Franklin Realty Development, a seasoned full-service commercial developer and owner of mid-rise suburban office and flex buildings, is making its second move into the world of multi-family development.

Franklin purchased 40 acres of raw land off Willowbrook Road in Northampton, PA from the Atlantic Cos. LLC for $3.9 million, or about $97,200 per acre. Why land bank in today's market, when you can buy existing product for nearly half the price it would cost to develop anything? Peter Gebert, president of Franklin, has an interesting take.

"We love the location. It is centrally located in the valley which will allow commuters easy access to the eastern or western suburbs of the site. It has a rural feel, yet you are only a mile and a half from the airport (Lehigh Valley International) and a diverse array of retail shopping."

Yet the appeal of this particular property went further than simply an ideal location. The availability to finance predevelopment costs in today's market is scant, if not impossible to obtain without significant collateral and government program assistance. Luckily for Franklin, this site had a built-in advantage. "We bought the lots improved. The infrastructure was already in, which will allow us to get into the ground a lot quicker than we would otherwise be able."

Furthermore, the site has the ability to cater to market demand. Unlike master planned communities that are built in only a couple of phases, the nature of this project allows the developer to time market demand perfectly without losing the appeal or amenities that a master planned community might offer.

"We like the layout. There will be 18 buildings with 12 units per building, which will allow us to build into the market. The units will be high-end luxury apartments ranging from 850-1100 square feet. We are trying to create a 'Main Street' community environment centered around a large gazebo, clubhouse and a pool."

With a glut of vacant office space in the Philadelphia suburbs, Franklin has shifted its focus and is poised to take advantage of the growing number of renters in the Philadelphia region.

Other Deals

In a case of rooftop marketing, Lerner-Heidenberg Properties acquired 3500 Aramingo Ave. in Philadelphia, a 57,288-square-foot retail building one hundred percent occupied by Forman Mills and Citizens Bank. The property was purchased for $6.2 million, or $108 per square foot, and is adjacent to the 121,350-square-foot Imperial Plaza shopping center, which Lerner-Heidenberg has owned since 1999.

Downingtown Area School District has purchased 540 Trestle Place, a 55,068 square foot single story, multi-tenant flex building located in the Trestle Bridge Business Center in Downingtown. The purchase price was $4.3 million. The building offers eight loading docks, nine drive-in bays, nine-by-14-foot finished ceiling heights, 18 feet clear in the warehouse portion and 125 parking spaces. The school district will be consolidating four separate offices from other sites into the building.

Habitat for Humanity bought a 19,861-square-foot flex building at 533 Foundry Rd. in Norristown to "house" its local operations. The property was purchased for $1,210,000 or $61 per square foot. The property was built in 1973, renovated in 2006 and sits in the West Norriton Industrial Park. Both sellers in the above transactions were represented by Phil Earley of Lieberman Earley & Company.

Marcus & Millichap's Taylor-Zang Group sold the CVS Pharmacy Plaza in Langhorne, PA for $3.1 million The 14,410-square-foot neighborhood shopping center, anchored by CVS, was sold by Langhorne Realty Partners, LP to a local private investor for $212 per square foot, which represents just under an 8% cap rate on in place income.

Banking News

The long-anticipated acquisition of Harleysville National Bank by First Niagara Bank was officially approved by the Federal Reserve Board and the OCC ON March 26th. Those blue feathered logos on the 83 Harleysville branches in Southeastern Pennsylvania are no more.

Last Friday marked the official closing of all 83 branches, which as of this Monday were reopened, and rebranded with the blue and yellow Niagara Falls-inspired logo of First Niagara. The new local management will be spearheaded by First Niagara Executive Vice President Frank Polino on an interim basis.

Former Wachovia executive Joseph Tedesco will head retail banking in the region. Four former Harleysville executives: Donna Coughey (senior advisor), Ammon Baus (credit management), Lewis Cyr (commercial banking), and Joe Blair (wealth management) will also be retained as part of the new team.

In other banking news, on March 31, the longtime CFO of Philadelphia-based Beneficial Mutual Bancorp, Joseph Conners, abruptly resigned after 34 years of service. Rumor of a philosophical feud between Conners and CEO Gerard Cuddy (who assumed control of the bank in 2007 and has refocused it with a slew of new initiatives and significant turnover of upper management) is evidently the cause of Conners' departure. Conners had an integral role in converting Beneficial from a mutual institution to a publicly traded mutual holding company, and more than doubled its asset base from $2 billion to $4.6 billion. Speculation continues to persist in the industry that Beneficial will soon take the next and final step of converting from a mutual to a full publicly traded company.

Changes are also materializing under a cloud of secrecy at Upper Darby based Eagle National Bank. The bank's Board removed Bill Bromley from his posts of Chairman and CEO of the bank under a curious "leave of absence" with no indication of whether he will be returning to the bank, when, or in what role. In his absence, CFO Jim Kelly has been named acting Chairman, while chief lending officer Grant Conway assumes the role of interim CEO. What makes the move so interesting is that the bank has actually been performing well relative to the market.

As of Dec. 31, the bank had $280 million in assets, of which only 2.2% were nonperforming. It has a healthy risk-based capital ratio of 13.4% and reported profits in both 2008 and 2009, despite starting out the first quarter of 2010 with some pain from six troubled commercial real estate loans involving housing developments.