This Week's Philadelphia Deal Sheet
Another major life sciences project is underway in Philadelphia, where the sector has seen an uptick in activity over the last year.
Breakthrough Properties secured a $130M construction loan for its eight-story, 223K SF redevelopment and overbuild at 2300 Market St. and has already begun work on the speculative lab project. AIG spinoff Corebridge Financial provided the loan, which was arranged by D2 Organization.
Breakthrough, a joint venture of Tishman Speyer and Bellco Capital, has "fast-tracked" construction and estimates delivery in the middle of next year, the company said in its announcement. Cushman & Wakefield has been tasked with leasing the property, dubbed 2300 Market by Breakthrough.
The KieranTimberlake-designed building will preserve the facades of two buildings on the site, which sits across 23rd Street from Parkway Corp.'s office development for Morgan Lewis at 2222 Market St.
LEASING
Blenheim Group has landed supermarket chain Weis Markets to anchor Bayberry Town Center, its planned 280K SF shopping center in Middletown, Delaware. Weis has signed a 64K SF lease for a grocery store with a fueling station component, expected to deliver in 2025.
The 280K SF Bayberry Town Center will be the final phase of Blenheim's master-planned Village at Bayberry development when it breaks ground this fall. In addition to retail, the town center is planned to include 31K SF of office space, 145 townhomes and two green spaces for community programming.
SALES
Chicago-based investment firm Waterton entered the Philadelphia market with the acquisition of The Point at Glen Mills, a 230-unit multifamily complex of five four-story buildings on nearly 14 acres in Delaware County, from Pantzer Properties for an undisclosed price.
Waterton will rename the property The Heights at Glen Mills and undertake minor value-add renovations to units and common areas, which include 10K SF of amenity space. The sale has yet to be reflected in local property records.
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Local developer GoldOller Real Estate Investments purchased Penn Treaty Park Place, a 179K SF Class-C office building in Fishtown, for $12M from entrepreneur Ingvar Tornberg, the Philadelphia Business Journal reports. A zoning permit issued in February granted the use of the building for retail sales and self-storage use in addition to office space.
At 1334-76 Beach St., Penn Treaty Park Place sits off Delaware Avenue on one side and across Beach Street on the other from The Battery, Lubert-Adler Real Estate Funds' ongoing redevelopment of a former power plant into a multifamily, office and entertainment destination.
CONSTRUCTION
The Philadelphia Housing Authority held a grand opening on Monday for Sharswood Crossing II, a 59-unit townhome project developed by Pennrose and Hunt Cos. and the second phase of PHA's Sharswood Transformation Plan.
Of the 59 rental properties — 30 with three bedrooms, 28 with two bedrooms and one with one bedroom — 27 will be restricted to households earning 60% or less of the city's area median income, 26 will be restricted at 50% AMI, and six will be restricted at 20% AMI.
PEOPLE
Avison Young has hired local brokerage veterans Ken Kearns and Brendan Kelley as principals in its Philadelphia office. Kearns and Kelley co-founded local firm Cadence Real Estate Advisors and have more than 40 combined years of experience in the Philadelphia market with both leasing and investment sales.
