Lohud Real Estate

First, the closely-watched Case-Shiller Index reports a significant gain in U.S. Housing prices.

Last month’s report, showed gains in 19 of the 20 cities surveyed – all except Detroit – and more bullish real estate news followed, including local reports of increasing real estate activity.

This report, though, shows a gain in all 20 of the cities, averaging 2.2 percent. Could this trigger an uptrend in the market?

Meanwhile on the commercial real estate front, Mack-Cali just announced a bunch of large-scale office renewals in Westchester. The national full-service office space company has a dominant presence in the Lower Hudson Valley. About 30 percent of its nearly 1 million square feet of deals in the second quarter were made in this region.

The biggest one coming from Bunge, a key employer in downtown White Plains, which specializes in the recession-proof agriculture space.

Here’s the press release from Mack-Cali:

Edison, New Jersey—July 31, 2012—Mack-Cali Realty Corporation (NYSE: CLI) today announced that it leased 274,574 square feet during the second quarter at its office and office/flex properties in Westchester and Rockland counties in New York and Fairfield County, Connecticut. Company-wide, Mack-Cali leased 938,873 square feet of space during the quarter.

 Highlights of the second transactions include:

•  Bunge Management Services, Inc. and Bunge Limited, international agribusiness and food companies, signed a lease renewal for 66,303 square feet at 50 Main Street in White Plains. The 309,000-square-foot office building, located in Westchester Financial Center, is 85.4 percent leased. The tenant was represented in the transaction by Robert Ageloff, Edward Tonnessen, Ethan Rice, and Justin Centre, all of Jones Lang LaSalle. Mack-Cali was represented in-house by Ivan Abry, senior director of leasing.


• MyPublisher, Inc., a provider of custom photo book software and printing, signed a new lease for 40,032 square feet at 8 Westchester Plaza in Elmsford. The 67,200-square-foot office/flex building, located in Cross Westchester Executive Park, is 100 percent leased.  The tenant was represented in the transaction by Hilarie S. Siles and Michael J. McCall, both of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank. Mack-Cali was represented in-house by Louis Amalfitano, senior director of leasing. 


• CP Communications LLC, a provider of production communications equipment and service, signed a lease renewal for 9,075 square feet and an 8,100-square-foot expansion lease at 200 Clearbrook Road in Elmsford. The 94,000-square-foot office/flex building, located in Cross Westchester Executive Park, is 99.8 percent leased. Mack-Cali was represented in-house by Carol McGuire, senior director of leasing.


• Applied Behavior Analysis Corp., dba Fred S. Keller School, a preschool for children with learning disabilities, renewed leases totaling 13,445 square feet and signed a 1,278-square-foot expansion lease at 1 Odell Plaza in Yonkers. The 106,000-square-foot office/flex building, located in South Westchester Executive Park, is 90.8 percent leased. Mack-Cali was represented in-house by Ivan Abry.


• Jacs Amusement LLC, dba BounceU, a children’s playground franchise specializing in birthday parties, signed a new 13,620-square-foot lease at 150 Clearbrook Road in Elmsford. The 74,900-square-foot office/flex building, located in Cross Westchester Executive Park, is 99.3 percent leased. The tenant was represented in the transaction by Bruce Wenig of Rakow Commercial Realty Group. Mack-Cali was represented in-house by Carol McGuire.

Mitchell E. Hersh, president and chief executive officer of Mack-Cali, commented, “We continue to focus on attracting and retaining high credit quality tenants while striving to provide superior work environments and service. This enables us to continue to outperform in our key markets.”