The amount of new office construction underway in urban-suburban submarkets is slightly elevated relative to their share of inventory. Emerging submarkets account for 22 percent of total square footage under construction in the top 25 suburban markets (compared to their 20 percent share of total inventory) and established submarkets account for 30 percent (compared to 26 percent of total inventory). Yet in certain metros, these shares are much higher, with urban-suburban submarkets accounting for 100 percent of the suburban office space under construction in Sacramento, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Kansas City and Austin.

Deal Tracker Daily

BOSTON, MA—New Boston Fund and Lena Park Community Development Corp. have begun the $200 million redevelopment of the former Boston State Hospital site with a groundbreaking event of 41 units of mixed-income townhomes at Olmsted Green. Olmsted Green is the first workforce housing, homeownership project in Boston funded by MassHousing's Opportunity Fund, the Department of Neighborhood Development, and the Neighborhood Housing Trust.

QUINCY, MA—The Marina Bay boardwalk has been expanded to nearly double its previous size, further enhancing this vibrant neighborhood which features condominiums, retail and restaurants, as well as a 686-slip marina. Meriel Marina Bay is comprised of two, five-story buildings featuring 352 luxury apartments with ample garage parking and approximately 20,000 square feet of ground-level retail space ideal for dining establishments and specialty boutiques. Hines, Callahan Construction Managers and Quincy Mayor Thomas P. Koch commemorated the expansion with a ribbon-cutting and a free boardwalk festival adjacent to Meriel Marina Bay.

PARAMUS, NJ—The Goldstein Group brokered the sale of a former Wawa in Ocean View, NJ. The buyer, Raj Modi, purchased the former 4,000 square foot Wawa building at the intersection of Route 50 & Hope Corson Road. The one-acre property is a prime retail site with convenient access to Route 9 and the Garden State Parkway and will be occupied by Oasis Market. Mr. Modi also owns the Pantry 1 Food Market in Cape May, NJ.

KING OF PRUSSIA, PA—CBRE arranged the sale of 950 Pulaski Drive building in King of Prussia, PA, for $8.2 million. The one-story, 40,000 square-foot property, located directly across from the King of Prussia Mall was acquired jointly by Merion PHC Holdings and Moreland Development. Gary Leone and Steven Gartner of the CBRE Global Retail Services team represented the seller, Hemar Realty Co. during the transaction. Currently configured as physicians' offices, exam rooms and labs, this building most recently housed offices for the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and is fully vacant.

PHILADELPHIA, PA—KeyBank Real Estate Capital has provided a $44.7 million CMBS first mortgage loan for Rodin Place – retail, office, and self-storage mixed-use building – and an adjacent, brand new Target Store. Together the two buildings cover a city block in the Art Museum neighborhood of Philadelphia. The properties total 241,884 square feet and consists of one single-story retail building, currently leased by Target, and one six-story office and retail building known as Rodin Place. With century old components, and modern additions, Rodin Place was constructed as it currently exists in the 1980s and renovated in 2008 and 2014. The Target Store building was built in 1997 and is presently being gut renovated to accommodate the new store. John Christen of Key's Commercial Mortgage Group arranged the financing with a 10-year term, five-year interest only period and 30-year amortization schedule. The loan was used to refinance existing debt.

BROOKLYN, NY—Marcus & Millichap brokered the sale of The Jefferson-MacDonough Collection, a 53-unit multi-family portfolio located in Brooklyn, NY, according to John Horowitz, vice president and regional manager of the firm's Brooklyn office. The asset sold for $15 million.

Money Moves

NEW YORK, NY—Greystone added two Managing Directors to the CMBS lending group. Joe Mosley Jr. and Dan Wolins will both report to Rob Russell, head of CMBS loan production. Joe Mosley Jr., based in Greystone's Birmingham, AL office, comes to Greystone from UBS Investment Bank, where he was a Director originating CMBS loans. Before UBS, he was an analyst at Deloitte & Touche. Dan Wolins, based in Greystone's New York office, joins the firm from Hunt Mortgage Group, where he was most recently a Managing Director. Before Hunt, Mr. Wolins was a Partner at Olmsted Capital Partners, and has held previous senior CMBS lending roles at Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, and Salomon Smith Barney. Both Mr. Mosley and Mr. Wolins will focus on CMBS and Agency lending, as well as the diverse range of lending products Greystone offers for multifamily and commercial property owners.

DALLAS, TX—SRS Real Estate Partners named Adam Langer senior vice president in the New York office. He specializes in tenant and landlord representation and has worked with many national and regional retailers. Langer joins SRS with 10 years of experience in commercial real estate. Most recently, he worked at Zelnik & Company with some of New York City's most prominent landlords and developers, including Vornado Realty Trust, Equity Office, BLDG Management, Muss Development, Madison Capital, and Skyline Developers. He has exclusively represented many major retailers in their expansion plans, most notably Dos Toros Taqueria, as they have grown to a 14 restaurant chain in New York City, along with four new locations in Chicago that will open over the next year – with Adam acting as their national master broker.

NEW YORK, NY—Romer Debbas, a New York City-based boutique law firm specializing in commercial and residential real estate transactions, announced attorney Hugh P. Finnegan has recently joined the firm as a partner and co-manager of the firm's commercial real estate department. Before joining the firm, Finnegan was a partner in the New York office of Sullivan & Worcester. Previously, he was also a partner at the New York law firm Siller Wilk. In his new position, Finnegan will focus on further enhancing the firm's commercial real estate lending platform, particularly on behalf of middle market lenders.

WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ—A team of students from the Leon Hess Business School and Kislak Real Estate Institute at Monmouth University captured the first place prize for the second quarter of 2017 in the Real Confidence University Challenge, an academic competition sponsored by The Altus Group. There are 39 universities participating in the competition. The competition required the student teams to allocate a hypothetical $1 billion in real estate assets starting in December 2016 that they believed would have the highest yield for the year 2017. Quarterly prizes are given for the best returns each quarter. The Monmouth University team allocation was heavily invested in the industrial public REIT sector. The principal faculty advisors for the team are Peter Reinhart, the Director of the Kislak Real Estate Institute and Professor John D. Burke.

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

This week by the numbers

PHILADELPHIA, PA—Suburban office markets that provide an urban-like live-work-play environment are well positioned to capture strong demand from office users, according to a new report from CBRE. Among the most common attributes of so-called “urban-suburban” submarkets are the presence of abundant retail, office and housing options, as well as employment opportunities, based on a survey of CBRE Research professionals in the 25 largest suburban markets. Established urban-suburban submarkets have the added advantage of amenities like entertainment and recreational offerings, restaurants and grocery stores and public transportation access. According to the report, established Philadelphia submarkets include Bala Cynwyd, Conshohocken and the Main Line.

Emerging submarkets in Philadelphia, identified in the report as King of Prussia/Valley Forge, Plymouth Meeting and Exton/West Chester, are more likely to be in transition, with development, construction or renovation – including ongoing or planned public transit projects – shaping dynamics. Notably, emerging submarkets are more likely than established submarkets to have mixed-use projects in the works. Mixed-use projects often serve as a catalyst for additional development in a particular area, spurring interest in the surrounding neighborhood.

The amount of new office construction underway in urban-suburban submarkets is slightly elevated relative to their share of inventory. Emerging submarkets account for 22 percent of total square footage under construction in the top 25 suburban markets (compared to their 20 percent share of total inventory) and established submarkets account for 30 percent (compared to 26 percent of total inventory). Yet in certain metros, these shares are much higher, with urban-suburban submarkets accounting for 100 percent of the suburban office space under construction in Sacramento, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Kansas City and Austin.

Deal Tracker Daily

BOSTON, MA—New Boston Fund and Lena Park Community Development Corp. have begun the $200 million redevelopment of the former Boston State Hospital site with a groundbreaking event of 41 units of mixed-income townhomes at Olmsted Green. Olmsted Green is the first workforce housing, homeownership project in Boston funded by MassHousing's Opportunity Fund, the Department of Neighborhood Development, and the Neighborhood Housing Trust.

QUINCY, MA—The Marina Bay boardwalk has been expanded to nearly double its previous size, further enhancing this vibrant neighborhood which features condominiums, retail and restaurants, as well as a 686-slip marina. Meriel Marina Bay is comprised of two, five-story buildings featuring 352 luxury apartments with ample garage parking and approximately 20,000 square feet of ground-level retail space ideal for dining establishments and specialty boutiques. Hines, Callahan Construction Managers and Quincy Mayor Thomas P. Koch commemorated the expansion with a ribbon-cutting and a free boardwalk festival adjacent to Meriel Marina Bay.

PARAMUS, NJ—The Goldstein Group brokered the sale of a former Wawa in Ocean View, NJ. The buyer, Raj Modi, purchased the former 4,000 square foot Wawa building at the intersection of Route 50 & Hope Corson Road. The one-acre property is a prime retail site with convenient access to Route 9 and the Garden State Parkway and will be occupied by Oasis Market. Mr. Modi also owns the Pantry 1 Food Market in Cape May, NJ.

KING OF PRUSSIA, PA—CBRE arranged the sale of 950 Pulaski Drive building in King of Prussia, PA, for $8.2 million. The one-story, 40,000 square-foot property, located directly across from the King of Prussia Mall was acquired jointly by Merion PHC Holdings and Moreland Development. Gary Leone and Steven Gartner of the CBRE Global Retail Services team represented the seller, Hemar Realty Co. during the transaction. Currently configured as physicians' offices, exam rooms and labs, this building most recently housed offices for the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and is fully vacant.

PHILADELPHIA, PA—KeyBank Real Estate Capital has provided a $44.7 million CMBS first mortgage loan for Rodin Place – retail, office, and self-storage mixed-use building – and an adjacent, brand new Target Store. Together the two buildings cover a city block in the Art Museum neighborhood of Philadelphia. The properties total 241,884 square feet and consists of one single-story retail building, currently leased by Target, and one six-story office and retail building known as Rodin Place. With century old components, and modern additions, Rodin Place was constructed as it currently exists in the 1980s and renovated in 2008 and 2014. The Target Store building was built in 1997 and is presently being gut renovated to accommodate the new store. John Christen of Key's Commercial Mortgage Group arranged the financing with a 10-year term, five-year interest only period and 30-year amortization schedule. The loan was used to refinance existing debt.

BROOKLYN, NY—Marcus & Millichap brokered the sale of The Jefferson-MacDonough Collection, a 53-unit multi-family portfolio located in Brooklyn, NY, according to John Horowitz, vice president and regional manager of the firm's Brooklyn office. The asset sold for $15 million.

Money Moves

NEW YORK, NY—Greystone added two Managing Directors to the CMBS lending group. Joe Mosley Jr. and Dan Wolins will both report to Rob Russell, head of CMBS loan production. Joe Mosley Jr., based in Greystone's Birmingham, AL office, comes to Greystone from UBS Investment Bank, where he was a Director originating CMBS loans. Before UBS, he was an analyst at Deloitte & Touche. Dan Wolins, based in Greystone's New York office, joins the firm from Hunt Mortgage Group, where he was most recently a Managing Director. Before Hunt, Mr. Wolins was a Partner at Olmsted Capital Partners, and has held previous senior CMBS lending roles at Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, and Salomon Smith Barney. Both Mr. Mosley and Mr. Wolins will focus on CMBS and Agency lending, as well as the diverse range of lending products Greystone offers for multifamily and commercial property owners.

DALLAS, TX—SRS Real Estate Partners named Adam Langer senior vice president in the New York office. He specializes in tenant and landlord representation and has worked with many national and regional retailers. Langer joins SRS with 10 years of experience in commercial real estate. Most recently, he worked at Zelnik & Company with some of New York City's most prominent landlords and developers, including Vornado Realty Trust, Equity Office, BLDG Management, Muss Development, Madison Capital, and Skyline Developers. He has exclusively represented many major retailers in their expansion plans, most notably Dos Toros Taqueria, as they have grown to a 14 restaurant chain in New York City, along with four new locations in Chicago that will open over the next year – with Adam acting as their national master broker.

NEW YORK, NY—Romer Debbas, a New York City-based boutique law firm specializing in commercial and residential real estate transactions, announced attorney Hugh P. Finnegan has recently joined the firm as a partner and co-manager of the firm's commercial real estate department. Before joining the firm, Finnegan was a partner in the New York office of Sullivan & Worcester. Previously, he was also a partner at the New York law firm Siller Wilk. In his new position, Finnegan will focus on further enhancing the firm's commercial real estate lending platform, particularly on behalf of middle market lenders.

WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ—A team of students from the Leon Hess Business School and Kislak Real Estate Institute at Monmouth University captured the first place prize for the second quarter of 2017 in the Real Confidence University Challenge, an academic competition sponsored by The Altus Group. There are 39 universities participating in the competition. The competition required the student teams to allocate a hypothetical $1 billion in real estate assets starting in December 2016 that they believed would have the highest yield for the year 2017. Quarterly prizes are given for the best returns each quarter. The Monmouth University team allocation was heavily invested in the industrial public REIT sector. The principal faculty advisors for the team are Peter Reinhart, the Director of the Kislak Real Estate Institute and Professor John D. Burke.