Hartford-based Cornerstone Real Estate Advisors and its subsidiary, Five Tower Bridge Associates, have sold a 223,700-square-foot office building in suburban Philadelphia for $73 million.
The buyer was California-based KBS Real Estate Investment Trust I. The Cornerstone partnership was represented in the deal by CB Richard Ellis.
Located on a 10-acre parcel about 15 minutes from Philadelphia, the building is leased at a 97 percent clip to companies such as Keystone Foods, Nationwide Insurance and KTR Capital Partners.
The Five Tower Bridge building in West Conshohocken, Pa. was developed in 2001 through a partnership of Cornerstone Real Estate Advisors, Brandywine Realty Trust and Pennsylvania-based developer Oliver Tyrone Pulver Corp.
There are seven other office buildings within the 1.7-million-square-foot Tower Bridge park, all developed by Oliver Tyrone Pulver.
Fondue Franchiser
Despite a slowing real estate market in Connecticut, national restaurant chains continue to snap up space and expand into the state.
The latest chain to do so is the Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant that has five New England locations, including one in Darien.
Melting Pot is looking for franchisees in the New Haven area, which it has identified as one of its 20 target areas for expansion. Company officials said they were attracted to the market because the average household income in the area has risen 58 percent since 1990, while per capita income is up 65 percent. Population in that market is expected to rise by 3 percent over the next five years.
Franchisees must be willing to pay substantial initial investment fees.
In total, the restaurant has 138 locations nationwide, including nine opened in 2008. Another 30 are in various stages of development.
“As more and more ‘cook it yourself’ restaurants emerge, the fondue concept continues to gain popularity,” the company said in statement. “While other national restaurant chains are closing locations … The Melting Pot is actually continuing to grow despite this down economy.”
Urban Strategy Deals
The Boston-based Urban Strategy America Fund has completed the financing for two large deals in Connecticut.
The most recent purchase – a joint-venture partnership with Beacon Communities – was the Errichetti Apartment Portfolio, which includes 404 units of Section 8 elderly apartments in Waterbury, Southington and Wolcott.
USA Fund President Kirk Sykes said the portfolio was attractive because elderly housing is a “secure and stable” market.
The second Connecticut deal was financed through a Citizens Bank loan for the BKM portfolio, which consists of more than 389,000 square feet across seven industrial buildings in East Hartford. Sykes said that deal, first announced in May, was low-risk for the USA Fund thanks to its 92.3 percent lease rate.
Coldwell Banker Expands
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage has acquired three Hartford area offices from William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty and will merge them into its own existing offices.
The roughly 46 sales associates at William Pitt Sotheby’s offices in Avon, Simsbury and Farmington will move to Coldwell Banker offices in Avon, Simsbury and West Hartford.
William Pitt’s other 22 offices in Connecticut – most along the shoreline – will continue to operate under that name.
Sean O’Leary is a Hartford Business Journal staff writer.
