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

This Week by the Numbers

PA I-78/I-81 Logistics Corridor/Vacancy Rate vs. Completions

PHILADELPHIA—According to Ian Anderson, director of research and analysis, CBRE Greater Philadelphia, the PA I-78/I-81 logistics corridor remains remarkably resilient. Demand from a variety of types of tenants has helped occupy nearly 26.3 million square feet of new warehouse space over the last two years (equivalent to just under 457 football fields). The vacancy rate remains at record-low levels. After a relatively slow first quarter, demand and activity bounced back in the second quarter Just over 3.8 million square feet of space was absorbed during the quarter, driving the vacancy rate 90 basis points lower to 5.6%.

CBRE Research also reports that the industrial expansion is spreading further and deeper across the larger region. As the Lehigh Valley and Central Pennsylvania submarkets along the PA I-78/I-81 corridor run at full throttle, the relatively greater amount of space available in Northeast PA is helping demand surge. Over the last year, 2.6 million square feet of warehouse space has been absorbed in Northeast PA, equating to 23% of all net absorption along the PA I-78/I-81 corridor. The vacancy rate in this submarket has declined from 8.7% one year ago to 6.1% in the second quarter of 2017.

Deal Tracker Daily

BOSTON—CIM Group has acquired six land parcels totaling 2.16 acres in Boston's Fenway neighborhood, located two blocks south of Boylston Street and four blocks from Fenway Park. CIM made the acquisition with Cabot, Cabot & Forbes, its joint venture partner. The parcels are currently leased to two restaurants, a convenience store and a taxi depot that utilizes the surface lots and garages.

CIM identified the Boston area more than a decade ago as a community that possesses the attributes that fit its investment strategy. The acquisition of these parcels continues the firm's investment program in Boston that includes Motor Mart Garage, 200 Stuart St. Garage, and 95 Berkeley St. No financial details on the land purchases were released.

WESTPORT, CT— The Davis Companies reports that Coastal Orthopedics, a member of OrthoConnecticut, a leading orthopedic group dedicated to developing both surgical and nonsurgical solutions to address problems related to musculoskeletal diseases, has signed a lease to occupy an entire floor (approximately 5,000 square feet) at the Westport Center for Health.

The Westport Center for Health is a 38,000-square-foot, Class-A medical office campus located at 321-329 Riverside Ave. in Westport, CT.

BOSTON— NAI Hunneman recently completed a three-year, 8,487 square-foot sublease transaction with Neurala. The artificial intelligence software company is moving from Boston University's Photonics Center to its first corporate offices at 51 Sleeper St. in Boston. NAI Hunneman Urban Advisory Group members Peter Evans and Matthew Davis represented Neurala in the transaction, while Ben Sutton of Newmark Knight Frank represented the sub-landlord.

GARDEN CITY, NY— Jeffrey Dunne, David Gavin and Travis Langer of CBRE's Institutional Properties in collaboration with Vince LaManna of the CBRE Long Island office, represented TSPartners in the sale of 825 East Gate Blvd. in Garden City in Nassau County. The team was also responsible for procuring the buyer, CAF Realty. No financial terms of the transaction were released.

825 East Gate Blvd. is a 79,498-square-foot value-add office property located in Garden City in Nassau County. In total, 825 East Gate is within close proximity of 4.2 million square-feet of retail, more than 20 restaurants and eight hotels. Dunne said of the deal, “825 East Gate provided a unique opportunity to purchase a value-add office property in prestigious Garden City. The property's prime location with access to major thoroughfares and numerous amenities ideally position it for near-term lease-up.”

NEW YORK CITY— RKF has arranged a 9,000-square-foot lease with Berenik Boutique & Talenthouse N.Y., a first-of-its-kind curated retail and creative workspace concept store. The location will open in July at 419 Broome St. in SoHo's fashion market.

RKF EVP Beth Rosen and associate Emily Simmonds represented landlord Broad Broome LLC in the transaction. Berenik Boutique & Talenthouse N.Y. was represented by Storefront.

TAUNTON, MA – NAI Hunneman recently completed a 6.78-acre land sale to Maxon Precision Motors for its new U.S. headquarters facility at The Business Park at Myles Standish in Taunton, MA.

The Swiss-owned company is relocating to the Business Park from Fall River, MA. The sale marks the first corporate user at the business park, with plans to initially construct a 55,000-square-foot building for product manufacturing and distribution, with the ability to expand to 100,000 square feet. Maxon will be transferring its current Fall River staff of 40 employees and plans to add a minimum of 50-75 new jobs within the next five years. The company officially broke ground on the facility on June 22^nd and hopes to be up and running by June of 2018.

NAI Hunneman EVP Cathy Minnerly and VP Ovar Osvold represented the seller, Mass Development/Taunton Development Corp., while Maxon was represented by Bernard Giroux from Giroux & Company.

NEW YORK CITY— Eastern Consolidated's Retail Leasing Team has arranged a 15-year lease totaling 7,500 square feet at 206 Spring St. in SoHo for an upscale Korean restaurant operated by Julie Choi. The space, located between Sullivan Street and Sixth Avenue, consists of the ground floor, which includes the kitchen and a small dining room; second floor, which includes seating for 250 guests; and lower level, which includes space for kitchen support. Eastern Consolidated's James Famularo, senior director and principal, represented the landlord, while Ravi Idnani, director, represented the tenant.

News & Notables

PHILADELPHIA— Rubenstein Partners, L.P. recently hired Fred Harmeyer, a seasoned real estate debt and equity investment professional with more than 25 years of industry experience. Harmeyer will be joining the firm as the debt portfolio manager responsible for leading Rubenstein's investment efforts to originate and hold first mortgage loans secured by transitional office buildings.

Harmeyer formed and led the expansion of the large loan group at Merrill Lynch Mortgage Lending as a managing director. Before his tenure at Merrill Lynch, he served as an executive director at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, where he served as a senior officer in the large loan-principal transactions group where he originated in excess of $1 billion of large loans for institutional real estate clients.

NEW YORK CITY—Cushman & Wakefield announced that Carl Wunderlich, a commercial real estate veteran with more than 15 years of experience, has rejoined the organization as director for the Westchester and Connecticut markets. In his new role, Wunderlich will be responsible for tenant and landlord representation, with a focus on retail and suburban markets in Westchester County, NY and Fairfield County, CT.

Most recently, Wunderlich worked with Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc. of Greenwich, CT, where he served as a senior leasing representative. There, he was responsible for leasing a portfolio of mixed-use properties totaling more than 1.3 million square feet. Prior to this role at Urstadt, he served as an associate director for retail services at Cushman & Wakefield.

NEEDHAM, MA—Katherine F. Shoss has joined the Bulfinch Companies, Inc. as VP, director of marketing. She is now responsible for strengthening awareness of the Bulfinch brand and its portfolio of properties within Greater Boston through the strategic implementation of traditional and digital channels for brand engagement and visibility.

Previously, she was the director of marketing and senior associate at Architectural Resources Cambridge, a Boston-based architecture firm where she worked for more than a decade overseeing all marketing efforts including implementation of brand identity, creation of marketing collateral, RFP management, public relations outreach, awards submission and oversight of digital marketing efforts. Prior to her role with ARC, Shoss managed marketing efforts for the Young Entrepreneurs Organization.

NEW YORK CITY—Tishman Speyer has reached an agreement with ColumbiaDoctors to provide clinical primary and wellness care as part of Zo—Tishman Speyer's comprehensive services program for tenants at Rockefeller Center.

ColumbiaDoctors Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Group will provide health care services in a designated Zo space at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, which will also feature other Zo wellness services. The new health care offerings, scheduled to begin in July 2017, are the latest addition to Tishman Speyer's work-life balance Zo initiative, which provides a comprehensive suite of amenities and services to its tenants, starting at Rockefeller Center. Partnering with leading service providers, Tishman Speyer's Zo offers such amenities as: backup child care, travel planning, community volunteer engagement, personal grooming, rideshares, human resources services and food and catering services to its tenants.

ColumbiaDoctors Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Group will provide onsite services five days per week with same-day appointments for primary and episodic-type heath care to the nearly 30,000 people employed at Rockefeller Center. Services available at the location will include onsite preventive care including inoculations, health screenings and tests, sick visits, chronic disease management and minor injury treatment.

Money Moves

NEW YORK CITY—Greystone provided approximately $22.13 million in Freddie Mac financing on a 12-property portfolio in Brooklyn. The loans were originated by Anthony Cristi of Greystone's New York office.

The refinanced properties, which contain between five and 12 units, all received five-year fixed rate Freddie Mac Small Balance Loans that include an additional 15-years floating and one-year of interest-only at 80% LTV. The property owner, Yoel Goldman, received $9.6 million in cash-out proceeds and plans to reinvest capital into each property.

The properties included: 165 Central Ave., 1358 Dekalb Ave., 145 Driggs Ave., 136 Kingsland Ave., 146 Skillman St., 161 Troutman St., 191 Troutman St., 163 Troutman St., 54 Lewis Ave., 11 Gunther Place, 1136 Willoughby Ave. and 189 Menahan St.

On the Market

 NEW YORK CITY—The historic Victoria Theater on West 125th St. in New York City is undergoing a major redevelopment that will eventually incorporate a Renaissance Hotel, 229 residential units, and additional cultural/performance space. Developers Lam Group and Exact Capital, who broke ground on the project at the beginning of May, have named Colliers International and its minority business partner Madison Square Realty leasing agents for the development's retail space.

The retail space, which totals 24,000 square feet, is ideal for food, entertainment, fashion cosmetic and numerous other users seeking to tap the estimated 10.8 million pedestrians who annually traverse Harlem's most active retail corridor. Colliers' Patrick Breslin, Samuel Gatan and Kenny Yip and Madison Square Realty's Eric Yarbro will act as agents for the retail space, located at 233 West 125^th St. between Frederick Douglass Boulevard and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard. Division is possible in blocks ranging from 967 square feet to 24,000 square feet. The space should be ready for occupancy by the second quarter of 2019.

STAMFORD, CT—Cushman & Wakefield has been selected as the exclusive leasing agent for Canterbury Green at 201 Broad St. in Stamford, CT.

Cushman & Wakefield team senior director Adam Klimek and director Brian Scruton will be leading leasing efforts on behalf of the landlord, RFR Realty. The 14-story mixed-use, class-A property totals 245,000 square feet with 79,411 square feet available office space. The building offers both commercial office space and residential apartments with some retail space.

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

This Week by the Numbers

PA I-78/I-81 Logistics Corridor/Vacancy Rate vs. Completions

PHILADELPHIA—According to Ian Anderson, director of research and analysis, CBRE Greater Philadelphia, the PA I-78/I-81 logistics corridor remains remarkably resilient. Demand from a variety of types of tenants has helped occupy nearly 26.3 million square feet of new warehouse space over the last two years (equivalent to just under 457 football fields). The vacancy rate remains at record-low levels. After a relatively slow first quarter, demand and activity bounced back in the second quarter Just over 3.8 million square feet of space was absorbed during the quarter, driving the vacancy rate 90 basis points lower to 5.6%.

CBRE Research also reports that the industrial expansion is spreading further and deeper across the larger region. As the Lehigh Valley and Central Pennsylvania submarkets along the PA I-78/I-81 corridor run at full throttle, the relatively greater amount of space available in Northeast PA is helping demand surge. Over the last year, 2.6 million square feet of warehouse space has been absorbed in Northeast PA, equating to 23% of all net absorption along the PA I-78/I-81 corridor. The vacancy rate in this submarket has declined from 8.7% one year ago to 6.1% in the second quarter of 2017.

Deal Tracker Daily

BOSTON—CIM Group has acquired six land parcels totaling 2.16 acres in Boston's Fenway neighborhood, located two blocks south of Boylston Street and four blocks from Fenway Park. CIM made the acquisition with Cabot, Cabot & Forbes, its joint venture partner. The parcels are currently leased to two restaurants, a convenience store and a taxi depot that utilizes the surface lots and garages.

CIM identified the Boston area more than a decade ago as a community that possesses the attributes that fit its investment strategy. The acquisition of these parcels continues the firm's investment program in Boston that includes Motor Mart Garage, 200 Stuart St. Garage, and 95 Berkeley St. No financial details on the land purchases were released.

WESTPORT, CT— The Davis Companies reports that Coastal Orthopedics, a member of OrthoConnecticut, a leading orthopedic group dedicated to developing both surgical and nonsurgical solutions to address problems related to musculoskeletal diseases, has signed a lease to occupy an entire floor (approximately 5,000 square feet) at the Westport Center for Health.

The Westport Center for Health is a 38,000-square-foot, Class-A medical office campus located at 321-329 Riverside Ave. in Westport, CT.

BOSTON— NAI Hunneman recently completed a three-year, 8,487 square-foot sublease transaction with Neurala. The artificial intelligence software company is moving from Boston University's Photonics Center to its first corporate offices at 51 Sleeper St. in Boston. NAI Hunneman Urban Advisory Group members Peter Evans and Matthew Davis represented Neurala in the transaction, while Ben Sutton of Newmark Knight Frank represented the sub-landlord.

GARDEN CITY, NY— Jeffrey Dunne, David Gavin and Travis Langer of CBRE's Institutional Properties in collaboration with Vince LaManna of the CBRE Long Island office, represented TSPartners in the sale of 825 East Gate Blvd. in Garden City in Nassau County. The team was also responsible for procuring the buyer, CAF Realty. No financial terms of the transaction were released.

825 East Gate Blvd. is a 79,498-square-foot value-add office property located in Garden City in Nassau County. In total, 825 East Gate is within close proximity of 4.2 million square-feet of retail, more than 20 restaurants and eight hotels. Dunne said of the deal, “825 East Gate provided a unique opportunity to purchase a value-add office property in prestigious Garden City. The property's prime location with access to major thoroughfares and numerous amenities ideally position it for near-term lease-up.”

NEW YORK CITY— RKF has arranged a 9,000-square-foot lease with Berenik Boutique & Talenthouse N.Y., a first-of-its-kind curated retail and creative workspace concept store. The location will open in July at 419 Broome St. in SoHo's fashion market.

RKF EVP Beth Rosen and associate Emily Simmonds represented landlord Broad Broome LLC in the transaction. Berenik Boutique & Talenthouse N.Y. was represented by Storefront.

TAUNTON, MA – NAI Hunneman recently completed a 6.78-acre land sale to Maxon Precision Motors for its new U.S. headquarters facility at The Business Park at Myles Standish in Taunton, MA.

The Swiss-owned company is relocating to the Business Park from Fall River, MA. The sale marks the first corporate user at the business park, with plans to initially construct a 55,000-square-foot building for product manufacturing and distribution, with the ability to expand to 100,000 square feet. Maxon will be transferring its current Fall River staff of 40 employees and plans to add a minimum of 50-75 new jobs within the next five years. The company officially broke ground on the facility on June 22^nd and hopes to be up and running by June of 2018.

NAI Hunneman EVP Cathy Minnerly and VP Ovar Osvold represented the seller, Mass Development/Taunton Development Corp., while Maxon was represented by Bernard Giroux from Giroux & Company.

NEW YORK CITY— Eastern Consolidated's Retail Leasing Team has arranged a 15-year lease totaling 7,500 square feet at 206 Spring St. in SoHo for an upscale Korean restaurant operated by Julie Choi. The space, located between Sullivan Street and Sixth Avenue, consists of the ground floor, which includes the kitchen and a small dining room; second floor, which includes seating for 250 guests; and lower level, which includes space for kitchen support. Eastern Consolidated's James Famularo, senior director and principal, represented the landlord, while Ravi Idnani, director, represented the tenant.

News & Notables

PHILADELPHIA— Rubenstein Partners, L.P. recently hired Fred Harmeyer, a seasoned real estate debt and equity investment professional with more than 25 years of industry experience. Harmeyer will be joining the firm as the debt portfolio manager responsible for leading Rubenstein's investment efforts to originate and hold first mortgage loans secured by transitional office buildings.

Harmeyer formed and led the expansion of the large loan group at Merrill Lynch Mortgage Lending as a managing director. Before his tenure at Merrill Lynch, he served as an executive director at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, where he served as a senior officer in the large loan-principal transactions group where he originated in excess of $1 billion of large loans for institutional real estate clients.

NEW YORK CITY—Cushman & Wakefield announced that Carl Wunderlich, a commercial real estate veteran with more than 15 years of experience, has rejoined the organization as director for the Westchester and Connecticut markets. In his new role, Wunderlich will be responsible for tenant and landlord representation, with a focus on retail and suburban markets in Westchester County, NY and Fairfield County, CT.

Most recently, Wunderlich worked with Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc. of Greenwich, CT, where he served as a senior leasing representative. There, he was responsible for leasing a portfolio of mixed-use properties totaling more than 1.3 million square feet. Prior to this role at Urstadt, he served as an associate director for retail services at Cushman & Wakefield.

NEEDHAM, MA—Katherine F. Shoss has joined the Bulfinch Companies, Inc. as VP, director of marketing. She is now responsible for strengthening awareness of the Bulfinch brand and its portfolio of properties within Greater Boston through the strategic implementation of traditional and digital channels for brand engagement and visibility.

Previously, she was the director of marketing and senior associate at Architectural Resources Cambridge, a Boston-based architecture firm where she worked for more than a decade overseeing all marketing efforts including implementation of brand identity, creation of marketing collateral, RFP management, public relations outreach, awards submission and oversight of digital marketing efforts. Prior to her role with ARC, Shoss managed marketing efforts for the Young Entrepreneurs Organization.

NEW YORK CITY—Tishman Speyer has reached an agreement with ColumbiaDoctors to provide clinical primary and wellness care as part of Zo—Tishman Speyer's comprehensive services program for tenants at Rockefeller Center.

ColumbiaDoctors Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Group will provide health care services in a designated Zo space at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, which will also feature other Zo wellness services. The new health care offerings, scheduled to begin in July 2017, are the latest addition to Tishman Speyer's work-life balance Zo initiative, which provides a comprehensive suite of amenities and services to its tenants, starting at Rockefeller Center. Partnering with leading service providers, Tishman Speyer's Zo offers such amenities as: backup child care, travel planning, community volunteer engagement, personal grooming, rideshares, human resources services and food and catering services to its tenants.

ColumbiaDoctors Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Group will provide onsite services five days per week with same-day appointments for primary and episodic-type heath care to the nearly 30,000 people employed at Rockefeller Center. Services available at the location will include onsite preventive care including inoculations, health screenings and tests, sick visits, chronic disease management and minor injury treatment.

Money Moves

NEW YORK CITY—Greystone provided approximately $22.13 million in Freddie Mac financing on a 12-property portfolio in Brooklyn. The loans were originated by Anthony Cristi of Greystone's New York office.

The refinanced properties, which contain between five and 12 units, all received five-year fixed rate Freddie Mac Small Balance Loans that include an additional 15-years floating and one-year of interest-only at 80% LTV. The property owner, Yoel Goldman, received $9.6 million in cash-out proceeds and plans to reinvest capital into each property.

The properties included: 165 Central Ave., 1358 Dekalb Ave., 145 Driggs Ave., 136 Kingsland Ave., 146 Skillman St., 161 Troutman St., 191 Troutman St., 163 Troutman St., 54 Lewis Ave., 11 Gunther Place, 1136 Willoughby Ave. and 189 Menahan St.

On the Market

 NEW YORK CITY—The historic Victoria Theater on West 125th St. in New York City is undergoing a major redevelopment that will eventually incorporate a Renaissance Hotel, 229 residential units, and additional cultural/performance space. Developers Lam Group and Exact Capital, who broke ground on the project at the beginning of May, have named Colliers International and its minority business partner Madison Square Realty leasing agents for the development's retail space.

The retail space, which totals 24,000 square feet, is ideal for food, entertainment, fashion cosmetic and numerous other users seeking to tap the estimated 10.8 million pedestrians who annually traverse Harlem's most active retail corridor. Colliers' Patrick Breslin, Samuel Gatan and Kenny Yip and Madison Square Realty's Eric Yarbro will act as agents for the retail space, located at 233 West 125^th St. between Frederick Douglass Boulevard and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard. Division is possible in blocks ranging from 967 square feet to 24,000 square feet. The space should be ready for occupancy by the second quarter of 2019.

STAMFORD, CT—Cushman & Wakefield has been selected as the exclusive leasing agent for Canterbury Green at 201 Broad St. in Stamford, CT.

Cushman & Wakefield team senior director Adam Klimek and director Brian Scruton will be leading leasing efforts on behalf of the landlord, RFR Realty. The 14-story mixed-use, class-A property totals 245,000 square feet with 79,411 square feet available office space. The building offers both commercial office space and residential apartments with some retail space.