ALLEN PARK, MICH. — Ford Motor Co. has unveiled plans for a new battery testing center named Ford Ion Park in the Detroit-area town of Allen Park in effort to accelerate research and development of battery and battery cell technology. A team of 150 experts in battery technology development, research, manufacturing, planning, purchasing, quality and finance will assist Ford in more quickly developing and manufacturing battery cells and batteries. Plans call for a $185 million, 200,000-square-foot collaborative learning lab in Southeast Michigan that is dedicated to developing, testing and building vehicle battery cells opens late next year. Ford’s Battery Benchmarking and Test Laboratory, which spans 185,000 square feet, opened late last year in Allen Park.
OCONOMOWOC, WIS. — Developer Mandel Group has selected McShane Construction Co. to build Hackney House Apartments at Pabst Farms in Oconomowoc, about 35 miles west of Milwaukee. The apartment community will include 302 units across 20 garden-style and townhome buildings. Amenities will include a 4,000-square-foot clubhouse, fitness center, outdoor pool, grill area, dog wash and bike storage. HUD 221(d)(4) financing will be used to finance the project. Completion is slated for April 2023. BSB Design is the architect.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Atlanta-based developer Cousins Properties will develop Domain 9, a 335,000-square-foot office building that will be located within The Domain, a mixed-used development on Austin’s north side. Total project costs are anticipated to be about $147 million. Cousins plans to break ground on Domain 9 in the second quarter and to deliver the building in mid-2023. The company’s current office portfolio within the Domain submarket spans 2.1 million square feet and is 98 percent leased.
NASHVILLE, TENN. — A public-private partnership between Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions, Axium Infrastructure and Vanderbilt University has broken ground on a 616-bed student housing project in Nashville. The total cost of the project was not disclosed, but the Nashville Post and Nashville Business Journal both reported late last week that the development team received approximately $107 million in construction financing. According to Vanderbilt University’s news service, construction of the project was originally scheduled to start last summer but was delayed due to COVID-19. The community will be located on Broadway between Lyle and 20th avenues and will include 25,000 square feet of retail space. The new residence hall will offer a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom units targeting graduate and professional students. Residences will be furnished with full washers and dryers, and costs of utilities will be included in rent. Shared amenities will include a 13,000-square-foot collaboration space with a dedicated area for academic and entrepreneurial endeavors, private study spaces, fitness center and a public courtyard. “Providing an updated housing option with modern amenities in a vibrant neighborhood convenient to campus will further the university’s goal to recruit the best graduate and professional students and provide them with an …
STUDIO CITY, CALIF. — Midwood Investment & Development will open The Shops at Sportsmen’s Lodge, a 95,000-square-foot retail center in Studio City, this summer. The rolling opening will begin on June 10 with the debut of anchor tenant Erewhon, the Los Angeles-based market and café. The location will be Erewhon’s seventh store and its first in the San Fernando Valley. Other tenants slated to open this summer include Civil Coffee, Free People Movement, Madison Reed, Myodetox, Roberta’s Pizza, SALT Optics, Tocaya, Tuesday’s Sweet Shoppe, Ushi Ushi, Van Leeuwen and Vuori. More than a dozen additional tenants will be announced at a later date. Gensler and OLIN provided design and architectural services for the redevelopment the property, which replaces the former meeting and convention space. The development team worked closely with the city’s Cultural Heritage Commission to maintain the rustic spirit of the Lodge, the existing natural foliage and tree canopy.
ORLANDO, FLA. — Centennial Bank has provided a $68 million loan to Unicorp National Developments Inc. for the construction of The Bentley, a 396-unit apartment tower in Orlando. The high-rise is part of Unicorp’s $1 billion mixed-use development O-Town West. Robby Barrows of Centennial Bank led the loan transaction for developer Unicorp. O-Town West will be a multi-phase, live-work epicenter delivering single-family homes, apartments, a Publix-anchored retail package and office space. Confirmed tenants for The Town Center at O-Town West include Publix, AT&T, Heartland Dental, McDonalds and Planet Smoothie. The Bentley is one of the first phases of the development, in addition to Town Center, both of which are slated to break ground soon. The Bentley is slated for completion at the end of next year. The Bentley’s amenities will include a resort-style swimming pool with a Jacuzzi, resident lounge with a coffee bar, social area featuring billiards and arcade games, theater room, entertainment lanai with a TV, Zen garden with hanging moon chairs and water features, outdoor walking trail, a firepit, 24-hour fitness center with TRX and yoga studio, conference room, bike rentals, outdoor gaming areas and electric car charging stations. Centennial Bank has financed more than $149 million …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Lowe and joint venture partner Mitsui Fudosan America have broken ground on Gallery 64, a 492-unit, 12-story apartment building that sits at the site of the former Randall Junior High School in Washington, D.C. The 500,000-square-foot redevelopment of the 2.7-acre site includes the preservation and repurposing of existing historic buildings into the Rubell Museum. Gallery 64’s apartment residences, 98 of which are designated as affordable, will include studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom floorplans. The property will have 19 two-level, townhouse-style residences as well. Community amenities will include rooftop gathering spaces with fire pits, grilling stations and outdoor kitchens, a dog walk and a resort-style pool. Indoor communal areas will include a lounge with fireplace, game room, fitness center and a maker space with sound studio. A landscaped area will be in between Gallery 64 and the Rubell Museum. The Randall School buildings closed in 1982. Two of the school’s three buildings will be transformed into the approximately 31,000-square-foot Rubell Museum, presenting contemporary paintings, sculptures, photographs and installations. Entry to the museum will be free of charge to all residents of Washington, D.C. The West Randall building will be reconfigured as an approximately 18,000-square-foot creative office building designed …
NEW ORLEANS — Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, a San Francisco-based boutique hotel company, will soon open Kimpton Hotel Fontenot, a 202-room boutique hotel located in New Orleans’ Central Business District on the corner of Poydras and Tchoupitoulas streets. The hotel will open on May 11 of this year, and guests are now able to book stays. Designed by MARKZEFF, Kimpton Hotel Fontenot will feature two dining and cocktail concepts within the property, led by executive chef Chris Lusk and restaurant general manager Jessica Retif. Gospel Coffee and Boozy Treats is a neighborhood café serving a range of coffee, teas, espresso and adult beverages, as well as a collection of eat-on-the-go options. The other dining and cocktail option is the Peacock Room, which offers cocktails and food. The hotel’s amenities include morning coffee and tea service from Gospel Coffee and Boozy Treats; bike rentals; a 24-hour fitness center equipped with Peloton bikes; pet-friendly rooms; complimentary Wi-Fi for IHG Rewards members; and an evening social hour. Additional in-room amenities include yoga mats, in-room dining, Frette linens and bathrobes and Atelier Bloem bath and body products.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Welltower Inc. has completed two medical office buildings in Charlotte totaling 280,000 square feet. Atrium Health, which owns the adjacent Carolinas Medical Center, signed a 15-year triple-net lease for the two buildings. Charlotte-based Pappas Properties LLC developed the properties and will remain strategic partners with Toledo, Ohio-based Welltower for the planned nine-acre, healthcare anchored mixed-use campus, as well as future developments. The two medical office buildings include a nine-level, 1,440-space parking deck that will be shared with the entire mixed-use campus. Atrium’s Sanger Heart and Vascular Institute and Atrium Health General Clinics including neurosciences, gastroenterology, infectious disease and palliative care opened in April 2021.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Minneapolis-based Ryan Cos. will develop a 350-unit apartment community within the Mueller District, the 700-acre site of a former airport in Austin. The project will include 2,500 square feet of retail space, and 15 percent of the units will be reserved for renters earning 60 percent or less of the area median income. Details about the development’s floor plans and amenities were not released. Construction is expected to begin in the fourth quarter.