LOUISVILLE, KY. — Kansas City, Mo.-based Hunt Midwest will develop Blankenbaker Logistics Center, a speculative industrial building located 13 miles southeast of downtown Louisville within Blankenbaker Station business park. Blankenbaker Logistics Center will occupy a 20-acre site at 13007 Rehl Road and include more than 322,000 square feet of leasable space, 187 surface parking stalls, 44 tractor trailer parking stalls and a 140-foot truck court. Building features will include 32 dock positions in a cross-dock configuration with 36-foot clear heights, four drive-in doors and mechanical dock equipment. Completion of the Blankenbaker Logistics Center is scheduled for December of this year. Located south of Interstate 64 and west of Interstate 265, Blankenbaker Logistics Center will be adjacent to the local FedEx Ground terminal, with access to UPS Worldport and Ford’s Kentucky Truck and Louisville Assembly Plants. The design team includes civil engineer Mindel Scott, architect H2B Architects and general contractor Summit Construction. Kevin Grove of CBRE will represent Hunt Midwest in the lease-up of the facility.
Development
BUFORD, GA. — Allied Esports, a global esports entertainment company, and Simon Property Group Inc., a REIT and shopping mall operator, have announced that Mall of Georgia in Buford will be the location for the companies’ first dedicated esports venue. The two-level, 13,000-square-foot facility will be a gaming and esports destination. The venue will feature regular amateur and professional esports tournaments and events spanning a variety of games and genres. The location, which will have full broadcast and streaming production capabilities, will also offer PCs and consoles for daily use, full food and beverage options and experiential retail. The redevelopment of the current retail space is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2020, with an opening of the venue anticipated in the second half of the year. Mall of Georgia, the largest shopping destination in the Southeast, features more than 200 shops, a dining pavilion and movie theater. Allied Esports and Simon announced a strategic alliance in June 2019. The two companies plan to open dedicated esports venues at Simon centers around the country and create a co-produced national amateur esports tournament — the Simon Cup — featuring online competition and in-person events at Simon locations.
SEATTLE and TACOMA, WASH. — Madison Realty Corp. has originated a $27 million first mortgage loan. The financing will allow the undisclosed borrower to complete construction of an eight-story, 158,952-square-foot mixed-use rental building with 144 apartments and 5,917 square feet of ground-floor retail space in Tacoma. The property is already 65 percent complete and will be a key component of The Tacoma Town Center, a multi-purpose, mixed-use, urban development that will include multifamily, retail and office space. Located in Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood, the mixed-use property will feature apartments on floors three through eight in a unit mix of 36 studios, 83 one-bedrooms and 25 two-bedrooms. A partially subterranean, 116-space parking garage will cover the three bottom floors with an entrance/exit along 23rd Street. A 1,000-square-foot amenity room will be located on the third floor. Additionally, the borrower used the funding to refinance an existing land loan on a 9,878-square-foot development site in the Denny Triangle/Belltown neighborhood of downtown Seattle. The site currently houses a vacant restaurant property and is entitled for a future condominium tower.
ST. LOUIS — McCarthy Building Cos. has completed construction of the St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station. The 120,000-square-foot, two-story attraction is situated inside a nearly 500,000-square-foot, 19th-century train shed designated as a national landmark. Featuring 1.3 million gallons of water and thousands of aquatic animals, the aquarium is the centerpiece of a $160 million family entertainment complex developed for Union Station by Lodging Hospitality Management. PGAV Destinations designed the project. ZoOceanarium Group will operate and manage the aquarium.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Beacon Partners has purchased two parcels totaling over 7.6 acres in Charlotte from Raleigh-based Cherokee Fund that will house a five-story, office building. The project will be part of LoSo Station, a mixed-use development in Charlotte’s Lower South End (LoSo) neighborhood. Beacon’s office development will encompass 80,000 square feet of office and retail space, with an expected move-in date of 2021. The design team for the office building includes RBA Architects and landscape architect LandDesign. Beacon’s Kristy Venning is overseeing leasing. The 15-acre LoSo Station is master-planned to include over 1 million square feet of office and retail space, a hotel and 350 multifamily units to be developed by Crescent Communities. LoSo Station is located directly across from the Scaleybark Lynx Station and is situated on the Charlotte Rail Trail, a 3.5-mile public path. The master plan for LoSo Station incorporates rooftop entertainment, meeting space, outdoor retail plazas and athletic fields.
Gables Residential Opens Transit-Oriented Apartment Community in Arlington, Virginia
by Alex Tostado
ARLINGTON, VA. — Gables Residential has opened Gables Pointe 14, a 370-unit apartment community in the Fort Myer Heights neighborhood of Arlington. KTGY Architecture + Planning designed the LEED Silver-certified complex, which features Art Deco elements. Located at 1351 N. Rolfe St. near Route 50, the development comprises a six-story mid-rise building and a 12-story high-rise building. The urban-infill development is located on a 2.2-acre, triangular-shaped site that is within walking distance to the Court House and Rosslyn Metro stations. The complex offers studios, one-, two and three-bedroom apartment homes, as well as townhomes. Amenities include a 24-hour work center with a business bar and conference rooms, subterranean parking, fitness center featuring on-demand classes, bike storage and repair station, a resident lounge with free Wi-Fi, theater room, dog wash station and concierge services. Gables Pointe 14 also has a private outdoor courtyard and a rooftop pool and lounge.
NASSAU BAY, TEXAS — Birmingham, Ala.-based Hoar Construction has broken ground on Houston Methodist Clear Lake Medical Office Building, a 158,000-square-foot project that represents the first phase of the hospital’s master-planned site in Nassau Bay, located southeast of Houston. The six-story building will house orthopedics and sports medicine practices with two floors devoted to physical therapy and a sports medicine gym and clinic. Completion is scheduled for the first quarter of 2021. Houston Methodist current operates a major facility at Texas Medical Center in addition to six community hospitals throughout the greater Houston area.
TUCSON, ARIZ. — Watermark Retirement Communities has opened The Hacienda at the Canyon, an independent living, assisted living and memory care community in Tucson. The property is located on 10.5 acres at the historic landmark site of St. Anne’s Convent at Sabino Canyon. The community features an on-site integrative healthcare clinic run by TMCOne, two on-site home health care agencies, integrated personal wearable technologies and fitness systems. The development is the first to open under Watermark’s new upscale Élan Collection brand. Future locations are slated for Brooklyn Heights, Napa Valley and Westwood Village (Los Angeles).
MILWAUKEE — Wisconsin Center District has selected Gilbane Building Co. and CD Smith (Gilbane Smith) to serve as construction manager for the expansion of the Wisconsin Center convention hall. Gilbane Smith and the architecture team of tvsdesign and EUA will immediately begin working together to formulate the design and determine a cost estimate for the project. However, the Milwaukee Business Journal estimates project costs at $300 million. Renderings are expected early in the second quarter. The Wisconsin Center District Board is expected to vote on a financing package for the project at a meeting on Thursday, April 2. The district owner’s representative is CAA/ICON. Wisconsin Center District is a government body created in 1994 to fund, build and operate the Wisconsin Center.
ANN ARBOR, MICH. — Michigan Union at the University of Michigan has reopened following an 18-month, $85.2 million renovation. The project included electrical, mechanical and plumbing system improvements; elevator replacements and upgrades; replacement of the roof and windows; and restroom upgrades. The building now features more social space, meeting options and a newly created IdeaHub. Project architects included Integrated Design Solutions, Workshop Architects and Hartman Cox Architects. Walbridge Aldinger served as construction manager and contracted Full Spectrum Stained Glass to complete a preservation of the century-old windows. Originally built in 1919, the building spans 250,000 square feet. There are more than 44,000 enrolled students at the university.