Deals & Deeds
Rye office center fetches $30.3M
The Rye property that once was home to Continental Baking Co. and was later redeveloped as a class-A corporate office complex was sold for $30.3 million to a Massachusetts-based partnership.
Faros Corporate Center Rye L.L.C., a partnership of Boston-based Faros Properties and Gould & Co., recently closed on the deal to acquire the International Corporate Center at Rye, an approximately 173,000-square-foot office complex at 555 Theodore Fremd Ave., from The Gateside Corp. in Rye.
The deal was brokered by the New York City office of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P. Andrew Scandalios and Jose Cruz, the firm”™s senior managing directors, and directors Jeffrey Julien and Kevin O”™Hearn represented the seller.
Norman Feinberg, owner and managing member of Gateside Corp., bought the property in the late 1980s and changed the three-building complex from office and manufacturing use to office space that attracted domestic and international corporate tenants. Feinberg said Continental Baking formerly had its main office at the property along with manufacturing and research space.
The redevelopment project also expanded the size of the complex from a one-story manufacturing building and a two-story office building into three office buildings connected by a five-story central glass atrium. The complex also features an on-site cafeteria, fitness center, conference facilities and storage.
The complex was more than 80 percent occupied at the time of the recent sale. Its current tenant roster includes the Bank of Tokyo, Mitsubishi Imaging and Greenbriar Equity Group L.L.C.
Gateside Corp. currently maintains an office at the property, but Feinberg, now a Florida resident, said the company is selling off most of its New York properties. The Rye property was the last Westchester asset owned by Gateside.
The new ownership has hired Cushman & Wakefield”™s Greg Frisoli, senior director, and Larry Ruggieri, director, as leasing agents. The Boston partners also own Holly Pond Plaza, a 75,000-square-foot office building at 1281 E. Main St. in Stamford, Conn.
120 Bloomingdale Road on market
J.E. Robert Co. Inc., the Texas-based special servicer of commercial loans, has retained Newmark Knight Frank as the sales agent for 120 Bloomingdale Road in White Plains.
David Noonan, principal of the Newmark Knight Frank Capital Group, and John Goodkind, managing principal and Patricia Valenti, principal, of Newmark”™s Connecticut-Westchester office, are handling the sale of the 145,556-square-foot building, which sits on 5.8 acres. The state Labor Department recently renewed its 42,000-square-foot space in the building.
Former owner Core Plus Properties L.L.C., of Stamford, Conn., paid $27.3 million for the property in 2005 and in 2008 obtained approvals from the city of White Plains for “The Venue,” a 42,000-square-foot boutique retail and restaurant development planned on the property. Core Plus pegged the cost of the development at $25 million.
The Connecticut developer owed about $20.4 million on the property, according to Westchester County records, when it was deeded in 2010 to J.E. Robert, a special servicer of commercial mortgage-backed securitized loans. Goodkind said the municipal approvals for The Venue could boost the value of the property if the buyer decides to move forward with the project.
Biosciences company keeps expanding
Aureon Biosciences Inc., a company that has grown from 30 employees two years ago to more than 100 today, is expanding again at its i.park Hudson headquarters in Yonkers.
The company is adding another 8,000 square feet, occupying the entire 28,000-square-foot fourth floor at 28 Wells Ave. near the Yonkers waterfront.
The biotech company opened its corporate headquarters and clinical labs in 14,000 square feet of space at i.park Hudson in 2002. Its space has grown to include customer service, sales and marketing, billing and reimbursement, research and development and financial functions.