DETROIT — Related Cos. and Olympia Development of Michigan have proposed a $1.5 billion mixed-use project at The District Detroit, a sports and entertainment development spanning 50 blocks in downtown Detroit. The companies have begun a Community Benefits Ordinance (CBO) process with the City of Detroit, marking the next phase of plans to build new office, retail, residential with affordable housing, hotel and public space across 10 properties. The first meeting for residents in the areas surrounding the development will take place Tuesday, Nov. 29. The proposed development includes the construction of six new buildings and the renovation and adaptive reuse of four historic buildings. The type of development reflects initial feedback from the community, including more than 250 community engagement meetings to date, which will continue through the city-led CBO process. The new projects would include 695 mixed-income residential units, 20 percent of which would be reserved for those who earn up to 50 percent of the area median income, as well as 1.2 million square feet of office space, 100,000 square feet of retail space and 467 hotel rooms.
NEWPORT, KY. — Cincinnati-based North American Properties (NAP) has partnered with Galley Group, a Pittsburgh-based food hall operator, to open a new food hall and bar at Newport on the Levee, a mixed-use destination along the Ohio River in Newport. The 7,900-square-foot venue, dubbed The Galley on the Levee, will feature four restaurants and a signature bar that will be able to accommodate 200 patrons. Designed by Reztark Design Studio, the food hall will open onto Bridgeview Box Park, an open-air shipping container park that opened in 2020 as part of NAP’s redevelopment of Newport on the Levee, which originally opened in 2001. The Galley on the Levee is set to open in summer 2023 and will mark Galley Group’s entry into the Kentucky market. In addition to the food hall, several other restaurants are currently under construction at the mixed-use development, including Shiners on the Levee, 16 Lots Brewing Co. and Amador. Shiners will soft-open during Thanksgiving week and host grand opening festivities in early December, while 16 Lots and Amador are slated to open next spring, according to NAP.
FRANKLIN, TENN. — Highwoods Properties has selected Toro Development Co. and Ignite Realty Partners to develop Ovation, a mixed-use community located on a 145-acre site in the Nashville suburb of Franklin. Specific plans and construction timelines were not released as the project is in the planning stages, but Toro and Ignite will partner to transform a 60-acre portion of the Ovation campus into a walkable village that will feature shops, restaurants, apartments and lodging. Highwoods, which developed and owns the Mars Petcare headquarters on the Ovation site, will develop the office component of the project. Open Realty Advisors LLC, a Newmark company led by Mark Masinter, will serve as the leasing agent for Ovation.
LOUISVILLE, KY. — Duncan Commercial Real Estate (DCRE)/CORFAC International has brokered the sale of Distillery Commons, a historic distillery complex located at Lexington and Payne streets in Louisville’s Irish Hill neighborhood. The buyer, St. Louis-based Bamboo Acquisitions LLC, an affiliate of Intelica Commercial Real Estate, plans to redevelop the red-brick complex into a mixed-use project housing residences, offices, shops and restaurants. Barrel House Investments sold Distillery Commons to Bamboo for an undisclosed price. In 2019, the seller purchased the complex from Kinetic Properties, which had owned the site since the mid-1970s. The Courier-Journal reports that Distillery Commons operated as a bourbon warehouse that was constructed in the 1890s and that the proposed mixed-use development carries a price tag of $75 million. The City of Louisville recently condemned the rickhouse (Building 100 of the property), which was demolished last month.
Content PartnerDevelopmentFeaturesIndustrialMidwestMixed-UseMultifamilyNortheastNorthmarqOfficeRetailSoutheastTexasWestern
Project Destined: Training a New and Diverse Generation for Real Estate Careers
For the better part of the last two decades, billions of dollars have poured into underserved neighborhoods across the U.S. as corporations, millennials and real estate investors rediscovered downtowns and other urban districts. But to former Carlyle Group executive Cedric Bobo and real estate entrepreneur Fred Greene, young people who grew up in the neighborhoods were often excluded from playing a role in the transitions. To remedy that problem, in 2016 they began training 15 Detroit high school students in real estate fundamentals and invested $150,000 to buy two properties with the idea of using the cash flow to fund scholarships. Soon after, Bobo and Greene officially launched Project Destined, an endeavor to effect social change in the commercial real estate industry by providing college students with financial literacy, entrepreneurship and real estate training. “Cedric found that there was a real need for diverse talent in commercial real estate but that it was hard for companies to find it,” reports Cristina Ciacciarelli, a junior at Burach College in New York City who completed the program in 2021 and now heads up corporate partnerships for Project Destined. “It was also hard for the companies to sell themselves to diverse talent even …
AVONDALE, ARIZ. — Overland Group as developer and Overland Construction as general contractor have broken ground on Avondale Commons, a 22.6-acre mixed-use development on the northwest corner of Avondale Boulevard and McDowell Road in Avondale. Upon full build-out, the development will offer four residential buildings, a hotel, two restaurants, four office buildings and retail space. The first portion of the four-building, 39,650-square-foot medical office complex is underway, with delivery slated for second-quarter 2024. Avondale Commons will feature modern, four-sided architectural design in a garden office setting with highly visible monument signage on McDowell Road and Avondale Boulevard. The office and retail space, including dining and boutique amenities, will be finished in 18 months and is available for pre-leasing. The residential portion is slated for completion in 30 months, with the hotel and conference facilities being completed shortly after. Philip Wurth and Brian Woods of Colliers in Arizona are the exclusive leasing agents for the office and retail portions of the project.
NEW YORK CITY — Cushman & Wakefield has brokered the $17.5 million sale of a mixed-use building located at 833 Madison Ave. on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The five-story, 9,302-square-foot building comprises two retail spaces, one office space, two galleries and six residential units. Hunter Moss of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, A. L. Holdings Inc., in the transaction. Daniel Kaplan of CBRE led the team that represented the buyer, Myles Madison Inc.
NASHVILLE, TENN. — RMR Group is underway on Station East, an 18-acre mixed-use development located at 111 N. First St. in the East Bank neighborhood of Nashville. Designed by Hastings Architecture, the development will feature 1,400 residential units, 1.2 million square feet of office space, over 600 hotel rooms, 2.9 acres of green space and 225,000 square feet of retail space. A project timeline was not disclosed.
NASHVILLE, TENN. — JLL has arranged $172 million in acquisition financing for Four Seasons Hotel Nashville, a 40-story hospitality tower located at 100 Demonbreun St. in downtown Nashville’s South Broadway district. The 235-room hotel includes Mimo Restaurant, Mimo Bar, a full-service spa, event space and a resort-style pool and pool deck. The Four Seasons property also includes 143 condominiums that were not part of the sale. Eric Tupler, Jeff Bucaro, Brian Dawson and Kevin Davis of JLL arranged the financing through Credit Suisse on behalf of the borrower, a joint venture between GD Holdings, Stonebridge Development Co. and Copford Capital Management LLC. The sellers, Congress Group and AECOM Capital, opened the hotel earlier this week.
ANNAPOLIS, MD. — Trademark Property Co. has completed the renovation of Annapolis Town Center, a mixed-use development in Annapolis spanning 2 million square feet. Whole Foods Market and Target anchor the property, which is also home to retailers including Anthropologie, RH and Paper Source. Trademark’s improvements included the addition of green space and a new community gathering area called Green Village; a climate-controlled paseo for improved connectivity and walkability; improved signage and wayfinding; and art installations from local artists. A number of new tenants are set to open within Annapolis Town Center this year, including True Food Kitchen, Tuscan Prime, Warby Parker, Life Time Fitness, Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn, GABBY Summer Classics Home, Urbano Mexican Fare, Tempur Sealy and VIBE.