MINNEAPOLIS — A partnership between locally based developer Mortenson and The University of Minnesota Foundation Real Estate Advisors (UMFREA) is in the planning stages of a 12-acre mixed-use village on the eastern edge of the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus. The project, which will span 3 million square feet, is named The Minnesota Innovation Exchange, or “The MIX.” Located in Minneapolis, the development site is bounded to the north by the school’s Biomedical Discovery District and the football stadium, Huntington Bank Stadium. The MIX is bounded to the south by the university’s future clinical campus expansion. Mortensen and UMFREA, which oversees the real estate decisions of the University of Minnesota Foundation, recently selected commercial real estate services giant CBRE to lease The MIX. At full build-out, the private development will include research-and-development space, creative offices, hotel rooms, apartments, shops and restaurants. The project team, which includes architectural firm HGA, hopes to attract life sciences users to The MIX to capitalize on the Twin Cities’ reputation as a hub for health and science activity, including a concentration of medical device manufacturers headlined by Medtronic and 3M. “This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for prospective tenants to participate in the most unique …
Development
MIAMI — OKO Group and Cain International have completed the development of 830 Brickell, a 57-story office tower located in Miami. Totaling 640,000 square feet, the fully leased building has now received its temporary certificate of occupancy (TCO) from the City of Miami. Tenants — which include Microsoft, Citadel, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Marsh Insurance, Sidley Austin LLP, CI Financial (Corient), Thoma Bravo, Santander Bank and A-CAP — will now begin build-outs and take occupancy of their respective spaces. Roughly 20 percent of the building is already occupied and operational. The project team includes architect Adriam Smith + Gordon Gill and interior designer Iosa Ghini Associati. Amenities at the building will include a Mediterranean restaurant with a private terrace, bar and private club, health and wellness center, conference facilities, an outdoor terrace and cafés and street-level retail space. Construction of 830 Brickell began in 2020.
DURHAM, N.C. — AvalonBay Communities is underway on the development of Avalon Oakridge, a 930-unit multifamily project located on Durham-Chapel Hill Boulevard in Durham. Phase I, which comprises 459 apartment units averaging 932 square feet in size, broke ground earlier this year, with move-ins scheduled to begin in fall 2026. AvalonBay Communities has now acquired 7.8 acres from Beacon Properties Group for Phases II and III of the development, which will together total 471 apartment units. Amenities at the community will include a fitness center, swimming pool, outdoor courtyards with grilling areas, a resident lounge with coworking spaces, pet spa with a dog washing station and onsite bike storage. Chester Allen, Howard Jenkins and Tiffany Hilburn of CBRE represented Beacon Properties Group in the land sale, which marks the second transaction between the seller and AvalonBay Communities at the site.
Toll Brothers Campus Living Completes $91M Student Housing Development Near Georgia Tech
by John Nelson
ATLANTA — Toll Brothers Campus Living has completed Kinetic, a $91 million student housing development located near the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) campus in Midtown Atlanta. US Bank provided construction financing for the 752-bed project, which broke ground in July 2022. The community offers 239 fully furnished units with bed-to-bath parity in one- through five-bedroom configurations. Shared amenities include study lounges with private and collaborative workspace; a high-tech content studio; coffee bar; community room with a large-screen TV; e-sports lounge; social lounges; and a fitness center with modern equipment and a sauna. Kinetic also features a sky lounge on the 34th floor with a swimming pool and an outdoor courtyard with grills and rooftop dining space.
BD Hotels Secures $75M Construction Financing for Hotel at Nora District in West Palm Beach
by John Nelson
WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. — BD Hotels has secured a $75 million construction loan for The Nora Hotel, a 201-room hotel to be developed within the Nora District mixed-use project in West Palm Beach. Metropolitan Commercial Bank provided the financing, which Steven Klein and Mark Fisher of JLL arranged on behalf of the borrower. Developed in partnership with NDT Development, Place Projects and Wheelock Street Capital, the property will feature Pastis West Palm Beach as a ground-floor restaurant, and STARR Restaurants will operate the hotel’s rooftop restaurant and lounge, as well as the hotel’s in-room dining service. A construction timeline for the hotel was not disclosed. Phase 1 of the Nora District broke ground in June 2023 and will feature 150,000 square feet of retail, office and hospitality space. Confirmed retailers at the project include Loco Taqueria & Oyster Bar, H&H Bagels, Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, The Garret Group, Juliana’s Pizza, Celis Juice Bar and Café, Del Mar Mediterranean Restaurant, Sana Skin Studio, Mint, The Spot Barbershop, [solidcore] and Sunday Motor Co.
ATLANTA — Entertainment retail concept The Game Show Challenge has signed a 3,889-square-foot lease at Lee + White, an adaptive reuse development located in the West End of Atlanta. Kelly Wilson of Ackerman Retail arranged the lease on behalf of the developers, Ackerman & Co. and MDH Partners. Located in Building 1000, the space will feature two studios with interactive games. The venue is scheduled to open later this year and marks the third location for The Game Show Challenge, which also operates outposts in Columbia and Greenville, S.C. Ackerman & Co. and MDH Partners acquired the Lee + White mixed-use property, which totals 442,562 square feet, in 2019. The latest phase of development includes a food hall, creative office space, retail space and a “Great Lawn” with gathering and event space.
FRISCO, TEXAS — The City of Frisco, located north of Dallas, has approved a master development agreement for The Mix, a $3 billion, 112-acre mixed-use project. Under the terms of the deal, the City of Frisco, the Frisco Economic Development Corp. and the Frisco Community Development Corp. will provide $113.4 million in performance-based grants to fund Phase I infrastructure, which includes property remediation and construction of an underground parking garage. The Mix will be located at the former site of Wade Park, a mixed-use development that never materialized at the southeast corner of Lebanon Road and Dallas Parkway. Plans currently call for 2 million square feet of office space, 375,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, two hotels and apartments and townhomes, as well as 16 acres of open green space and a park. The name of the private-sector developer behind the project was not disclosed, but D Magazine reports that New York-based JVP Management took control of the site in 2019.
HUNTLEY, ILL. — Geis Cos. has begun development of a 65,720-square-foot service and sales facility for Rush Truck Centers in the Chicago suburb of Huntley. The development marks the 15th Rush Truck Centers project for Geis. Rush purchased 12 acres next to its existing facility for the new project. Geis will demolish an existing 32,000-square-foot building on the property. Completion is slated for the first quarter of 2026, and the project will be done in three phases.
MILLBRAE, CALIF. — High Street Residential (HSR), the residential subsidiary of Trammell Crow Co., has started construction on One Meadow Glen, an apartment property at 959 El Camino Real in Millbrae, approximately 15 miles south of San Francisco. Situated on 1.8 acres, the six-story property will offer 278 apartments, including 26 affordable units, and 17,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. The studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units will range in size from 450 square feet to 1,460 square feet. Community amenities will include a 25-yard lap pool with spa, sauna, cold plunge, a fitness center, coworking lounge, clubhouse and entertainment lounge, pet wash, resident maker space, secure bike storage and secure parking. Completion is slated for second-quarter 2027. Project partners include BDE Architecture as architect of record and SBI Builders as general contractor. HSR acquired the land from Bay Properties, which plans to retain a retail interest in the property.
Concord Summit Capital Secures $24.5M Construction Loan for Metrocenter Mall Redevelopment in Phoenix
by Amy Works
PHOENIX — Concord Summit Capital has arranged a $24.5 million construction loan for the demolition, abatement and infrastructure entitlements for the redevelopment of Metrocenter, a mall situated on 64 acres in Phoenix. The borrowers and developers are Concord Wilshire and TLG Investment Partners. Kevin O’Grady, Daniel Eidson and Ben Applebaum of Concord Summit Capital sourced the financing for the borrowers. The Metrocenter site will be redeveloped into a mixed-use residential village offering more than 1,218 townhome units and approximately 112,000 square feet of essential and service retail. Vertical construction costs are estimated to be more than $500 million. Concord Wilshire Capital and TLG Investment began the abatement and demolition of the Metrocenter Mall last month.