DAILY READS: Jan. 23, 2020

By the Editors of Commercial Property Executive

January 23, 2020

Big Red gets a new owner. Co-living blooms in Boston. Northern Virgina feels the "Amazon effect." Here's a batch of other critical content for you to read, listen to or watch.

Real Estate Developer in $240 Million Deal to Buy Philadelphia Refinery

“Chicago-based Hilco submitted the winning bid, which includes an escrow amount of $30 million, in an auction last week for the Philadelphia site, documents filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware show. The sale still needs to be approved by the bankruptcy court, and Los Angeles-based developer Industrial Realty Group, LLC, was selected as the backup bidder, the documents show.”
—Yahoo Finance

Citizens Provides $53M Construction Loan for Boston’s ‘First Co-Living’ Digs

“The project, called 7INK, will be part of a development called Ink Block, centered at 300 Harrison Street in Boston’s South End neighborhood. Plans call for suites where lessees can live in groups, while sharing common rooms. Co-living is only one component of the project; the building will have 180 units total, which will also include furnished studios and one-bedroom apartments.”
—Commercial Observer

Revamped ‘Big Red’ Selling for $370 Million

“In a deal that would complete a lucrative turnaround for prominent Chicago developer John Buck, a partnership led by New York-based real estate investor Michael Shvo has agreed to pay around $370 million for the former CNA Center building at 333 S. Wabash Ave., a source familiar with the deal confirmed.”
—Crain’s Chicago Business

Hartford’s Front Street Developer in Talks to Sell Apartment Building, Invest in New Development in the City

“Greenwich-based HB Nitkin Group has told the Capital Region Development Authority it is in negotiations with a potential buyer for the 121-unit Front Street Lofts, the rentals in Front Street’s northwest corner and adjacent to UConn.”
—Hartford Courant

Dallas-Fort Worth Tops the Country in Office Job Growth

“Office jobs in the Dallas area grew 5.7 percent in 2019—more than in tech markets San Francisco and Seattle, CBRE found. D-FW also outpaced Houston and Charlotte, N.C., two other fast-growing economies, in year-over-year office job gains.”
—Dallas Morning News

Aptitude Breaks Ground on 647-Bed Student Housing Community Near University of Arkansas

“Aptitude Development has begun construction on The Marshall Arkansas, a 647-bed student housing community located near the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Aptitude expects to deliver the property in August 2021. ”
—REBusiness Online

Long-Expected ‘Amazon Effect’ Hits Northern Virginia Office, Residential Markets\

“Properties are trading for values never before seen in the Northern Virginia market, according to Josh Simon, president for the Washington region at real estate services firm Lee & Associates. Simon pointed to Comstock’s recent purchase of the Hartford building at 3101 Wilson Blvd. in Arlington. The 211,000- square-foot building, which is 90 percent leased, sold in January for $128.75M, the Washington Business Journal reported.”

—Bisnow