Middle Market Digest – The Northeast

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

Deal Tracker Daily

NEW YORK, NY—SL Green Realty signed beauty products company Coty to a 10-year, 10,040-square-foot lease at 719 Seventh Avenue, now known as 30 Times Square, the retail flagship development that SL Green completed in 2017. Coty is expected to take possession of the property in July 2018. 30 Times Square is a five-story standalone retail property in the heart of Times Square offering 105 feet of wraparound frontage and 5,800 surface square-feet of state-of-the-art LED displays, allowing Coty to publish brand content across the most highly-trafficked pedestrian corridor in the world.

WALTHAM, MA—Davis Marcus Partners, a venture between Marcus Partners and The Davis Companies, will develop a new, 220,000-square-foot laboratory and office facility for Alkermes, a global biopharmaceutical company, on the Reservoir Woods Campus in Waltham. The new building, located at 900 Winter Street, represents an on-campus expansion of Alkermes’ current facility within Reservoir Woods at 852 Winter Street, enabling the company to expand both its research and development capabilities and comfortably accommodate its growing staff. Construction of the new facility will begin this spring. Davis Marcus Partners has a nearly decade-long professional history with Alkermes, having first worked with the company as a landlord in renovating a portion of an existing office building into a laboratory and headquarters to accommodate their relocation from Cambridge to Waltham in 2009. Subsequently, they have assisted with expansions as Alkermes has grown. Davis Marcus Partners’ substantial experience as a life science property owner, manager and developer has enabled the two companies’ ongoing successful partnership leading to this current expansion.

JERSEY CITY, NJ—Park View Academy, an innovative new daycare facility, has signed a lease to open its first location at Vantage, the luxury high-rise rental building in downtown Jersey City, NJ’s Liberty Harbor North neighborhood. Slated to open in early 2019, the new early childhood school will serve both residents of Vantage and the community-at-large, according to Fisher Development Associates, which is developing the 448-home waterfront building overlooking the Manhattan skyline, the Statue of Liberty and Liberty Harbor Marina.

CHATHAM, NJ—NAI James E. Hanson brokered a lease for 4,580 square feet of office space with Village Play Café at 17 Watchung Avenue in Chatham, NJ. NAI James E. Hanson’s Andrew Kirshenbaum and Tom Ryan represented both the landlord, James Prisco Jr., and the tenant in the transaction. Targeting an August 2018 opening, Village Play Café will offer a unique and interactive play space for children up to five years old. Village Play Café arose out of two local mothers’ desire to create a bright and welcoming space designed around encouraging meaningful play for local children. The lease at 17 Watchung will enable the owners to start their new business in an easily accessible location with ample parking that meets their exact space requirements.

NEW YORK, NY—Cushman & Wakefield arranged the sale of 238-240 East 3^rd Street, a 50-foot-wide development opportunity in Manhattan’s East Village neighborhood. The final closing price was $12 million. Cushman & Wakefield senior managing director Michael F. DeCheser, executive director Patrick Dugan, director Mei Ling Wong, director Andrew Berry and associate Bryan Hurley represented the seller, Third Street Theater, in the transaction. The property was purchased by Craftwood Partners. 238-240 East 3^rd Street is a commercial building that houses offices, a meeting area and a large theatrical studio with 20-foot ceiling heights. The building has approximately 4,500 square feet on the ground floor, 850 square feet on the mezzanine level, 800 square feet in the basement and offers approximately 21,000 total buildable square feet.

HACKETTSTOWN, NJ—CBRE’s Investment Properties team of first vice presidents Charles Berger and Elli Klapper, along with Advisory & Transaction Services’ Thomas Mallaney, have completed the sale of 999 Willow Grove Street in Hackettstown, NJ. The investment sales team arranged the $1.5 million transaction on behalf of the seller. 999 Willow Grove is a two-story, 45,000-square-foot industrial building in one of the largest industrial corridors in Hackettstown. Although 50-percent vacant at the time of the sale, the current in-place tenancy consists of long-term tenants, most of whom have occupied their spaces for over two decades on triple net leases. The property encompasses over 12 acres and, at one point, had approvals in place for additional development. The building has seven loading docks, a repaved driveway and a complete sprinkler system. Located minutes from Routes 46, 80 and 287, and under a mile from the Hackettstown Medical Center, 999 Willow Grove offers an opportunity for future development.

CORAOPOLIS, PA—Marcus & Millichap arranged the sale of the 223-room Embassy Suites Pittsburgh Airport hotel in Coraopolis, PA. The property sold for $25 million, which equates to $112,108 per room. Jerry Swon and Daniel Zagoria represented the seller, NHH CMS Pittsburgh, and procured the buyer, a private developer. Mark Taylor in Marcus & Millichap’s Wynnewood office is the firm’s broker of record in Pennsylvania. Built in 1990, the Embassy Suites Pittsburgh Airport is located at the intersection of Cherrington Parkway and Corporate Center Drive in Coraopolis. Situated on a hilltop, the hotel is highly visible from the intersection of Coraopolis Heights Road and Cherrington Parkway, a prominent juncture located just off the Thorn Run Road exit of Interstate 376, the major thoroughfare between Pittsburgh International Airport and Downtown Pittsburgh.

FLORHAM PARK, NJ—Holliday Fenoglio Fowler arranged $36.72 million in permanent financing for a newly constructed, two-building industrial facility totaling 240,317 square feet at One County Road in Secaucus, NJ. The HFF team worked on behalf of the borrower, Bhasin Properties, to place the 15-year, fixed-rate loan with Allianz Real Estate of America. Loan proceeds will be used to take out an existing construction loan, which was also arranged by HFF. Completed in 2018, One County Road features 32-foot clear heights, 56 tailboard doors with capacity to accommodate an additional 28, 180-foot truck courts and 50-foot by 35-foot column spacing. Spaces in the building can be divided into units as small as 3,690 square feet. The HFF debt placement team representing the borrower included senior managing director Jon Mikula.

Money Moves

CENTER VALLEY, PA—Calkain Companies hired Jim Isbell (pictured at far right with Jonathan Hipp, Calkain president and CEO) to open a new Philadelphia area office location for the firm, further expanding its presence along the east coast. Isbell, a Director at Calkain, is joining forces and will manage the new office located just outside Philadelphia at 3477 Corporate Parkway in Center Valley, PA. Calkain is a commercial real estate brokerage specializing in assisting buyers and sellers of single and multi-tenant net-leased properties.

PHILADELPHIA, PA—Walker & Dunlop hired a new debt financing team in Philadelphia, PA. This addition to the firm’s Capital Markets group, which brokers commercial real estate loans through its vast network of capital providers, enables Walker & Dunlop to continue expanding its geographic footprint in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. The team is led by experienced professionals John Banas (pictured) and Kristopher Wood, who both join Walker & Dunlop as senior vice presidents and managing directors. Additional team members include vice president Chad Levitt, assistant vice presidents Gareth Hissong, Martin Duval, and Tom Hemcher, and analyst Adam Rudman. The team will be responsible for sourcing and structuring permanent, bridge, and construction loans for all commercial real estate asset classes.