PHILADELPHIA — A joint venture between PREIT and Macerich has launched Fashion District Philadelphia, a 900,000-square-foot retail district housing dozens of shopping, dining and entertainment destinations. The $400 million project is a redevelopment of a former mall, the Gallery at Market East. A range of clothing and accessory retail options include Aeropostale, Burlington, Columbia and ULTA. The Fashion District also houses coworking spaces from REC Philly and Industrious. Other notable anchors of the district include City Winery, AMC Theaters, rotating art installation Wonderspaces, Market Eats food hall, mini theme park Candytopia and Yards Brewing Co.
Mixed-Use
Capital Markets Professionals Put Mixed-Use Dynamics Under the Microscope During InterFace Panel
by John Nelson
ATLANTA — One of the central themes of the first annual InterFace Mixed-Use Southeast conference was the interplay between the various uses present within mixed-use projects around the region. Whether it’s Avalon in Alpharetta, Georgia, or the American Tobacco Campus redevelopment in downtown Durham, North Carolina, the success of these projects hinges on whether the different uses can support one another. Can the apartment residents help patronize the retail and restaurants? Can the office component drive overnight stays at the project’s hotel? But before these dynamics can play out, a vital piece to having these projects come to fruition is financing. During the conference’s capital markets discussion, panelists tackled topics including equity requirements for mixed-use projects, a pending recession, the historically low interest rate environment and the strong competition among capital providers. For mixed-use specifically, the capital markets panelists discussed the challenges and opportunities in trying to underwrite the various uses all under one transaction. Lenders have to be careful not to overlook or make assumptions about a property type when financing mixed-use deals, warned Bryan Joyner, managing director of Bank of America Merrill Lynch. “They have to look at the separate uses both separately and together and then underwrite …
CHICAGO — JLL has arranged a $140 million loan for the refinancing of Gallagher Way, a recently completed mixed-use development adjacent to Chicago’s Wrigley Field. The project includes more than 93,000 square feet of office space, 85,100 square feet of retail space, the 173-room Hotel Zachary and an 8,000-square-foot open-air entertainment plaza. Office tenants include American Airlines and the Chicago Cubs. Danny Kaufman, Christopher Knight, Jeff Bucaro and Nicole Aguiar of JLL arranged the 30-year, fixed-rate loan on behalf of the borrower, Hickory Street Capital, the real estate arm of the Ricketts family. Barings, an international investment management firm owned by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., provided the loan, proceeds of which will replace the construction financing arranged by the same capital markets team in 2016. The Ricketts family owns the Chicago Cubs baseball team.
SEATTLE — The City of Seattle has selected Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. (NYSE: ARE) to develop an approximately 800,000-square-foot mixed-use campus known as the Mercer Mega Block. The life sciences and technology-driven project will be built on the last large, undeveloped site — nearly three acres — in Seattle’s Lake Union submarket. Alexandria won the bid for the project by agreeing to pay $143.5 million for the land and to address homelessness, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal. The Seattle City Council approved the development plan on Monday night. The newspaper reports that total project costs could reach $305 million. Plans call for two 13-story office and laboratory towers as well as a 30,000-square-foot community center. Alexandria also intends to develop on-site affordable housing, a farm-to-table restaurant, ground-floor retail space and a pedestrian-only walkway on 8th Avenue surrounded by public spaces with outdoor seating. “We envision our Mercer Mega Block development as a mission-critical campus that can drive the cross-pollination of life science and technology, spur world-class innovations to improve the human condition and significantly enhance the surrounding neighborhood,” says Joel Marcus, executive chairman and founder of Alexandria. The company also says it has strong confidence in the …
Market Basket Supermarket Will Anchor 306,000 SF Mixed-Use Development in Maynard, Massachusetts
by Alex Patton
MAYNARD, MASS. — Market Basket Supermarket will anchor the 306,000-square-foot Maynard Crossing mixed-use development currently under construction in Maynard, located approximately 23 miles west of Boston. The 70,000-square-foot store plans to hire 250 associates and will feature a full-service butcher and café with sandwiches, pizza and sushi. Capital Group Properties is developing Maynard Crossing, will include additional retail tenants and a 180-unit apartment complex called The Vue at Maynard Crossing. Maynard Crossing is slated for completion by the end of 2019. Additionally, Hawthorn Retirement Group is developing a 143-unit senior independent living community on the site called Camellia Gardens Gracious Retirement Living. General contractor JBJ Construction expects to complete this project by 2020.
KEENE, N.H. — Brady Sullivan Properties is redeveloping the Colony Mill Marketplace, an existing 112,000-square-foot mixed-use project in Keene, located about 50 miles southwest of Concord. Construction of 89 apartments is slated for completion by the end of fall 2019, and the property already encompasses Elm City Brewing Co., Keene Casino and NBT Bank. The mill was originally built in the mid-1700s and was traded and redeveloped numerous times before it reopened as Colony Mill Marketplace in 1983.
Prescott Group Breaks Ground on Multi-Tower Mixed-Use Campus in Turtle Creek Neighborhood of Dallas
by John Nelson
DALLAS — Prescott Group has begun the demolition and early construction phase for 2727 Turtle Creek, a five-acre mixed-use campus in the Turtle Creek submarket of Dallas. The development will include an office tower, high-rise apartment tower and a hotel tower. Prescott Group imploded an existing, vacant nine-story office building and parking garage on the site early on Sunday, Sept. 15. The building was the former home of Republic Insurance, according to local media reports. Construction crews are clearing the site and beginning utility upgrades for the multi-tower development along Turtle Creek Boulevard. Prescott Group expects to finish the demolition and removal phase of construction by the end of the year and wrap up the utility and infrastructure upgrades in the first quarter of 2020. The office tower at 2727 Turtle Creek will rise 19 stories and span 285,000 square feet. Prescott Group plans for the building to feature a rooftop terrace, fitness center, conference and training center, bike storage and a full-service café. Prescott Group has tapped Jeff Eckert and Ahnie Sheehy of JLL to lease the office space. The hotel will rise 24 stories and offer 200 hotel rooms and an undetermined number of luxury condominiums. Amenities at …
NEW YORK CITY — A partnership between Charney Construction & Development and Tavros Holdings is nearing completion of The Dime, a 350,000-square-foot mixed-use project in Brooklyn. The tower incorporates the Dime Savings Bank building, originally constructed in 1908, into a mixed-use development featuring 177 residential units, more than 100,000 square feet of office space and 50,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. Amenities include an acre of outdoor space, a basketball court and a 10,000-square-foot rock climbing gym recently leased by MetroRock. Fogarty Finger is the architect of the project.
MESA, ARIZ. — CCR North LLC has started construction on Phase II of Crismon Gateway Village, an approximately $40 million mixed-use project situated at the northeast corner of Crismon and Baseline roads in Mesa. The second phase will bring a mix of tenants, including Martin Dental, Vantage West and Sassy’s Café & Bakery. Current tenants include Black Rock Coffee, Bella Nail Bar, Filiberto’s, Radius Fitness and Doc’s Artisan Ice Cream. Upon completion, the master-planned community will include 22,040 square feet of retail, restaurant and office space and a 128-unit multifamily property with individual suite patios. Mary Nollenberger and Nicole Ridberg of SVN/Desert Commercial Advisors are handling leasing efforts for the development.
MIAMI — A development partnership between New York City-based Property Markets Group (PMG) and Toronto-based Greybrook Realty Partners are currently developing 400 Biscayne, a mixed-use project offering 646 rental apartments in Miami. Slated for completion in 2021, the 49-story building will include 51,000 square feet of commercial space and a 22,000-square-foot redesigned First United Methodist Church of Miami. PMG originally bought the development site from the church in 2018 for $55 million, and the developers broke ground on 400 Biscayne in June of this year. The church will incorporate a chapel, fellowship hall, basketball court, classrooms and offices spanning the bottom 10 floors of the building, and will have its own separate entrance and parking. “We are working hand-in-hand with First United Methodist Church and Greybrook Realty Partners to create something special for the neighborhood, which will continue to foster growth and connection in this city we love,” says Ryan Shear, managing partner of PMG. Additional amenities of the building will include a public lobby lounge and restaurant, co-working spaces, a gym and fitness studio with frequent group classes, bike storage facilities, and a massive pool. The Miami Herald reports that a portion of the units at the 400 Biscayne project …