Development

FOREST PARK, GA. — The Kroger Co. and Ocado, an online grocery retailer based in the United Kingdom, will build a $55 million customer fulfillment center in Forest Park that will create 400 jobs. According to Georgia’s governor’s office, the two companies could invest upwards of $121 million in the center. The announcement of the center, which will be an automated warehouse facility with digital and robotic capabilities, comes on the heels of Kroger and Ocado breaking ground on their first fulfillment center in Monroe, Ohio. The two companies have committed to build 20 centers across the country. This is the second announced center in the Southeast, following a center in Central Florida. The Forest Park customer fulfillment center will be located at 2000 Anvil Block Road within the Gillem Logistics Center and will occupy 375,000 square feet. Kroger already occupies a 1.3 million-square-foot warehouse within the same industrial park. A ground breaking is scheduled for later this year with completion slated for 2021.

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One-Riverway-Houston

HOUSTON — General contractor Endurance Builders has completed renovations of One and Three Riverway, two office buildings totaling 880,000 square feet in Houston. Ziegler Cooper Architects handled the design of the renovation program, which delivered new amenities such as a coffee bar, tenant lounge, fitness center and conference centers. Additionally, law firm McKinney Taylor PC has signed a 10,000-square-foot lease at Three Riverway and will move in this summer, and Commonwealth Projects LLC relocated to a 10,616-square-foot space at One Riverway earlier this year. CBRE handles leasing of the buildings, and Unilev Management Corp. manages them.

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AUSTIN, TEXAS — Greysteel has arranged an undisclosed amount of construction financing for a 71-room hotel project in Austin. The hotel will be located at the intersection of Tech Ridge Boulevard and East Yager Lane and will be operated under InterContinental Hotels Group’s Avid brand. Mitt Patel and Daniel Hartnett of Greysteel arranged the loan, which carries a seven-year term, on behalf of the undisclosed borrower. Construction is underway and expected to be complete by the end of 2020.

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HOFFMAN ESTATES, ILL. — Somerset Development has selected Wight & Co. to provide design services for Bell Works Chicagoland, a redevelopment project transforming the former 1.6 million-square-foot AT&T corporate campus in Hoffman Estates into a mixed-use complex. Plans call for office, coworking, retail and community space. Wight & Co. will serve as the project’s master architect, redesigning its shell and core, public spaces and individual tenant spaces. Wight plans to transform the 67,000-square-foot solarium that served as the AT&T food service area into an event center. Other plans include an 80,000-square-foot conference center and a 29,000-square-foot fitness center. Somerset refers to the project as a “metroburb” and has completed one such project in Monmouth, N.J. The AT&T headquarters, built as the Ameritech Center in 1990, was originally designed by Wight & Co. principal Dirk Lohan.

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CHICAGO — Developer Fifield Cos. will break ground on 740 Aberdeen on Tuesday, July 16. The 11-story, transit-oriented development will offer 188 luxury apartment units in Chicago’s River West neighborhood. The project is scheduled to open in fall 2020. The building will be located less than a block from the CTA Chicago Blue Line station and includes a public park designed by Hitchcock Design Group. Units will range from 540 to 1,513 square feet. Amenities will include a party room, coffee bar, coworking space, fitness center, bike storage, sun terrace, pool and grilling stations. Plans also call for an 80-space parking garage and 2,400 square feet of ground-floor retail space. FitzGerald Associates Architects is the project architect with interiors designed by Morgante Wilson Associates. McHugh Construction is the general contractor.

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COLUMBUS, OHIO — Six new retailers have been confirmed as part of the $500 million expansion of Easton Town Center in Columbus. The retailers include Ivan Kane’s Forty Deuce Café & Speakeasy, Arhaus Furniture, Pins Mechanical Co., The Beeline, Forbidden Root Restaurant and Brewery and Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea. At Forty Deuce, the ground floor will include a café serving burgers and desserts while the upstairs will incorporate a hidden speakeasy. The new Arhaus store will span 17,500 square feet. Ohio-based Pins Mechanical has already opened with 30,000 square feet of bowling, foosball, pinball, duckpin bowling and ping pong. The Beeline is a 3,000-square-foot bar with outdoor entertainment space. Forbidden Root’s 12,000-square-foot location will be its first outside of Chicago and is scheduled to open late this month. Crimson is a Columbus-based coffee roaster. The expansion of Easton will encompass 140,000 square feet of new retail and restaurant space, 125,000 square feet of office space and 750 residential units, all set to open in late 2019 and early 2020. Co-developed by The Georgetown Co., L Brands and Steiner + Associates, Easton is a 1,300-acre mixed-use development in northeast Columbus.

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PAPILLION, NEB. — Darland Construction Co. is underway on a new Chrysler, Dodge, Ram and Jeep dealership near I-80 and Highway 370 in Papillion, a southwest suburb of Omaha. The project spans more than 59,000 square feet, including a showroom, service center, customer lounge, car wash and storage. The dealership will be one of the first in the area to include a hail protection system. The 135,000-square-foot hail netting is designed to protect inventory from hail, heat and ultraviolet rays. Construction began in April and completion is slated for spring 2020. Carlson West Povandra is the project architect.

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BIRMINGHAM, ALA. — Southpace Properties will develop Macaroni Lofts, a mixed-use building in Birmingham’s Parkside District that will include 35 residential units and 6,000 square feet of retail space. Birmingham Business Journal reports the project will cost $11 million to complete. The residential units will span in size from 347 square feet to 1,750 square feet. Situated at the corner of 4th Avenue and 14 Street, Macaroni Lofts is a redevelopment of the former Birmingham Macaroni Co. warehouse, which was built in 1902. The building’s existing structure will remain intact with the addition of rooftop penthouse units with private terraces. The design also incorporates 12 newly constructed residential units on an adjacent lot with a community terrace between the two structures. The development team includes Fifth Dimension Architecture, Commerce One as the lender, Southpace Properties for the commercial space listing(s) and H2 Real Estate for the residential units. Completion is scheduled for summer 2020 with units becoming available for pre-sale this month.

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PEARLAND, TEXAS — California-based Drever Capital Management has broken ground on Larkspur at Shadow Creek, a 257-unit multifamily community in the southwestern Houston suburb of Pearland that will be marketed to seniors age 55 and above. The property will be situated on 12 acres and consist of a 215-unit primary apartment building with 18,000 square feet of amenity space, as well as 42 private cottages. The first units are expected to be complete in the second half of 2020. Drever also recently completed Larkspur at Twin Creeks, a 243-unit age-restricted community in metro Dallas, and is planning another age-restricted project in New Braunfels, a suburb of San Antonio.

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PHOENIX — George Smith Partners has secured $67.2 million in senior construction financing for the ground-up development of a multifamily property in Phoenix. Located immediately north of Phoenix’s central business district, the 17-story high-rise will feature 254 apartments. The non-recourse loan represents 80 percent of the total project cost. Scott Meredith and John Thrall of George Smith Partners advised the undisclosed borrower in the financing.

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