CHICAGO — BWE has arranged a $17 million loan for the acquisition of 939 North Avenue, a Class A mixed-use property in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. The asset features roughly 200,000 square feet of retail, fitness and medical office space as well as a 350-space parking garage. Daniel Rosenberg and Logan Petersmeyer of BWE arranged the loan on behalf of the borrowers, Farpoint Development and MCZ Development Group. A debt fund provided the loan, which features interest-only payments.
STERLING HEIGHTS, MICH. — Lionheart Capital has unveiled plans for the $1 billion mixed-use redevelopment of Lakeside Mall in the Detroit suburb of Sterling Heights. The redevelopment process will begin with the demolition of the enclosed regional mall following its closure on July 1. The new development will be anchored by a mixed-use town center and central park featuring shops, offices, coffee houses, restaurants, an area for community gatherings and events, and a two-story community center with recreational amenities including swimming pools, fitness facilities and libraries. The project is also set to include a hotel and residential space, details of which were not disclosed, as well as 30 acres of public space, parks and infrastructure. Plans include the addition of walking, biking and hiking trails that connect to local trail networks including the Iron Belle Trail, Freedom Trail and Dodge Park Trail. Groundbreaking on the town center is scheduled for late 2025. The development team includes master architect CallisonRTKL, landscape designer SWA and civil engineer Giffels Webster. A completion timeline was not disclosed. Lakeside Mall originally opened in 1976. The site spans 110 acres and the existing buildings total 1.5 million square feet. Miami-based Lionheart Capital is an investment firm …
FRISCO, TEXAS — Kansas City-based developer VanTrust Real Estate has unveiled plans for the next phase of Frisco Station, a 242-acre mixed-use development located on the northern outskirts of Dallas. Dubbed The Towers at Frisco Station, the next phase will consist of office, hotel, retail and restaurant uses that could total as much as 3 million square feet across five buildings. Entertainment concepts Pickle & Social and Fairway Social have already committed to the latest phase. Frisco Station, which was launched in 2015, currently features 700,000 square feet of Class A office space, 955 mid- and high-rise multifamily units and 450 hotel rooms, as well as a 30-acre park and trail system. Construction timelines for the latest phase are still being finalized.
TAMPA, FLA. — Strategic Property Partners LLC has unveiled the next phase of Water Street Tampa, the company’s $3 billion mixed-use neighborhood underway in downtown Tampa. The next phase includes three separate buildings: a residential condominium building, a build-to-suit office complex and a hospitality/entertainment destination just north of Amalie Arena, home of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning. The condo tower and office buildings will be situated on an extension of Water Street Tampa that is currently under construction on East Cumberland Avenue. The third property will feature a select-service hotel, parking garage and entertainment uses, including food-and-beverage options and a live music venue. Designed by Gensler Architects with Nichols Architects acting as architect of record, the condo tower will be the tallest building within Water Street Tampa, joining other multifamily properties Asher, Cora and Heron. Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox, the office complex will feature ground-floor retail space and will join Thousand & One as the second office component. The road and utility infrastructure work for these additions has already begun and is expected to be completed by spring 2025. Last year, Jeff Vinik, owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning, sold his stake in Strategic Property Partners to his co-developer, …
SEATTLE — Office Properties Income Trust (NASDAQ: OPI) has completed Unison Elliott Bay, a three-building, 300,000-square-foot life sciences campus located at 351, 401 and 501 Elliott Ave. West in Seattle. Unison Elliott Bay features Class A office space totaling 200,000 square feet. The buildings feature 14-foot floor-to-floor heights in two dedicated lab buildings inclusive of move-in ready lab and R&D space, with suites ranging from 12,500 square feet to 25,000 square feet. The campus includes dedicated mechanical infrastructure supported by standby generator power to accommodate lab and technological power requirements. The campus features reception areas, collaborative indoor and outdoor meeting areas, conference and training rooms, fitness and changing room facilities, and a landscaped courtyard with built-in pergola and sculptures. Additional amenities include covered and surface parking, secure bike storage and electric vehicle charging stations. The campus will also offer a chef-driven café, as well as a rotating mix of food trucks. Sonoma Biotherapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, has signed a 10-year lease for more than 83,000 square feet at the 501 building. The clinic-stage biotechnology company occupies three floors of office and lab space for its R&D and manufacturing center, which is intended for the development of engineered regulatory T …
CHICAGO — Trammell Crow Co. (TCC) has unveiled plans for a 1.8 million-square-foot mixed-use project in Chicago’s Fulton Market neighborhood. Dubbed Fulton Park Campus, the development will include four buildings comprising research and development (R&D), lab, office, residential and retail space. Among the new buildings will be a 34-story residential tower, known as Flora, which will comprise 368 apartment units. Amenities at Flora will span three floors and include a club room; golf and game simulator room; fitness center and yoga studio; spa; sauna; and a dedicated work-from-home area with a sound recording booth. Additionally, the property will feature an outdoor deck with grilling stations, televisions and fire pits; a private dining space with a chef’s kitchen; and a pet wash and dog run. ESG Architects designed the residential building, which general contractor Power Construction will build. Leasing is scheduled to begin this summer. At 1105 W. Carroll, TCC will develop a 26-story commercial tower featuring 660,000 square feet of lab and office space. Upon completion, the building will offer floorplates from 19,000 to 40,000 square feet, with 17-foot ceiling heights on select floors, private balconies and advanced technical infrastructure. Amenities will include a fitness center with an indoor pickleball …
PETERSBURG, VA. — The City of Petersburg has selected Bruce Smith Enterprise and The Cordish Cos. to co-develop a $1.4 billion gaming and entertainment district at the intersection of Wagner Road and I-95 in Petersburg, roughly 24 miles south of Richmond. The Petersburg City Council unanimously approved the joint venture partnership, which responded to a request for proposal (RFP) issued by the city as the preferred development partner on the mixed-use project. Upon completion, Live! Casino & Hotel Virginia will comprise more than 400,000 square feet of gaming, hotel and dining space, as well as 35,000 square feet of meeting and convention space; a 200-room hotel; 1,600 slot machines; 46 table games; a sportsbook; 3,000-seat entertainment venue; and eight food-and-beverage options. The property will be developed, owned and managed by an entity doing business as Petersburg Community Development Investors LLC. According to the developers, the project will create an expected 7,500 new jobs and generate $2.8 billion in economic stimulus within the first 10 years. Projections also include $504 million in tax revenues, including $240 million to the City of Petersburg; $802 million in economic benefits during construction; and $201 million in annual economic benefits each year after opening.
LEXINGTON, KY. — RD Property Group is underway on the development of a 34-acre mixed-use development located in Lexington. The City of Lexington recently certified plans for the construction of a 122,000-square-foot Kroger Marketplace at the project, dubbed Newton Springs. Plans for the store include a drive-thru pharmacy, adjoining wine and spirits shop and 476 parking spaces. The development also features a recently opened Everhome Suites hotel, as well as two four-story buildings, a restaurant space and three additional buildings. Tenants at the property include Estepp’s Shell, Jimmy Johns, Hot Head Burritos, The UPS Store, Tire Discounters and Starbucks Coffee.
ATLANTA — Atlanta-based Jamestown has completed 619 Ponce, a 115,000-square-foot mass timber building located on the corner of Ponce de Leon Ave. and Glen Iris Drive within the Ponce City Market campus in Atlanta. Pottery Barn has opened within an 18,000-square-foot retail space on the ground floor, and business tech firm Sage has leased 57,000 square feet of office space within the building for its North America headquarters. Amenities at the property — which will target net-zero carbon operations, LEEDv4 Core & Shell certification and Fitwel certification — include onsite daycare and medical facilities, as well as direct access to the Atlanta BeltLine. The design-build team for the project included Handel Architects, JE Dunn and StructureCraft. Marking the first Georgia-grown mass timber building, the property features outdoor space on every level, natural wood columns and ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows with operable panels. Jamestown owns and manages more than 100,000 acres of timberlands across Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania and Indiana.
Mirroring sentiments expressed at the year-end ICSC conference in New York City, with the national vacancy rate hovering around 5 percent and new concepts anxious to take a foothold in the area, there continues to be tremendous optimism for the retail sector in the greater Baltimore metropolitan region. Although ground-up development projects remain rare locally, several high-profile adaptive projects are in the works that are placing smiles on brokers’ faces because they have something to lease. Value-oriented retailers, together with quick-service restaurant (QSR) concepts, are showing the most activity. Adaptive reuse The redevelopment of the iconic Harborplace festival marketplace (more on that later) is grabbing all the headlines in Charm City, but the adaptive reuse of Baltimore’s Penn Station — the epitome of a transit-oriented development and the renovation of a historic industrial building at Riverside in South Baltimore — are happening now. Beatty Development Group and Cross Street Partners are partnering with Amtrak to transform the train station originally developed in 1911 into a mixed-use project combining 1 million square feet of commercial office, retail and residential space. Destination retail and restaurants are a central core of the program. Urban Pastoral and The Wilhide Family are transforming the 135-year-old …