Campus, and the pending Schuylkill Yards project, Brandywine has worked with other key University City stakeholders to help position University City as a hub of technology, research and innovation. The re-location of the company's corporate headquarters to Cira Centre South signifies Brandywine's commitment to Philadelphia and belief in the future of the burgeoning University City and West Philadelphia neighborhoods.

Money Moves

PHILADELPHIA, PA—Rittenhouse Capital Advisors announced today that it arranged $4 million in acquisition financing for a commercial parcel which is under a long-term lease with convenience store chain Royal Farms. The parcel is located in the Bridesburg section of Northeast Philadelphia. The financing, placed with a bank balance sheet lender, provided a seven-year fixed rate at 4.15 percent with a 10-year term and a 20-year amortization. The loan also featured limited recourse and a highly flexible prepayment structure.

PHILADELPHIA, PA—R. Bradford Mills recently joined Avison Young's Philadelphia headquarters as vice president. Specializing in corporate and nonprofit tenants, Mills brings 25 years of experience in commercial real estate development, redevelopment, consulting and brokerage comprising 8 million square feet of transactions valued at over $1 billion. At Avison Young, Mills will represent and advise corporate and nonprofit tenants in Center City. Previously, Mills served as commercial real estate advisor at Tactix and was CEO of Octavia Hill Association, Inc., a Philadelphia housing company, where he made many operational improvements.