Natalie Kostelni Reporter, Philadelphia Business Journal
A property with two commercial buildings fronting Lancaster Avenue in Paoli, Pa., has traded for $11.4 million.
Paoli Center, which totals 1.73 acres at 152 Lancaster Ave., has a Walgreens and PNC Bank fully occupying two structures on the property.
The two buildings total 15,400 square feet and are leased on a long-term basis to the tenants. The property sits just in front of the Paoli Shopping Center, which is owned and developed separately by Brandolini Cos. Pineville Properties of Valley Forge, Pa., was the seller.
A private investor, Theodore Griffinger, bought the property “free and clear of existing debt.”
www.omegare.com
Full story: http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/morning_roundup/2015/10/paoli-center-lancaster-pineville-riffinger-sold.html?s=print
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Post Brothers in $210M Redevelopment of Presidential City
by Steve Lubetkin, Globest.com
One of the largest multifamily complexes in the Philadelphia area is getting a $210 million makeover that will transform more than 1,000 apartment units in buildings named for colonial era presidents into luxury living spaces with upscale amenities.
Post Brothers, a local firm that focuses on developing and operating high quality class-A multifamily properties,acquired Presidential City, 3900 City Ave., in 2012. The four-building complex was built in the 1950s by John McShain, who also built the Pentagon and the Jefferson Memorial, says Matt Pestronk, a principal of the firm with his brother Michael.
“It’s one of the largest multifamily redevelopment projects on the east coast in terms of dollars and in terms of units,” Pestronk tells GlobeSt.com exclusively. There are currently 1,038 units in the complex, “with zoning to build more,” he says.
“We’d always wanted to buy the property and comprehensively redevelop it, that’s our specialty,” Pestronk says. “When we’re done, we’re going to have an irreplaceable large-scale asset that’s differentiated from an apartment-finish standpoint vs. the rest of the market, and offers renters a very attractive value proposition, a lot of apartment for the money.”
Post Brothers is gut-renovating all four buildings at the Presidential City site, each named for early presidents, and each with its own unique set of amenities: Washington: salon, cardio fitness room, bike storage; Madison: co-working space, barista bar, cardio fitness room, bike storage; Jefferson: shared executive offices, game room, cardio fitness room, bike storage; and Adams: library, kids playroom, cardio fitness room, bike storage.
“It will be a fully amenitized, class-A apartment complex,” Pestronk says. “Everything inside the buildings other than the concrete slabs will be brand new, it will have all new base building systems, plumbing, electric, sprinklers, all new apartment layouts, brand new kitchens, brand-new bathrooms, hardwood floors. Relative to what people are renting class A apartment buildings in Center City Philadelphia, we think we really have a great value proposition for the renter.”
Post Brothers will be adding a 24/7 front desk attendant; world-class lounge with afternoon tea; the Sora Pool Club with waterside cabanas, Olympic-length lap pool, lounge pool, and activity pool, hot tub, spa services, dry sauna, coed steam room, tanning booths, and outdoor amenities including a fire pit lounge, yoga lawn, bocce courts, sport court, tot lot, roof top lounge, outdoor kitchen, and dog parks. A 10,000 square-foot fitness center will offer a state-of-the-art gym and juice bar with free PostFit classes in cardio, pilates, yoga, cross-fit and spin, with private training sessions available.
“Our specialty is gut-renovation and repurposing of existing buildings,” says Pestronk. “The property was at the end of its useful life and it was marketed to people who were used to buying value-add apartment properties, like 1970s vintage garden apartments, which are worlds easier to renovate than high-rise apartments from the 1950s. We just thought the best way to look at the property was as a blank slate that needed complete reconstruction.”
Post Brothers has done several similar projects of this scale, and Pestronk says that the challenge for his firm was to make sure the renovation lives up to the quality and reputation of the location.
“The challenge was doing the site justice,” he says. The Washington tower is finished and about 75 percent leased. The three remaining towers should be renovated and leased up by early next year, he says.
www.omegare.com
One of the largest multifamily complexes in the Philadelphia area is getting a $210 million makeover that will transform more than 1,000 apartment units in buildings named for colonial era presidents into luxury living spaces with upscale amenities.
Post Brothers, a local firm that focuses on developing and operating high quality class-A multifamily properties,acquired Presidential City, 3900 City Ave., in 2012. The four-building complex was built in the 1950s by John McShain, who also built the Pentagon and the Jefferson Memorial, says Matt Pestronk, a principal of the firm with his brother Michael.
“It’s one of the largest multifamily redevelopment projects on the east coast in terms of dollars and in terms of units,” Pestronk tells GlobeSt.com exclusively. There are currently 1,038 units in the complex, “with zoning to build more,” he says.
“We’d always wanted to buy the property and comprehensively redevelop it, that’s our specialty,” Pestronk says. “When we’re done, we’re going to have an irreplaceable large-scale asset that’s differentiated from an apartment-finish standpoint vs. the rest of the market, and offers renters a very attractive value proposition, a lot of apartment for the money.”
Post Brothers is gut-renovating all four buildings at the Presidential City site, each named for early presidents, and each with its own unique set of amenities: Washington: salon, cardio fitness room, bike storage; Madison: co-working space, barista bar, cardio fitness room, bike storage; Jefferson: shared executive offices, game room, cardio fitness room, bike storage; and Adams: library, kids playroom, cardio fitness room, bike storage.
“It will be a fully amenitized, class-A apartment complex,” Pestronk says. “Everything inside the buildings other than the concrete slabs will be brand new, it will have all new base building systems, plumbing, electric, sprinklers, all new apartment layouts, brand new kitchens, brand-new bathrooms, hardwood floors. Relative to what people are renting class A apartment buildings in Center City Philadelphia, we think we really have a great value proposition for the renter.”
Post Brothers will be adding a 24/7 front desk attendant; world-class lounge with afternoon tea; the Sora Pool Club with waterside cabanas, Olympic-length lap pool, lounge pool, and activity pool, hot tub, spa services, dry sauna, coed steam room, tanning booths, and outdoor amenities including a fire pit lounge, yoga lawn, bocce courts, sport court, tot lot, roof top lounge, outdoor kitchen, and dog parks. A 10,000 square-foot fitness center will offer a state-of-the-art gym and juice bar with free PostFit classes in cardio, pilates, yoga, cross-fit and spin, with private training sessions available.
“Our specialty is gut-renovation and repurposing of existing buildings,” says Pestronk. “The property was at the end of its useful life and it was marketed to people who were used to buying value-add apartment properties, like 1970s vintage garden apartments, which are worlds easier to renovate than high-rise apartments from the 1950s. We just thought the best way to look at the property was as a blank slate that needed complete reconstruction.”
Post Brothers has done several similar projects of this scale, and Pestronk says that the challenge for his firm was to make sure the renovation lives up to the quality and reputation of the location.
“The challenge was doing the site justice,” he says. The Washington tower is finished and about 75 percent leased. The three remaining towers should be renovated and leased up by early next year, he says.
www.omegare.com
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Nissin Foods Leases 118,000 SF in Lancaster
Nissin Foods signed a lease to occupy 118,000 square feet at 129 S. Tree Ln. in Lancaster, PA.
The 118,750-square-foot industrial building was constructed in 1997 on nine acres in the Lancaster County Industrial submarket. The warehouse includes 4,150 square feet of built-out office space and features 12 loading docks, two drive-in bays, and a 30-foot clear height.
www.omegare.com
The 118,750-square-foot industrial building was constructed in 1997 on nine acres in the Lancaster County Industrial submarket. The warehouse includes 4,150 square feet of built-out office space and features 12 loading docks, two drive-in bays, and a 30-foot clear height.
www.omegare.com
Saint-Gobain North American HQ Opens in Malvern, PA
by Steve Lubtkin, Globest.com
After decades of neglect, a former Bethlehem Steel headquarters building in this Chester County suburb of Philadelphia has been redeveloped into a glistening new, LEED-certified North American headquarters for Saint-Gobain, one of the world’s largest building materials companies. And the project wasn’t easy to complete, according to Eli Kahn, president of E. Kahn Development, which spearheaded the project.
“It’s been almost a decade that our team has been working on this project, designing, engineering, imaginging, marketing and envisioning the transformation of these 1960s decaying office buildings into the finished office building you see behind you,” he told several hundred attendees at the ribbon cutting.
“The primary challenge in any green building development is finding a customer who shares the same vision and is willing to support and invest in green technologies,” Kahn recalled in an exclusive interview with GlobeSt.com. “Once you find that customer, the process is actually pretty smooth because the products you are using are state-of-the-art, the building becomes a higher-end product.”
Redeveloping the building was particularly satisfying, says Kahn, because it replaced a building that had become an eyesore with a modern showplace for corporate office design.
Bethlehem Steel used a new kind of steel for the construction of the exterior shell of the building, called CorTen steel, that was supposed to develop a patina over time, he says. “The actual steel oxidized and rust coated the windows. So for 40 years of occupancy of this building, the tenants had windows covered with rust because it was too expensive to keep cleaning it. To see that building turned into this, it’s the most satisfying project I’ve ever been involved with.”
The building, which becomes Saint-Gobain’s new, state-of-the-art North American corporate headquarters, is located at 20 Moores Road in Malvern, PA. The 320,000-square-foot campus, situated on 65 acres, underwent a renovation over the past 18 months to transform the long-dormant site into a dynamic showcase for Saint-Gobain and its North American construction materials subsidiary, CertainTeed Corporation.
Saint-Gobain timed the opening ceremony for the exact day Saint-Gobain was founded 350 years ago by King Louis XIV of France to manufacture glass for the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles near Paris.
“Saint-Gobain and CertainTeed’s headquarters is designed to demonstrate the power our products have to improve the quality of people’s lives. It is a shining example of how innovative companies can design, construct and renovate sustainable, healthy, comfortable and environmentally friendly buildings around the world,” says John Crowe, president and CEO of Saint-Gobain and CertainTeed Corporations.
In addition to E. Kahn Development Corp., J. Loew & Associates and AEGON USA Realty Advisors led the headquarters’ redesign. The building is a high-performance, sustainable building designed to achieve the highest level of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the US Green Building Council (USGBC).
In April 2014, Saint-Gobain signed a long-term lease for the campus that will be the workplace of more than 800 employees across Saint-Gobain and CertainTeed.
The expanded campus is also home to CertainTeed’s Malvern Innovation Center, which opened in October 2014, and marks the first time the company’s local research and operations teams will share a site. The new headquarters incorporates an open-concept office space; 116 collaborative spaces; a cafeteria, along with other food and beverage spaces; a fitness facility; a pond; a fountain installation; and 1.3 miles of walking trails.
Key project members included Bernardon as the designer for the exterior and lobby; Jacobs as the designer for the interior; D. Fickler Construction as the contractor; and Binswanger as the real estate broker and project manager.
The headquarters showcases 40 products – eight on the exterior and 32 in the interior – from Saint-Gobain’s family of companies, including CertainTeed Corporation, SageGlass, Saint-Gobain Glass, Saint-Gobain ADFORS and Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics. Saint-Gobain selected the products to achieve energy efficiency, sustainability, indoor environmental quality, acoustic and aesthetic goals.
The company says it also incorporated sustainable construction practices into the building:
Approximately 79 percent of construction and demolition waste was diverted from landfill disposal.
Materials in the building were carefully selected to contain high levels of recycled content. Post-consumer and -industrial recycled content reduced the negative impact resulting from the extraction and processing of raw materials.
Special consideration was given to selecting locally manufactured materials. For example, furniture workstations were manufactured in East Greenville, PA, and Toronto, Ontario, Canada. By specifying locally manufactured materials, less energy was spent to bring the products to the site.
This project will achieve significant water savings through the use of low-flow plumbing fixtures. The project is projected to use 40 percent less water than a conventional office building, saving 640,000 gallons of water per year.
Interior finishes and furnishings installed in the building were specified to contain little or no VOCs. For example, low-emitting products used included adhesives, sealants, paints, coatings, flooring, composite wood and furniture. Reducing the amount of VOCs entering the building provides a safer and healthier environment for building occupants.
In an effort to significantly reduce the number of miles employees travel to and from the campus the company is providing bicycle storage facilities, preferred parking for low-emission and fuel-efficient vehicles, electric vehicle charging stations and a free shuttle service to and from the Paoli Station, which services Amtrak and SEPTA trains, for employees who choose to commute from Center City and other areas.
www.omegare.com
After decades of neglect, a former Bethlehem Steel headquarters building in this Chester County suburb of Philadelphia has been redeveloped into a glistening new, LEED-certified North American headquarters for Saint-Gobain, one of the world’s largest building materials companies. And the project wasn’t easy to complete, according to Eli Kahn, president of E. Kahn Development, which spearheaded the project.
“It’s been almost a decade that our team has been working on this project, designing, engineering, imaginging, marketing and envisioning the transformation of these 1960s decaying office buildings into the finished office building you see behind you,” he told several hundred attendees at the ribbon cutting.
“The primary challenge in any green building development is finding a customer who shares the same vision and is willing to support and invest in green technologies,” Kahn recalled in an exclusive interview with GlobeSt.com. “Once you find that customer, the process is actually pretty smooth because the products you are using are state-of-the-art, the building becomes a higher-end product.”
Redeveloping the building was particularly satisfying, says Kahn, because it replaced a building that had become an eyesore with a modern showplace for corporate office design.
Bethlehem Steel used a new kind of steel for the construction of the exterior shell of the building, called CorTen steel, that was supposed to develop a patina over time, he says. “The actual steel oxidized and rust coated the windows. So for 40 years of occupancy of this building, the tenants had windows covered with rust because it was too expensive to keep cleaning it. To see that building turned into this, it’s the most satisfying project I’ve ever been involved with.”
The building, which becomes Saint-Gobain’s new, state-of-the-art North American corporate headquarters, is located at 20 Moores Road in Malvern, PA. The 320,000-square-foot campus, situated on 65 acres, underwent a renovation over the past 18 months to transform the long-dormant site into a dynamic showcase for Saint-Gobain and its North American construction materials subsidiary, CertainTeed Corporation.
Saint-Gobain timed the opening ceremony for the exact day Saint-Gobain was founded 350 years ago by King Louis XIV of France to manufacture glass for the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles near Paris.
“Saint-Gobain and CertainTeed’s headquarters is designed to demonstrate the power our products have to improve the quality of people’s lives. It is a shining example of how innovative companies can design, construct and renovate sustainable, healthy, comfortable and environmentally friendly buildings around the world,” says John Crowe, president and CEO of Saint-Gobain and CertainTeed Corporations.
In addition to E. Kahn Development Corp., J. Loew & Associates and AEGON USA Realty Advisors led the headquarters’ redesign. The building is a high-performance, sustainable building designed to achieve the highest level of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the US Green Building Council (USGBC).
In April 2014, Saint-Gobain signed a long-term lease for the campus that will be the workplace of more than 800 employees across Saint-Gobain and CertainTeed.
The expanded campus is also home to CertainTeed’s Malvern Innovation Center, which opened in October 2014, and marks the first time the company’s local research and operations teams will share a site. The new headquarters incorporates an open-concept office space; 116 collaborative spaces; a cafeteria, along with other food and beverage spaces; a fitness facility; a pond; a fountain installation; and 1.3 miles of walking trails.
Key project members included Bernardon as the designer for the exterior and lobby; Jacobs as the designer for the interior; D. Fickler Construction as the contractor; and Binswanger as the real estate broker and project manager.
The headquarters showcases 40 products – eight on the exterior and 32 in the interior – from Saint-Gobain’s family of companies, including CertainTeed Corporation, SageGlass, Saint-Gobain Glass, Saint-Gobain ADFORS and Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics. Saint-Gobain selected the products to achieve energy efficiency, sustainability, indoor environmental quality, acoustic and aesthetic goals.
The company says it also incorporated sustainable construction practices into the building:
Approximately 79 percent of construction and demolition waste was diverted from landfill disposal.
Materials in the building were carefully selected to contain high levels of recycled content. Post-consumer and -industrial recycled content reduced the negative impact resulting from the extraction and processing of raw materials.
Special consideration was given to selecting locally manufactured materials. For example, furniture workstations were manufactured in East Greenville, PA, and Toronto, Ontario, Canada. By specifying locally manufactured materials, less energy was spent to bring the products to the site.
This project will achieve significant water savings through the use of low-flow plumbing fixtures. The project is projected to use 40 percent less water than a conventional office building, saving 640,000 gallons of water per year.
Interior finishes and furnishings installed in the building were specified to contain little or no VOCs. For example, low-emitting products used included adhesives, sealants, paints, coatings, flooring, composite wood and furniture. Reducing the amount of VOCs entering the building provides a safer and healthier environment for building occupants.
In an effort to significantly reduce the number of miles employees travel to and from the campus the company is providing bicycle storage facilities, preferred parking for low-emission and fuel-efficient vehicles, electric vehicle charging stations and a free shuttle service to and from the Paoli Station, which services Amtrak and SEPTA trains, for employees who choose to commute from Center City and other areas.
www.omegare.com
Saturday, October 17, 2015
Two firms get $14.4 million in tax breaks under Grow New Jersey
Allison Steele, Inquirer Staff Writer
The state Economic Development Authority on Thursday approved $9.4 million in tax credits to the Winslow branch of the Eggo Co., a subsidiary of Kellogg, for an expansion, as well as $5 million for a laundry company to move from Bellmawr to Camden.
The authority also approved $5 million in tax breaks for public housing in Camden's Centerville neighborhood and signed off on transferring the rights of a 16-acre parcel of Camden's waterfront to Liberty Property Trust, the powerhouse developer that last month announced plans to build offices, homes, and a hotel on the land.
The Eggo and Clean Green Textile Service projects are the latest to be approved under the Grow New Jersey program, which provides incentives for employers who remain in the state or who invest in struggling cities as part of the 2013 Economic Opportunity Act. That law, which U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross (D., N.J.) championed as a state senator, allows the broad use of tax incentives to lure employers to cities like Camden.
The EDA has since approved more than $1 billion worth of tax credits for companies that plan to move to Camden, including Subaru of America, Holtec, and Lockheed-Martin. To earn the incentives, companies must maintain a certain level of jobs and remain in Camden for set periods of time.
Critics say the deals mostly involve relocating jobs from elsewhere in South Jersey, and include no strategies for addressing Camden's high unemployment rate. Supporters say the moves will create new jobs and temporary construction work, although companies are not required to hire city residents.
The Clean Green Textile Service, a commercial laundry business with 59 full-time employees in nearby Bellmawr, will receive tax credits worth $5 million for moving to Camden instead of Pennsylvania - a relocation expected to have a net benefit to the state of about $73,000 over a period of 35 years, according to the EDA.
Since the agreement requires the company to stay in New Jersey for only 15 years, the company could move after that and still receive the full incentives that were awarded, said Jon Whiten of the liberal think tank New Jersey Policy Perspective.
"Even if the company stayed for 30 years, the state would still lose money on this deal," Whiten said. "No sensible lender would accept such a risk."
Eggo, a Kellogg subsidiary that makes such frozen breakfast food as waffles, is looking to double the size of its 100,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Winslow and to add 118 jobs. Without securing tax breaks for the $85 million expansion, the company could move to Michigan, according to its EDA application.
The application to remake Camden's Branch Village housing complex, submitted by the city housing authority, sought tax breaks under the Economic Redevelopment and Growth (ERG) program, which provides grants for developers to fill funding gaps in building projects.
The $5 million in credits awarded by the EDA would offset the $16 million cost of building a 50-unit, three-story apartment complex in the city's Centerville section, a main focus of development efforts in recent years. The project would also involve demolishing three vacant buildings on the site.
The project, expected to break ground by the end of the year, will be spearheaded by the Michaels Organization, an affordable-housing company that has worked in Camden for years and will lease the site.
Michaels, based in Marlton, is also a backer of the major Camden waterfront-development plan announced last month. Michaels president John O'Donnell is a longtime friend of South Jersey Democratic power-broker George E. Norcross III, brother of Donald Norcross and head of Cooper University Hospital. George Norcross has said he lobbied longtime friend and Liberty Property Trust CEO William Hankowsky to take on the waterfront project.
www.omegare.com
The state Economic Development Authority on Thursday approved $9.4 million in tax credits to the Winslow branch of the Eggo Co., a subsidiary of Kellogg, for an expansion, as well as $5 million for a laundry company to move from Bellmawr to Camden.
The authority also approved $5 million in tax breaks for public housing in Camden's Centerville neighborhood and signed off on transferring the rights of a 16-acre parcel of Camden's waterfront to Liberty Property Trust, the powerhouse developer that last month announced plans to build offices, homes, and a hotel on the land.
The Eggo and Clean Green Textile Service projects are the latest to be approved under the Grow New Jersey program, which provides incentives for employers who remain in the state or who invest in struggling cities as part of the 2013 Economic Opportunity Act. That law, which U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross (D., N.J.) championed as a state senator, allows the broad use of tax incentives to lure employers to cities like Camden.
The EDA has since approved more than $1 billion worth of tax credits for companies that plan to move to Camden, including Subaru of America, Holtec, and Lockheed-Martin. To earn the incentives, companies must maintain a certain level of jobs and remain in Camden for set periods of time.
Critics say the deals mostly involve relocating jobs from elsewhere in South Jersey, and include no strategies for addressing Camden's high unemployment rate. Supporters say the moves will create new jobs and temporary construction work, although companies are not required to hire city residents.
The Clean Green Textile Service, a commercial laundry business with 59 full-time employees in nearby Bellmawr, will receive tax credits worth $5 million for moving to Camden instead of Pennsylvania - a relocation expected to have a net benefit to the state of about $73,000 over a period of 35 years, according to the EDA.
Since the agreement requires the company to stay in New Jersey for only 15 years, the company could move after that and still receive the full incentives that were awarded, said Jon Whiten of the liberal think tank New Jersey Policy Perspective.
"Even if the company stayed for 30 years, the state would still lose money on this deal," Whiten said. "No sensible lender would accept such a risk."
Eggo, a Kellogg subsidiary that makes such frozen breakfast food as waffles, is looking to double the size of its 100,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Winslow and to add 118 jobs. Without securing tax breaks for the $85 million expansion, the company could move to Michigan, according to its EDA application.
The application to remake Camden's Branch Village housing complex, submitted by the city housing authority, sought tax breaks under the Economic Redevelopment and Growth (ERG) program, which provides grants for developers to fill funding gaps in building projects.
The $5 million in credits awarded by the EDA would offset the $16 million cost of building a 50-unit, three-story apartment complex in the city's Centerville section, a main focus of development efforts in recent years. The project would also involve demolishing three vacant buildings on the site.
The project, expected to break ground by the end of the year, will be spearheaded by the Michaels Organization, an affordable-housing company that has worked in Camden for years and will lease the site.
Michaels, based in Marlton, is also a backer of the major Camden waterfront-development plan announced last month. Michaels president John O'Donnell is a longtime friend of South Jersey Democratic power-broker George E. Norcross III, brother of Donald Norcross and head of Cooper University Hospital. George Norcross has said he lobbied longtime friend and Liberty Property Trust CEO William Hankowsky to take on the waterfront project.
www.omegare.com
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