Middle Market Digest – The Northeast

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

Breaking News

TRENTON, NJ—Affordable housing advocates hailed a New Jersey Supreme Court decision regarding community obligations as a victory for the inclusion of households of all income levels in our communities.  The court ruled that towns were responsible for meeting housing needs which accumulated during the 16-year “gap period” when the state’s fair housing laws were not functioning properly. “There is no fair reading of this Court’s prior decisions that supports disregarding the constitutional obligation to address pent-up affordable housing need for low- and moderate-income households that formed during the years in which COAH was unable to promulgate valid Third Round rules,” the Court held.

Deal Tracker Daily

NEW YORK, NY—George Comfort & Sons has completed a lease with Maison Kayser to occupy retail space at 575 Lexington Avenue, its class A office tower in Manhattan’s Plaza District. Founded by Eric Kayser in Paris in 1996, Maison Kayser is an authentic artisanal French boulangerie and café with over 160 stores in 25 countries.  Under the 15-year lease, the bakery and café will occupy 3,287 square feet on the ground floor and an additional 2,393 square feet of basement space.

PLAINVILLE, CT—Tomasso Group has sold the 72,022-square-foot Medical Arts Center at The Hartford Healthcare Cancer Institute, 201 North Mountain Road, Plainville, CT, to a publicly traded medical office REIT for $30.25 million. Holliday Fenoglio Fowler marketed the property exclusively on behalf of the seller and procured the buyer. Tomasso Group affiliate, Tunxis Management Company, will continue to manage the property post-closing.

GREAT NECK, NY—Sharestates, a real estate investment marketplace, has originated $275 million in loans since the platform launched in 2015, making it one of the largest real estate crowdfunding platforms in regards to originations. December 2016 was the most prolific month in the company’s history, as it surpassed $42 million in loans, nearly doubling total loan volume in just over three months.

MATAWAN, NJ—Denholtz Associates, a privately-held, fully integrated real estate development, investment and management company, reports strong leasing activity throughout 2016, totaling 1,019,642-square-feet of new and renewal lease transactions. Denholtz Associates executed 161 lease transactions totaling 706,383-square-feet for its properties in New Jersey and inked 39 leases for 251,963-square-feet in Florida.

ARDMORE, PA—Kimco Realty Corp. has signed four retail leases totaling 94,100 square feet at its historic Suburban Square in Ardmore, PA, kickstarting the next phase in its approximately $70 million repositioning of the center. Life Time – The Healthy Way of Life Company will lease 78,636 square feet in the former Macy’s space for an upscale Diamond-level club featuring a premier healthy living, healthy aging and healthy entertainment destination, scheduled to open in fall 2017. Filling the remaining 10,540 square feet of the building is West Elm, a national popular, upscale home furnishing and accessories store.

JESSUP BOROUGH, PA—An affiliate of Endurance Real Estate Group, LLC (“Endurance”) is pleased to announce a new 101,935 SF lease with LBP Manufacturing, a national food packaging manufacturer, at 7 Alberigi Drive in Lackawanna County, PA, part of Endurance’s three (3) building I-81/NEPA Bulk-Industrial Portfolio. After the departure of the prior occupant at the end of 2016, Endurance quickly re-tenanted this space with the assistance of its Cushman & Wakefield leasing team of Daniel Walsh and Gerry Blinebury. The tenant was represented by Jason Webb, Lee Fittipaldi, and Kris Bjorson at JLL.

JERSEY CITY, NJ— Hawthorne JC 340 Realty LLC successfully completed the acquisition of 340-342 7^th St., Jersey City during the last week in December in a $3.7 million transaction. The mixed-use property consists of ground floor retail and apartments above.  The property has undergone recent renovation and upgrading. George Eggers, vice president of KenKap Realty, represented the buyer, a longtime investment client of KenKap.

Money Moves

PHILADELPHIA, PA—PREIT has completed the sales of its two remaining non-core malls, Beaver Valley and Crossroads Malls, for a combined purchase price of $49 million. Since January 2013, the Company has sold 16 lower productivity malls and other non-core properties, generating $720 million in gross proceeds. Beaver Valley Mall in Monaca, PA, which is anchored by Boscov’s, JC Penney and DICK’s Sporting Goods, was sold for $24.2 million. Crossroads Mall in Beckley, WV, anchored by Belk, DICK’s Sporting Goods, JC Penney and Sears, was sold for $24.8 million.

JERSEY CITY, NJ—New York Life Real Estate Investors announced has financed, on behalf of institutional investors, of 3 Second Street, a Class A office tower located in Jersey City, New Jersey. The floating rate loan has an initial term of three years with 2 one-year extensions.

PHILADELPHIA, PA—Cushman & Wakefield has named Erick Mazzoni, MAI, MRICS, as leader of the Valuation & Advisory (V&A) Group’s Pennsylvania operations. In his new position, Mazzoni will oversee the V&A groups in both the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh offices for the commercial real estate services firm. Based in Cushman & Wakefield’s Philadelphia office, Mazzoni had been serving as an Executive Director within the firm’s V&A Group, and is part of the Hospitality & Gaming practice, which focuses on consulting and valuation assignments on hospitality related properties.

NEW YORK, NY—Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital, the commercial and multifamily mortgage banking subsidiary of Enterprise Community Investment, announced the expansion of its affordable housing lending group to New York City, with the hiring of Hadley Bressman and John Mannix, senior vice presidents and loan originators; and Nicole Bressman, analyst.

PHILADELPHIA, PA—Pennrose recently announced the promotion of Jacob Fisher to regional vice president of development to oversee the organization’s development activity in New Jersey. Fisher will lead the execution and growth of Pennrose’s development pipeline within New Jersey, and will be responsible for the realization of production goals that have been defined in the company’s ten-year strategic plan.