75 International Drive, Windsor
L.J. Melody & Co., the real estate investment banking arm of CB Richard Ellis, has arranged financing in the amount of $12.7 million for two high-bay warehouse buildings in Windsor. Upon completion of construction and partial lease-up to several national tenants, permanent financing closed at a very attractive interest rate with a major life insurance company, according to officials.
The two properties, 75 International Drive and 758 Rainbow Road, are located within the New England Tradeport, a 650-acre, master-planned business park adjacent to Bradley International Airport. Both buildings feature high ceilings: 75 International Drive has 26-foot ceilings and contains 117,000 square feet, and 758 Rainbow Road has 30-foot ceilings and 137,000 square feet of leasable space. Some of the tenants are FedEx, Matheson Trucking, Exel and UPS.
Tim Harwood of L.J. Melody’s Stamford office, assisted by colleague Bill Catanzaro, secured the financing for the transaction.
“We are currently experiencing a strong industrial market in the north market of Hartford County,” Harwood said. “This was a great investment opportunity for the lender, and they quickly responded with a competitive loan package.”
L.J. Melody & Co. offers a broad range of financing services and funding options through its relationships with numerous lending sources. In 2004, the firm generated $13.3 billion in real estate financing transactions, and currently maintains a servicing portfolio of more than 8,000 loans totaling approximately $60 billion through its affiliate, GEMSA Loan Services. The firm operates offices in 37 major metropolitan markets in North America.
Supermarket Work Begins
Newton, Mass.-based The Kay Cos., one of New England’s leading general construction and construction management firms, recently began construction on a new 60,000-square-foot Stop & Shop grocery store in the Southbury Plaza in Southbury.
Mercantile Construction Corp., a subsidiary of The Kay Cos., is the general contractor for the project, which got under way in late spring. Quincy, Mass.-based Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. is the largest food retailer in New England and operates more than 345 stores in New England, New York and New Jersey combined. The Kay Cos. has worked closely with Stop & Shop on many projects across the Northeast in the past.
Along with constructing the new store, The Kay Cos. will be responsible for upgrading the parking area and installing new utilities including water, gas, drainage and a septic system upgrade for the entire plaza.
“It’s a very exciting and challenging project for us. We’re working in an existing and busy retail plaza, and we have to be sensitive to the adjacent merchants and the general shopping public and be sure to minimize any disruptions to them,” said Bernard Lannquist, president of the Mercantile Construction Corp., a subsidiary of The Kay Cos. “In addition, this project has to be completed in time for the busy Thanksgiving holiday season. Thankfully, we’ve worked on many fast-track projects for Stop & Shop over the years and together have implemented site specific plans that have kept disruptions to an absolute minimum.”
To accomplish its goals, The Kay Cos. will work in phases, focusing on one section of the project at a time. For each section, the firm will use Jersey barriers and gates to separate itself from the rest of the plaza in designated “Work Only” areas. That is expected to allow for general traffic flow in and out of the plaza and provide ample parking to visitors. The same process will be repeated with every section of the project.
