Philadelphia Commercial Real Estate Wrap-Up – March 2020

Park 100 Logistics Center. Image courtesy of JLL

Philadelphia’s commercial real estate started the month with some notable activity: An industrial project landed a $111 million loan, and Cushman & Wakefield landed a coveted leasing assignment at one of the city’s largest office towers. On March 23, Governor Wolf responded to the coronavirus pandemic by announcing a stay-at-home order for Philadelphia. While this had a cooling effect on market activity, one major construction project began to pick up speed. See our selection of March must-reads:

1. DEVELOPMENT – Construction accelerates at HUP’s Pavilion.

The 1.5 million-square-foot, 17-story facility is Penn Medicine’s largest project in history. In an effort to boost the market’s health-care capacity in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, work on the development at 1 Convention Ave. is moving forward 24 hours a day, seven days a week, according to The Daily Pennsylvanian. The new construction timeline calls for 120 of the building’s 500 patient rooms to deliver in mid-April. 

2. DEAL – Clarion Partners makes $20.2 million New Jersey industrial buy.

The company acquired the 183,000-square-foot warehouse in West Deptford through one of its closed-end funds. The structure includes a 33,960-square-foot office build-out component and has 18 loading docks with a 125-foot truck court. Situated on some 13 acres at 100 Friars Blvd., the recently renovated asset is fully occupied under a 10-year lease agreement.

3. LEASING – Cushman & Wakefield grabs major Independence Mall assignment.

The brokerage firm’s Jack Meyers, Dan Brogan and Brian Young will spearhead leasing efforts for Keystone Property Group’s The Washington, an 856,815-square-foot Class A office tower. The 20-story building, constructed in phases between 1914 and 1972, is located at 510-530 Walnut St. adjacent to Washington Square Park.

4. DEAL – Suburban Macy’s sells, redevelopment planned.

Kin Properties traded the now vacant, 211,000-square-foot space to SANT Properties, according to GlobeSt.com. The new owner plans to transform the closed retail space into a mix of uses including office and retail. Colliers assisted the seller in the deal and was subsequently named leasing agent for the 16-acre redevelopment.

5. FINANCING – Allentown logistics center gets $111 million loan.

GLP Capital Partners and Ridgeline Property Group received the construction financing for the next phase of the 1.5 million-square-foot industrial park. JLL Capital Markets arranged the three-year loan through Wells Fargo Bank. Located at 7352 Industrial Blvd., the 92-acre property is within a day’s drive of 40 percent of the U.S. The developer opened the park’s first 730,000 square feet in 2018. The second building is slated for completion later this year.

6. DEAL – Self storage asset changes hands for $13 million.

Dahn Corp. purchased Chester Heights Self Storage, a 79,705-square-foot facility in Glen Mills with 713 units, from Gorman & Co. Built in 2009 and expanded in 2016, the property sits on 5 acres at 15 Stoney Bank Road. Cushman & Wakefield assisted the seller and procured the buyer.