Steve Carroll represented the buyer, 1228 Bethlehem Pike Associates LLC, in the purchase of an 8,076 industrial building in Sellersville, Bucks County PA. Building features include approximately 2200 SF of office space and 5876 SF warehouse space with 5 drive in doors, all situate on 3.83 acres.

Steve has 20 years experience serving commercial/industrial clients encompassing the Philadelphia region through Northeast PA.

Real Estate Round Up with John Cognetti – September 17, 2011

John Cognetti speaks on Real estate Round Up September 17, 2011

Automotive Distributing Co. of Tunkhannock purchased the 81,204-square-foot former yearbook publishing facility in the Scott Technology Park for $1.8 million.

Company President Raymond Bach said 21 employees will move to the newly purchased facility in late April with an eye toward hiring the additional employees by year’s end. Its current home at 189 East Tioga St. will be put up for sale.

Mr. Bach was sold on the building because of its condition and location.

“We have eight trucks that have to drive half an hour after getting off I-81,” he said. “This facility is two miles from 81. The savings in fuel and time alone will be great.”

Mr. Bach and co-owner Lannie Ross have decades of experience in the auto parts business but started this venture at the beginning of the recession.

“It was rough going, and we had to take market share from the competition,” Mr. Bach said. “Now, we see even more growth.”

Automotive Distributing has 14-acres at the Scott Technology Park. Mr. Bach said the company may consider acquiring adjacent land from the Scranton Lackawanna Industrial Building Co., the development arm of the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce, to expand the building in the near future. The Scranton Plan’s Kristin Driesbaugh helped negotiate the deal. Hinerfeld Commercial Realty of Scranton represented the seller.

“The building is adaptable to a variety of uses, including manufacturing and warehouse/distribution,” said Stephen Carroll of Hinerfeld. Another plus was the proximity of the building to Interstate 81.

Automotive Distributing Co. serves seven states.

Herff Jones closed in September, putting 100 out of work.

The 30,800 square-foot state-of-the-art medical and professional office building features great accessibility with abundant free on-site parking. It’s located less than five minutes from local hospitals and equity partnerships are available.

Right now, Hinerfeld can offer:

• Aggressive rents;
• Landlord to provide turn-key build-out of space;
• Space planning to custom design your suite;
• We’ll pay half of your Mercantile Tax for the original lease term; and
• One month of free rent for each year of the original lease term.

The Scranton-Lackawanna Industrial Building Co., which is the development arm of the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce, sold the lot to the Linden, N.J.-based Beacon for $792,000.

The chamber argued unsuccessfully before the Scranton School Board during the summer to garner Keystone Opportunity Zone status for the business park, which would have given developers a 10-year real estate and state tax forbearance. The park is on Linden Street, the former site of the Keystone Block Co.

In the end, the draw of the Commonwealth Medical College outweighed the economic hit from losing the tax incentive, said Beacon partner Daniel Siegel.

“We had this property under contract, and we were extremely disappointed,” Mr. Siegel said. “But we think there is a need for a facility like this in Scranton. So we have to work harder.”

The medical school will prompt an expansion in the medical sector and demand for high-quality office space, Mr. Siegel said. The building will be all-steel construction, brick clad, with a porte-cochere, gurney-sized elevators, energy-efficient windows and mechanicals, and about 130 parking spaces. The groundbreaking will be in November, and the building will be ready for occupancy by the spring of 2011, Mr. Siegel said.

Beacon has been involved with the development of 1.5 million square feet of space in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Tenants can receive a share of equity in the property, becoming partial owners of the building.

Chamber President Austin Burke said he’s grateful Beacon stuck with the project, but said the lack of economic incentives to offer prospective employers will mean that it will take longer to fill the other four or five lots at the business park.

“We will be successful in bringing in new employers, but it will take longer,” he said.