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

BROOKLINE, MA—Brookline GK, an affiliate of The Grossman Companies, the Quincy, MA-based commercial real estate investment, management and brokerage firm, has sold the Citizens Bank branch building at 429 Harvard Street in Brookline for $4.1 million. The buyer, Oak Hill Properties of Boston, was represented in the transaction by David Ross, executive vice president/principal in NAI Hunneman’s Investment Sales & Capital Markets Group. Representing the seller was Michael O’Mara, broker at Atlantic Retail Properties in Boston.

PARSIPPANY, NJ—Cushman & Wakefield has been appointed to market 11 Waterview Boulevard in Parsippany as a headquarters opportunity for sale or lease. The 120,000-square-foot office asset sits immediately off Route 46, at the intersection of Interstates 287 and 80, and represents the largest, Class A user-purchase opportunity in the immediate market.

NEW YORK, NY—The Durst Organization and The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey signed artificial intelligence company ASAPP to a lease that expands the firm’s presence by an additional 7,904 square feet on the 80th floor of One World Trade Center. Meanwhile, Global Risk Advisors has expanded by an additional 10,026 square feet on the 83rd floor of the building, and Kensho Technologies has expanded by an additional 4,810 square feet on the building’s 76th floor, bringing their square footage totals at One World Trade Center to 26,270, 16,976 and 12,340, respectively.

PITTSBURGH, PA—Colliers International Group acquired its Pittsburgh affiliate, Colliers International Pittsburgh. Colliers Pittsburgh has been a long-time affiliate of Colliers and the firm says bringing the office in-house will offer an opportunity to expand its services further in one of America’s most exciting examples of successful urban gentrification.  “We have been affiliated with Colliers International for many years, so this is a natural next step for us which will enable us to expand our service offerings and further drive our growth,” says Gregg Broujos (pictured), managing director and founding principal of Colliers Pittsburgh. “By integrating into the Colliers global platform and leveraging its size, capital, established infrastructure and industry leadership, we look forward to taking our business to the next level.”

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ—Bussel Realty Corp. arranged the sale of 121 Corporate Boulevard in South Plainfield, New Jersey, a 36,000-square-foot industrial building, for an undisclosed amount.  Herb Zimmerman, senior vice president of BRC, represented the buyer, Touch Dynamic. The seller, Adler Development , was represented in-house.

Money Moves

NEWTON, MA—Holliday Fenoglio Fowler arranged the recapitalization of the 191-room Hotel Indigo Boston – Newton Riverside in Newton, MA. The HFF team represented Normandy Real Estate Partners in the recapitalization of the property with Mark Development.  The property will continue its brand affiliation with Hotel Indigo. The Hotel Indigo Boston – Newton Riverside is located 12 miles west of Boston at 399 Grove Street in the Route 128 technology corridor.  The full-service hotel offers 1,621 square feet of meeting space, Bokx 109 American Prime, Bokx Café, a South Beach-style outdoor pool, fitness center, business center and complimentary shuttle service. The HFF investment advisory team representing the seller consisted of managing director Denny Meikleham, senior director Alan Suzuki and director Matthew Enright.

BROOKLYN, NY—Arbor Realty Trust recently funded a CMBS loan in Brooklyn, NY. The 41-unit mixed-use property received $11,000,000 for refinance cash out under Arbor’s CMBS Program^®. The deal provides a five-year fixed, interest-only term. The fully renovated prewar property is located in Prime Williamsburg, just steps from the East River, great local hotspots and multiple subway lines. Building amenities include two retail units, elevator service, laundry facility, high end appliances, a modern lobby entrance and rooftop deck.

QUEENS, NY—Kathy Anderson, managing partner of Progress Capital, negotiated two $18 million commercial mortgage loans for Dino Tomassetti, managing partner of Storage Fox, to refinance the existing debt and recapture equity in two self-storage facilities. Constructed in 2013, 30-46 Northern Boulevard (pictured) in the Long Island City section of Queens is a 12-story 123,000 square-foot mixed-use building with an 8,000 square-foot Davita Dialysis Center, 70,000 square feet of rentable self-storage space and one remaining 4,000 square-foot community space.  The second property, located in Yonkers at 280 Fullerton Avenue, is a five-story 190,000 square foot self-storage facility constructed in 2012. The combined loans represent a 66-percent loan to value for both properties. The proceeds of the loans include significant cash out that Tomassetti and his partners plan to reinvest in future real estate acquisitions adding to the Storage Fox brand. Previously, Anderson negotiated both the construction loans and first mortgages on the properties.

Executive Moves

PHILADELPHIA, PA—Rubenstein Partners, a vertically-integrated real estate investment manager headquartered in Philadelphia, named four new hires: Peter Gottlieb as senior vice president, primarily responsible for property-level asset management activities, as well as new investments in New England, based in Boston; Louis Merlini as vice president of asset management, responsible for assisting with the firm’s Mid-Atlantic property and portfolio-level asset management activities, based in Philadelphia; Katherine O’Neil as construction manager, responsible for managing all aspects of capital improvement projects for Rubenstein, based in Philadelphia; and Rosita Bitetto as construction & development associate, responsible for supporting the management of Rubenstein’s construction and capital improvement projects and also based in the firm’s Philadelphia office.

HACKENSACK, NJ—NAI James E. Hanson named Susan Fox a sales associate in its Hackensack office. Susan will work exclusively with Steve Pastor, vice president, Global Supply Chain & Ports/Rails Logistics Practice, on local, regional and national development projects throughout the United States. With more than twenty years of commercial real estate experience, Fox previously served as commercial real estate investment sales advisor at Marcus & Millichap and was a senior real estate attorney with Fox & Fox.

NORTH PLAINFIELD, NJ—Sidney Singer of Perkasie, PA, has joined commercial real estate services firm Levin Management Corporation as a senior leasing representative. Singer is responsible for leasing and marketing efforts at a number of properties within Levin’s shopping center portfolio. In Pennsylvania, this includes Fairlane Village Mall in Pottsville, Bradford Plaza in West Chester, Rising Sun Plaza and Morrell Plaza in Philadelphia, and Centre Plaza in Bensalem. Singer’s New Jersey assignments include Hamilton Plaza in Hamilton Township and Rutgers Plaza in Franklin Township.

NEW YORK, NY—Alexander Anderson Real Estate Group named Lisa Young chief operating officer of its new Manhattan office. Young joins Alexander Anderson from the Corcoran Group, where she served as a residential broker for the last 12 years. A member of the New York Real Estate Board, she earned a BA from Fordham University.