● ROSEWOOD REALTY GROUP
Stellar closes on $76M sale that re-regulates Bronx apartments
Stellar Management announced it has completed the sale of 1133 Ogden Avenue, also known as Highbridge House, a residential Bronx building for $76,250,000 to Camber Property Group and Belveron Partners. Aaron Jungreis of Rosewood Realty Group brokered the deal for both the buyer and seller.
Originally the property at 1133 Ogden Avenue opened in 1972 as 100 percent affordable under the Mitchell-Lama program, Through a public-private partnership between Camber, Belveron, and HPD, the units, that were deregulated in 2006, will be returned to regulation and protected for 40 more years. Per the terms of the new agreement, all of the units will be rented to individuals and families at varying affordability levels to foster a mixed-income community. Additionally, Camber and Belveron will invest an additional $3 million to upgrade elevators and other critical building systems.
Stellar Management originally purchased the approximately 283,248-square-foot building in June 2006. Throughout its 13-year ownership of the property, Stellar completed extensive building-wide improvements. In addition to apartment renovations, there was an extensive façade and terrace maintenance program, a new lobby, common areas and hallways were upgraded throughout the building, the roof and windows were replaced and new boilers were installed.
1133 Ogden Avenue is a 26-story high-rise building, the majority of its units featuring balconies. The most recent updates to the property include a new lobby and extensive local law 11 façade work. The building boasts a variety of amenities including high-speed elevators, on-site laundry, on-site maintenance, parking garage, a community room and a playground.
Upon closing, Highbridge House’s units are being reregistered under rent-stabilization, including all the apartments originally lost to vacancy decontrol. Highbridge House will be affordable to very low, low-income and moderate-income tenants.
“HPD really stepped-up on a difficult transaction,” said Louis A. Harrison, partner at Belveron. “Nobody likes to be in contract during regulatory sea-change like we just saw from Albany, but this is a team of doers, and we all followed through as intended.”
Financing was provided by New York Community Bank.
● LEE & ASSOCIATES
Brooklyn estate buildings sold
Lee & Associates has closed on the sale of the last slice of the Frank Family portfolio.
Chris Varjan, Vickram Jambu, George Steffani and Jonathan Braun arranged the sale 145 Henry Street and 15-19 Wyckoff Street in Brooklyn for $36.5 million to Isaac Abraham.
Varjan, Jambu, Steffani and Braun represented both the buyer and the seller, The Estate of Alan Frank.
The buildings were the last two remaining properties in the Frank portfolio, both of which the Frank family had owned and managed for more than 40 years.
145 Henry Street is a six-story, 45-unit elevator building. 15-19 Wyckoff Street is a four-story, 40-unit walkup building. The two properties amount to a combined total of 66,494 s/f. In May, 2019, the same Lee NYC investment sales team represented the Frnaks in the sale of 88-90 Court Street in Downtown Brooklyn.
“These buildings will allow the buyer to add tremendous value by renovating and adding amenities to meet today’s market expectations,” says Varjan. “These types of assets are very hard to come by and trades are often once in a generation. This resulted in tremendous competition in the market.”
● JLL
Air rights offered at Chelsea Post Office
As the U.S. Postal Service’s national real estate service provider, JLL is leading the sale of air rights for additional development atop the Old Chelsea Station. The existing Old Chelsea Station will remain and continue to operate as a post office.
Brock Emmetsberger, managing director, will lead a JLL team that includes Jeanne Davis, Senior Manager, and Danny Mankovsky, Associate, to market the opportunity.
The Old Chelsea Station is a historic post office building located at 217 West 18th Street in Chelsea. Built in 1935, and designed by architect Eric Kebbon, the two-story brick property was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
According to Emmetsberger, “The ideal partner will be well versed in the logistics of building within zoning regulations to create residences above the historic structure.”
217 West 18th Street, located between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, has 175 feet of frontage and allows for approximately 67,522 square feet to be built atop the existing property.
● GEBROE-HAMMER ASSOCIATES
Two Union County, NJ properties sold
Gebroe-Hammer Associates has arranged two separate multi-family property sales for a combined $15.75 million totaling 72 units across Union County, N.J. The trades were orchestrated by Executive Vice Presidents Niko Nicolaou and David Jarvis in the borough of Summit as well as Senior Vice President Adam Zweibel in Plainfield.
The larger of the two transactions involved the $12.85 million trade of Beech Spring Apartments, a 53-unit garden-style apartment community in Summit’s Springfield Avenue section.
Situated in the northwest corner of Union County in what has become known as the Short Hills Region due to its proximity to Short Hills Mall, the 7 & 10 Beech Spring Dr. property occupies 3.59 acres within a tree-lined residential neighborhood.
Offering a mix of four different one-bedroom layouts and a two-bedroom duplex option, Beech Spring Apartments features on-premises parking and well-manicured courtyards just 15 miles from Manhattan.
Nicolaou exclusively represented the seller, 6 Beech Spring Drive LLC, and procured the buyer, a private investor. He also arranged the recent $58.5 million sale of New Providence Gardens in nearby New Providence last month on behalf of the same seller.
Less than eight miles south of Summit in Plainfield, Gebroe-Hammer’s Zweibel exclusively represented the seller and procured the buyer in the $2.9 million trade of 410-420 Watchung Ave. A fixture within the Downtown District, the mixed-use property includes ground-floor retail strategically located between E. 4th and E. 5th Streets.
The transit and pedestrian-friendly city has a 54.9% renter-population base and an annual property appreciation rate that is higher than 90% of other cities and towns in New Jersey, according to NeighborhoodScout.com.
● CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD
NJ pharma research building sold
A single-tenant, Class A office property in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, has traded for $36 million in a sale orchestrated by commercial real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield. Sheila Properties purchased 155 Tice Blvd. from Hartz Mountain Industries; the 118,000-square-foot asset is fully occupied by Eisai, Inc. on a long-term basis.
Eisai is the American subsidiary of global Japanese-based pharmaceutical company Eisai Co. Ltd., a research and development based company specializing in neurological and oncological diseases. 155 Tice is dedicated to the company’s oncology, clinical research, medical services, and global regulatory compliance divisions.
“Eisai has been making its home in Woodcliff Lake for over a decade as part of northern New Jersey’s growing life sciences/pharmaceutical sector,” noted Cushman & Wakefield’s David Bernhaut, who represented the seller and procured the buyer with Andrew Merin, Gary Gabriel, Brian Whitmer and Kyle Schmidt.
“This offering presented an excellent opportunity to acquire a solid long-term net leased investment to a credit worthy tenant.”
● ONE LIBERTY
REIT offloads Kmart, uploads logistics
One Liberty Properties, Inc. announced that it acquired two industrial properties for an aggregate purchase price of $15 million and sold a Kmart property.
On June 18, One Liberty acquired an 85,000 square foot industrial property on 4.2 acres located in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, for $6.2 million.
The 24-foot clear, concrete tilt wall industrial building, is net leased to Tinicum Mechanical Supply, Inc., d/b/a Betz Mechanical and Industrial Supply, a plumbing supply company, and Philly Motors and Drivers, the exclusive franchisee in the Philadelphia area of ABB Group, a distributor of electric motors and transmission products.
On June 26, 2019, One Liberty acquired a 62,000 square foot Class A industrial facility on 3.5 acres located in Chandler, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix, for $8.7 million.
The concrete tilt wall building was constructed for Floratech in 2005, and features 30-foot clear ceilings, four dock doors and two drive-in doors.
The property is net leased to Floratech, a manufacturer of raw materials used in cosmetic and skin care products.
On June 20, 2019, One Liberty sold a Kmart property located in Clemmons, North Carolina, for $5.3 million.
● COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL
Colliers brokers CT office trade
Colliers International closed the $19,950,000 sale of Pond View Corporate Center, a Class A office campus of 236,302 s/f at 74-76 Batterson Park Road in Farmington, Connecticut.
Colliers marketed the property on behalf of New Haven-based Fusco Farmington Associates, and procured the private buyer.
Pond View Corporate Center is a two building office campus situated on 34 acres directly off Interstate 84 and Batterson Park Road.
The three story office building offers a fitness center, café, conference and technology center, and outdoor walking trails. The property is home to tenants including Comcast, New England Asset Management, Lockton Companies, and KBE Building Corporation.
The Colliers International investment sales team representing the seller included principal John Cafasso, Ian Hunt, and Conor LeBlanc, all based in Hartford.
● HUDSON
Coney Island site hits market
A 22,800 s/f Coney Island retail building is on the market.
608 Sheepshead Bay Road is located in an area experiencing a wave of residential development within Neptune/Sixth, a new, mixed-use development bringing 575 residential units, office and retail to the neighborhood.
The site is zoned C8-2, Special Ocean Parkway District. Uses include retail, hotel, medical, office, storage, and community facility. An existing loading dock is on the premises.
It is currently occupied and will be delivered vacant with up to 130,000 s/f available for as-of-right development.
Jason Gerbsman of Hudson is representing the seller. The asking price is $15 million.
Located several blocks from the Coney Island Beach and Boardwalk, the property is promimate to the F and Q lines. Direct ferry service to Lower Manhattan is anticipated to launch by 2021.
The new $1 billion NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island campus renovation is underway nearby and four new residential developments are anticipated to bring over 2,000 residential units to the area by 2021. A new ice rink is also planned.
