Friday Middle Market Digest for NY/NJ

Here’s a roundup of middle market activity in the Northeast this week.

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ—Resolution of the state’s Transportation Trust Fund financing dispute this week will have a positive effect on economic development in the challenging urban environment of Camden, says the city’s mayor, Dana Redd. Redd appeared on a NAIOP New Jersey panel of mayors discussing how their communities have been turning obstacles into opportunities as they redevelop the state’s urban cores.

“I think the Transportation Trust Fund is essential to help the city with its infrastructure and necessary repairs and buildout to support the economic development projects that are underway in the city of Camden,” Mayor Redd told GlobeSt.com exclusively after the panel. She notes that $2.5 billion in public and private investment projects are planned for Camden. “Along with those commitments come the needs for improving and upgrading our infrastructure.”

Companies that have committed to move to Camden are working with the mayor’s office, she says. “We have signed community investment agreements, where local employers will be working with us through the construction trades but also with the permanent jobs that will be created as a result of these businesses operating.”

The city is also working with local community colleges and the state Department of Labor to ensure that job training for Camden residents helps prepare them for jobs.

The city is also spending time and resources to enhance residents’ financial literacy to help them prepare to achieve financial goals and enable them to remain residents of the developing community.

“I’m proud to say that we have partners that understand it, that get it, and that want to minimize gentrification,” she says.

By the Numbers

PARSIPPANY, NJ—New Jersey’s industrial market has experienced 14 consecutive quarters of positive net absorption – its longest stretch ever. Amazon.com, the e-commerce giant, signed the largest industrial lease in New Jersey during third quarter 2016 and has become a force behind a chain reaction that is responsible for a large majority of the demand for warehouse space in the Garden State, according to Transwestern’s Third-Quarter 2016 Industrial Market Report. Some highlights:

• Year-over-year net absorption reached 11.5 million square feet – its highest level since third quarter 2002 to 2003.
• The vacancy rate improved to 5.8 percent during the quarter – its lowest level since first quarter 2001.
• Rent growth, which reached a record high for the third straight quarter at $6.50 per square foot, shows no signs of slowing down.
• During the third quarter, the market experienced its highest year-over-year rent increase since 2000, at 12 percent.
• Quarterly rent increases were observed in 19 of the state’s 25 submarkets.

Building Blocks

NEW YORK, NY—On behalf of DiRenzo Real Estate Management, Cushman & Wakefield sold a 5,475-square-foot, walk-up, multifamily asset at 111 East 39th Street in Manhattan’s Murray Hill. The all-cash transaction was valued at $5.6 million, or $1,023 per square foot. The property is comprised of nine units and was delivered vacant upon sale. The purchaser plans to immediately gut-renovate the units to capture the imminent upside in rents. Cushman & Wakefield’s John Ciraulo, Craig Waggner and Douglas Blankrot exclusively arranged the transaction.

NEW ROCHELLE, NY—Ariel Property Advisors has been exclusively retained to sell 25 Anderson Street, a mixed-use development site located on the northwest corner of Anderson Street and Lecount Place in downtown New Rochelle. The asking price for the site is $7.9 million. Zoned DO-2, 25 Anderson Street contains approximately 117,000 of buildable square feet and allows for 12 stories of building height as-of-right. The site can also be delivered vacant. Furthermore, developers can build two additional stories by incorporating a community facility or by making a contribution to New Rochelle’s Downtown Development Project. Exclusive agents Scot Hirschfield, Jason M. Gold, Marko Agbaba, Christopher S. Gillis, and Victor Sozio, are representing the seller, a private investor.

Deal Tracker & Notables

WHITESTONE, NY—The Feil Organization says it acquired a shopping center in the heart of Whitestone, NY, at 154^th Street and 10^th Avenue. With plans in place for a state-of-the-art upgrade, the company just signed leases with the full-service grocery store, North Shore Farms and CVS Pharmacy.  North Shore Farms will occupy 23,818-square-feet of the space formerly occupied by Waldbaum’s, while CVS Pharmacy will occupy 12,000 square-feet. Four additional spaces ranging from 1,380 square feet up to 4,350 square feet are available for lease, according to Nicholas Forelli, director of leasing at The Feil Organization.

HACKENSACK, NJ—Four retail tenants have renewed leases totaling 10,250 square feet at Summit Plaza in Hackensack, NJ. The 100,000-square-foot supermarket-anchored neighborhood shopping center is owned and managed by Alfred Sanzari Enterprises.  The transactions – negotiated in-house by Jerry L. Barta, vice-president/director of leasing and marketing – include: Cosmetics, health and beauty retailer Harmon Face Values, which renewed a 6,100 square-foot lease; Wize Guys Pizzeria & Restaurant, which renewed its lease for 1,600 square feet; Fresh as a Daisy, a dry cleaner, which renewed a lease for 1,450 square feet; and The UPS Store, a retail shipping, postal, printing and business service center, which renewed their lease for 1,100 square feet.

LONG BRANCH, NJ—FEM South Beach Urban Renewal retained B. Harvey Construction for pre-construction services at South Beach at Long Branch. The firm is collaborating with the property’s development team for on-site work beginning on the 47-unit luxury, oceanfront residential community. Located at 350 Ocean Avenue in Long Branch, NJ, the upscale condominium complex’s design will redefine residential living in this burgeoning community.

BOSTON, MA—One of Boston’s best-known commercial real estate professionals, Kevin Phelan, co-chairman of Colliers International Boston received the 2016 James Landauer/John White Award from The Counselors of Real Estate professional association. The Landauer/White Award annually recognizes an individual who has furthered the ideals of The Counselors of Real Estate—integrity, competence, community, trust and selflessness. Phelan has served on correspondent advisory councils for both AEGON U.S.A. Realty Advisors and Nationwide Life, and serves on boards and committees for Providence College, Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, the Archdiocese of Boston, Crossroads, and the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. Phelan also founded Kevin Phelan’s Breakfast Group, which provides a place for community leaders to gather and set the tone for civic engagement within the city.

WEST ORANGE, NJ—The law firm Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi says New Jersey appellate judge Hon. Jerome St. John will join the firm as “of counsel” in its Banking & Finance practice effective November 1. St. John will bring more than 40 years of experience as an attorney and jurist to CSG’s impressive roster of attorneys, which advise a broad base of clients. St. John was first appointed a judge in New Jersey in 2006, and has spent the last five years as a member of the Appellate Division. St. John has advised dozens of large banks and financial institutions, investment banks and public entities on a variety of financings, both domestic and off-shore. In addition to representing lenders, he has been an advisor on matters involving corporate authority, project finance and dispute resolution. His roster of clients hailed from an array of industries, and included automobile manufacturers, real estate developers and a NHL franchise.

BLACKWOOD, NJ—G.S. Wilcox & Co., based in Morristown, NJ, arranged a $7 million financing for a six building, 240,000 square-foot industrial-flex park in Blackwood, NJ.  The new loan is fixed for a seven-year term with a 25-year amortization.   The subject property is nearly 95-percent leased to a diverse roster of more than 30 tenants. The financing was arranged by the Wilcox team and David Fryer, principal.  The financing was provided by Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company for a repeat customer of G.S. Wilcox & Co.