Development

SEATTLE — Amazon has launched its Housing Equity Fund, a more than $2 billion commitment to preserve and create over 20,000 affordable housing units in Washington State’s Puget Sound region; Arlington, Va.; and Nashville, Tenn. — three metro areas where the company has or expects to have at least 5,000 employees each in the coming years. Amazon’s first investments include $381.9 million in below-market loans and grants to the nonprofit organization Washington Housing Conservancy (WHC) to preserve and create up to 1,300 affordable units at the Crystal House multifamily property in Arlington. WHC purchased Crystal House recently using Amazon’s capital. Rents at the property will be significantly lowered to target households earning less than 80 percent of the area median income (AMI). The conversion of existing apartments to affordable units began on Jan. 1 and will continue over the next five years. A 99-year covenant ensures that Crystal House will remain affordable for the long term. Arlington County has lost approximately 14,400 privately owned, affordably priced housing units since 2000, according to the county’s government. In addition, the Seattle-based online retail giant has committed $185.5 million in below-market loans and grants to King County Housing Authority (KCHA) to preserve up …

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3401-S-La-Cienega-Blvd-Los-Angeles-CA

LOS ANGELES — In a 50-50 joint venture, Lendlease and Aware Super, an Australian superannuation fund, have acquired a 3.5-acre, transit-oriented, mixed-use development site at 3401 S. La Cienega Blvd. in Los Angeles. La Cienega Properties sold the 156,380-square-foot site for $92 million. The team plans to develop a 500,000-square-foot mid-rise project offering 260 multifamily residential units, 250,000 square feet of creative office space and ground-floor retail space. The site offers transit access to the beach and downtown Los Angeles, as well as the Exposition Corridor Bike Path. Lendlease aims to submit an application to the City of Los Angeles this year and plans to commence development in 2023, with completion slated for 2025. The site currently houses 1,144 self-storage units, totaling 86,897 rentable square feet, which will provide a steady in-place income stream for the partnership during the development planning. Upon completion, the project, which is the partnership’s first Los Angeles development, will have an estimated value of $600 million. Kevin Shannon, Ken White, Rob Hannan and Laura Stumm of Newmark represented the seller in the deal.

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Bridge-Development-Partners

MILTON, WASH. — Bridge Development Partners has purchased a 117-acre land site in Milton, three miles from the Port of Tacoma, for an undisclosed price. The company plans to develop Bridge Point I-5 Seattle, a four-building, 1.9 million-square-foot industrial park at the site. Bridge Point I-5 will be delivered in two phases: a 1 million-square-foot cross-dock facility to be delivered in first-quarter 2023 and three single-load buildings totaling 921,270 square feet to be delivered in 2024. Of the 117 acres purchased, 89 acres will be used for Bridge Point I-5 Seattle. The four planned industrial buildings will range in size from 119,022 square feet up to 1 million square feet. The facilities will feature 32- to 40-foot clear heights, ESFR sprinklers, LED lighting, 1,218 car parking spaces, and 130- to 185-foot truck courts. Mike Newton of Kidder Mathews represented Bridge, while Bob Naber of NAI Puget Sound Properties represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction. Newton was retained to serve as leasing agent for the project.

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PONTOON BEACH, ILL. — Contegra Construction Co. has completed the second warehouse at NorthPoint Development’s Gateway Tradeport in Pontoon Beach near St. Louis. Contegra built the 544,000-square-foot property six months after completing the first warehouse at the 600-acre industrial park. The new building features a clear height of 40 feet, 56 dock doors and parking for 157 trailers. JLL is handling the lease-up. Contegra also made a series of infrastructure improvements to facilitate future development at the site.

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O’FALLON, ILL. — IMPACT Strategies has broken ground on a 36,000-square-foot, three-story medical office building in O’Fallon near St. Louis. Known as 50 West Office Building, the Class A project will be situated near the new St. Elizabeth’s Medical Facility. The new building will house the practices of Advanced Vision Care and Ideal Eye Surgery. Construction is slated for completion in July. The Striler Group is serving as the owner’s representative.

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CARY, N.C. — Epic Games Inc., a global gaming company whose products include the hit video game “Fortnite,” has purchased a distressed mall in Cary for its new headquarters campus. The property, Cary Towne Center, spans 980,000 square feet and in recent years lost three of its five anchor tenants, with only Dave & Buster’s and Belk remaining. Epic purchased the 87-acre site from Turnbridge Equities and Denali Properties for $95 million. Stephen Porterfield of Capital Associates represented Epic in the transaction. Founded in 1991, Epic has had its headquarters in Cary for more than 20 years and will continue to operate from its offices at 620 Crossroads Blvd. until completion of the redevelopment, which is estimated to be in 2024. Epic plans to break ground on the adaptive reuse project this year, thanks in part to Turnbridge and Denali getting Cary Towne Center rezoned in late 2019. The developers purchased the distressed mall in January 2019 for $31 million, according to Triangle Business Journal. Turnbridge and Denali had planned to transform the mall into a 4 million-square-foot project dubbed Carolina Yards, but ultimately decided to sell the property to Epic. “Epic shares our vision for transforming Cary Towne Center …

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PHILADELPHIA — DH Property Holdings will develop a 733,800-square-foot distribution center on a 69-acre parcel at 5000 Richmond St. in Philadelphia, a project that is valued at $115 million. The site is located near Interstate 95, about six miles from the Center City area, and will house a 351,800-square-foot side-load building and a 382,000-square-foot cross-dock building. Walker & Dunlop arranged a limited equity partner to assist DH Property Holdings with the project. A construction timeline was not released.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Bank OZK has provided $174 million in construction financing for Upton Place on Wisconsin, a planned mixed-use development in Washington, D.C., that will feature 689 multifamily units and 100,000 square feet of retail space. Eastdil Secured arranged the loan. The borrowers and developers, Apartment Investment Management Co. (Aimco) and The Donohoe Cos. Inc., expect to break ground in early 2021 and deliver the project in 2024. Donohoe originally developed the site, situated at 4000 Wisconsin Ave., in 1987 as the headquarters for Fannie Mae. The site has sat vacant since Fannie Mae consolidated its headquarters in downtown D.C. in 2014. Upton Place on Wisconsin will comprise a six- and an eight-story building. The multifamily portion is expected to include 65 affordable housing units. SK+I Architecture designed Upton Place to include most of the existing 825 below-grade parking spaces. Communal amenities will include a rooftop pool, three internal courtyards, barbecue areas, fitness center and a yoga studio.

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CARENCRO, LA. — Amazon has chosen Carencro for a new $100 million fulfillment center, its first in the state of Louisiana. The Seattle-based e-commerce giant currently operates three delivery centers and seven Whole Foods stores in the state. The property is expected to house 500 full-time employees upon completion, which is slated for the end of 2021. The asset will be situated in Lafayette Parish at the former site of the original Evangeline Downs Casino and Racetrack, near Interstates 49 and 10. Employees at the fulfillment center will pick, pack and ship bulky or larger-sized items, such as patio furniture, outdoor equipment and rugs. Amazon expects the facility to span 1 million square feet.

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ATLANTA — Wells Fargo Bank has provided two construction loans totaling $290 million for Midtown Union, a mixed-use development that broke ground last December in Midtown Atlanta. A joint venture between MetLife Investment Management and Granite Properties is developing a 26-story, 612,000-square-foot office building at the project that will serve as the future headquarters of Invesco. Wells Fargo provided the joint venture with a $210 million loan for the office building, for which general contractor Brasfield & Gorrie has completed seven stories. The office tower will feature 24,000 square feet of ground-level retail, a 12,000-square-foot terrace on the eighth floor, a fitness center and 14-foot floor-to-ceiling windows. Cooper Carry designed the building to also feature an HVAC system that features MERV 13 air filters and Needlepoint Bipolar Ionization technology to combat COVID-19. Additionally, a joint venture between MetLife Investment Management and StreetLights Residential received an $80 million loan for Midtown Union’s 18-story, 355-unit multifamily community adjacent to the office tower. Brasfield & Gorrie has completed 12 levels of the residential space and expects to deliver both buildings in the third quarter of 2022. The community will offer studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans. Communal amenities will include coworking space, …

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