PHOENIX — Spellman Brady & Co. has completed the expansion and renovation of Sagewood Senior Living in Phoenix for Life Care Services. Renovations included a four-story, 101-unit independent living building with an underground parking garage. The 276,454-square-foot building features one and two-bedroom apartments with den layouts and patio views. The project also provided activity and game rooms, an art studio, putting course, café, formal dining, an indoor-outdoor tapas bar and lounge.
PORTLAND, ORE., AND VANCOUVER, WASH. — Talonvest Capital has arranged a $16 million loan for Get Space. The life insurance company-backed, 10-year loan is secured by two self-storage facilities in Portland and Vancouver. The loan provided the borrower permanent financing prior to economic stabilization at the properties. The properties offer a total of 122,000 rentable square feet and 1,257 storage units in a mix of climate-controlled and non-climate-controlled units. The Vancouver property was built in 2018, while the Portland location was expanded and renovated in 2018. Erich Pryor, David DiRienzo, Jim Davies and Tom Sherlock of Talonvest Capital handled the financing.
Data centers have exploded in importance over the last year and a half. Kevin Goeller, principal, NAI KLNB, has over 21 years of experience in the field of data center development, sales and leasing, but says that, lately, exponential change is driving demand in this asset class. He spoke to REBusinessOnline about the booming need and limiting factors for data centers. REBusiness: Tell us about the sudden, increased demand for data centers. What amount of this demand is due to the pandemic driving people to work from home? What amount of the demand is here to stay? Goeller: Prior to the pandemic, we were already in an upward curve because of the added disciplines of 5G and edge data centers contributing to the already competitive growth of the hyperscalers and multitenant data centers. Data center development didn’t have the interest from institutional investors that it does today; these assets were just starting to get these institutions to chase them as a real estate discipline. Fast forward to the pandemic, which added Zoom, Microsoft Teams and other video conferencing and work-from-home needs. These put additional pressure on an already pressurized discipline, an asset class already trying to adapt and grow. REBusiness: …
FAIRFAX, VA. — Bloomingdale’s has announced plans to open its first Bloomie’s store at the Mosaic District shopping center in Fairfax on August 26. Bloomingdale’s is the latest retailer to unveil an updated store concept designed to reflect the changing wants and needs of shoppers following the COVID-19 pandemic. The new, smaller-footprint concept will span 22,000 square feet and feature an evolving mix of merchandise from top brands alongside tech-enabled stylist services and a restaurant. A standard Bloomingdale’s location spans approximately 200,000 square feet. Fresh deliveries from a mix of designers already featured in Bloomingdale’s stores and emerging labels will come in multiple times per week. These goods will be displayed in rotating carts, allowing for new products to be seen by customers on each visit. Bloomie’s stores will offer men’s and women’s apparel; denim; activewear; intimates; shoes; handbags; beauty products; and accessories, including eyewear and fine jewelry. Brands set for inclusion at Bloomie’s include Rag & Bone, Stella McCartney, Jimmy Choo, Gucci, Dior, Prada, Marc Jacobs, See by Chloe, and more. The new concept will feature a returns dropbox; curbside pick-up; online shopping; and product customization, personalization and alteration services at a centralized front desk. Bloomie’s will also offer stylist services. …
By Mark Fogel, founder, ACRES Capital Despite the pandemic-related uncertainty that dominated the markets in 2020, the student housing sector consistently displayed strong pre-lease occupancy rates among properties under construction, suggesting that the asset class would be well-positioned to hit the ground running in 2021. According to RealPage Analytics, students, encouraged by the prospect of fully reopened campuses, fueled a nearly 10 percent nationwide increase in pre-lease occupancy at off-campus housing between March and April of this year. This data in particular seems to support improvement for the student housing sector overall. Research organization RealPage has tracked student housing occupancy rates at 175 major universities across the country, a sort of barometer for the larger industry. As of March, the company’s data showed that 59.6 percent of beds at those universities were preleased for the fall 2021 semester. While that figure is still 200 basis points below the March 2020 level, it seemingly speaks to students’ preference to get back to living on campus. And while this is good news for operators and developers, the resiliency of the student housing market is bringing forth an unintended, but positive effect on one of the hardest-hit rental markets in the country: New …
By Chris Irwin, Colliers International As we begin to lower our masks, breathe fresh air and see smiles on everyone’s faces, there are strong signs that better than pre-COVID retail activity in Chicago is here. With the expanded vaccine rollout, a decrease in unemployment plus the added boost of stimulus checks, the surge in retail sales in the city and surrounding areas has been measurable. The demand for retail space increased in fourth-quarter 2020 and first-quarter 2021 significantly, with the first quarter recording a 650,000-square-foot increase in overall absorption, which pushed the trailing 12-month absorption back to positive territory — and its highest level since 2017. Increased leasing activity continued to drive new demand as net absorption totaled almost 1 million square feet in the first quarter. Vacancy in Chicago retail has flattened and currently is holding at 6.1 percent over the past year compared with a rate of 5.1 percent nationally. Leasing activity was driven by the expansion of essential retailers throughout the first quarter, similar to first-quarter activity levels registered in 2017, 2018 and 2019. However, the most important step toward recovery happened June 11 when the State of Illinois moved its Coronavirus response from Phase 4 to …
COLUMBIA, MD. — StoneBridge Investments has acquired Gramercy at Town Center, a 210-unit apartment community in Columbia, for $67 million. Martha Hastings and Bill Roohan of CBRE represented the sellers, Prudential Global Investment Management and Bozzuto, in the transaction. Maxi Leachman and David Webb, also with CBRE, arranged financing on behalf of StoneBridge. The financing was a Freddie Mac loan of about $43 million. Built in 1998 at 10601 Gramercy Place, Gramercy at Town Center features a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. StoneBridge plans to make improvements to the clubhouse and pool, building exteriors and interior unit upgrades such as faux wood flooring, updated finishes and technology packages. Each unit has a private balcony or patio, individual side-by-side washer and dryer and a walk-in closet, and some of the units also offer gas fireplaces and built-in computer niches. The kitchens feature stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, hardwood flooring and breakfast bars. Community amenities include a swimming pool with sundeck, 24-hour fitness center, a business center, guest suite and private garages.
CINCINNATI — Phillips Edison & Co. Inc. (PECO), an internally managed REIT, has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to offer 17 million shares of its common stock to the public. The Cincinnati-based shopping center owner also intends to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 2.5 million shares of its common stock. The initial public offering (IPO) price is expected to be between $28 and $31 per share. Adjusting for the one-for-three reverse stock split that was executed on July 2, the IPO price would be expected to be between $9.33 and $10.33 per share. PECO expects to trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “PECO.” The company says it will use the net proceeds from the proposed offering to pay off its $375 million unsecured term loan, fund external growth with property acquisitions and fund other general corporate uses. As of March 31, PECO owned equity interests in 300 shopping centers comprising 31 million square feet across 31 states.
MELROSE PARK, ILL. — Bridge Industrial has acquired a former Navistar manufacturing site in Melrose Park for the development of Bridge Point Melrose Park, a 1.5 million-square-foot industrial park. Navistar sold the 86-acre site to the Chicago-based developer. Plans call for three Class A, speculative buildings, two of which will each span 415,918 square feet. The third building will measure 707,953 square feet. The facilities will feature clear heights ranging from 36 to 40 feet, 130-foot truck courts, a total of 234 exterior docks, eight drive-in doors, 1,481 car stalls and 282 trailer stalls. Completion is slated for mid-2023. Dan McGillicuddy of JLL represented Navistar in the sale.
DANIA BEACH, FLA. — Trez Capital has provided a $64.7 million loan to help fund construction of Elevate Apartments, a 293-unit, mid-rise multifamily community underway in Dania Beach. Miami-based Royal Palm Cos. is the developer for the project. The project is slated for completion in two years. The financing provided was a non-recourse, three year term loan. Located at 600 E. Dania Beach Blvd., Elevate will have studio, one- and two-bedroom units ranging in size from 700 square feet to 1,000 square feet. Community amenities will include a pool deck, fitness center and storage space for water sports equipment. Ben Jacobson of Trez Capital’s Palm Beach office originated the loan on behalf of Royal Palm Cos. Trez Capital is funding residential and multifamily developments throughout Florida. In February 2021, the company financed a $70 million construction loan for Block 40, a rental building totaling 273 units in nearby Hollywood.
