Friday, May 31, 2013

Select Top Five Philadelphia Industrial Leases Signed in Q1 2013

The select top industrial lease signed during the first quarter of 2013 in the Philadelphia market was at Allen Distribution Building 12 in the Harrisburg Area West Industrial submarket. Allen Distribution represented the landlord in a 258,000-square-foot lease deal. 

Tempur-Pedic renewed its 224,000-square-foot lease at 651 Boulder Dr. in the Lehigh Valley Ind submarket.

Genco leased 204,379 square feet at 61 Green Mountain Rd. in the I-81 Corridor. 

Iron Mountain renewed its 120,137-square-foot lease at the A Complex in Delaware County. 

Jacobson Companies took 106,506 square feet at Bristol Commerce Park - Bldg 1 in Bucks County. 

This trend is compared to the U.S. National Industrial largest lease signings occurring in 2013, which include the 1.12 million-square-foot lease signed by Home Depot at Greenwood Industrial Park in the Atlanta market; the 1 million-square-foot lease signed by Amazon.com in the Stockton/Modesto market; and the 812,000-square-foot renewal by Ozburn-Hessey Logistics in the Indianapolis market. 

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Investing in Commercial Real Estate (Video)

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Thursday, May 30, 2013

Shire reverses decision to move headquarters

by Natalie Kostelni-Staff Writer, Philadelphia Business Journal

In a dramatic about face, Shire Pharmaceuticals has decided not to build a new U.S. corporate headquarters at the Atwater Corporate Center in Malvern, Pa., and will stay in its current office facilities in the Chesterbrook Corporate Center in Wayne, Pa.
“We’re no longer moving forward with that and we’re remaining in Chesterbrook,” said Gwen Fisher, spokeswoman at Shire.
The decision came in light of the Shire bringing in Dr. Flemming Ornskov, its new chief executive officer, and his asking his senior employees to analyze its global footprint and its real estate presence based on the pharmaceutical company’s needs. The conclusion was simple:
“We feel fine where we are,” Fisher said.
Those outside of the company who were working on everything from the design and engineering of the new corporate campus received the news yesterday when they were told to cease working on the project. They were stunned. However, even though the company had signed a lease on space that was to be constructed at Atwater, there was a provision that allowed it to back out of the deal without penalty. That deadline was today.
People familiar with the matter were also told that the company was considering whether to remain in the Philadelphia area and possibly relocate elsewhere such as to Massachusetts but that was based on speculation about Shire’s future. The company has been rumored on and off over the years to be a takeover target, which is a reflection of an industry-wide consolidation trend. Earlier this month, Shire’s new CEO outlined his strategy for the company’s growth as an independent entity. That strategy involves focusing on five core product categories.
Shire (NASDAQ: SHPGY) announced last October that it would relocate to Atwater, bringing to an end a process that started in 2011 when the company launched an evaluation of its space options. The company considered possibly moving its North American headquarters to New Jersey or Delaware but decided to stay in the Philadelphia region. Shire’s regional operations have grown from a few hundred employees in 2004 to nearly 1,500 people.
Its original decision to move out of Chesterbrook, where it occupies 425,000 square feet, meant a gaping hole would have been left in that corporate center when it would have moved by the end of 2015. That apparently is no longer the case.

Philadelphia Warehouse Sells for $9.9M

Titanium Asset Management Corp. purchased 10430 Drummond Rd. in Philadelphia, PA from Seneca Real Estate Advisors for $9.93 million, or approximately $199 per square foot. 

The property is a 49,990-square-foot warehouse in the Greater Northeast submarket. Built in 1973, it sits on 3.8 acres zoned G2. The building has 22-foot ceiling heights, three drive-in bays, two cranes, and an external dock with levelator. 

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Rotter Realty Grp Purchases Castle Club Apts

Rotter Realty Group purchased the Castle Club Apartments at 254 W. Trenton Ave. in Morrisville, PA from Home Properties, Inc. for $15 million, or approximately $95,000 per unit, according to public record documents. 

The property totals 158 units on 8.7 acres. Built in 1967, it features a clubhouse, fitness center, fully equipped kitchens and many units have balconies or patios. The property was reported to be 97 percent occupied at the time of sale. 

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Friday, May 24, 2013

Select Top Five Philadelphia Office Leases Signed in Q1 2013

The select top office lease signed during the first quarter of 2013 in the Philadelphia market was at 2801 Valley Rd. in the Harrisburg Area East submarket. Comcast leased 110,000 square feet there. Union Deposit Group represented the landlord. 

Brandywine Realty Trust inked a deal at its Mercy Health Systems building in the Conshohocken submarket totaling 77,943 square feet. 

Bristol-Myers Squibb leased 45,484 square feet at the Fort Washington Executive Center Building 601 in the Fort Washington / Spring House submarket. 

Discovery Laboratories, Inc. renewed its 39,594-square-foot lease at Stone Manor Corporate Center Building A in Lower Bucks County. 

This trend is compared to the U.S. National Office largest lease signings occurring in 2013, which include the 798,420-square-foot lease signed by Sony Corporation of America at 550 Madison Ave - Sony Building in the New York City market; the 646,000-square-foot deal signed by Macy’s Merchandising Group LLC at Matthew Bender Building also in New York City; and the 456,000-square-foot lease signed by Noble Energy, Inc. at SH 249 & Louetta Road in the Houston market. 

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Thursday, May 23, 2013

The Commercial Real Estate Recovery (Video)



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US Facilities Inks Office Lease at 2.0 University Place

U.S. Facilities, Inc., the national facilities management and infrastructure support organization, has leased 15,000 square feet of headquarters office space at 30 N. 41st St. in Philadelphia, PA. The tenant will be moving this fall from its current location at 1800 JFK Blvd. to the fourth floor of 2.0 University Place. 

The 96,916-square-foot office building is currently under construction and is scheduled to be completed in September 2013. The building has received a LEED Platinum pre-certification. It is located in the West Philadelphia submarket on 0.6 acres. 

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Connect America Medical Alarm Co Relocates HQ

Connect America Medical Alarm Company will relocate its headquarters to One Belmont Ave. in Bala Cynwyd, PA. The tenant has leased 20,145 square feet, the entire top floor of the GSB Building. 

The GSB Building is a 241,741-square-foot office building, also referred to as "The Landmark Office Building". The building offers numerous amenities including on-site management, security, banking, underground parking, and private tenant conference room. Centrally located on Route 1, near I-76, The GSB building is five miles to Center City and ten miles to the Philadelphia International Airport. 

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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Does HTA's (REIT) Business Have a Clean Bill of Health?



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Temple Health to Build Ft. Washington Facility


John George 
Senior Reporter- Philadelphia Business Journal

Temple University Health System is getting ready to make another splash in the suburbs as it continues efforts to expand beyond North Philadelphia.
Renovations are under way for a $4 million medical complex in Fort Washington, Pa., that will house an urgent-care center along with primary-care and specialty-care services.
“You can call it an ambulatory-care center; some people call it a medical mall,” said Adam Edelson, Temple health system’s vice president for business strategy and development. “We are working to become more accessible to local communities in local markets. … We want to make accessing the care Temple provides more convenient.”
The 29,000-square foot medical center will occupy two floors in an existing office building on Pennsylvania Avenue near where the Pennsylvania Turnpike and Route 309 meet. The property’s landlord is paying an unspecified amount toward the needed renovations.
The first floor will be home to Temple’s fourth ReadyCare urgent-care center, the first of which opened in 2009 at its former Northeastern Hospital in the city's Port Richmond section when that facility was converted to outpatient care. The ReadyCare centers provide fast treatment for health conditions that need immediate attention, but are not life-threatening. Other space will be used for primary-care and specialty services in area such as orthopedics, cardiology, vascular care, neurology, neurosurgery, urology and bariatrics. Temple also plans to open a diabetes center at the site.
“We’ll be bringing to Fort Washington the type of high-end care that people will travel for when they need it,” Edelson said. “We are not looking to [duplicate] care people can get at their local community hospitals.”
Edelson said Temple selected Fort Washington as the site for its latest health center because its research showed the people in the area were going to local hospitals and into Center City and beyond for health services.
“We saw this market as a tremendous opportunity for us,” he said.
Temple health system’s push beyond North Philadelphia began when Dr. Larry Kaiser took over as CEO in 2011. In his first interview with the Business Journal after taking office, Kaiser said one of his goals was to build the Temple health-care brand by establish delivery sites throughout the entire region. “We want to plant the Temple ‘T’ in a number of locations,” he said.
During the past two years, Temple health system has:
• Opened offices in Oaks, Pa., with a lung center program and orthopedic services;
• Opened a ReadyCare urgent-care center in Northeast Philadelphia at site where it also provides orthopedic-care services;
• Opened a women’s-care center at Solis University in Elkins Park;
• Opened a ReadyCare Center in Jenkintown; and
• Added gastroenterology and neurology care at its Center City office, which already provide urology services.

Friday, May 17, 2013

Philadelphia's Industrial Deliveries, Construction and Inventory

During the first quarter 2013, no new space was completed in the Philadelphia Industrial market area. 

This compares to 10 buildings totaling 3,308,868 square feet that were completed in the fourth quarter 2012, four buildings totaling 2,229,000 square feet completed in the third quarter 2012, and 71,858 square feet in two buildings completed in the second quarter 2012. 

There were 2,978,919 square feet of Industrial space under construction at the end of the first quarter 2013. 

The largest projects underway at the end of first quarter 2013 were Berks Park 78 - Dollar General, a 906,919-square-foot building with 100% of its space pre-leased, and PetSmart, an 870,000-square-foot facility that is 100% pre-leased. 

Total Industrial inventory in the Philadelphia market area amounted to 1,012,862,282 square feet in 19,483 buildings as of the end of the first quarter 2013. The Flex sector consisted of 82,641,464 square feet in 3,189 projects. The Warehouse sector consisted of 930,220,818 square feet in 16,294 buildings. Within the Industrial market there were 2,399 owner-occupied buildings accounting for 229,134,214 square feet of Industrial space. 

This trend is compared to U.S. National Industrial deliveries and construction, which saw 166 buildings totaling 15.95 million square feet complete construction with an additional 54.82 million square feet of industrial space still under construction at the end of the first quarter. The 1 million-square-foot facility at 3851 Youngs Rd. in Chicago delivered, and the 1.8 million-square-foot Intel Ronler Acres D1X in the Portland market is still underway. Total industrial inventory in the U.S. market area totaled 20.79 billion square feet in approximately 520,000 buildings at the end of the first quarter 2013, including almost 60,500 owner-occupied industrial buildings. 

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Thursday, May 16, 2013

What Commercial Real Estate Is Saying About Economy (Video)

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The Judge Org Renews 101,000-SF Warehouse Lease

The Judge Organization, a third-party logistics services provider, renewed for a three-year lease term to continue occupancy of its 100,800 square feet of warehouse space at the Bristol Industrial Park Building BA-30. 

Located at 30 Runway Rd. in Levittown, PA, the 198,550-square-foot warehouse sits on more than 12 acres in the Bucks County Industrial submarket of Philadelphia. The site is strategically located with major access to highways, public transportation and the post office.

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JW Pepper & Son Purchases Exton Office

J. W. Pepper & Son, Inc. purchased the office building at 191 Sheree Blvd. in Exton, PA from Elite Underwriting Services, Inc. for $5.1 million, or about $118 per square foot. The two-story, 43,200-square-foot building was constructed in 2002 in the Stone Ridge Corporate Center. The new owner will occupy the building in the fall.
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Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Investors Flock to REITs For Returns (Video)


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5 New Retailers Set To Open in Phase II of the Shops at Walnut Grove in Feasterville-Trevose


5 new leases with an aggregate value of over $1,000,000 were signed for Phase II of the SHOPS AT WALNUT GROVE,  located at Bustleton Pike & County Line Road in Feasterville-Trevose, Pennsylvania. Phase II is a new addition to the existing SHOPS AT WALNUT GROVE, which was completed in 2011 and is anchored by Bottom Dollar Food, Bella Nails & Spa, Kyoto Sushi & Hibachi and Dunkin Donuts, who opened for business December 2012. 

Larry’s Steaks (“Home of the Belly Filler”) will open their 3rd restaurant location in June 2013. Construction has already commenced on their new 1,260 square foot space, and will be owned and operated by Tony Elebah, who currently owns and operates Larry’s Steaks at 9th Street & Girard Avenue in the Ludlow section of Philadelphia, and at 54th Street & City Avenue in the Wynnfield section of Philadelphia.  www.larryssteaks.com  

Opps! It’s Frozen Yogurt, a new 1,975 square foot frozen yogurt store will join the Shops at Walnut Grove in June and will also be owned and operated by Tony Elebah of Larry’s Steaks.

Little Caesars executed a 5-year lease for a new 1,260 square foot pizza restaurant and is scheduled to open June 2013. This is the operator’s first Little Caesars location.

Wiggle Worms, a locally operated hair salon specializing in children’s haircuts and styling will relocate their existing salon from Byberry Road to The Shops at Walnut Grove this spring. Wiggle Worms has been owned and operated by Kira Ferguson since 2003. www.wigglewormshairstudio.com

JW Wireless, a Verizon Wireless Retailer executed a 5-year lease for a new 1,915 square foot “end-cap” store. JW Wireless currently operates 35 Verizon stores in California, Nevada and Arizona and have just recently started their expansion into the Northeast, where the Shops at Walnut Grove will be their first Verizon Wireless store.  
 
One (1) 1,315 square foot store remains available for lease. 

Monday, May 13, 2013

Office Furniture Retailer Signs Lease in King of Prussia


Ethosource, LLC a new and used furniture provider, has signed a 50,000-square-foot lease for warehouse space at 411 Yerkes Road here.
Industrial Investment Inc. of Blue Bell, PA, the owner of the property, announced the deal with the Morgantown, PA-based firm.
Ethosource will use its new King of Prussia facility for warehousing and reconditioning of office furniture, and will also establish a large showroom for on-site sales of furniture.
Joe O’Donnell of Omega Commercial Real Estate and Bryan Cole of NAI Keystone Commercial & Industrial brokered the transaction. Robert Bown, project manager and Principal of Industrial Investments, Inc., represented the property owner.
original article: http://tinyurl.com/c488ong

Thursday, May 9, 2013

The Attraction to Multi-family Real Estate (Video)


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Aviv REIT CEO Talks Business (Video)


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AMEC Signs Long Term Lease Deal in Blue Bell

AMEC, the world’s leading engineering project management and consultancy companies, signed a long-term deal to occupy 13,932 square feet of office space at the Hillcrest Building One, located at 751 Arbor Way in Blue Bell, PA. 

The two-story, 113,300-square-foot office buildingwas renovated in 2011, and was awarded LEED certification at the Gold level by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in 2012. It was built in 1991 on 54.5 acres in the Plymouth Mtg / Blue Bell submarket of Montgomery County. AMEC will take occupancy in the third quarter of 2013.

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1616 Walnut in Center City Begins Apartment Conversion

Federal Capital Partners, Cross Properties and Alterra Property Group have started construction on the announced renovation and conversion of Philadelphia's 1616 Walnut Street. 

The group is rebranding the building "ICON" and it will include 206 brand new, luxury apartments. The property will feature 300-degree views of the Center City skyline from a private deck, lounges and conference rooms, spacious gaming and media rooms, wellness center with yoga studio, pet grooming, concierge, bike shop and storage, as well as access to high-end retail, dining and shopping downtown. One-, two- and three-bedroom residences will offer stainless steel appliances, Quartz countertops, stone and ceramic bathrooms and spacious closets all atop 23,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and 150 parking spaces. 

"ICON at 1616 Walnut Street provides us with the opportunity to re-purpose an exceptionally well located and well maintained building in the heart of Center City Philadelphia as Philadelphia's premier apartment community," said Lacy Rice, Managing Partner of Federal Capital Partners. "We look forward to watching this wonderful property come back to life under the careful management of our team and the guidance of our local partners, Cross Properties and Alterra Property Group." 

The group has retained Bozzuto Group to handle leasing and marketing, with plans to begin pre-leasing in October 2013 and occupancy tentatively scheduled for early 2014. 

The historic 1616 Walnut was built in 1929, considered an architectural marvel of its time. It was listed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places on January 7, 1982 and the National Register in 1983. The owners acquired the asset back in February 2012 for $28.5 million.

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Berkadia Originates $60M Loan at 1500 Locust

Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC arranged a $60 million refinance loan for the owner of 1500 Locust, a 612-unit multifamily building located at 1500-1514 Locust St. in Philadelphia, PA. 

Senior vice president Ernie Katai worked with borrower Capri Capital Partners to secure the 10-year, fixed-rate loan through Fannie Mae. 

Built in 1972, the 45-story apartment building is located in City Center, in the Market Street West submarket. It features studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. It also includes a sun deck, heated pool, an on-site restaurant and fitness center.

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Monday, May 6, 2013

10195 N.E. Ave., Phila-Leased 133 W. Hunting Park Ave. SOLD


Compass Industries of New YorkCity, is a wholesale distributor of hardware items,  completed a five year lease extension for  50,000 sq.ft. at 10195 N.E. Ave,Phila., PA for a value of $800,000. The modern one-story warehouse facility is well located in Northeast  Phila. near US 1 and Roosevelt  Blvd. 

CLJ, LLC purchased 133 W. Hunting  Park Ave.  from the Estate of Leonard Bleiman for $1,100,000.00.. After a complete renovation an retrofitting by CLJ the property is to utilized by La Fortaleza Inc. as their main location for a Physical Therapy Lab and Fitness Center. Other portions of the building were leased to Temple Physicians and Smith Pharmacy.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Philadelphia's Office Deliveries, Construction and Inventory

During the first quarter 2013, two buildings totaling 505,170 square feet were completed in the Philadelphia Office market area. This compares to five buildings totaling 267,256 square feet that were completed in the fourth quarter 2012, four buildings totaling 46,319 square feet completed in the third quarter 2012, and 357,309 square feet in 10 buildings completed in the second quarter 2012. 

There were 858,284 square feet of office space under construction at the end of the first quarter 2013. 

Some of the notable 2013 deliveries include: Endo Pharmaceuticals, a 300,000-square-foot facility that delivered in first quarter 2013 and is now 100% occupied, and 5 Crescent Dr, a 205,170-square-foot building that delivered in first quarter 2013 and is now 100% occupied. 

The largest projects underway at the end of first quarter 2013 were 3737 Market St, a 272,700-square-foot building with 70% of its space pre-leased, and CrossPoint at Valley Forge, a 272,109-square-foot facility that is 31% pre-leased. 

Total office inventory in the Philadelphia market area amounted to 395,899,425 square feet in 19,773 buildings as of the end of the first quarter 2013. The Class-A office sector consisted of 126,835,611 square feet in 929 projects. There were 7,605 Class-B buildings totaling 173,037,232 square feet, and the Class-C sector consisted of 96,026,582 square feet in 11,239 buildings. Within the Office market there were 831 owner-occupied buildings accounting for 33,330,645 square feet of office space. 

This trend is compared to U.S. National Office deliveries and construction, which saw 168 buildings totaling 5.92 million square feet complete construction with an additional 72.14 million square feet of office space still under construction at the end of the first quarter. A 639,002-square-foot facility at 200 Innovation Way in the Cleveland market delivered, and the 3.02 million-square-foot One World Trade Center in New York City is still underway. Total office inventory in the U.S. market area totaled 10.3 billion square feet in almost 491,000 buildings at the end of the first quarter 2013, including more than 18,000 owner-occupied buildings accounting for 855.6 million square feet. 

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Diversifying Your Portfolio with REIT ETF's (Video)


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Bristol-Myers Squibb Inks 45,000 SF Deal

Global biopharmaceutical company Bristol-Meyers Squibb has signed a long-term deal to occupy 45,484 square feet of office space at the Fort Washington Executive Center Bldg 601. Bristol-Meyers Squibb will take occupancy in the fourth quarter of 2013. 

Located at 601 Office Center Dr. in Fort Washington, PA, the 136,680-square-foot, class A office buildingis located on a 40-acre site surrounding a central courtyard. 

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