Here is a roundup of recent deals, leases, executive moves, and other news from the past week.

Deal Tracker

NEW YORK, NY—RKF arranged two new leases totaling 4,830 square feet at the base of The Hanley, a luxury mixed-use residential building at 1140 Third Avenue in the Upper East Side, owned by an entity affiliated with Crescent Heights, one of the nation's leading urban real estate companies. Both leases follow the opening of Sant Ambroeus Café this summer. RKF executive vice president Joshua Strauss, managing director David Abrams and Associate Jordyn Comras represented Crescent Heights in the transactions. Swerve Fitness leased 3,500 square feet for its fourth New York City location. The specialty indoor cycling fitness studio's new space includes 1,000 square feet on the ground floor and 2,500 square feet on the lower level. The tenant was represented in the transaction by Jonathan Burke of J. W. Burke & Company. Oath Pizza will occupy 1,330 square feet for its first location in New York City. Oath will occupy 1,030 square feet on the ground floor and 300 square feet in the lower level. The restaurant chain was represented in the transaction by John Auber of The Auber Group and Taryn Brandes and Jaqueline KIinger of SCG Retail.

PHILADELPHIA, PA—Post Brothers has completed the largest residential redevelopment project in Philadelphia, the $100-million redesign and renovation of Presidential City, the iconic, four-building apartment community located at the foot of City Avenue. Post Brothers began full gut renovations to Presidential City in 2014, transforming each of the complex's 1,000 apartments into luxurious, high-efficiency residences. The redevelopment of Presidential City culminated with the completion of The Adams, the fourth and final building to be redeveloped at the complex. Post Brothers tapped internationally renowned architect Philippe Maidenberg for his first US project.

PITTSTON, PA—Woodmont Industrial Partners has sold 1 Commerce Road in Pittston, PA, after completing extensive capital improvements at the 437,446-square-foot industrial building. The former Penguin Random House site, which served as the company's book distribution center, is one of many properties WIP has upgraded through a capital program including improvements such as additional loading docks, natural gas conversion, upgraded lighting and power, etc. The property also features a high bay section offering 48-foot to 54-foot clear height with racking in place, a parking lot that can accommodate up to 269 cars, and a rail line behind the building.

NEWARK, NJ—The City of Newark has broken ground for Mulberry Commons, a $10 million private/public development project in Newark's downtown. Mulberry Commons is regarded as a milestone in Newark's economic development, creating a new center of gravity in the City's growing downtown and unlocking the long ignored development potential of Newark's Penn Station, one of the nation's busiest rail hubs.

HACKETTSTOWN, NJ—Cushman & Wakefield's Metropolitan Area Capital Markets Group has arranged the trade of Hackettstown Commerce Park, a 197,438-square-foot flex/industrial campus with nearly eight acres of developable land in Warren County. Devli Group purchased the asset from Hampshire Management Company. Consisting of three buildings and two land parcels on Bilby Road and Willow Grove Street in Hackettstown, Hackettstown Commerce Park is currently 88 percent leased to 11 tenants. Investor interest in the Park was due to its long history of tenant retention (7.7 years weighted average remaining lease term), and its value-add opportunity to lease up the remaining vacancy and ability to create additional inventory on approximately eight acres of excess developable land (2.75-acre plot already approved for a 25,000-square-foot building).

UNIONDALE, NY—Arbor Realty Trust recently funded eight loans totaling $119 million in California, Texas, and Washington under the Fannie Mae DUS Loan, Freddie Mac SBL, and Fannie Mae Small Loan product lines. Greg Gillam, Vice President of Originations in Arbor's Manhattan Beach, California office, originated the loans.

HATFIELD, PA—Meridian Capital Group negotiated $70 million in balance sheet financing to refinance Hatfield Village, a multifamily community in Hatfield, PA, on behalf of Scully Company. Located at 2058 Maple Avenue, Hatfield Village, is a garden apartment community situated on a serene 70-acre park-like setting. The property consists of 35 three-story brick buildings, totaling 997 units. The seven-year, fixed-rate loan, provided by a local balance sheet lender, features a rate of 3.7 percent and two years of interest-only payments. This transaction was negotiated by Meridian senior vice presidents Russ Drebin, David Fisher, and Scott Jackson, who are all based in the company's Iselin, NJ office.

LONG BRANCH, NJ—The Kislak Company brokered a recent off-market sale of the Ocean Court by the Sea Motel, 170 Ocean Avenue, Long Branch, NJ, for $6 million. The seller was St. Mary Developers, and the purchaser was an affiliate of Kushner Company. Kushner also owns the Pier Village complex, which is just north of Ocean Court by the Sea. Kislak senior vice president Jeffrey Wiener and chief operating officer Jason Pucci arranged the off-market sale.

EVESHAM TOWNSHIP, NJ—Furniture retailer Raymour and Flanigan has acquired Evesham Crossing Shopping Center, an 81,000 square foot shopping center at 515 Route 73 in Evesham Township, NJ. The center is across busy State Route 73 from The Promenade at Sagemore. The Seller was Starwood Capital and Goodman Properties. Colliers International's retail team of Todd Sussman and Josh Goldfine facilitated the sale and was the sole broker in this transaction.

ISLANDIA, NY—In a transaction arranged by CBRE, Blue Rise Group has acquired an office flex property with a broadcast and cell tower at 3200 Expressway Drive South in Islandia, NY for $3 million. The CBRE team of Carl Eriksen and Mark Zussman represented the seller, Univision.

Notables

CHATHAM, NJ—Dermody Properties says Jeff Zygler, senior vice president – capital deployment, will lead the company's national e-commerce initiative. Zygler has been with the firm since 2015. Zygler will be responsible for sourcing and executing Dermody Properties' e-commerce and build-to-suit projects throughout the US, from procurement through development. In his 10-year career, Zygler has led the development of more than 11 million square feet of industrial projects valued at more than one billion dollars. Since joining Dermody Properties in 2015, he has led the development of two build-to-suit facilities for Amazon totaling nearly two million square feet.

NEW YORK, NY—Cushman & Wakefield says industrial broker Stephen Sander has joined the firm as a senior director of industrial brokerage for the New Jersey market. Sander will work with Stan Danzig, Jules Nissim, Steve Elman, Michael Terranova, Kim Bach and Cathy Bounczek, focusing on industrial leasing and sales. Sander was most recently a first vice president at CBRE in Industrial & Logistics, where his team handled more than one million square feet of space in the New Jersey market.

OLD BRIDGE, NJ—Throughout the month of November, all 23 offices of Amboy Bank will collect food and household items for food banks in their branch area. Every Amboy office manager has selected a food bank to collect for in their community. In many cases, Amboy has a strong relationship with the organizations, including the Samaritan Center, Old Bridge Food Bank and Elijah's Promise.

Correction, 10/25/2017, 2:19 p.m.: Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this roundup included an item saying Edison Properties had broken ground on the Mulberry Commons development in Newark. Mulberry Commons is actually a project of the City of Newark. Edison Properties is redeveloping an adjacent building.

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Steve Lubetkin

Steve Lubetkin is the New Jersey and Philadelphia editor for GlobeSt.com. He is currently filling in covering Chicago and Midwest markets until a new permanent editor is named. He previously filled in covering Atlanta. Steve’s journalism background includes print and broadcast reporting for NJ news organizations. His audio and video work for GlobeSt.com has been honored by the Garden State Journalists Association, and he has also been recognized for video by the New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He has produced audio podcasts on CRE topics for the NAR Commercial Division and the CCIM Institute. Steve has also served (from August 2017 to March 2018) as national broadcast news correspondent for CEOReport.com, a news website focused on practical advice for senior executives in small- and medium-sized companies. Steve also reports on-camera and covers conferences for NJSpotlight.com, a public policy news coverage website focused on New Jersey government and industry; and for clients of StateBroadcastNews.com, a division of The Lubetkin Media Companies LLC. Steve has been the computer columnist for the Jewish Community Voice of Southern New Jersey, since 1996. Steve is co-author, with Toronto-based podcasting pioneer Donna Papacosta, of the book, The Business of Podcasting: How to Take Your Podcasting Passion from the Personal to the Professional. You can email Steve at [email protected].