Riverwards Group broke ground on the first phase of a 535-unit multifamily development at the border of East Kensington and Port Richmond on Monday, making it the first multifamily project in Pennsylvania to be financed using Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy financing.
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The initial phase of Somerset Station at 2200 East Somerset St. will contain 220 units on what had for years been an empty lot characterized as blight by Councilmember Mark Squilla, whose District 1 encompasses the property. In a statement provided with the groundbreaking announcement, Squilla said Somerset Station's apartments would be "affordable workforce housing."
Nuveen Green Capital provided the $18M C-PACE loan, facilitated by the Philadelphia Energy Authority, to finance green elements such as the building envelope, lighting and water conservation measures. In November, Riverwards Managing Partner Mo Rushdy estimated that the construction loan for the building would total $45M. Maven Developments, Riverwards' Egypt-based sister company, is a limited partner in the project.
SALES
Velocity Venture Partners sold the former Harleysville Bank building at 483 Main St. for $6.1M just seven months after buying it for $3.15M and without having done any work at the 82K SF property.
Velocity accepted the unsolicited offer from an undisclosed buyer that intends to occupy the 56K SF bank building at 480 School Lane as a flex industrial space and redevelop the ornate, 26K SF former bank itself. As part of the sale, which was brokered by The Flynn Co. agent Mike Borski Jr., Velocity acquired a minority stake in the purchasing entity formed by the buyer.
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Local pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organization Frontida Biopharma sold a portfolio of industrial properties in Northeast Philadelphia to Nexpoint, a Texas-based investment firm, for a combined $40M, the Philadelphia Business Journal reports.
Of the five parcels included in the sale, two contain manufacturing plants that were operational as recently as this month: a 187K SF facility at 7700 Dungan Road and a 67K SF building at 1100 Orthodox St., less than 2 miles from the Dungan Road plant.
FINANCING
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Saxum Real Estate obtained a $77.5M construction loan for a seven-story, 279-unit multifamily building on a two-block parcel at 711-735 North Front St. in Northern Liberties. A row of historic rowhouses on the southern edge of the property will be integrated into the project.
The loan, arranged by a JLL Capital Markets Debt Advisory team, carries a three-year term with a floating rate. Life insurance giant AIG Asset Management is the lender, Philadelphia Business Journal reports.
CONSTRUCTION
The Michaels Organization and the Philadelphia Housing Authority broke ground Wednesday on a 43-unit affordable housing development in Sharswood at 1450 North 21st St., adjacent to the Sharswood Townhouses project Michaels built in 2000 and still owns and manages today.
PHA conveyed the vacant plot of land to the Michaels Organization for the new rental property. Michaels will undertake extensive renovations on Sharswood Townhouses concurrently with its new development.
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