RALEIGH, N.C. — Aventon Cos. will develop Aventon North Ridge, a 372-unit apartment community in Raleigh. Aventon expects construction to cost $140 million and to open the community in late 2021. The asset will comprise four three- and four-story buildings, 12 detached carriage homes over private garages and a two-story clubhouse. The property will offer one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans. Communal amenities will include a fitness center, yoga studio, media lounges, podcast studio, pool, two dog parks and an outdoor kitchen. Cline Design Associates is the architect. Locally based Aventon acquired 39 acres to develop the project, which will span 26 acres in its first phase. Aventon will develop the additional 13 acres into a separate multifamily community, for which further details were not disclosed.
Development
NEW CANEY, TEXAS — Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW) will open a 1.5 million-square-foot distribution center on the northern outskirts of Houston, creating about 200 jobs in the process, according to reports from multiple news outlets including Community Impact Newspaper and the Houston Business Journal. According to the former publication, the home improvement retailer’s new center will be located along Gene Campbell Road in New Caney at the East Montgomery County Improvement District’s industrial park. Local ABC affiliate abc13.com also reports that the facility is expected to open in July and represents approximately $65 million in public and private capital investment. The stock price of Lowe’s opened at $151.99 per share on Friday, Dec. 3, up from $115 per share a year ago.
ST. LOUIS — IMPACT Strategies has broken ground on 2200 LaSalle at Lafayette Square, a 128-unit luxury apartment development in the historic Lafayette Square district of St. Louis. The $25 million project is a redevelopment of a 12-acre industrial site. Cornerstone Development and Chouteau Avenue Partners are the developers while HOK Architects is the project architect. The five-story property will include a two-story parking structure. An amenity deck level will include a private bar, clubroom and fitness area, as well as an outdoor space with a pavilion, fire pit, grilling station and pool. Completion is slated for mid-2022.
OVERLAND PARK, KAN. — Midas Hospitality has opened its first hotel property in Overland Park. Located at 4081 Indian Creek Parkway, the $20 million SpringHill Suites rises five stories with 128 suites. Amenities at the all-suite hotel include a fitness center, indoor swimming pool and meeting room. The property is situated near the Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens. Midas served as developer and Thomas Construction was the general contractor. Midas will manage the new hotel, with Rosa Perez serving as general manager. Midas owns and manages 38 hotels across the country, three of which are in Kansas. SpringHill Suites is under the Marriott umbrella of hotels. In response to COVID-19, Marriott has implemented the Marriott Cleanliness Council, which actively monitors cleaning and safety standards. Face masks and social distancing are implemented within amenity areas.
High Street Residential, Principal Real Estate Investors Plan 318-Unit Llewellyn Multifamily Property in Los Angeles
by Amy Works
LOS ANGELES — High Street Residential and Principal Real Estate Investors have announced plans for Llewellyn, an apartment community located in Mission Junction on the eastern edge of Los Angeles’ Chinatown neighborhood. Located at 1101 N. Main St. at the intersection of Llewellyn Street, the development features 318 units in a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom layouts, as well as 15 ground-floor units with individual entrances and direct access to private outdoor patios. Pre-leasing for the community began in October, with occupancy slated for January 2021. Community amenities include a 1,700-square-foot co-lab workspace; soundproof music room; two rooftop decks with mountain and cityscape views; three communal courtyards; heated pool and spa; multiple indoor/outdoor entertaining spaces with fire pits and barbecue grills; outdoor children’s play area; double-height fitness center; dog park; and bike service room. High Street Residential broke ground on the seven-story property in May 2019. Project partners include KFA as architect, T.B. Penick & Sons as contractor, CDC Designs for interiors, Altitude Design Office for branding and Greystar for property management. Compass is serving as the exclusive leasing agent.
PHILADELPHIA — A partnership between developers Silverstein Properties and University Place Associates, as well as financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald LP, will develop a 250,000-square-foot life sciences facility in Philadelphia. The property will be named 3.0 University Place in reference to its location within the University City area, a hotbed of life sciences growth. The Steward Partnership is designing the eight-story lab and office building, which is expected to come on line in the fourth quarter of 2022. According to the Philadelphia Business Journal, the project has a price tag of $56 million.
LAS VEGAS — Brass Cap Development is nearing completion on Brass Diablo, a $5 million industrial complex in Las Vegas. LM Construction as design-build contractor utilized the Tilt Insulating Panel System, which enables crews to lift warehouse walls in one day during the building’s construction. Located at the southwest corner of Diablo Drive and Edmond Street, the facility features 25,000 square feet of industrial space, with 10,000 square feet remaining for lease. Bleu Blanc Rouge, a Las Vegas-based caterer, has leased 15,000 square feet of space at the property. Paul Sweetland, Dan Doherty, Chris Lane and Jerry Doty of Colliers International are handling leasing for the remaining available space.
ORANGE, N.J. — Lee & Associates has arranged a $12.5 million construction loan for The Legacy, a 51-unit multifamily project that will be located in the Newark suburb of Orange. The property will offer one- and two-bedroom units and a fitness center and rooftop deck. Gary Sopko and Jerry Joseph of Lee & Associates arranged the loan on behalf of the private developer, former NFL player Kimble Wright. Construction is scheduled to begin this month and to be complete in spring 2022. Parkview Financial provided the loan.
Cousins Properties Acquires RailYard Office Building, Adjacent Parcel in Charlotte’s South End for $229.1M
by Alex Tostado
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Cousins Properties has acquired RailYard, a 328,985-square-foot office building, and an adjacent 3.4-acre plot for the development of a mixed-use project in Charlotte’s South End district. The Atlanta-based REIT paid $201 million for RailYard and $28.1 million for the land. Charlotte-based Beacon Partners delivered RailYard in 2019 and sold it to Cousins for approximately $611 per square foot. At the time of sale, the 296,392-square-foot office portion was 97 percent leased to tenants including Allstate, Parsons Corp., EY, Slalom Consulting and WeWork. RailYard also features 32,593 square feet of ground-level retail space. Patrick Gildea, Matt Smith, Will Yowell, Grayson Hawkins and Brandon McMenomy of CBRE represented Beacon Partners in the sale. Cousins Properties acquired the adjacent land, which features access to the Bland Street Metro Station, from an undisclosed seller. Cousins plans to develop a mixed-use project spanning up to 700,000 square feet that will include office and residential space.
MEBANE, N.C. — Chick-fil-A will develop a $52 million distribution center in the Durham suburb of Mebane. The property is expected to open in early 2022 and house 160 employees. The facility will be situated about 25 miles west of downtown Durham near Interstate 85. In 2019, the Atlanta-based restaurant chain launched its distribution company, Chick-fil-A Supply LLC, to serve its restaurants. This will be Chick-fil-A’s second distribution center, joining the location in Cartersville, Ga. Chick-fil-A operates 2,600 restaurants in 47 states, Washington, D.C. and Canada.