"Cole Real Estate Investment purchased the industrial facility at 60 Industrial Park Rd. in the Milton Industrial Park in Milton, PA for $29.49 million, or about $41 per square foot, from SK Realty Management and Blue Vista Capital Partners.
The 718,910-square-foot industrial building is home to ConAgra Foods. ConAgra Foods secured a long-term lease renewal deal prior to the sale."
http://www.omegare.com/
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Blue Horizon boxing venue is set to become a hotel
"Plans to renovate the building into a hotel-restaurant kicked into high gear last week after the Corbett administration approved a $6 million state grant to redevelop the 146-year old site.
Mosaic Development Partners of West Philadelphia and Orens Brothers Real Estate have teamed up as developers.
Scott Orens, a partner in the firm, said he hoped the club would become a combination hotel and restaurant catering to Temple University, and the new Convention Center expansion, at 111 N. Broad Street.
"We are in the middle of delicate negotiations with a lot of different parties," he said Wednesday. "We think the proximity to Temple with very few hotel rooms available to visiting professors, families, and Temple students, and the overflow of conventioneers, makes it an attractive location.
"Anyone who wants to stay now at Temple has to stay in Center City somewhere," he said.
Orens said he did not know how many rooms and how much table setting the development would have. But construction could begin in six months, he said.
"This is something we've been working on for about three or four years," said Vernoca Michael, Blue Horizon president and CEO. "One of the things we wanted to do for 17 years was to preserve the facility, and not tear it down. These people [Mosaic and Orens] have put in place something that was very acceptable and workable."
The Blue Horizon occupies what had been three mansions built in 1865. The mansions were combined by the Loyal Order of the Moose into one large lodge in 1912.
In 1961, it was converted into the Blue Horizon boxing arena.
The multipurpose venue has a ballroom and auditorium. The property's three floors have hosted everything from weddings and concerts to comedy shows and trade shows, but boxing paid the bills. It hosted championship bouts for the USBA/IBF super-middleweight and IBC and NABC state titles and the Hispanic championships. Bernard Hopkins and Arturo Gatti were among the 50 fighters who fought there and went on to win world titles.
"You think of Yankee Stadium and Wrigley Field in baseball, the Blue Horizon is on par with those two legendary facilities in the boxing world," said Marc Abrams, boxing public relations director for the Blue Horizon from 2006 to last year. "I traveled all over the world covering fights and was around fighters, and when they heard I'm from Philadelphia, the first thing they asked me is if I've been to the Blue Horizon."
In 2005, Ring magazine called the Blue Horizon "the best place to watch a boxing match."
In June 2010, the Blue Horizon closed because of tax problems, CEO Michael said.
"This will be a historic building that will be preserved and redeployed to some new use," Orens said. "It would not have happened without [the grant]."
Ed Grose, executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association, said the new hotel "will be a great addition to further develop North Broad Street."
The Blue Horizon will join a growing list of North Broad Street projects, from Lenfest Plaza next to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts to the State Office Building at Broad and Spring Garden Streets and several new restaurants north of Spring Garden."
http://www.omegare.com/
Mosaic Development Partners of West Philadelphia and Orens Brothers Real Estate have teamed up as developers.
Scott Orens, a partner in the firm, said he hoped the club would become a combination hotel and restaurant catering to Temple University, and the new Convention Center expansion, at 111 N. Broad Street.
"We are in the middle of delicate negotiations with a lot of different parties," he said Wednesday. "We think the proximity to Temple with very few hotel rooms available to visiting professors, families, and Temple students, and the overflow of conventioneers, makes it an attractive location.
"Anyone who wants to stay now at Temple has to stay in Center City somewhere," he said.
Orens said he did not know how many rooms and how much table setting the development would have. But construction could begin in six months, he said.
"This is something we've been working on for about three or four years," said Vernoca Michael, Blue Horizon president and CEO. "One of the things we wanted to do for 17 years was to preserve the facility, and not tear it down. These people [Mosaic and Orens] have put in place something that was very acceptable and workable."
The Blue Horizon occupies what had been three mansions built in 1865. The mansions were combined by the Loyal Order of the Moose into one large lodge in 1912.
In 1961, it was converted into the Blue Horizon boxing arena.
The multipurpose venue has a ballroom and auditorium. The property's three floors have hosted everything from weddings and concerts to comedy shows and trade shows, but boxing paid the bills. It hosted championship bouts for the USBA/IBF super-middleweight and IBC and NABC state titles and the Hispanic championships. Bernard Hopkins and Arturo Gatti were among the 50 fighters who fought there and went on to win world titles.
"You think of Yankee Stadium and Wrigley Field in baseball, the Blue Horizon is on par with those two legendary facilities in the boxing world," said Marc Abrams, boxing public relations director for the Blue Horizon from 2006 to last year. "I traveled all over the world covering fights and was around fighters, and when they heard I'm from Philadelphia, the first thing they asked me is if I've been to the Blue Horizon."
In 2005, Ring magazine called the Blue Horizon "the best place to watch a boxing match."
In June 2010, the Blue Horizon closed because of tax problems, CEO Michael said.
"This will be a historic building that will be preserved and redeployed to some new use," Orens said. "It would not have happened without [the grant]."
Ed Grose, executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association, said the new hotel "will be a great addition to further develop North Broad Street."
The Blue Horizon will join a growing list of North Broad Street projects, from Lenfest Plaza next to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts to the State Office Building at Broad and Spring Garden Streets and several new restaurants north of Spring Garden."
http://www.omegare.com/
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Cozen O’Connor sues its landlord, OSEB
by Jeff Blumenthal
"Cozen O’Connor has sued its landlord at the 1900 Market building in Philadelphia, claiming it has breached a recently signed lease extension by failing to properly maintain the site.
Among the firm’s complaints in the lawsuit filed last week in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court are: an often malfunctioning HVAC system, elevators that frequently break down, an atrium that leaks when it rains, inadequate cleaning services and foul odors wafting from the loading dock.
The 575-lawyer Cozen was one of the initial tenants when it opened in 1981. But relations between the law firm and its landlord, OSEB Associates, have been strained. Cozen ended a two-year search for new headquarters space last summer when it decided to sign a five year extension in which the rent price was decided through arbitration. Cozen now pays less than $15.68 per square foot (or about $3.2 million per year), compared to $25.50 per square foot in the last three years of the previous lease arrangement. The firm has 203,000 square feet of space in the building.
Cozen CEO Tad Decker said the firm filed the lawsuit because it believes OSEB has breached the lease agreement. Decker said the firm is not using the lawsuit to break the lease and sign elsewhere.
“We’re just upset that certain things have not been maintained,” Decker said. “If these things are problems now, what are they going to be like four years from now? They promised the building would be maintained like a Class A building and it’s not. They have a duty to maintain it and if they don’t agree to do that, we want the lease terminated. We don’t want to move necessarily but we’re not going to stay if half the elevators don’t work.”
In the lawsuit, Cozen asks the court to declare OSEB in breach of the lease and that the firm be entitled to be released from any obligations connected it.
Decker said the firm has held talks with the Three Logan building at 1717 Arch St. but that it is exploring several options if things do not work out at 1900 Market.
OSEB could not be reached for comment.
1900 Market is a 456,922-square-foot building that has roughly 100,000 square feet of contiguous space available on the 7th and 8th floors and another large chunk, roughly 200,000 square feet. This could also come available depending on if and when Cozen O’Connor makes a leap from the building. Cozen O’Connor has been forced to be creative with its space after adding 60 lawyers from Wolf Block in 2009 to give it 250 lawyers and more than 500 people in Center City. Some lawyers have been relocated to offices in West Conshohocken and Cherry Hill, which has become increasingly popular."
http://www.omegare.com/
"Cozen O’Connor has sued its landlord at the 1900 Market building in Philadelphia, claiming it has breached a recently signed lease extension by failing to properly maintain the site.
Among the firm’s complaints in the lawsuit filed last week in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court are: an often malfunctioning HVAC system, elevators that frequently break down, an atrium that leaks when it rains, inadequate cleaning services and foul odors wafting from the loading dock.
The 575-lawyer Cozen was one of the initial tenants when it opened in 1981. But relations between the law firm and its landlord, OSEB Associates, have been strained. Cozen ended a two-year search for new headquarters space last summer when it decided to sign a five year extension in which the rent price was decided through arbitration. Cozen now pays less than $15.68 per square foot (or about $3.2 million per year), compared to $25.50 per square foot in the last three years of the previous lease arrangement. The firm has 203,000 square feet of space in the building.
Cozen CEO Tad Decker said the firm filed the lawsuit because it believes OSEB has breached the lease agreement. Decker said the firm is not using the lawsuit to break the lease and sign elsewhere.
“We’re just upset that certain things have not been maintained,” Decker said. “If these things are problems now, what are they going to be like four years from now? They promised the building would be maintained like a Class A building and it’s not. They have a duty to maintain it and if they don’t agree to do that, we want the lease terminated. We don’t want to move necessarily but we’re not going to stay if half the elevators don’t work.”
In the lawsuit, Cozen asks the court to declare OSEB in breach of the lease and that the firm be entitled to be released from any obligations connected it.
Decker said the firm has held talks with the Three Logan building at 1717 Arch St. but that it is exploring several options if things do not work out at 1900 Market.
OSEB could not be reached for comment.
1900 Market is a 456,922-square-foot building that has roughly 100,000 square feet of contiguous space available on the 7th and 8th floors and another large chunk, roughly 200,000 square feet. This could also come available depending on if and when Cozen O’Connor makes a leap from the building. Cozen O’Connor has been forced to be creative with its space after adding 60 lawyers from Wolf Block in 2009 to give it 250 lawyers and more than 500 people in Center City. Some lawyers have been relocated to offices in West Conshohocken and Cherry Hill, which has become increasingly popular."
http://www.omegare.com/
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Ecospan of Calif. opening operations center near Exton
"California-based Ecospan, which says it has developed technology for turning organic waste into clear plastics - "compostable," though not "biodegradable," under U.S. guidelines - has leased 20,000 square feet at 753 Springdale Dr. in Whitelands Park near Exton, for its East Coast operations center and research lab.
"The offices are being renovated," new low-energy lighting added, "an R&D lab will be added to the property, and eventually the balance of the building will be converted to manufacturing." Ecospan won't name its clients, who it says are electronics manufacturers.
The site is a Keystone Innovation Zone, where employers are eligible for state tax breaks and subsidies of up to $100,000 a year.
Ecospan, headed by real estate-developer-turned-electric-vehicle-promoter Greg Hoffman, will house research, design, development, testing, manufacturing, and sales staff, initially employing 12, growing to 30 by the end of next year.
Two of the company's five senior managers will also be based in Exton: marketing boss Paul Cannon, a graduate of La Salle University and Widener's M.B.A. program and a former executive at Chester County-based VWR International L.L.C.; and operations chief John Vandenbergh, a Villanova graduate and former Conair Corp. manager."
http://www.omegare.com/
"The offices are being renovated," new low-energy lighting added, "an R&D lab will be added to the property, and eventually the balance of the building will be converted to manufacturing." Ecospan won't name its clients, who it says are electronics manufacturers.
The site is a Keystone Innovation Zone, where employers are eligible for state tax breaks and subsidies of up to $100,000 a year.
Ecospan, headed by real estate-developer-turned-electric-vehicle-promoter Greg Hoffman, will house research, design, development, testing, manufacturing, and sales staff, initially employing 12, growing to 30 by the end of next year.
Two of the company's five senior managers will also be based in Exton: marketing boss Paul Cannon, a graduate of La Salle University and Widener's M.B.A. program and a former executive at Chester County-based VWR International L.L.C.; and operations chief John Vandenbergh, a Villanova graduate and former Conair Corp. manager."
http://www.omegare.com/
Monday, August 1, 2011
Centerstone Breaks Ground on First New Construction Hotel
"The first new construction Centerstone hotel, located at 120 N. High Street, broke ground this month in downtown West Chester, Pa. The 76-room property is being erected on the site of the historic Warner (Bros.) Theatre. McFadden Hotel Group LLC of West Chester, owners of the property, along with architects Bonsal Shafferman of Bethlehem, Pa., and NorthStar Construction of Allentown, Pa., will preserve the architecture of the 1930s building to serve as the hotel facade and main lobby. Scheduled to open in May 2012, the Centerstone Hotel - Warner Theatre will be nestled among 30 restaurants and storefronts spanning three blocks and serves as the only hotel in the downtown district -- listed on the National Register of Historic places.
The Centerstone Inns, Hotels and Plaza Hotels brand was launched in May 2011 by Owner and CEO Steven Belmonte and hoteliers Neal and Cory Jackson to remove any unreasonable terms and mandates on franchisees. At present, the company has executed 8 license agreements and another 15 deals in the pipeline -- none of which involve Key West Inn property conversions also in progress. Later this month, the brand's first all-suite hotel will open in Texas.
...
The Centerstone Hotel - Warner Theatre will include 6,000 square feet of commercial storefront space outside the entrance on the main street. The hotel will feature an indoor pool, hot tub, fitness center, and meeting facility to accommodate approximately 80 people. The 1,500 square feet of function space can double as a catering facility. If a larger venue is needed by guests, the Historical Society, located directly across the street from the hotel, features an auditorium large enough to host groups up to 350 people. Due to the abundance of restaurants in the immediate area, no full-service eatery will be offered onsite, but a Pantry concept and Breakfast Room with buffet will be offered."
More details: http://www.thewarnerhotel.com/
http://www.omegare.com/
The Centerstone Inns, Hotels and Plaza Hotels brand was launched in May 2011 by Owner and CEO Steven Belmonte and hoteliers Neal and Cory Jackson to remove any unreasonable terms and mandates on franchisees. At present, the company has executed 8 license agreements and another 15 deals in the pipeline -- none of which involve Key West Inn property conversions also in progress. Later this month, the brand's first all-suite hotel will open in Texas.
...
The Centerstone Hotel - Warner Theatre will include 6,000 square feet of commercial storefront space outside the entrance on the main street. The hotel will feature an indoor pool, hot tub, fitness center, and meeting facility to accommodate approximately 80 people. The 1,500 square feet of function space can double as a catering facility. If a larger venue is needed by guests, the Historical Society, located directly across the street from the hotel, features an auditorium large enough to host groups up to 350 people. Due to the abundance of restaurants in the immediate area, no full-service eatery will be offered onsite, but a Pantry concept and Breakfast Room with buffet will be offered."
More details: http://www.thewarnerhotel.com/
http://www.omegare.com/
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