A Merrill Lynch commercial mortgage-backed securities fund has taken title to 120 Bloomingdale Road in White Plains, where a Stamford, Conn., developer”™s plans for a $25 million upscale retail complex withered in the credit freeze and recession.
Westchester County land records suggest the developer, Core Plus Properties L.L.C., eliminated a $20.4 million debt on the 6.6-acre property with the recent transfer. The listed buyer, MLMT 05-CK I1 120 Bloomingdale L.L.C., represents a commercial mortgage trust pool started by Merrill Lynch Mortgage Investors Inc. in 2005. The fund is managed by J.E. Robert Companies Inc., of Dallas, Texas, a private real estate investment management company and special servicer of commercial mortgages.
Principals at Core Plus Properties and the CMBS fund manager did not return calls for comment.
The property includes the 145,000-square-foot former headquarters of Nestle USA, whose largest tenant currently is the state Department of Labor. White Plains city officials nearly two years ago approved the owner”™s plans for The Venue on Bloomingdale Road, 50,000 square feet of boutique retail shops and a restaurant to be built on the office building”™s surface parking lot. Black Rock Inc., the New York City-based public investment management firm, was the Stamford developer”™s financial partner in the project.
White Plains Planning Commissioner Susan Habel said city officials were not aware of the property transfer, which was filed March 1 at the county clerk”™s office.
Allen Systems Group
A global software company”™s relocation within Westchester is the largest commercial office deal to date this year, according to brokers at CB Richard Ellis.
Allen Systems Group Inc. signed a seven-year, 26,394-square-foot-lease at the RiverView at Purchase, a 120,500-square-foot class A office building at 287 Bowman Ave. in Rye Brook. Headquartered in Naples, Fla., the enterprise software provider is relocating its New York office from 120 Old Post Road in Rye.
The company was represented in the transaction by William V. Cuddy, executive vice president at the CB Richard Ellis office in Stamford, Conn. The building owner, Phoenix Capital Partners L.L.C., was represented by Timothy C. Donohue, senior associate at CBRE”™s Stamford office.
