LAS VEGAS — Bleutech Park Properties Inc. has unveiled plans for a $7.5 billion mixed-use project known as Bleutech Park Las Vegas. The developer plans to break ground this December, and construction is expected to take six years. Bleutech has confirmed that financing is in place. Bleutech Park will be home to workforce housing, luxury residential, office, retail, hotel and entertainment space. The project will incorporate environmental and technological features such as water purification, on-site waste treatment and localized air cleaning. Described as an “insular mini-city,” plans call for use of autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, robotics and other advanced technologies. Smart buildings will be equipped with energy-generating materials using wind, water, solar and other sustainable forms of power. Flooring systems within Bleutech Park will capture and reuse the energy of human movement throughout the park, including common areas and parking structures. Resources for heating, cooling, lighting and electricity will be harvested on-site. Project partners include general contractor Martin-Harris Construction and technology company Cisco. Aerial construction, digitization and robotics will be utilized during the construction of the project, which is expected to create 25,000 jobs. “Bleutech believes in the rise of digitization and robotics in construction as this will …
Mixed-Use
Armada Hoffler, S.J. Collins Enterprises to Develop $80M Mixed-Use Project in Metro Atlanta
by Alex Tostado
ROSWELL, GA. — A joint venture between Armada Hoffler Properties and S.J. Collins Enterprises has unveiled plans to develop Southern Post, an $80 million, 240,000-square-foot mixed-use project in historic downtown Roswell. Southern Post will include 125 apartment units, 80,000 square feet of creative office space and 40,000 square feet of retail space. The joint venture worked with the City of Roswell in the design of Southern Post to honor the city’s historic charm. Armada Hoffler will be the majority partner in the joint venture, which anticipates closing on the purchase of the land from the City of Roswell in the fourth quarter of 2019 and commencing construction in the first quarter of 2020. Armada Hoffler Construction Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Armada Hoffler Properties, will serve as general contractor for the project, which is situated about 23 miles north of downtown Atlanta.
LAKE MARY, FLA. — Roger B. Kennedy Construction has delivered Griffin Farm at Midtown Town Center, a mixed-use property that includes 263 apartment units and 50,000 square feet of retail space. This marks the fourth time the Florida-based general contractor has worked with developer Unicorp National Developments Inc. to deliver a project. The apartments, called Drake Midtown Apartments, include two five-story buildings and are valued at more than $65 million. The retail portion includes seven single-story buildings that are valued at $10 million. Retail tenants include Dunkin’, First Watch, Hand & Stone, Mattress One and Tipsy Nail & Salon Bar.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A joint venture between Spectrum Cos. and Invesco Real Estate has broken ground on a mixed-use development that will span five acres in Charlotte’s South End. The project will include two 11-story office buildings, an urban park with event space, restaurants, retail space and a 200-room hotel. The project will be located one block from the Carson light rail stop in South End and two blocks from Uptown. The two office towers will total 577,000 square feet of space and offer a fitness center, conference center and private terraces. LendingTree, an online lending marketplace, will anchor the development, moving its headquarters into 175,000 square feet in the first office building, which is set to be complete in January 2021. Construction on the hotel is expected to begin in summer 2020 and be delivered in late 2021.
SAN FRANCISCO — For the second time in a week, the San Francisco Planning Commission has approved a significant mixed-use development in the city’s SoMa (South of Market) district. Following its approval of the Flower Mart redevelopment project, the commission has approved a 1.1 million-square-foot mixed-use development located at 88 Bluxome St. The project, led by developers Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. (NYSE: ARE) and TMG Partners, is nearly 60 percent preleased. The co-developers describe 88 Bluxome as a “high-tech office and laboratory project.” Social media giant Pinterest has signed on to anchor the development with a 490,000-square-foot office lease. The Bay Club, a fitness and social club offering events and a wide range of sports classes, will also anchor the project. The 88 Bluxome campus will feature a technology and life science facility with ground-floor retail space and outdoor deck space on multiple levels of the building. The project also includes an expansion of the neighborhood’s existing Gene Friend Recreation Center, adding two swimming pools and a public activity space. Other features of 88 Bluxome will be a childcare center, a pedestrian “art walk” with commissioned pieces from internationally renowned and local artists, light industrial space available for use …
Stonebridge, Montgomery County Break Ground on 530,000 SF Mixed-Use Tower in Downtown Bethesda
by Alex Tostado
BETHESDA, MD. — A public-private partnership between Stonebridge and Montgomery County in Maryland has broken ground on Avocet Tower, a 530,000-square-foot, 250-foot tall mixed-use building in Bethesda’s Central Business District. The transit-oriented tower will be located at 7373 Wisconsin Ave., directly across the street from the Bethesda Metro Station. Avocet Tower will comprise 370,000 square feet of office space and a 220-room AC Hotel by Marriott. Delivery is expected in summer 2021. Pickard Chilton designed the building, and Cooper Carry is the architect of record. The development team is expecting the tower to earn LEED Platinum certification and will include modern mechanical systems, secured bicycle storage, electric vehicle charging stations, bio-retention basins on the roof terrace and glass elements throughout the entire office area. Other amenities will include a fitness and business center on the 18th floor, as well as a restaurant available to the public.
SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Planning Commission has unanimously approved plans to redevelop the historic Flower Mart in the city’s South of Market (SoMa) district as a 2.3 million-square-foot mixed-use property. Kilroy Realty Corp. (NYSE: KRC) is leading the development, which will preserve and update the 115,000-square-foot Flower Mart, while also adding 2.1 million square feet of creative office space, a 100,000-square-foot retail market hall and one acre of public open space. The project still requires approval from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and the city’s mayor, which Kilroy hopes to receive by October. The project is the product of more than five years of negotiations and partnership between Kilroy Realty, the wholesale flower vendor community and the city. Kilroy expects to break ground in mid-2020 and deliver all phases by 2024. The Flower Mart vendors will be moved to an interim location during construction. “The Flower Mart Project represents the future of Central SoMa and San Francisco,” says John Kilroy, the developer’s chairman and CEO. “The project’s vibrant mix of uses, abundant neighborhood-serving retail and innovative work environments will make it the transformational hub that the city and the neighborhood need.” “This is one of the best …
BOSTON — Fortis Property Group, a New York City-based developer, will undertake a redevelopment project in downtown Boston that will convert the Dock Square Garage into a residential and retail property. Current plans call for 210 condominium units and 8,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. Fortis will build a six-story vertical addition for the residential component and will renovate and upgrade the existing retail space. Stantec Architects is handling design. Completion is slated for 2023.
KAPOLEI, HAWAII — Highridge Costa will hold a groundbreaking ceremony on Aug. 28 for the second phase of the $130 million Kulana Hale mixed-use affordable seniors housing and multifamily apartment project located at 1020 Wakea St. in Kapolei. Kulana Hale Phase II will feature a 13-story tower with 2,300 square feet of ground-floor retail space and 143 affordable apartments for low-income families. The second-phase tower will be built over a two-level concrete podium structure that will connect to the 154-unit first phase seniors housing tower to form a larger parking structure and podium deck. The third phase will include single-story retail space. Los Angeles-based Highridge Costa and Honolulu-based Coastal Rim Properties, owned by Franco Mola, are developing Kulana Hale jointly with support from nonprofit Hawaiian Community Development Board. SVA Architects designed the project, which Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co. is building. The development’s second phase will be financed with a combination of tax-exempt bonds, tax credit equity and a $17.9 million Rental Housing Revolving Fund Loan from the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp. Citibank will be the construction lender and Royal Bank of Canada will be the tax credit investor.
BUCKEYE, ARIZ. — Mesa, Ariz.-based LJ Mainstreet Holdings has purchased Main Street Lofts at Verrado, a multifamily property located at 21068 W. Main St. in Buckeye, a suburb of Phoenix. Omaha, Neb.-based Waitt Verrado LLC sold the asset for $5.2 million. Situated within the Verrado master-planned community, Main Street Lofts features 45 units averaging 994 square feet, as well as a CVS/pharmacy and Basha’s grocery on the ground floor. Matt Kolano and Charlie Steele of Jones Lang LaSalle of Phoenix represented the seller, while Chris Roach and Matt Roach of Colliers International in Arizona represented the buyer in the deal.