Middle Market Digest – The Northeast

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

Deal Tracker Daily

NEWARK, NJ—Construction has reached the mid-way point at Paramount Assets’ William Flats, a luxury multifamily rental property in Newark. Located at 869 Broad Street – between Teachers Village and Prudential Center in the heart of the city’s historic Four Corners neighborhood – the redevelopment centers on the adaptive reuse of the former United Women’s Garment Workers’ Union headquarters property. Paramount Assets is transforming the building into 37 luxury apartments along with ground-floor retail. With an emphasis on bringing “green” elements into an urban setting, the design features a four-story open-air courtyard core with a vertical garden and landscaped deck. The retail component will offer neighborhood conveniences for residents and the community.

PITTSBURGH, PA—CA Senior Living has started construction on Atria McCandless, a 179-unit senior living community in McCandless, Pa., 10 miles north of Pittsburgh. Pre-leasing for the community is scheduled to begin in October 2018, with an anticipated fall 2019 opening. Located at 8870 Duncan Ave., the development will offer a mix of independent and assisted living apartments, as well as memory care studios. Louisville-based Atria Senior Living has been retained as operator, adding to its portfolio of approximately 200 senior living communities across the US and Canada

BEVERLY, MA—LexaGene Holdings, a biotechnology company that develops instrumentation for pathogen detection, has expanded its operations in Massachusetts, signing a lease for a 17,500-square-foot office, lab, and R&D space at 500 Cummings Center, Suite 4550, in Beverly. The new location includes a state-of-the-art, level-two biosafety laboratory, which will allow LexaGene to adhere to biocontainment precautions specified by the CDC while testing for pathogens. The space was custom-designed by Cummings’ in-house design and construction teams.

PARAMUS, NJ—iFLY, the world’s largest indoor skydiving operation, is now delivering the dream of flight to adventure seekers in New Jersey.  The new location at 211 State Route 4 in Paramus, NJ, is the 29^th iFLY facility in the U.S. With iFLY, people of all ages and abilities can experience human flight in a safe, comfortable and fun environment – without having to jump out of an airplane. Each indoor skydiving facility is a marvel of engineering that replicates the sensation of freefall, creating conditions that allow people to lean in and float on a smooth cushion of air. With the help of iFLY certified flight instructors, customers learn to fly, control their bodies in the air and experience true human flight.

NEW YORK, NY—Cushman & Wakefield arranged a long-term, 5,183 -square-foot lease renewal for The Institute of International Bankers at Fisher Brothers’ 299 Park Avenue. The IIB will relocate on the 17^th floor of the property, where it will maintain its headquarters through 2029. A Cushman & Wakefield team consisting of executive director Jonathan Schindler, managing director Aron Schreier, and director David Mainthow represented the tenant in the transaction. Fisher Brothers was represented in-house by Marc S. Packman, managing director and head of leasing, and Charles P. Laginestra, director of leasing. Fisher Brothers is set to initiate a major capital improvement program at the 42-story, 1.2 million square foot tower in 2018. The project, which is being designed by David Rockwell and the Rockwell Group, will include a reimagined lobby with a high-end design and more open feel; a transformation of the entrance that will allow natural light to fill the lobby; and an illuminated plaza backed by a new exterior lighting system.

Money Moves

HENRIETTA, NY—KeyBank Real Estate Capital has originated $17.2 million in CMBS, first mortgage financing for Henrietta Plaza, located in Henrietta, NY. Built in multiple phases during 1969, 1971, 1988 and 2012, the property is comprised of four, single-story buildings totaling more than 250,000 square feet. The retail property is occupied by 20 national and regional tenants, including anchor tenant At Home and junior anchor tenants, Staples and Big Lots. Additional tenants include Burger King, Starbucks, Five Guys, Dairy Queen and Subway. William Cassidy of Key’s Commercial Mortgage Group arranged the non-recourse, fixed-rate financing with a 10-year term and 30-year amortization schedule. The loan was used to refinance existing debt.

EAST ORANGE, NJ—Meridian Capital Group arranged $7.6 million in construction financing, which converts to an $8.2 million permanent loan, for a multifamily property in East Orange, NJ. The 18-month construction loan, provided by a balance sheet lender, features a prime-based floating rate and interest-only payments. At stabilization, the financing converts to a five-year permanent loan in the amount of $8.2 million. Meridian senior managing director Israel Schubert, senior vice president Emil DePasquale, and vice president Nathan Baldinger negotiated the financing. Located at 51 North Walnut Street in East Orange, NJ, the property will be five stories and consist of 58 units.

NEWTOWN SQUARE, PA—Equus Capital Partners has moved its Philadelphia area executive offices to a new 42,000 square-foot headquarters building located within its Ellis Preserve development, a 218-acre master planned mixed use community located in Newtown Square, PA. Ellis Preserve is owned by Equus affiliates and has been in various phases of development since 2004. Located at Routes 3 and 252, Ellis Preserve is a campus style community that includes one million square feet of office space, which is 99-percent occupied, as well as a new and 100-percent leased 110,000 square-foot retail center to be anchored by Whole Foods. Also onsite is a recently opened 138 room Hilton Garden Inn, a 252-unit resort-style multi-family community known as Madison at Ellis Preserve, and 66 for-sale townhomes. In addition, Toll Brothers is currently developing 76 carriage-style townhomes. The site adjoins the 100-acre, 650,000 square-foot North American headquarters of SAP America. 36,000 square feet of reclaimed wood and multiple building artifacts preserved from the Berkshire Knitting Mills in Wyomissing, PA, (another major redevelopment project Equus currently has underway) have been incorporated to provide stunning design elements throughout the Headquarters space.

BURLINGTON, MA—Sam Park & Co. has named KeyPoint Partners to manage The Point, Littleton, MA. awarded the contract. Located at the intersection of I-495 (Exit 31) and Route 119 in Littleton, The Point is a 540,000 square foot mixed-use retail destination that combines shops, restaurants, grocery, hotel, medical providers, office, and entertainment. The Point is anchored by O’Neil Cinemas, Market Basket, and Courtyard by Marriott. Restaurants and eateries at The Point include Tavern in the Square, Taka, Great Road Kitchen, Masala Bay, Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt, Moe’s Southwest Grill, and Starbucks. The property includes a running trail, rock climbing wall, outdoor market, fire pits, and an old-time carousel.

Executive Moves

NEW YORK, NY—Cushman & Wakefield says Barry Finkelman has joined the firm as an executive director in Manhattan, reporting to Joseph Caridi, managing principal, Downtown Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island. Finkelman has almost 15 years of commercial real estate experience, specializing in tenant representation and working on assignments of all scale internationally from single-occupancy transactions to multimarket portfolios. He has represented a wide variety of clients from the not-for-profit, TAMI (technology, advertising, media & IT), and finance sectors. Before joining Cushman & Wakefield, he was a senior vice president in CBRE’s Midtown Manhattan office. He is a member of the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) and is a graduate of the University of Maryland.

NEW YORK, NY—CBRE says a group of six top commercial real estate professionals focusing on life sciences and technology industries has joined its New York Tri-State operations. The team includes Joseph DeRosa, Jonathan Schifrin and David Stockel, along with Alex Erdos, Alessio Tropeano and Chris Menard. These professionals are among a large group led by Steve Purpura who recently joined CBRE’s New England operations. The team focuses on landlord and tenant representation in the technology and life sciences industries throughout the Tri-State region, providing value at every growth stage from start-up to big pharma.

BOSTON, MA—NKF Capital Markets says executive managing directors Mike Doyle, Dave Cederlund, and Jamie Wolfe, along with senior financial analyst Chris Minor, have joined the firm’s Boston office, forming the Corporate Capital Markets Practice Group. CCM will serve the firm’s domestic and international corporate occupier and property-owning clients. The team joins NKF Capital Markets from Lighthouse Asset Finance. Doyle, Cederlund, and Wolfe formed Lighthouse in late 2016 after working together for more than 25 years in leasing and asset finance at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and its predecessor companies.