Simone Development Acquires Mixed-Use Retail/Healthcare Property at 459 East 149th Street for $32 Million
BRONX, NY (April 2022) — Simone Development Companies the leading Bronx-based developer, has purchased Triangle Plaza Hub, a 50,000 square-foot grocery anchored retail and medical office condominium in the Bronx’s Mott Haven neighborhood for $32 million from Triangle Equities.
Steven Rutman, Rob Hinckley, Karl Brumback, Andrew Scandalios and Madison Warwick of JLL represented the seller in the transaction.
Located at 459 East 149th Street, Triangle Plaza Hub features a healthcare and food-centric tenant-mix anchored by Fine Fare supermarket and Sun River Health. Other tenants at the property include DaVita, Dunkin, Boston Market and VistaSite Eyecare. The LEED certified complex was built in 2015 and is 97% occupied, with just 1,522 square feet available for rent. Metropolitan College of New York occupies 26,000 square feet at the property under separate ownership.
“Simone Development is extremely excited to add this mixed-use property to our portfolio. Supermarket and healthcare anchored centers provide essential services to the neighborhood that work well together and these assets proved to be extremely durable investments during the pandemic,” said Joseph Simone, president of Simone Development Companies. “Located in one of the Bronx’s fastest growing neighborhoods, Triangle Plaza Hub provides essential healthcare and retail amenities to the community.”
Triangle Plaza Hub is situated on a prime corner in a highly trafficked neighborhood and located within a three-minute walk of the 149th Street station serving the #2 and #5 subway lines. The property’s on-site parking offers tenants and customers convenient accessibility.
1200 Zerega Avenue
1200 Zerega Avenue
Bronx, NY
1200 Zerega Avenue is a 95,649-square-foot, flex building consisting of drive-in doors, loading docks and over 31,000 SF of land. The building offers modern warehouse space flanked by overhead doors, allowing easy access from Ellis and Gleason Avenues. The location offers convenient access to the subway, multiple bus routes, the Hutchinson River Parkway and Bruckner and Cross Bronx expressways. With high demand for warehouse flex space in the New York Metro area, 1200 Zerega Avenue is an extremely attractive option due to its rare combination of warehouse space, office space, and available land that is centrally located with immediate access to major highways.
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Simone Development Signs New Long Term Healthcare Lease at 2510 Westchester Ave in The Bronx
BRONX, NY (March 2022) — Simone Development Companies has announced that cardiologist practice KezMed Medical PC has signed a long-term 2,175-square-foot lease of medical office space at 2510 Westchester in the Bronx, bringing the property to 95% occupancy. KezMed Medical celebrated the office’s grand opening in late March.
“We are proud to welcome KezMed Medical to what has become a local healthcare center of choice in the Westchester Square area,” said Josh Gopan, Assistant Vice President of Leasing at Simone Development. “2510 Westchester continues to attract top medical practices due to its ideal location within walking distance of the #6 subway, multiple bus routes and on-site parking garage. The property also benefits from its proximity to Simone Development’s Hutchinson Metro Center, a major hub for healthcare, office and education tenants.”
The three-story, 60,000-square-foot office and medical building is ideally located by Westchester Square Station in the Bronx, providing direct and easy access to multiple mass transit options. The property includes an on-site parking garage and is connected to the rest of the city and Tri-State area through both the Cross Bronx Expressway and the Hutchinson River Parkway.
Josh Gopan represented ownership in the lease negotiations, while KezMed Medical PC was repped by Jon Smilowitz of Douglas Elliman.
KezMed Medical joins various medical practices at 2510 Westchester including Unlimited Care Nursing Services, the Bronx Community Wellness Center, the Advanced Urology and Radiation Centers of New York, Premier Home Health Services and the Bronx Westchester Medical Group.
Simone Development Companies Signs Cap’t Loui Seafood Boil at Throggs Neck Shopping Center in the Bronx
BRONX, NY (March 2022) — Simone Development Companies has announced that Cap’t Loui Seafood Boil has signed a 2,123-square-foot, long-term lease at Throggs Neck Shopping Center in the Ferry Point section of The Bronx. This is the seafood restaurant’s fifth location in New York, which is expected to open to the public in Spring of 2022.
Karnit Mosberg of Royal Properties represented both the tenant and the owner in the deal.
“We are thrilled to welcome Cap’t Louis Seafood Boil to the highly successful Throggs Neck Shopping Center,” said Josh Gopan, Assistant Vice President of Leasing for Simone Development. “The shopping center has maintained its position as one of the most successful retail destinations in the Bronx due to its remarkable accessibility, plentiful parking, and diverse roster of tenants. Since its construction by Simone in 2010, the shopping center has created hundreds of new jobs and been responsible for boosting the area’s local economy. We are proud to see how Throggs Neck continues to be extremely attractive for retailers and shoppers alike.”
Cap’t Louis Seafood Boil joins an extensive and diverse roster of tenants including retailers Target, TJ Maxx, Petco, Party City, and Skechers as well as restaurants Charleys Philly Steaks, Starbucks, Applebee’s, Subway, Chipotle, Sarku Japan, among others. Throggs Neck Shopping Center is now 98% occupied, with just 6,404 square feet of space available for lease.
Throggs Neck Shopping Center is conveniently located at the intersection of Lafayette Avenue and the Hutchinson River Parkway. The borough’s 300,000-square-foot, large-scale retail development boasts secure free parking for over 600 cars and is anchored by a 165,000+ square-foot Target department store.
Simone Development Companies Sponsors Bronx Chamber of Commerce Women of Distinction Luncheon
BRONX, NY (March 2022) — Proximity to research hospitals and plug-and-play capabilities are among the top elements of a winning formula for developing life sciences real estate, said Joseph Simone, said Joseph Simone of Simone Development Companies.
The Bronx Chamber of Commerce Foundation hosted its annual Women of Distinction Luncheon on March 25 at the Villa Barone Manor in the Throggs Neck section of the Bronx. Chamber of Commerce Chairman Joseph Kelleher, president of Simone Metro Properties, (pictured R to L with scholarship winner Noemy Rodriguez, Allison Aguilar of Simone Development and Bronx Chamber Foundation Board Chair April Horton, Director, External Affairs & Government Affairs at Verizon), helped celebrate Women’s History Month and support the Chamber’s efforts to award scholarships young Bronx women who have demonstrated academic excellence.
This year’s luncheon honored Christine Croke, RN, patient care coordinator in the Medical Intensive Care Unit at the Montefiore Weiler Hospital/Einstein Campus for her extraordinary contributions to Bronx patients, families and colleagues during the peak of the pandemic.
This year’s scholarships were made possible through the generosity of sponsors Con Edison, Ponce Bank, Verizon, The Monroe Foundation, Simone Development, New York Botanical Garden, Orange Bank & Trust Co., KZA Realty, Sandra Erickson Real Estate, Woodlawn Cemetery & Conservancy, F&F Insurance and Metro Optics.
Simone Development Identifies 5 Essential Ingredients for a Successful Life Sciences Project
BRONX, NY (March 2022) — Proximity to research hospitals and plug-and-play capabilities are among the top elements of a winning formula for developing life sciences real estate, said Joseph Simone, said Joseph Simone of Simone Development Companies.
“The life sciences sector has a specific set of criteria when considering real estate options,” said Joe Simone. “Life science CEOs aren’t just looking for oversize buildings that can accommodate labs; they need spaces where their employees believe that their personal values and needs are respected.”
Simone Development Companies identified five criteria that all real estate professionals should consider when contemplating a life sciences project:
- Plug-and-play: Buildings with research-ready centralized systems such as air handling, acid neutralization, and backup power provide turnkey expansion opportunities for future lab users.
- Proximity: Some of the nation’s most successful life science innovation corridors are emerging near research hospitals and universities. Life-sciences real estate that is walking or biking distance from such campuses will be favored by start-ups emerging from researchers’ discoveries.
- Amenities: Remote work and the Great Resignation have taught employers that fitness centers, roof terraces, employee lounges and fun meeting spaces foster positive work environments and collaboration for employees.
- Sustainability: Many emerging biosciences are writing sustainability and carbon neutrality into their mission statements. Real estate developers must deliver properties with energy recovery systems and other measures that mitigate laboratories’ large consumption of electricity and other resources.
- Transportation: The technology workforce of today and tomorrow is increasingly concerned about the environment and the impact of automobiles. Wet labs and research facilities built near train stations, bus lines and bicycle lanes will help tenants attract top talent that values a car-free existence.
“In 2021, New York City experienced a record year for laboratory leasing activity,” said Joanna Simone, Principal and President of Leasing and Property Management. “We analyzed the leasing data and concluded that most of the properties were in buildings that incorporated these five elements.”
Simone Development: Exponential Growth In Life Sciences Lab Construction Requires Shovel-Ready Sites
BRONX, NY (March 2022) — A building boom for new life-sciences laboratories will benefit medical real estate developers that control shovel-ready properties, said Joseph Simone of Simone Development Companies.
According to recent figures from CBRE, a record 31 million square feet of life-science space was under development in the fourth quarter of 2021, both new construction and conversions. “Because of the costs associated with the essential lab infrastructure, real estate developers with vacant land near innovation corridors will benefit from cost savings and delivery-to-market advantages,” said Joe Simone.
Life sciences lab and innovation users typically require high-capacity power, high-velocity ducts, acid waste neutralization and tenant emergency power capacity—all costly retrofits for existing buildings.
In the first two months of 2022, CBRE reported that several life sciences mega-projects have been announced, including a 3 million square foot endeavor at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
Joe Simone noted that over the past 25 years since the U.S. Navy closed Philadelphia’s Navy Yard, private investors have transformed a massive, outdated tract of land into a thriving community with more than 150 companies. “The key to this success was 1,200 acres of vacant or demolition-ready land near a major urban center,” said Joe Simone.
As with the ongoing Navy Yard transformation, Simone Development Companies successfully reinvented parts of the former Bronx Psychiatric Hospital into the Hutchinson Metro Center. Strategically located near the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and other life sciences hubs in Harlem and Long Island City, Simone Development Companies is proposing to build wet labs and for medical research on the southern portion of the property.
“The demand for new lab space shows no sign of receding,” said Patricia Simone, Principal and President of Simone Management Group. “Simone Development Companies is ready to build the facilities needed for the new generation of biotech start-ups.”
Joseph Simone, President of Simone Development Says Attractive Place-Making is Essential to Life-Science Development
BRONX, NY (February 2022) — Simone Development Companies.Landscaping, urban design and public amenities are essential elements in successful life-sciences development, said Joseph Simone of Simone Development Companies.
“As we’ve seen at the emerging Manhattanville Factory District in West Harlem, the construction of a three-block pedestrian greenway along buildings containing wet labs and offices will enhance this innovation corridor, making it more attractive to tenants and their employees,” said Joseph Simone, president of Simone Development Companies.
West Harlem’s growth is fueled by Columbia University’s and the Manhattanville Factory District’s expansion into the formerly industrial neighborhood, transforming it into an educational and technological hub. The Manhattanville area lies north of 125th Street and east of Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard.
“Outdoor people habitats are important to technology and life-sciences companies because they employ knowledge workers who must be inspired to achieve breakthroughs,” said Joseph Simone. “These employees’ ah-ha moments can happen on a bike trail, in a flower garden or a beautifully designed public plaza.”
Published renderings for the Manhattanville Factory District greenway include trees, public seating and lawns that invite picnics or sunbathing. Simone Development Companies is pursuing a similar strategy at its Hutchinson Metro Center in the Bronx. The Hutchinson Metro Center’s proposed South Campus will include ball fields, lawns, seating areas and a greenway through the center of the development. The complex already has a health club, hotel and bicycle trails running along the Hutchinson River Parkway.
“Our proposed South Campus incorporates the latest thinking in public-space design,” said Joseph Simone. “We believe our landscaped and recreational areas will be must-have amenities for the medical technology and life-sciences firms that this complex will attract.”