This Week's Philadelphia Deal Sheet
More details of the construction loan financing the development of Chubb's forthcoming office tower at 2000 Arch St. have been released, and they shed light on how much the office sector depends on occupancy to obtain new capital.
Parkway Corp., which is developing 2000 Arch for Chubb, secured $409M in credit tenant lease financing from Prudential Financial, structured and arranged by JLL Securities, the firm said in a press release. The 18-story, 438K SF building is expected to cost $430M and be completed in 2026. Parkway President and CEO Rob Zuritsky had said that Bellwether Enterprise arranged the loan at the building's groundbreaking in December.
The CTL loan is structured as a fixed-rate, construction-to-permanent loan that is scheduled to mature at the same time Chubb's lease on the building expires.
PEOPLE
Cecil Baker + Partners Architects is changing its name on the occasion of its namesake founder stepping down. CBP Architects will now be co-owned by Managing Partner Nancy Bastian and partner Eric Leighton, who have been with the 40-year-old firm for 35 and 22 years, respectively.
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International law firm Greenberg Traurig has brought back Paul McIntyre to its Philadelphia office's environmental practice after a 10-year stint at Post & Schell. McIntyre is assisting private equity funds in acquiring, selling, developing and financing real estate with environmental concerns or issues.
SALES
Velocity Venture Partners sold a 48K SF warehouse in the South Jersey township of West Berlin to an undisclosed buyer for $4.2M. The multitenant property at 436 Commerce Lane is currently full, but one of its four tenants is soon to vacate 25K SF, which the buyer will occupy for its own use.
One of the three remaining tenants is Walmart, which took space at the property weeks after the acquisitive Velocity purchased it in August 2020. Colliers represented Velocity in leasing and the sale of the property.
CONSTRUCTION
Jefferson Apartment Group will break ground this month on a 310-unit multifamily development after closing on the purchase of a 14-acre property in the Montgomery County suburb of Fort Washington. JAG, which brought in equity partner CP Capital for the land acquisition, plans to split the units into three five-story buildings, with 12K SF of indoor amenity space between them.
Construction will only take up 6 acres of the property at 1125 Virginia Drive, the former site of an office building occupied by ADP. The rest will be used for a pedestrian promenade, outdoor amenities such as a pickleball court, and open space.
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Equus Capital Partners has broken ground on a new office building at Ellis Preserve, the 213-acre site in Newtown Square on which it has been developing various uses for 20 years, the Philadelphia Business Journal reports. The five-story, 106K SF office building at 203 Squire Drive is a build-to-suit for an unnamed tenant, and is being constructed out of mass timber.
Once completed, 203 Squire may represent the end of construction at Ellis Preserve, PBJ reports. It is part of a final phase that includes a 200-unit apartment building, 75K SF of retail and entertainment, a 140-room Marriott AC Hotel and an 18K SF wedding venue, all of which began construction before the office component.
