STAMFORD, CT—A venture of New Jersey-based investors Mountain Development Corp. and Gottesman Real Estate Partners and ClearRock Properties of New York City have acquired nearly a quarter million square feet of mostly industrial and office space on the South End waterfront here.

The deal, announced by brokerage firm Cushman & Wakefield, involves the purchase of 700, 850 and 860 Canal St. buildings. The seller was Contrarian Capital Management and ClearRock Properties, which has retained an unspecified interest in the three buildings that total 247,310 square feet.

Only partial financial information on the purchase was released. ClearRock Properties and Mountain Development Corp. secured a $23-million senior mortgage loan for the acquisition of 700 and 850 Canal St. The 11-year financing was provided by Guggenheim Commercial Real Estate Finance and arranged by a Cushman & Wakefield Equity, Debt & Structured Finance team of Steve Kohn, John Alascio, Mark Ehlinger and Sridhar Vankayala who served as exclusive advisors on the transaction. Information on the purchase and financing of 860 Canal St. was not available at press time.

700 Canal St. is a 89,637-square-foot, five-story, brick and beam, loft-style building; 850 Canal St. is a 67,673-square-foot, four-story office building with available ground-floor retail space and 860 Canal St. is a four-story 90,000-square-foot office building. The 860 Canal St. property is a prime candidate for redevelopment as either residential, self-storage or hotel development of up to 150,000 square feet, according to C&W officials. At the time of the sale, 700 Canal St. was 76% leased, 850 Canal St. was 81% leased, while 860 Canal St. was entirely vacant.

Cushman & Wakefield's Andrew Merin, vice chairman, David Bernhart, vice chairman, Gary Gabriel, executive vice president, and Thomas J. O'Leary, senior director of C&W's Capital Markets Group, represented the seller in the deal.

O'Leary says that the properties location, adjacent to the Harbor Point development, as well as its future development potential, attracted significant investor interest throughout the sale process.