NEWTON, MASS. — Locally based owner-operator 2Life Communities has broken ground on Opus Newton, a seniors housing project that will be located on the western outskirts of Boston. The site is situated adjacent to 2Life’s Coleman House on the Jewish Community Center Greater Boston campus. Construction is slated for a summer 2025 completion. According to the developer, 95 percent of the residences are already preleased.
As vacant sites become rare and cost-prohibitive, commercial real estate developers need to be creative when it comes to bringing a new project out of the ground. Unconventional development sites offer cost savings and location advantages, and in-depth due diligence and creativity on the part of developers can make for sites that can allow an elegant union of lower costs and strategy. With limited room for delay, how can developers think critically about available sites and leverage existing conditions to their advantage? Katherine Roberts, senior project manager at Bohler’s Warrenton, VA office, and Gregory Roth, principal at Bohler’s Tampa office, offer their expert advice on threading this needle. Bohler specializes in land development, especially making development work when conventional sites aren’t an option. Prioritizing Development Needs When Assessing Red Flags Certain project factors can be red flags if time or cost are obstacles to a developer, including These points of concern are usually knots that can be untangled if a developer has the time, money and appetite to move forward in spite of these interruptions, but each factor does bear watching. “Developers should understand where their limits are and where they’re willing to negotiate. Ideally, anything you’re developing should be …
FRISCO, TEXAS — Locally based developer Stillwater Capital will develop a 352-unit multifamily project at The Link, a 240-acre mixed-use development in Frisco. The Link, which has a total price tag of about $1 billion, connects to the PGA of America’s new, 600-acre headquarters campus via a pedestrian promenade and a network of public green spaces. The new multifamily community will offer townhome- and cottage-style residences and amenities such as a pool, fitness center, golf simulator, putting green and a courtyard with a fire pit. Construction is slated to begin this spring and to be complete in summer 2025.
SAN ANTONIO — DiversyFund, a fintech and investment platform focused on multifamily assets, has completed the renovation of Mission Villas, a 174-unit multifamily property in San Antonio. According to Apartments.com, the complex was built in 1965 and offers studio and one-bedroom units, as well as amenities such as a pool, playground and outdoor grilling and dining areas. Renovations included upgrades to the kitchens and bathrooms of all units and improvements to building exteriors.
LONG BRANCH, N.J. — Locally based developer and general contractor Prime City has broken ground on SICA Lofts, a 31-unit multifamily project that will be located in the coastal New Jersey community of Long Branch. The site originally housed the home of the Lincoln Can Manufacturing Co. and later the Shore Institute of Contemporary Arts, from which the property derives its titular acronym. The project will feature one-bedroom units with an average size of 750 square feet and 2,500 square feet of ground-floor retail space. Manasquan Bank provided a $7.5 million, floating-rate construction loan for the project, which is scheduled for a third-quarter 2024 completion.
DOUGLASVILLE, GA. — GREA (Global Real Estate Advisors) has arranged the $6.5 million sale of Douglasville Proper, a 100-unit affordable housing community located at 8424 Chicago Ave. in Douglasville, a suburb of Atlanta. Cory Caroline Sams and Taylor Brown of GREA represented the seller, Signature Management, in the transaction. The buyer, S & S Capital Partners, plans to preserve the affordability of the LIHTC property during its ownership. Built in 1995, Douglasville Proper features one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans.
LITTLETON, COLO. — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of the 24-unit Woodlawn Apartments in Littleton. A limited liability company bought the asset from another LLC for $3.8 million. The community is located at 1085 West Lilley Ave. All units are one-bedroom apartments with high-speed internet access, updated windows and floors, air conditioning, heating, refrigerators and ovens. The 1950s-built property also offers 24 surface parking spaces. Greg Price and Spencer Shaffer of Marcus & Millichap’s Denver office represented the seller, while the firm’s Boomer Beatty represented the buyer.
DENVER — Pinnacle Real Estate Advisors has negotiated the sale of a 24-unit apartment building in Denver for $3.7 million. The community is located at 1400 W. Mississippi Ave. It was built in 1963. The sale represented a per-unit price of $154,167, or $208.97 per square foot. Josh Newell of the Newell Team at Pinnacle Real Estate Advisors represented the undisclosed seller, while the firm’s Connor Knutson and Jake Waxter represented the undisclosed buyer.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Hoar Construction has broken ground on Icon, a 30-story student housing tower in the West Campus neighborhood by the University of Texas at Austin. The MDL Group is the developer for the project, which is slated for completion in summer 2025. Icon will house 555 beds across 216 units ranging from one- to five-bedroom layouts. Amenities will include a rooftop pool, fitness center, game and lounge rooms, podcast studio and student workspaces. The project will also feature four levels of below-ground parking. Once completed, Icon will be one of the tallest buildings in the surrounding area, according to the general contractor. The project marks the first partnership between Hoar and MDL Group, a New York-based developer, owner and operator of student housing communities. The project team also includes Rhode Partners as architect, DCI Engineers as structural engineer and Blum Engineering as the MEP (mechanical, electrical and plumbing) engineer. The student housing sector is outperforming other real estate verticals during challenging economic conditions, according to the latest national student housing report from Yardi Matrix. Rents increased 7 percent year-over-year in March to an average of $829 per bedroom, a record high. UT Austin has the highest bed count …
GLEN ALLEN, VA. — A joint venture between Middleburg Communities and The Resmark Cos. plans to develop The Brook, a 310-unit apartment development located on a 13.5-acre site at 9002 Brook Road in Glen Allen, a suburb of Richmond. The co-developers expect to begin construction this month, with the community scheduled to open in late 2024. The Brook will comprise five four-story apartment buildings totaling 274 units, as well as six six-unit townhome buildings. Apartments will come in a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans, and townhomes will come in two- and three-bedroom layouts. The Brook’s amenities will include an outdoor swimming pool, fitness center and yoga studio, grilling stations, dog park, pet spa and electric vehicle charging stations. Truist Bank provided an undisclosed amount of construction financing for the project.