CHARLOTTE, N.C. — CBRE has facilitated the sale of Bowers, a mixed-use development in Charlotte’s South End, to RMR Office Property Fund LP for $31.5 million. Patrick Gildea, Matt Smith and Grayson Hawkins of CBRE represented the seller, White Point Partners, a private real estate investment firm based in Charlotte. Located at 4001 Yancey Road, Bowers is a 73,560-square-foot office and retail property consisting of three 1940s and 1950s buildings. It was the former site of Bowers Fibers, a fiber by-product manufacturer. The development houses a collection of restaurants and office space and is located near Interstate 77. After a complete redevelopment completed in 2018, Bowers is now 100 percent occupied by tenants including Artisanal Brewing Ventures, Chef Alyssa’s Kitchen, SentryOne and Investor Management Services.
Mixed-Use
At a conceptual and theoretical level, all architects support sustainability and want to make the world a better, greener place. Some states, such as California, have gone as far as establishing sustainability requirements — many that go far beyond industry standards — to ensure new buildings are designed with the environment in mind. California, for example, has the nation’s first mandatory green building standards code, CALGreen Code. This is in addition to Title 24 Energy Standards, which implement minimum energy-efficiency standards and are referenced within the LEED certification system. In California and many other states, LEED is no longer driving sustainable design, as many of the program’s basic principles have become common practice. In addition to CALGreen Code, California has adopted a new goal far tougher than LEED’s requirements: Zero Net Energy (ZNE), which is a label reserved for energy-efficient buildings whose actual annual consumed energy is less than or equal to the renewable energy generated onsite. The state’s goals for the development of ZNE buildings must be implemented in new residential construction by 2020 and commercial construction by 2030. While architects and designers in California are obligated to follow these strict requirements, building design professionals in the Southeast and …
PORTLAND, ORE. — Vancouver, Wash.-based developer C.E. John Co. has completed the sale of The George Besaw, a multifamily and retail property located at 2323 NW Savier St. in Portland. An undisclosed buyer acquired the asset for $23.6 million. Located in Northwest Portland’s Alphabet District, The George Besaw features 51 apartment residences above three floors of retail space. Current retail tenants include Pine State Biscuits, Life of Pie, Moberi and The Barbers. The building was completed in 2018. Clay Newton, Jordan Carter and Tyler Linn of Kidder Mathews represented the seller in the transaction.
OLATHE, KAN. — LANE4 Property Group is partnering with the city of Olathe for a proposed new library-anchored, mixed-use project downtown. The project calls for a restaurant, library and office space within a five-story building located immediately east of Olathe City Hall. The development will span 70,000 square feet. The Civic Center Park currently on the site will remain intact and be integrated into the new project. The city council approved a pre-development agreement allowing the project to move forward through the planning and zoning process, but LANE4 must present the development to the city council for approval in early 2020. Groundbreaking is slated for later in 2020.
TYSONS, VA. — Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) has negotiated the $60.2 million sale of a 12-acre eastern parcel within the Dominion Square mixed-use development in Tysons, situated 13 miles west of downtown Washington, D.C. Capital Automotive Real Estate Services Inc., a McLean, Va.-based financial holding company specializing in car dealership locations, sold the parcel to an undisclosed buyer, whom the Washington Business Journal indicates is LHL Dominion Square, possibly an affiliate of New York-based Algin Management Co. LLC. The Dominion Square site is approved for 2 million square feet of office, residential, hotel and retail space near the Greensboro Metro station in Tysons. Jud Ryan, James Cassidy, Mark Anstine and Dan Lockard of NKF represented Capital Automotive in the transaction.
HOUSTON — Houston-based DC Partners has broken ground on The Allen, a six-acre mixed-use project located near Buffalo Bayou Park in Houston. The development will include a 99-unit condominium building, a Thompson-branded luxury hotel, an office building and retail and restaurant spaces. The grand opening of The Allen is slated for the first quarter of 2021, though the hotel is not scheduled to be complete until 2023. DC Partners is developing the project in partnership with Tianqing Real Estate Development and Westmont Hospitality Group.
MIAMISBURG, OHIO — Kawa has provided a $26 million loan to help fund the $134.5 million acquisition of Austin Landing, an 834,630-square-foot mixed-use project in Montgomery County’s Miamisburg. Austin Landing, constructed in phases between 2009 and 2019, features office and retail space and is more than 95 percent occupied. Office tenants include Wells Fargo, UBS, Merrill Lynch, Raymond James and Baird. Retail tenants include Kroger, Kohl’s, a movie theater and 16 restaurants. An eight-acre community park provides event space. In addition to Kawa’s loan, the buyers utilized senior financing from Citi Bank and its own equity to fund the acquisition. Austin Landing North LLC, a partnership between Columbia Investments, Venture Capital Properties and A&H Acquisitions, purchased the property, according to the Dayton Business Journal. VisCap Development has managed the property since 2016.
RALEIGH, N.C. — Dewitt Carolinas Inc. has unveiled the master plans for development of Midtown Exchange, a $1B mixed-use project in Raleigh that will feature residential, office, hotel, entertainment and retail components. The development will be built on a 40-acre lot just outside Interstate 440, north of downtown Raleigh, and will comprise 790,000 square feet of Class A office space, 125,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, 300 hotel rooms, 300 senior living units and 1,275 residential units. The residential component will include apartments, condominiums and townhomes, but how the units will be divided was not disclosed. The site will also include a large convention center with rooftop dining space and more than seven acres of green space with water features. Local newspaper North State Journal reports that the office space will comprise two office towers connected by a sky bridge between the two top floors. Those two floors and the sky bridge will make up one large office space, intended to attract a major corporate headquarters tenant. “We envision Midtown Exchange to be a destination unlike any other in Raleigh,” says Todd Saieed, CEO and co-founder of Dewitt Carolinas Inc. “This will be a place where family entertainment …
HOUSTON — JLL has arranged a $140 million loan for the refinancing of GreenStreet, a 617,000-square-foot mixed-use development in Houston’s Central Business District. GreenStreet spans four contiguous city blocks and features office, retail, restaurant and entertainment uses, as well as central open-air green space. Colby Mueck, Matthew Putterman and Laura Sellingsloh of JLL arranged the funds through Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies on behalf of the borrowers, Lionstone Investments and Midway.
Trez Forman Capital Provides $26.7M Loan for Land Acquisition, Phase I of Exchange at Gwinnett Project in Metro Atlanta
by Alex Tostado
BUFORD, GA. — Trez Forman Capital has provided a $26.7 million loan to Fuqua Development for the acquisition of 67.5 acres in Buford to develop The Exchange at Gwinnett, a planned $350 million mixed-use development in metro Atlanta. Phase I will include 56,000 square feet of retail space that will feature already-committed tenants such as Starbucks, Chipotle and City Barbecue. The property is located at 2925 Buford Drive, next to the Mall of Georgia. At the same time as the land sale, Fuqua Development sold 33 acres to three separate entities for the developments of Topgolf and Rooms-to-Go, as well as a 450-unit apartment community being developed by The Worthing Cos. Fuqua plans to sell another 13 acres for the development of an Andretti Indoor Karting & Games, a 123-room hotel and restaurants. Brett Forman and Russ Holland of Trez Forman Capital originated the loan on behalf of Atlanta-based Fuqua Development.