This Week's Philadelphia Deal Sheet
A weekly compilation of the Philadelphia metro's biggest leases, sales, financing deals, construction updates and personnel moves. Have news you’d like to submit? Email matthew.rothstein@bisnow.com.
A joint venture of Texas and California-based industrial developer CT Realty and Prudential Financial asset management subsidiary PGIM Real Estate purchased a 282-acre site at the base of the Delaware Memorial Bridge in Pennsville, New Jersey, with plans in hand for a two-building, 1.7M SF warehouse development.
The D2 Organization, which owned the South Jersey property through an affiliate, had put together plans to develop a 1.2M SF and a 500K SF building on its own before opting to cash in on the value of the site without having to bear the headaches of continued supply chain disruption and the rising cost of capital. Terms of the transaction weren't disclosed.
D2 took three years to close its own acquisition of the Pennsville site after putting it under contract in 2019, but among the delays it encountered were remediating the land, on which a coal-fired power plant used to sit, and securing approval from the state of New Jersey for a payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, for the site and its future occupants. The acquisition marks CT Realty's entry into the Greater Philadelphia market, though it does have holdings in the New York-servicing North Jersey submarket.
FINANCING
A fund managed by Penwood Real Estate Investment Management has secured a $10.6M construction loan from Univest for the development of a 141K SF distribution center in Croydon, just across the border from Far Northeast Philadelphia. John Alascio, Chuck Kohaut, T.J. Sullivan and John Spreitzer from Cushman & Wakefield Equity, Debt and Structured Finance represented Penwood in the transaction.
CONSTRUCTION
Southern Land Co. has broken ground on a 27-story multifamily tower at 1620 Sansom St. in Center City, three blocks away from The Laurel, the 48-story development that will become the tallest residential building in Philadelphia when completed in September. In terms of both the look and the design and engineering team behind the 1620 Sansom project, SLC is effectively building a sequel to the Laurel.
SLC paid $2M into the city's Housing Trust Fund to gain a 75K SF bonus beyond what the site's zoning permits, the company announced. In addition to resident amenity space divided between the third floor and a 12K SF roof deck, the building is slated to contain 5K SF of ground-floor retail and 17K SF of second-floor commercial space, which SLC envisions filling with a large-format restaurant or health and wellness tenant. Completion is targeted for the end of next year.
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A joint venture of Sansone Group and a fund managed by Crow Holdings Capital announced that walls have been tilted for a distribution center in the Burlington County township of Palmyra, New Jersey. The 702K SF Tac-Pal Logistics Center is being built on speculation and is on track to deliver in September, with teams from Avison Young and Cushman & Wakefield collaborating on leasing efforts.
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The Hunt Cos., Pennrose and the Philadelphia Housing Authority have broken ground on a 59-unit affordable housing development in the Sharswood neighborhood of North Philadelphia. Out of a mixture of one-, two- and three-bedroom rental townhouses, six will be restricted to households earning no more than 20% of the area median income, 26 will be restricted at 50% AMI and 27 will be restricted at 60% AMI.
Nearly half of the units at the development, called Sharswood Crossing, will use Project-Based Vouchers that pay 110% of fair market rents for the area. Hunt and Pennrose are the listed co-owners and co-developers of the site, with Pennrose as lead developer. PHA provided over $7M with the assistance of a $30M Choice Neighborhood Initiative grant given by the Department of Housing and Urban Development for Sharswood in 2020.
LEASING
Building systems design firm Henderson Engineers opened a 3K SF office at the historic Bourse Building in Old City, which overlooks Independence Hall and is owned and managed by MRP Realty. After nine years at an office in the South Jersey submarket of Marlton, Henderson signed a five-year lease at the Bourse that runs until the end of May 2027.
SALES
Equus Capital Partners has closed on the $28M purchase of a two-building Class-B industrial portfolio in New Castle, Delaware, for its Equus Investment Partnership XII fund from unnamed local ownership. Situated across the street from the regional New Castle Airport, the 242K SF complex is 48% leased, with one lease scheduled to expire at the end of the year. Of the two warehouses, once leased by beverage distribution companies, the 117K SF building is made up of 82% refrigerator and cooler storage and the 126K SF building has 15% of its space temperature-controlled.
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A joint venture led by Paramount Realty acquired West Manchester Town Center, a 488K SF retail power center in York, Pennsylvania, from ATR Corinth Partners, which was represented by a JLL Capital Markets team of Chris Munley, Jim Galbally and Colin Behr. Paramount paid $42M for the center, which is anchored by Kohl's, HomeGoods, Hobby Lobby and others, and it counts Walmart as a shadow anchor, the Central Pennsylvania Business Journal reports.
