WOODBURY, MINN. — Kraus-Anderson has completed Washington County’s new $29.6 million Central Service Center located at 1261 Woodlane Drive next to the Woodbury Village shopping center. The project replaces the existing service center at 2150 Radio Drive in Woodbury. The new center, which will open to the public in late summer, will provide easier transportation and transit options for underserved communities. Designed by Alliance Architects, the 31,375-square-foot building will offer services that include licenses, passports, park permits, homestead applications and property tax payments. It will also house the CareerForce center, an elections polling center and will offer services provided by Public Health, Community Services and Community Corrections. Construction began in May 2024.
Development
Merchants Capital Arranges $25.5M in Construction Financing for Minnesota Affordable Housing Project
SHAKOPEE, MINN. — Merchants Capital has arranged $25.5 million in debt and equity financing for the construction of Prairie Pointe, a 42-unit affordable and supportive housing development in Shakopee. Merchants Capital provided $14.1 million in 9 percent Low-Income Housing Tax Credit equity and secured an $11.4 million bridge loan from Merchants Bank. Developed by Twin Cities-based developer Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative, Prairie Pointe is the only housing development in the area to offer onsite supportive services and rents restricted at 30 percent of the area median income (AMI). Twenty-eight units will be permanently set aside for people experiencing homelessness and/or those with disabilities, and 14 units will be restricted at 50 percent AMI. The permanent supportive housing units will operate under the Minnesota Department of Human Services Housing Support rental subsidy program through Scott County, as well as private subsidy provided by Beacon. Volunteers of America Minnesota and Wisconsin will provide onsite supportive services. Prairie Pointe will feature one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom units. Community spaces will include a gym, donations room, computer and study rooms, children’s playroom and playground. Beacon’s service partner will provide onsite case management, housing stability skills, employment assistance, mental health support and educational programming as …
CHICAGO — The Barry-Hughes Performing Arts Center at Mount Carmel High School in Chicago is now complete. Ware Malcomb provided interior architecture and design services for the renovation of the 70-year-old brick and wood bow-truss building, which is located near Jackson Park in the city’s Woodlawn neighborhood. Mount Carmel High School is an all-boy Catholic high school established in 1900. The latest in a series of campus renovations, the school’s Barry-Hughes Performing Arts Center project transformed an underutilized building into a fully equipped performing arts, music and recording studio facility. The large open space within the performing arts center comprises a flexible theater space that can accommodate audiences of up to 250 patrons. Ancillary uses in the performing arts center include a visual arts flex space, and art and pottery studio, study nooks, a student-run café and storage spaces.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Akridge and National Real Estate Development have opened Colette and Everly, two luxury apartment buildings within The Stacks in the Buzzard Point neighborhood of Washington, D.C. With these openings, the mixed-use project’s first phase is now complete. Phase I of The Stacks totals nearly 1 million square feet and includes 1,116 multifamily units, more than 90,000 square feet of amenity spaces across three apartment buildings, roughly 22,000 square feet of public parks, approximately 40,000 square feet of retail space and 11,000 square feet of coworking space. First move-ins at Colette and Everly are slated for this month. The two buildings total 732 units. “Everly and Colette provide residents with some of the best water views in the region, as well as convenient access to the best of D.C., including The Wharf, Navy Yard and downtown,” says Adam Gooch, managing principal and chief development officer at Akridge. “Between these two new residential towers and their sister building, The Byron, which opened earlier this year, The Stacks offers three distinctive luxury living options to match residents’ needs.” Architecture firm Gensler designed Everly and was the broader design coordinator of The Stacks. Everly features 413 apartment units within a 14-story …
BENTONVILLE, ARK. — Sam’s Club, a division of Bentonville-based Walmart, has announced plans to remodel all 600 of its existing membership-based stores (called “clubs”) nationwide. The stores will be modeled after the Grapevine, Texas, location, which opened in December 2024. The new locations will span 160,000 square feet and include a seafood/sushi island, full-service floral station, walk-in dairy and fresh coolers and a larger healthcare space featuring a patient waiting area, health services suites, private consultation rooms and dedicated hearing and optical centers. As part of its previously announced long-term strategy, Sam’s Club will also open 30 new locations over the next several years while building a pipeline to begin opening 15 new clubs annually. This marks the first expansion since 2017 after Sam’s Club closed 62 locations in 2018. By the end of fiscal 2025, Sam’s Club plans to open two more new locations in Tempe, Ariz., and Lebanon, Tenn., with further plans to begin construction on seven additional locations, according to CNBC.
BWE Secures $22.3M Construction Financing for Mixed-Income Housing Project in Cary, North Carolina
by John Nelson
CARY, N.C. — BWE has secured a $22.3 million construction loan for Marigold Apartments, a mixed-income housing development located on Maynard Road in Cary, a suburb of Raleigh. The property will include a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. Of the total 126 units, seven will be designated as accessible units, and three will be designated as hearing impaired accessible. Sixty-four units will be designated as affordable and workforce housing for residents earning at or below 30, 50 and 80 percent of the area median income, while the remaining 62 units are set to be available at market rates. Amenities will include elevators, EV charging stations, coworking spaces, an outdoor kitchen with gaming area, business center, clubhouse/community room, courtyard, exercise facility, onsite management, controlled access, video surveillance and onsite parking. Victor Agusta Jr. of BWE’s Raleigh office originated the HUD-insured loan on behalf of the borrower, Charlotte-based Laurel Street Residential. The City of Cary provided a ground lease for the Marigold development, and Wake County provided an additional $1.7 million in financing.
Hoffman & Associates Signs Four New Restaurants to Join West Falls Mixed-Use Project in Metro D.C.
by John Nelson
FALLS CHURCH, VA. — Hoffman & Associates has signed four new restaurant concepts to join the tenant roster at West Falls, a 10-acre mixed-use development in Falls Church, roughly 10 miles west of Washington, D.C. The new eateries include Ice Cream Jubilee, BurgerFi, Honoo Ramen Bar and Dok Khao. These restaurants will join other West Falls tenants that are now open, including Mason’s Famous Lobster Rolls, Chase Bank, Tierra Encantada, Perspire Sauna Studios, CityDance Studios and Levine Music. In addition to shops and restaurants, West Falls will include The Oaks (condominiums), The Reserve at Falls Church (seniors housing) and The Alder (market-rate apartments), as well as a central greenspace called The Commons.
DALLAS — De La Vega Development is nearing completion of Phase I of The Central, a 27-acre mixed-use project located at the corner of North Haskell Avenue and the North Central Expressway in Dallas. Phase I of the project features a central communal park known as The Pavilions at The Central that can also support retail and restaurant uses. Designed in collaboration with local architecture firms GFF and Bud Creative, The Pavilions features four interconnected structures with outdoor seating that are surrounded by various biophilic elements and spaces that promote communal gathering. In addition, the space is located across from The Oliver, a 19-story apartment building that developer StreetLights Residential recently began leasing. Full completion of the park and pavilions is slated for the summer.
HOUSTON — Locally based developer Fein has broken ground on Echo Lake, a 326-unit apartment community that will be located in North Houston. The site spans 21.4 acres within the CityPlace mixed-use development, and the property is named after the 1.2-acre lake and trail system that will serve as a focal point of the project. Designed by Steinberg Dickey Collaborative and financed by Comerica Bank, Echo Lake will have two- and three-story buildings that will house one-, two- and three-bedroom units and Class A amenities. About 40 percent of units will be townhouse-style residences with attached garages. Fein is developing Echo Lake in partnership with Open House Group, an equity investment that was arranged by John Fenoglio of CBRE. The first units are expected to be available for occupancy in the second quarter of 2026, with full completion slated for mid-2027.
DALLAS — Leon Industrial, a division of locally based development and investment firm Leon Capital Group, has begun construction on a 118,178-square-foot project near Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport. The facility will be known as 161 Airport Center and will feature 32-foot clear heights, 130-foot truck court depths, an ESFR sprinkler system, up to 28 trailer parking spaces and additional outside storage space. Stream Realty Partners is the leasing agent. Completion is slated for late this summer.