Camelback Mountain Resort Sells for $69.3M

EPR Properties (NYSE: EPR) has acquired the Camelback Mountain Resort at 1 Camelback Rd. in Tannersville, PA from Spirit Realty Capital, Inc. (NYSE: SRC) for $69.25 million. 

The resort, located in the Pocono Mountains region of northeastern Pennsylvania, consists of 160 acres of skiable terrain and includes a waterpark, outdoor treetop adventure park with mountain coaster and zip line, 40-lane tubing hill and a 48,400-square-foot base lodge. The resort attracts nearly 900,000 visitors annually. 

CBH2O has operated the resort since 2005, and has just committed to a new 20-year lease at the property. Ken Ellis and Art Berry, principals at CBH2O, have reinvested and redeveloped the property with additional attractions to enhance attendance through all seasons. 

"I am very pleased to announce this expansion of our Recreation portfolio with Camelback Mountain Resort. Camelback has been a very popular and successful recreation property for over 50 years and importantly, offers year-round attractions and sustainable year-round cash flows," said David Brain, president and CEO of EPR. 
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Monthly Economic Outlook -- October 2013 (Video)

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Crowdfunding Comes to Manayunk

$400/sf is high price to pay. ($3M for a 7,500sf building)

Alison Burdo, Inquirer Staff Writer

A recently launched crowdfunding campaign will give Pennsylvania residents the chance to invest in real estate while challenging the traditional financing model.

"It is a whole new generation of development," said Daniel Miller, cofounder of Washington-based Fundrise L.L.C., an online platform that allows individuals to invest as little as $100 in real estate development.

With the assistance of Fundrise, developer Shift Capital is hoping to raise $500,000 of the $3 million it needs to rehab the 7,500-square-foot future Manayunk home of the Transfer Station, which will offer retail, office, and event space for paying members to share.
"This type of project would appear very risky from the bank's perspective," said economist Sam Chandan, who teaches real estate at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.

Though demand for coworking space is growing in other cities, projects of this size, especially those that lack strong credit-quality tenants, are unlikely to receive bank financing, Chandan said.

The banking industry's hesitancy to lend money for smaller projects - even those with substantial community support - presents a challenge to developers, who may need to use more creative methods to obtain capital.

A large investor may not recognize this as an opportunity, but community members who pass the long-vacant industrial building might, said Ethan Mollik, a Wharton professor who specializes in crowdfunding.

For Transfer Station cofounder Simon Rogers, the value goes beyond dollars. "This is a by-the-people, for-the-people project," he said.

More than 500 people already have expressed interest in reserving space at Transfer Station's temporary Manayunk location at 4120 Main St., which will open in a few weeks, Rogers said.

Even if community members recognize the building's potential, they should still heed caution, observers say.

"An investor, in many ways, has the same concerns as the bank," said Jay Goldstein, president of Philadelphia-based Valley Green Bank. "What kind of reward are they looking for? Is it purely financial? Is there some sort of intrinsic value?"

The return on investment has yet to be finalized for the 114 Green Lane development, but typically Fundrise projects yield 8 percent to 12 percent, said Miller, who got his M.B.A. from Wharton in 2010.

Mollik suggested researching the reputation of the people managing the project and their level of capital investment, but he added that crowdfunding helps lower the risk of a potential scam.

"You are using the wisdom of the crowd," he said. "If something is fishy, one of them will flag it."

Mollik's research shows that less than 1 percent of the money pledged to fully funded Kickstarter projects is not delivered.

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 "We think this is the most efficient and powerful way for people to invest and shape their community," Miller said.

Fundrise also plans to raise funds to rehab a Brewerytown retail property and convert a Mount Airy building into a bed-and-breakfast.

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Buzzing about FMC's new office space

by Natalie Kostelni-Staff Writer, Philadelphia Business Journal

Ten years ago on Christmas Eve, when most people were likely making last-minute gift purchases at the mall,Brandywine Realty Trust announced that it had lined up three firms to kick off the construction of Cira Centre.

Two Center City law firms jumped over the Schuylkill River and a hedge fund crossed over City Avenue to be the first tenants to sign onto the 28-story, 728,000-square-foot office building.

While a couple of suburban tenants took space in the building, most of it was filled by other downtown firms who saw the attraction of the building’s Keystone Opportunity Zone too alluring. The KOZ designation gives tenants who move into the space breaks on state and local taxes. At the time, Brandywine came under fire for luring several downtown, tax-paying firms to Cira Centre.

Could that be happening again?

The latest round of speculation in the real estate community has FMC Corp., which is currently housed at Mellon Bank Center at 1735 Market St., fixed on becoming a tenant at Cira South and giving Brandywine the ability to move forward with that building. The chemical company has been in the market for 220,000 square feet of space.

Brandywine already has the University of Pennsylvania committing to about 150,000 square feet of the proposed building, which, when I last saw the plans, was about 35 stories and between 400,000 and 600,000 square feet. The real estate company wanted to pre-lease a certain amount of space before proceeding with construction of the building, which has a KOZ that runs until 2025.

Ken Gedaka, a spokesman at FMC, said no final decision have been made but maybe soon.

“We’re working on it and we’re getting close,” he said. “I know the rumor mill in the brokerage community is buzzing.”

Indeed it is.

The company has narrowed its search to Pennsylvania and “Philadelphia is a very good possibility,” Gedaka said. “We’re excited about what we’re going to be doing.”

Full story: http://tinyurl.com/kvzkr6u

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NorthMarq Arranges $30M Refi for Buck County Portfolio

NorthMarq arranged a $30 million refinancing of a portfolio of office and industrial properties located in Buck County. High Street Equity owns the 11 buildings, which total 607,889 square feet in Langhorne and Trevose, PA. 

Financing was based on a five-year term and 25-year amortization schedule with flexible repayment options, allowable partial releases, and no additional escrows or structuring. James Murphy, managing director of NorthMarq's Boston regional office, arranged the financing through the firm's relationship with correspondent life insurance company lender AVIVA. 
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Large Logan Square project approved

Jennifer Lin, Inquirer Staff Writer

PHILADELPHIA Development in the fast-changing area around Logan Square will pick up momentum after Wednesday's final zoning approval of a $140 million project featuring a new Whole Foods market and 293 high-end apartments.
Rodin Square, named after developer Neal Rodin, is coincidentally located a block north of the Rodin Museum. It will replace the current Best Western hotel.

The project will take up almost all of the block between 21st and 22d Streets to the east and west, Spring Garden Street to the north, and Pennsylvania Avenue and Hamilton Street to the south.
Rodin, chairman of International Financial Co. L.L.C., said he expected to break ground in January or February. Construction could take two years, he added.

Whole Foods would move its existing market at 20th and Callowhill Streets to the new site. The store will be almost twice the size, with 55,000 square feet of retail space and a 5,000-square-foot cafe.

The three-acre Rodin Square is just the latest high-profile project for the cultural district along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Recent construction includes the new home of the Barnes Foundation and the Sister Cities Park on the Parkway, and the Granary apartments on Callowhill Street.

Meanwhile, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has begun work on a temple at 17th and Vine Streets. Across the street, the city is seeking a developer to convert the Family Court building into a luxury hotel.

Community groups in Logan Square and Spring Garden had raised concerns about the impact of Rodin Square on traffic. But they signed off on the project after Council President Darrell L. Clarke convened a meeting Sept. 30 of city officials to discuss congestion.

Ed Panek, chairman of the zoning committee for the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, said traffic around the Wawa market at 21st and Hamilton Streets was "horrendous."

He told the zoning board that the meeting called by Clarke was "a very good start" for addressing long-simmering complaints. It included representatives from the Council president's staff, city planners, police, SEPTA, and the city Streets Department.

Neighborhood groups signed a development agreement Tuesday with Rodin.

He said the development would include a two-lane driveway, stretching from 21st to 22d Streets, that would be used by delivery trucks and customers.

"This takes everything off the streets," Rodin said.

He said that in addition to Whole Foods, the project would include retail space fronting Spring Garden Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

Designed by MV+A Architects of Bethesda, Md., Rodin Square will have nine stories of apartments, a five-story parking structure for residents, and belowground parking for customers of Whole Foods.

In a terrace above Whole Foods, the complex will have open space and residential amenities, including an outdoor pool.

James Voelzke, a partner of MV+A, said the design was meant to be "respectful of what's on either side of us."

The structures are set back from surrounding streets.

The retailing will energize Pennsylvania Avenue with street-level activity, Voelzke said. "There is currently no reason for tourists to venture north."

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NVR Leases 15,000 SF at Laurel Oak Corp Ctr

NVR, Inc. has leased 15,324 square feet of 1020 Laurel Oak Rd. in Voorhees, NJ, bringing the building to 97 percent leased. Several tenants were repositioned in the building to create the contiguous space for NVR. 

The three-story, 56,499-square-foot office building is located at the intersection of Haddonfield Berlin Rd. and Laurel Oaks Rd., with convenient access to Routes 73 and 295. 
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