BLUE ASH, OHIO — OA Development has sold Hawthorne Center in the Cincinnati suburb of Blue Ash for $26.5 million. Acquired in 2012, Hawthorne Center is a five-story, Class A office building totaling 135,413 square feet. Belcan LLC, a global supplier of engineering, supply chain, technical recruiting and IT services, fully occupies the property. Cushman & Wakefield represented OA in the sale. The buyer was undisclosed.
AURORA, ILL. — The Laramar Group has purchased Covey at Fox Valley in Aurora for an undisclosed price. Built in 1988, the 216-unit apartment community is located at 2160 Walcott Road. Laramar plans to make interior and exterior renovations to the property, which is located adjacent to Rush Copley Medical Center. The seller was not provided.
CHICAGO — Interra Realty has brokered the $16.9 million sale of a two-building multifamily portfolio totaling 50 units in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. The properties are located at 4714 N. Sheridan Road and 843 W. Agatite Ave. Combined, the two buildings were 96 percent occupied at the time of sale. Jon Morgan, David Goss and Joe Smazal of Interra represented the seller, Chicago-based Mavrek Development, which developed the properties in 2019 and 2021. Colin O’Malley of Interra represented the private buyer.
PHILADELPHIA — Wharton Industrial, an investment arm of New York-based Wharton Equity Partners, has acquired a portfolio of seven industrial properties totaling roughly 450,000 square feet in the Philadelphia area. Four of the properties are located in the Pennsylvania markets of Croydon, Boothwyn and Reading. The other three are located in the Southern New Jersey communities of Marlton, Moorestown and Pennsauken. The seller and sales price were not disclosed.
EASTON, MASS. — Atlantic Capital Partners has arranged the sale of Highland Plaza, a 112,869-square-foot shopping center in Easton, located about 30 miles south of Boston. Regional grocer Big Y anchors the property, which was 96 percent leased at the time of sale, with a 56,519-square-foot store. Other tenants include T.J. Maxx and Liberty Mutual. Justin Smith, Chris Peterson, Sam Koonce, Molly Lynch and Ben Starr of Atlantic Capital Partners represented the seller, Cincinnati-based shopping center REIT Phillips Edison & Co. (NASDAQ: PECO), in the deal. The team also procured the undisclosed buyer.
BALTIMORE — Armada Hoffler Properties Inc., a Virginia Beach-based REIT, has bought a 79 percent interest and an additional 11 percent economic interest in the 23-story mixed-use Exelon building in Baltimore’s downtown waterfront neighborhood, Harbor Point. The aggregate value of the acquisition is $246 million. Armada Hoffler expects to close the acquisition by the end of the first quarter of 2022. Beatty Development Group will retain a 10 percent ownership position in the property. In 2016, Virginia Beach-based Armada Hoffler Construction and Baltimore-based Beatty Development Group delivered the 444,000-square-foot property. Located at 1310 Point St., Exelon features mostly office space as well as 103 apartments, which were approximately 96 percent occupied around the time of sale. The mixed-use property features 38,500 square feet of retail space anchored by West Elm, as well as 750 parking spaces. The building is LEED Gold-certified and the interior is LEED Platinum-certified. The office component of the Exelon building is fully leased by Exelon, a Chicago-based investment grade clean energy provider. Exelon uses the building as its regional headquarters and has a lease at the property with a remaining term of 15 years.
HOUSTON AND ATLANTA — Asset Living, a Houston-based real estate property management firm, has acquired JMG Realty, an Atlanta-based real estate firm. The sales price was not disclosed. With the addition of JMG, Asset Living expands its management footprint into the Southeast by adding over 20,000 multifamily units and a new corporate office in Atlanta. With over 20 years of experience and approximately 575 employees, JMG Realty brings expertise in management, redevelopment, financial and investment services for multifamily, affordable and build-to-rent properties servicing both private and institutional owners. The company has both regional and divisional offices located throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast and Southwest. The transaction is the second acquisition for Asset Living this year, with the company acquiring Dallas-based City Gate Property Group in November. Last year, Asset Living acquired three organizations.
DURHAM, N.C. — New York-based Oxford Properties Group has acquired Research Commons, a life sciences campus within Research Triangle Park in Durham, as well as an adjacent parcel located at 78 TW Alexander Drive for a total of $158.6 million. By combining the two sites and building three new life sciences facilities totaling 510,000 square feet, Oxford plans to ultimately develop a 940,000-square-foot innovation campus that will house various life sciences firms. The construction timeline was not disclosed. Located at 79 TW Alexander Drive, Research Commons is a 430,000-square-foot, five-building campus with an additional 18 plus acres of developable land. The existing campus is well-leased to a diverse tenant roster across life sciences industries, and is anchored by Grifols, a Los Angeles-based global pharmaceutical manufacturer. At this site, Oxford plans to use the more than 18 acres of vacant land for the development of two dedicated life sciences buildings. Additionally, the firm plans to convert two existing buildings wholly to life sciences tenants as vacancies materialize. For 78 TW Alexander Drive, Oxford plans to build a 95,500-square-foot Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) facility to be developed on the 14.5-acre parcel of land adjacent to Research Commons.
ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. — Denver-based Avanti Residential has purchased Artistry, a 246-unit apartment community in downtown St. Petersburg, for $92 million. Patrick Dufour and Andrew Visnick of Newmark represented the seller and property developer, Indianapolis-based Milhaus Development, in the transaction. Charlie Williams of Newmark arranged an acquisition loan through Freddie Mac. Built in 2020, Artistry offers studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom floorplans. Units feature in-unit washers and dryers, walk-in closets and a tub and shower. Community amenities include a pool, fitness center, elevator, controlled access, grill, pet play area, pet washing station and 10,000 square feet of onsite retail space. The project was fully leased at the time of sale. Located at 1661 Central Ave., the property is situated close to the Imagine Museum, a glass art museum, as well as restaurants such as The Burg Bar & Grill, Half Baked Potato, Brooklyn South and Ferg’s Sports Bar & Grill. Additionally, the property is less than a half-mile from Tropicana Field, home ballpark of the Tampa Bay Rays.
STARKVILLE, MISS. — Colliers has arranged the sale of The Vista, a 309-unit, 820-bed student housing development located less than a mile from Mississippi State University in Starkville. Atlanta-based Student Quarters purchased the newly built property from Fenton, Mich.-based IMS Properties for an undisclosed price. Sean Baird and Jonathan Holt of Colliers facilitated the transaction. Developed by IMS Properties in 2020, The Vista offers one-, two-, three-, four- and five-bedroom floorplan options. Community amenities include a saltwater pool and poolside cabanas, 24-hour athletic club, dog park, yoga studio, game room, electric vehicle charging stations and a lounge. The property also features 5,137 square feet of ground-floor retail space. Located at 705 University Drive, the property is situated a half-mile from Davis Wade Stadium, the home arena of the Mississippi State Bulldogs football team. The property is also located close to restaurants such as Two Brothers Smoked Meats, The Dapper Doughnut, NutriGroove, Bulldog Burger Co. Starkville and Starkvegas Snowballs.
