HALTOM CITY, TEXAS — Dallas-based MYCON General Contractors has broken ground on an approximately 1,600-unit self-storage facility for U-Haul in Haltom City, located north of Fort Worth. The facility will consist of a 28,866-square-foot pre-engineered metal building designated for U-Box storage, a 81,978-square-foot self-storage building and five drive-up storage buildings totaling 15,500 square feet. The project marks MYCON’s eighth collaboration with U-Haul and follows the groundbreaking of an 800-unit facility in Denton. Completion is slated for a March 2025 completion.
LEANDER, TEXAS — Tricon Residential, a subsidiary of Blackstone, has completed a 155-unit build-to-rent-residential project in the northern Austin suburb of Leander. Tricon Bryson features three- to four-bedroom homes with six different configurations that are furnished with stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, two-car garages and fully fenced backyards. Amenities include a pool, playground, dog park and a fishing pond. Tricon developed the property in partnership with HHS Residential, a division of Plano-based Highland Homes. Rents start at $2,169 per month for a three-bedroom home.
NEW YORK CITY — New York City-based developer TF Cornerstone has begun leasing Malt Drive, a 1,386-unit apartment complex in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens. The site is located within the 30-acre Hunter’s Point South mixed-use development along a new city street that was named as a nod to the site’s history as a sugar cane processing facility that later became a beer distribution center. The two-building development houses studio, one- and two-bedroom units and includes 25,000 square feet of retail space and a 3.5-acre public park. The South building at 2-20 Malt Drive rises 33 stories and features 575 units. The adjacent North building comprises 811 apartments across two towers at 2-21 Malt Drive. Thirty percent of units at both buildings will be set aside as affordable housing and will be leased at 130 percent of the area median income. Amenities include coworking space, children’s playrooms, lounges, fitness centers, shared laundry rooms, roof decks with barbecue grills, sundecks and courtyards. SLCE Architects designed the project. Rents start at $3,600 per month for a studio apartment.
PHILADELPHIA — Entrepreneur Justin Meshberg has opened Silk Screen Studios, a 22,774-square-foot creative workspace in Philadelphia. The space is located within the former Process Screen Manufacturing building in the city’s Fishtown neighborhood and houses 57 workstations. Space range in size from 200 to 600 square feet and are equipped with high-speed internet, in-unit climate control options and app-controlled entrances. Members also have access to a bike room, package room and kitchenettes on each floor.
NEWARK, OHIO — Vista Residential Partners has broken ground on Trailhead Vista, a 308-unit apartment community in Newark, about 40 miles east of Columbus. The 15.6-acre project is situated at the northeast corner of West Main Street and Thornwood Drive along the Thornwood Corridor Employment Hub (TECH), which is comprised of five industrial parks totaling over 1,600 acres. Designed by Columbus-based ArchAll, the garden-style community will offer a mix of one- and two-bedroom units averaging 862 square feet. Amenities will include a clubhouse, pool, fitness center, central green area and pet park. Trailhead Vista will also offer access to the TJ Evans Trail, a 14.2-acre trail connecting Newark to Johnstown. Parse Capital, Icarus Capital and Old National Bank provided financing for the development. Krevolin & Horst LLC represented Vista Residential Partners.
LEBANON, IND. — Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE: LLY) has unveiled plans to invest $4.5 billion to create the Lilly Medicine Foundry, a new center for advanced manufacturing and drug development in Lebanon, about 27 miles northwest of Indianapolis. The Medicine Foundry, slated to open in late 2027, will be located in Indiana’s LEAP Research and Innovation District. The project brings Lilly’s total investment in the area to more than $13 billion. Earlier this year, Lilly released plans for a $5.3 billion expansion of its pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Lebanon. “As we accelerate our work to discover new medicines for the toughest diseases, we’re continuing to invest in state-of-the-art infrastructure to support our growing pipeline,” says David Ricks, Lilly’s chair and CEO. “In addition to supplying high-quality medicine for our clinical studies, this new complex will further strengthen our process development and scale up our manufacturing capabilities to speed delivery of next-generation medicines to patients around the world.” Lilly says the flexible design of the new facility will enable production of various molecular therapies, including drug substances for small molecules, biologics and nucleic acid therapies. New technologies developed at the Medicine Foundry will be transferred to Lilly’s other manufacturing sites …
COLLEGE PARK, MD. — A public-private partnership (P3) between Campus Apartments, Mosaic Development Partners and the University of Maryland has broken ground on a $148.8 million graduate student housing project on the university’s campus in College Park. The community is the first of a larger, three-phase development that will replace the existing “Leonardtown” section of campus. Upon completion, which is anticipated for 2027, the building will span 323,000 square feet. The community will offer 741 beds across 465 fully furnished units in studio, two-, three-, four- and five-bedroom configurations. Shared amenities will include a large conference space with interior and exterior courtyards on the ground floor; a penthouse community lounge and terrace; various community breakout spaces; resident parking; and bike storage. The development team for the project, which is targeting LEED Silver certification, includes Gensler, Michael Marshall, Davis Construction and Smoot Construction. RBC Capital Markets arranged financing for the development, which is being funded through tax-exempt bonds.
LAWRENCEVILLE, GA. — Souto Foods, a locally based food distributor and subsidiary of Alex Lee, has leased 200,000 square feet of cold storage and warehouse space at Sugarloaf Logistics Hub, a 2.2 million-square-foot industrial development underway in Gwinnett County. The nearly 300-acre development is located along Sugarloaf Parkway in Lawrenceville within a couple miles of the interchanges of I-85 and Ga. Highway 316. The tenant, which specializes in Latin American and Caribbean food distribution, plans to invest $28 million into the site and hire 70 new positions. Reed Davis of JLL and Stephen Bridges of OnPace Partners represented the landlords, Foxfield LLC and AEW Capital Management, in the lease transaction. Bill Kee of NAI Brannen Goddard represented Souto Foods. In addition to the lease, Foxfield and AEW have sold a 13-acre parcel at Sugarloaf Logistics Hub to Atlanta-based Westplan Investors for a new 330-unit multifamily development. Construction is expected to commence in second-quarter 2025. Scott Cullen of JLL represented the landlords in the land sale.
COVINGTON, LA. — Gulf States Real Estate, Development and Construction Services has announced that Kia of Covington will soon open its new car dealership. The site of the future dealership is located at the intersection of I-12 and US Highway 190 on Louisiana’s Northshore. The Kia franchise owner, Kevin Szura, had paused the development due to rising interest rates and construction costs, resulting in a six-month delay. While Szura worked on finding alternative financing sources, the Gulf States team led by Jason Reibert and Mike Saucier “value engineered” more than $500,000 out of the construction budget, which also required approval from KIA’s corporate design team. “Although we will be entering the market six months later than we had hoped, the value engineering and financing efforts were well worth it given today’s tough business climate for new construction,” says Szura. Mark Holcomb Consulting LLC served as an advisor for the new Kia of Covington project.
RED OAK, TEXAS — Compass Datacenters will undertake a $300 million expansion of its campus in Red Oak, a southern suburb of Dallas, according to reports from multiple publications, including the Dallas Business Journal and Data Center Dynamics. The former publication reports that the locally based owner-operator plans to add three more buildings totaling approximately 755,000 square feet, with each building measuring about 216,000 square feet. The DBJ also reports that construction is already underway on two of those buildings and is scheduled for completion in 2025 or 2026. Most recently, Compass partnered with Schneider Electric on a 103,000-square-foot, build-to-suit manufacturing facility on the Red Oak campus.