LOXLEY, ALA. — Aldi will develop a regional office and distribution center in Loxley. The facility will serve Aldi grocery stores in southern Alabama, the Florida Panhandle and Louisiana. Details of the building were not disclosed, but multiple media outlets report the property will span 564,000 square feet upon completion. Aldi operates 180 stores in Florida and Alabama. The German-based grocer plans to break ground on the distribution center in 2021. The exact location of the facility was not disclosed. but Loxley is located 22 miles east of Mobile and 40 miles west of Pensacola, Fla. Aldi plans to open 70 stores nationwide by the end of 2020.
TITUSVILLE, FLA. — North American Properties (NAP) has acquired 21 acres in Titusville to develop industrial and office space. Phase I of the project will include 135,000 square feet of commercial space spread across multiple buildings. DAG Architects is the designer, NAI Talcor is handling sales and leasing, The Taproot Agency is serving as an advisor, Collins Brown Barkett Chartered is providing legal counsel and Atkins is the civil engineer. NAP expects to have Phase I ready to lease in the next 12 months, according to Shawn McIntyre, NAP Florida managing partner. A timeline for construction was not disclosed. The land is situated on the southeast corner of U.S. Highway 1 and NASA Causeway, seven miles west of the Kennedy Space Center. This is the first project in Florida’s Space Coast for the Cincinnati-based developer, which was attracted to the area’s concentration of global aerospace giants such as SpaceX, Blue Origin, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and United Launch Alliance.
LOS ANGELES — Hankey Investment Co. and Jamison Properties have completed vertical construction of Kurve on Wilshire, a 23-story residential tower located at 2900 Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles’ Koreatown neighborhood. Scheduled to open in spring 2021, Kurve on Wilshire will feature 644 apartments atop a six-story podium housing the building’s 1,100-vehicle parking garage, as well as a one-acre park and amenity deck. Apartments will range from studios to two-story, three-bedroom penthouses with a private sky yard and spa. Rents are expected to start around $2,200 per month. Common-area amenities will include a fitness center, clubhouse, pool, spa, business center, private open-air dining areas, barbecues, fire pits, dog park, Zen garden and viewing deck of the downtown Los Angeles skyline. The $300 million development will also feature 15,000 square feet of street-level retail space catering to residents, locals and Koreatown visitors. The project team includes Large Architecture, Dianna Wong Architecture + Interior Design, and AECOM and Wilshire Construction as a joint venture construction team.
THORNTON, COLO. — EverWest Real Estate Investors, in a joint venture with Invesco, has acquired a two-building speculative industrial project located at 14901 N. Washington St. in Thornton. RE II Industrial II sold the property, which fronts Interstate 25, for an undisclosed price. The acquisition includes an adjacent, pad-ready site where EverWest, serving as developer, plans to build a 121,000-square-foot Class A industrial building. The new facility will complement the existing 219,000 square feet of speculative industrial space at the site, which also includes 46.4 acres of undeveloped land. With the undeveloped land, EverWest has the option to build a second and third phase totaling an additional 590,000 square feet of new industrial space.
EL PASO, TEXAS — Amazon will open a 625,000-square-foot fulfillment center in El Paso, a move that marks the e-commerce giant’s entrance to that market and that is expected to create about 700 new full-time jobs. Local news station and ABC affiliate KVIA reports that the site will be located along Rojas Drive and Interstate 10 on the city’s east side. Construction is underway, and the facility is expected to open some time in 2021. KVIA also reports that Amazon did not seek any tax breaks or other economic incentives from the City of El Paso.
MANSFIELD, TEXAS — Locally based firm Realty Capital Management has partnered with South Florida-based PointOne Holdings to develop Phase II of Main Street Lofts, a project in the Fort Worth suburb of Mansfield that will add 266 apartments to the local supply. Phase II will be developed on an eight-acre site and will include amenities such as a pool, fitness center, multiple lounges, resident clubhouse and access to walking and biking trails. JHP Architecture is designing the project, and NRP Construction is the general contractor. First United Bank provided construction financing. Completion is scheduled for the first quarter of 2022.
DALLAS — McCarthy Building Cos. has topped out construction of the Noble Performing Arts Center at Parish Episcopal School’s Midway campus in Dallas. The building, which is part of a 55,000-square-foot expansion project at the private school, will house a 515-seat performance hall, a 120-seat black box theater, rehearsal rooms, a film screening room and a dance studio. McCarthy broke ground on the project in November 2019 and expects to complete the project by spring 2021.
LINCOLN, NEB. — McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. has broken ground on a six-story boutique hotel at Lincoln’s Nebraska Innovation Campus, an expansive research community designed to facilitate partnerships between the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and private-sector businesses. Developed by Goldenrod Cos., the $23 million project will be a Marriott Tribute hotel with 154 rooms. Marriott Tribute hotels are independent, boutique properties that embrace the character and personality of their surroundings. In this case, the design aesthetic will celebrate the state of Nebraska, the university and its fans. A 10,000-square-foot portion of the hotel’s first level will be designated as educational and amenity spaces for the University of Nebraska’s hospitality, tourism and restaurant management students. Other amenities will include a full-service restaurant, rooftop bar, coffee shop, fitness center and a private dining area on the top floor known as the Founders Room. DLR Group designed the hotel. Completion is slated for fall 2021.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Electric automaker Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has selected a 2,000-acre site near Austin for the development of its latest $1 billion ‘Gigafactory.’ The vehicle manufacturing plant will build Tesla’s new Cybertruck pick-up truck and will be the second U.S. manufacturing site for the Model 3 and Model Y automobiles, distributing largely to the eastern half of North America. The development site is located in southeast Travis County, five minutes from the Austin International Airport and 15 minutes from Downtown Austin, according to Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The project is set to receive $60 million in tax breaks from the county and a local school district over the next decade, according to reports by the Associated Press. “We’re going to make it a factory that is going to be stunning,” said Musk on the company’s second-quarter earnings call held Wednesday. “It’s right on the Colorado River [with] a boardwalk where there will be a hiking and biking trail. It’s going to be an ecological paradise — birds in the trees, butterflies, fish in the stream — and it will be open to the public as well.” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott echoed Musk’s excitement, noting that Tesla is, “one of …
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Greystar is underway on a project to renovate some 2,000 units at Riata Austin, the state capital’s largest apartment community that was developed in the late 1990s by a group of investors led by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. The project began with upgrades to amenity spaces, including the pool, outdoor dining area, bocce ball court and 11,000-square-foot fitness center. The project team is also underway on work to deliver new amenities such as a music lounge, playground, volleyball court, dog park and the surrounding trail system. Charleston, S.C.-based Greystar expects to compete renovations to amenity and public spaces by the end of the year. Upgrades of unit interiors are being conducted in conjunction with resident move-outs.