Recent Sale:
562 N. Main St., Pittston
$230,000
The former Keen Floral retail outlet and warehouse was recently sold by Hinerfeld Commercial Real Estate of Scranton. The approximate 9,000-square-foot building has an 1,800-square-foot enclosed shipping dock.
- Courtesy of The Times Leader
The founder and president of the vacation dealer, John Dowd, purchased the former state Department of Labor & Industry building from the Girard Estate for $3.25 million and plans $1 million in renovations to the 47,000-square-foot building. Sundance will move from its current home on Kidder Street and occupy about one-third of the renovated building, which it will use as corporate headquarters and a local marketing and sales office. The rest of the building, to be dubbed the Arena Commons, will be leased.
Despite the building’s desirable location at one of the busiest crossroads in Wilkes-Barre Township, it was on the market for about 18 months. Listing agent Mike Detter, of Hinerfeld Commercial Real Estate, said the seller was holding out for a buyer who saw value in the building. Land in the area has been selling for between $400,000 and $500,000 per acre, and the building lot was just over four acres.
“Developers would have liked to buy it for $2 million and tear down the building, but we wanted to wait for someone who both liked the location and saw value in the building,” Mr. Detter said.
While the Internet has nearly eliminated walk-in travel agencies, Sundance has been able to survive because of its unique approach. Its customers buy several weeks of vacations in advance, and then select their destinations from Sundance’s inventory of condominiums in vacation destinations.
“We are in a different niche, and we are growing,” said Kathy O’Mara, communication director for Sundance.
The building has more than 200 parking spaces and is off Interstate 81, across the street from the Wachovia Arena.
Property facts
Location: 264 Highland Park Blvd., Wilkes-Barre Township
Sale price: $3.25 million
Land: 4 acres
Building: 47,000 square feet
Old use: Former state Department of Labor and Industry building.
New use: Headquarters of Sundance Vacations and leased office space.
- Courtesy of The Times-Tribune Business Weekly
Sundance Vacations will soon take a short trip to its new home near the Wachovia Arena.
The company will move from its Kidder Street offices to the former state Department of Labor and Industry building on Highland Park Boulevard and rename the property The Arena Commons.
Dowd Holdings L.P. purchased the property from the Girard Estate last week for $3.25 million.
“This new building marks the latest phase in a significant investment for Sundance Vacations,” said John Dowd, company president.
Approximately $1 million will be invested in renovations. Sundance Vacations will move its corporate office into the building and will establish a new sales office there as well. The remaining 30,000 square feet will be leased.
The move will place Sundance Vacations in the “newest and most rapidly growing commercial thoroughfare in Northeastern Pennsylvania,” the company said in a press release.
The company showed an interest in the property months ago when the listing started to draw attention from prospective buyers, said Mike Detter, an associate of Hinerfeld Commercial Real Estate in Scranton.
The property was on the market for approximately a year and a half. In January it was listed at $4.2 million.
“After being quiet for a while we had a lot of interest in the spring and multiple offers in the summer,” he said. “Timing’s everything in real estate.”
The property’s location and the building’s size were big selling points. The 47,000-square-foot, one-story structure is situated on the 4.66-acre site near the arena.
The building was relatively new, constructed in 1992 and had been previously home to the Labor and Industry Department’s Bureau of Disability Determination. The tenant relocated to downtown Wilkes-Barre in 2005.
- Courtesy of The Times Leader
If the building at 350 Second St. was a house the ad copy might read, “move-in condition.” That’s because the carpets are pristine and the paint is fresh.
“The inside is really nice for an industrial building,” said listing agent Mike Detter of Hinerfeld Commercial Real Estate.
The simple exterior doesn’t provide much of a clue to what’s inside, so maybe the ad would also say, “not a drive by.”
The 5,000 square feet of office space is part of a larger building in which another tenant is occupying the warehouse area that is hidden from the street. While not on a main thoroughfare, the building is convenient to the Cross-Valley Expressway and Interstate 81.
“It’s ideal for a user that doesn’t need visibility,” Detter said. “You can get really great office space at a reasonable rate.”
Modern features, such as complete prewiring with cat-5 cabling, also make the offices attractive. There’s a dedicated computer/telecom room with auxiliary cooling and a large conference room with an electronically-controlled retractable screen.
In addition to those rooms there are seven private offices with windows, a large glass-walled entrance/reception area, a break room and storage rooms. The core of the space is an open area with multiple electrical and network outlets that could accommodate support staff.
Other amenities include recessed fluorescent lighting, two handicap-accessible bathrooms, a full coverage sprinkler system and gas heating with individual thermostats in each office. There’s even an available flag pole.
The exterior, while plain, is in good shape and there is dedicated parking out front.
“The parking’s a big advantage here,” Detter said. “The location’s great, too.”
While acknowledging that the office market is a little soft, Detter thinks that once the right prospective tenant sees the condition, features and location he’ll have a deal.
PLAIN AND FANCY
What: Modern 5,000 square foot office
Where: 350 Second St., Plains Twp.
How much: $9.50/sq. ft., triple net
Listed by: Mike Detter, Hinerfeld Commercial Real Estate, 207-4100
- Courtesy of The Times Leader
It took 10 years for Anthony Quinn, D.D.S., to find the right place to relocate his Clarks Summit orthodontics office.
A growing practice and the demands of new technology convinced him to plan a relocation from rented space on Noble Road to 505-517 Northern Blvd. in South Abington Township, a property he recently purchased for $919,000.
The 3,000-square-foot building on 1 acre will more than double the practice’s existing space and put it on the main thoroughfare of the Abingtons and closer to the schools.
Dr. Quinn has a base of operations in Scranton and has rented space on Noble Road in Clarks Summit in practice with Dr. John Mariotti and Dr. Todd Angelo.
“We are a bit removed in our Noble Road location and limited in what we could do in the space,” Dr. Quinn said.
For certain procedures, patients in that area have to go to the Scranton location. The new office will have cutting edge x-ray equipment that further limits radiation exposure to patients, Dr. Quinn said. The office also will “go paperless.”
Renovations will take place over the winter and the Noble Road office will relocate in about nine months.
The site was owned by Community Medical Center, which operated it as the Chinchilla Care Center. The building was constructed in the mid-1980s.
Michael Detter, of Hinerfeld Commercial Real Estate, Scranton, listed the property. He said there has been renewed interest in Routes 6 and 11 property to the south of the Interstate 81 on-ramp as prices to the north of the on-ramp have gone well over $1 million per acre.
“That’s where people want to be, but prices are prohibitive and forcing people to look below,” he said.
Since it was listed for sale in May, the building had been looked at by several dentists, physicians and general office users. He said the location and the promise of appreciation for commercial land in the Abingtons were the property’s strongest selling points.
Property facts
Location: 505-517 Northern Blvd., South Abington Township.
Sale price: $919,000.
Building: 3,000 square feet.
Land: 1 acre.
Old use: Chinchilla Care Center medical office, operated by Community Medical Center.
New use: New location of dental office for Dr. Anthony Quinn and associates.
- Courtesy of The Times-Tribune
Gathered at the POWER! Event are, from left, Thomas Osborn, Michael Detter, Jim Holeva, Robert Watts and David Oehmke.
The McDonough property in Dunmore was recently sold.
The corner site at West Drinker St. and Tripp Avenue was improved with two single family homes and a four unit apartment building.
The purchasers, Quad Holdings, LLC have begun adapting the imposing 4,000 s/f three-story brick home at the corner of West Drinker and Tripp Avenue into offices for their business use.
John Cognetti, SIOR, CCIM of Hinerfeld Commercial Real Estate represented the seller, the estate of Marie McDonough, in the sale.
Cognetti said that the property attracted interested parties because of the easy access to the interstate system and its being part of the Dunmore business area. He noted that the renovated property will be an attractive gateway to the business district from the west bridging the borough residential and the commercial areas.
The sale price was $295,000.
- Courtesy of NJPA Real Estate Journal
KCI USA Inc. will move its warehouse and distribution operations to the CenterPoint Commerce and Trade Park in Jenkins Township from Scranton.
The medical technology company, based in San Antonio, Texas, will expand its operations when it moves into 25,000 square feet of leased space within the trade park. The new location is more than four and half times larger than its 5,400 square foot facility on Stafford Avenue.
Lease negotiations were handled by John Cognetti of Hinerfeld Commercial Real Estate. “They chose Northeastern Pennsylvania because of its location providing access to their major clients on the East Coast,” Cognetti said.
- Courtesy of The Times Leader
Recently the Pennsylvania League of Cities and Municipalities (PLCM) held their 108th Annual Convention in Scranton. Christopher A. Doherty, Mayor of Scranton, hosted the event.
The various sessions being offered focused on topics from leadership to labor law. One session entitled THE ELECTRIFYING SUCCESS OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION IN SCRANTON, focused on the historic preservation effort begun in Scranton over thirty years ago by the Architectural Heritage Association. Among the panel members were John T. Cognetti, SIOR, CCIM and president of Hinerfeld Commercial Real Estate. Mr. Cognetti was a founding member of the Association and has served as its president in 1977.
The session was broadcast on PCN, the Pennsylvania Cable Network TV station.
As residential prices continue to rise in New York and New Jersey, neighboring northeast Pennsylvania is beginning to look more and more attractive to metropolitan residents. Today, residents are moving to the area to take advantage of affordable home prices, a lower cost of living and all that the great outdoors has to offer. On the heels of this residential migration is an influx of retail development.
The majority of the retail development in this growing market is the repositioning of existing retail and infill development where there are gaps between the markets. The Shoppes at Montage, northeastern Pennsylvania’s first lifestyle center, opened this past spring and brought with it several new retailers to the area. Developed by Jeffrey R. Anderson Real Estate, the 316,000-square-foot center includes approximately 70 retailers including newcomers such as J. Jill, Christmas Tree Shops, Jos. A Bank and several specialty restaurants. The new center was also a big draw for staple regional mall tenants such as Victoria’s Secret and Gap. Located in the Glenmaura area right off of Interstate 81 between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre on Davis Street/Montage Mountain Road, the new lifestyle center will conveniently serve the entire northeast Pennsylvania market.
The area of Glenmaura is anticipated to be the next booming commercial real estate market in northeast Pennsylvania. In addition to the Shoppes at Montage, there is a large 18-screen cinema, a major corporate office park with Class A office buildings, a growing residential component, as well as a plethora of recreational activities ranging from the Montage Ski Resort, the Montage Performing Arts Center, an outdoor concert amphitheatre to a country club with a golf course. Another factor that will affect the growth in the area is the local AAA baseball franchise, which recently became an affiliate of the New York Yankees. In addition to being a tourist attraction, the owner of the franchise, Mandalay Sports, intends to develop the area surrounding the stadium with retail and other commercial development.
The Poconos is another growing area and a big draw for the northeastern Pennsylvania market. Heading east toward the Poconos, the Route 611 corridor is filling up with big-box development to the point that it has begun to put a strain on traffic. This new wave of retail development is being built to meet the demands of the growing population in the Poconos region. No longer primarily a second home community, a mix of residents, ranging from retiring baby boomers to young couples looking to start families and businesses, are moving to this idyllic area. Another factor affecting the growth of the Poconos is the new Mount Airy Casino that is slated to open this fall. The new gaming development promises to attract more tourists as well as residents with the promise of new jobs — again catalysts for more retail development.
Currently, retail vacancy rates are sitting at approximately 10 percent with rental rates ranging from $15 per square foot to $30 per square foot for mall rentals. However, keep your eye on this market because things are only going to get better.
- John T. Cognetti, SIOR, CCIM, is the president of Hinerfeld Commercial Real Estate.
- First published in Northeast Real Estate Business
