Development

DETROIT — The University of Michigan (U-M) has broken ground on its Center for Innovation in downtown Detroit. The satellite campus will serve as a graduate school facility, offering masters’ degrees and workforce development programs that will focus on technology and innovation. The center will be funded by a $100 million gift from prominent U-M donor Stephen Ross, $100 million from the state of Michigan, a two-acre land donation from Olympia Development of Michigan, and an additional $50 million will be raised from donors. The project site is near the proposed $1.5 billion, 10-building mixed-use development in The District Detroit from Related Cos. and Olympia Development. Ross is a Detroit native, alum of U-M and chairman of Related Cos. Olympia Development is the real estate development business of the Ilitch family.

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail
Embree-Eastside-Garland

GARLAND, TEXAS — Palladium USA is nearing completion of Embree Eastside, a 107-unit mixed-income housing community in Garland, a northeastern suburb of Dallas. About a quarter of the units will be rented at market rates, while the remainder will be reserved for renters earning between 30 and 60 percent of the area median income (AMI). Amenities will include a pool, dog park, walking trails, fitness center, conference room, computer lab and a kids’ playroom. HEDK is the project architect. General contractor Brownstone Construction is teaming up with Garland Housing Finance Corp. on construction. PNC Bank provided both equity ($13.7 million) and debt ($11.2 million) for the project. The first units are scheduled to come on line in the first quarter of next year.

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

BOSSIER CITY, LA. — An affiliate of Cordish Cos. doing business as LRGC Gaming Investors LLC has broken ground on Live! Casino & Hotel Louisiana, a $270 million development in Bossier City. The development represents the first land-based casino in the Bossier City-Shreveport metropolitan area, according to Cordish. The project is expected to create 750 new construction jobs and 750 permanent jobs upon completion. The site was formerly home to the vacant Diamond Jacks Casino & Hotel, which Cordish acquired earlier this year. Scheduled to open in 2025, the Live! Casino & Hotel Louisiana will feature more than 47,000 square feet of gaming space; a sportsbook for live betting on sporting events; an upscale 550-room hotel with a resort-style pool and fitness center; 25,000-square-foot events center; structured and surface parking; and 30,000 square feet of dining and entertainment venues, including Cordish brands Sports & Social, PBR Cowboy Bar and Luk Fu.

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

LOS ANGELES — Thrive Living, with the financial support of JPMorgan Chase, has announced plans to redevelop a former industrial storage facility into an affordable and workforce housing community at 1457 N. Main St. north of downtown Los Angeles. Completion is slated for December 2024. The six-story multifamily complex will feature 376 apartments for low- and moderate-income residents earning up to 80 percent of the area median income and individuals utilizing the Housing Choice Voucher program.  On-site community amenities will include a landscaped roof deck, barbecue and dining area with seating, a gym, recreation room, package delivery room and business center. The property is located near public transportation and will offer parking below the building with electric vehicle charging stations. JPMorgan Chase, through its Workforce Housing Solutions group (formerly Capital Solutions), is providing a $68.5 million construction loan to Thrive Living for the project. This is JPMorgan Chase’s first construction loan to a 100 percent rent- and income-restricted multifamily community. Thrive already secured entitlements for the site. The project aligns with Thrive’s mission to acquire and redevelop strategically located sites in urban markets that are experiencing significant housing affordability gaps. Like other Thrive communities, the project is privately financed without the …

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail
Rafi Golberstein PACE Loan Group CPACE quote

The spike in interest rates and the consequent disruption throughout real estate capital markets over the last 18 months is generating newfound interest in commercial property assessed clean energy (C-PACE) financing. The program, which emerged more than a decade ago, pays for building upgrades to improve energy and water efficiency as well as seismic resilience in new construction and rehabs. In cases where cost overruns, stabilization delays and declining values threaten the ability to refinance construction loans, developers are tapping C-PACE retroactively for a much-needed slug of so-called “rescue capital,” says Rafi Golberstein, CEO of the PACE Loan Group, a direct lender of C-PACE based in Minneapolis, Minn. Typically, developers are using the proceeds to pay down debt and fund reserves to secure loan extensions or modifications. “We are seeing a ton of opportunities right now in deals that were built over the past three years, and C-PACE can provide a liquidity infusion to get many folks through a maturity logjam,” he declares. “When confronted with other options, they’re going to prefer C-PACE all day long.” Cost-Effective Debt Indeed, the cost of those other options, such as mezzanine financing or preferred equity, can be upwards of 500 basis points higher …

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail
The-Oak-at-Katy-Park

KATY, TEXAS — A partnership between two developers, Austin-based Wayfinder Real Estate and Houston-based Read King Commercial Real Estate, has broken ground on The Oak at Katy Park, a 348-unit multifamily project in the western Houston suburb of Katy. The site is located within the 54-acre Market at Katy Park master-planned development. Units will come in one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans, and amenities will include a pool, fitness center, coworking space, pickleball court and outdoor grilling and dining stations. Meeks Architects is designing the project, and OHT Construction is serving as the general contractor. Completion is slated for early 2025.

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail
SunVet-Mall-Holbrook-New-York

HOLBROOK, N.Y. — Regency Centers has begun the redevelopment of the 280,000-square-foot former SunVet Mall in the Long Island community of Holbrook. Regency has rebranded the 50-year-old property as The Shops at SunVet and plans to reposition it as a 168,000-square-foot, open-air shopping center with six outparcels. Whole Foods Market will anchor the center. Demolition of the existing structure is underway, and new construction is scheduled to begin in spring 2024. SBLM Architects is the lead architect on the project.

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

BRADENTON, FLA. — Ryan Cos. has begun leasing Renata at Lakewood Ranch, a 502-unit apartment development located in Bradenton, a suburb of Tampa. The property is part of the 33,000-acre Lakewood Ranch development. Renata’s first buildings and clubhouse are set to open this month. Ryan Cos., along with development partners PGIM Real Estate and ParkSprings Development, expect to fully open the property by July 2024. Renata will include one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments ranging in size from 740 to 1,285 square feet, as well as a resort-style pool, fitness facilities and a private lakeside beach. Monthly rental rates will range from $2,145 to $2,790, according to Apartments.com.

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

MIAMI — The Treo Group has broken ground on VOX Miami Phase II, a 13-story student housing development located adjacent to the South Miami Metrorail station near the University of Miami campus. The project will offer 400 beds in 163 units, alongside 10,000 square feet of ground floor retail space. Together with Phase I of the development, the community will offer 726 beds and 15,000 square feet of retail space. Further details on the project were not provided. The development team includes FirstBank Florida, ABANCA USA, MODIS Architects, MOSS & Associates and Asset Living.

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

SANTA ANA, CALIF. — Caribou Industries has pulled $5.6 million in building permits and executed a disposition and development agreement with the City of Santa Ana to begin construction on 3rd & Broadway Promenade, a mixed-use project in downtown Santa Ana. Located in the southeastern suburbs of Los Angeles, 3rd & Broadway Promenade will feature a 16-story multifamily building, a 10-story hotel and an event center. The residential component will offer studio, one- and two-bedroom floorplans and 198 secured homeowner garages. The three-star hotel will feature 75 guest rooms, a rooftop conference facility, restaurant, bar and more than 13,500 square feet of retail and residential space. Additionally, 3rd & Broadway Promenade will feature a 204-space parking structure for the public. Construction is slated to begin in second-quarter 2024. Gensler is serving as architect for the project.

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail