NEW YORK CITY — Locally based firm Ariel Property Advisors has arranged a $5.5 million construction loan for a 24-unit multifamily project in the Morrisania neighborhood of The Bronx. Matt Dzbanek and Matt Swerdlow of Ariel Property Advisors arranged the loan. The borrower was an international family office, and the direct lender was a local debt fund. Both of those parties involved in the transaction requested anonymity.
SOMERVILLE, MASS. — A partnership between Leggat McCall Properties, DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners and Deutsche Finance America (DFA) has received $246 million in construction financing for 808 Windsor, a life sciences development located roughly four miles outside Boston in Somerville. Brett Paulsrud and Henry Schaffer of JLL Capital Markets secured the five-year loan through Bank OZK. 808 Windsor will be positioned adjacent to the newly developed Union Square MBTA Green Line Station within Boynton Yards, a master-planned development that is set to span up to 1.35 million square feet. The 11-story property will include 346,000 square feet of state-of-the-art lab space, 7,000 square feet of retail and 242 below-grade parking spaces. A timeline for the development was not announced. Boston remains a top life sciences market in the U.S., with recently announced projects including the conversion of a 105,000-square-foot building in suburban Boston and the conversion of a 102,727-square-foot office building in Boston’s Seaport District into life sciences space, among others. Leggat McCall Properties is an owner, developer and service provider for corporate, educational and healthcare properties across the greater Boston area. The company has developed over 42 million square feet of projects over the past 10 years. …
The COVID-19 pandemic changed the ways schools operate, how classes were taught, and how students learned and socialized in 2020. Life still hasn’t returned to normal for anyone, including students away at college. Interior design may seem like a lower priority in the wake of such a health crisis, but these professionals would argue the exact opposite — that it’s more important than ever. That’s because leasing, retention, and making students and parents feel safe and secure as they return to their college experiences is more important than ever. The pandemic shifted higher education from in-person classes to online learning in 2020. This gave students and parents an entire year to reassess whether going away to school was the right decision going forward. This has been compounded by a focus on increasing education costs, as well as many colleges announcing that the 2021 to 2022 school year would emphasize hybrid learning, with lots of classes remaining online as the Delta variant took hold. The cumulative result of all this was a 4 percent decrease in undergraduate enrollment in 2021, per the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Freshman enrollment for the fall 2021 semester start sank by 13 percent when compared to …
MIAMI — Aztec Group has arranged $247.5 million in debt financing for Downtown 5th, an apartment community in downtown Miami spanning 1,042 rental apartments and 13,261 square feet of retail space. Peter Mekras of Aztec Group arranged the financing on behalf of the developer, Miami-based Melo Group. Berkadia’s Miami office acted as seller-servicer for the Freddie Mac loan. The 10-year loan features a fixed interest rate and is full-term interest only. Downtown 5th opened for occupancy in July of 2021 and almost every unit was leased in under seven months, or approximately 150 units per month. Downtown 5th offer one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans that range in size from 650 and 1,200 square feet. Monthly rental rates range from approximately $1,700 to $4,000. The property is located at the corner of 5th Street and North Miami Avenue adjacent to the College North Metromover station.
PEARLAND, TEXAS — Chicago-based investment firm Waterton has acquired Stonepost at Shadow Creek Ranch, a 360-unit apartment community located within the Shadow Creek master-planned community in the southern Houston suburb of Pearland. Built on 27.5 acres in 2010, the garden-style property offers one-, two- and three-bedroom units with an average size of 1,150 square feet. Amenities include a pool, fitness center, resident clubhouse, grilling area, billiards room, playground and a dog park. Waterton plans to upgrade the community’s unit interiors, mechanical systems, exterior landscaping and parking areas, as well as to rebrand the community as Sladestone at Shadow Creek Ranch. The seller and sales price were not disclosed.
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Hillwood will develop a 135,000-square-foot speculative office building within the 900-acre Alliance Town Center development in Fort Worth. Hillwood Commons II is the first of two planned sister buildings and will be expandable to up to 270,000 square feet. The building will feature increased air filtration, bipolar ionization systems, touchless doors, electric vehicle charging stations and connectivity to the outdoors via the Alliance Town Center trail network and park system. Completion is slated for February 2023.
WINCHESTER, VA. — Bethesda, Md.-based Meridian Group has purchased One Logistics Park, a 277-acre distribution center campus in Winchester that will be built over multiple phases. The sales price was not disclosed. JGR Three, Hockman Investments and Governor’s Hill LLC were the sellers. The Meridian Group has selected Colliers to market the $150 million project once completed. Construction will break ground in the first quarter of 2022 with delivery of Phase I set for the second half of 2023. The first phase will span nearly 1.4 million square feet spread across two facilities: a 1 million-square-foot building and a 360,000-square-foot building. Meridian Group and co-developer Wickshire Industrial plan for One Logistics Park to feature 2.8 million square feet of distribution logistics space and over 100,000 square feet for gas service, quick-service restaurants and other retail options. One Logistics Park will be located along Interstate 81 and offer access to the Baltimore-Washington Corridor via Interstates 66 and 70, with close proximity to the Virginia Inland Port, which is also located in Winchester.
RICHMOND, VA. — CoStar Group Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based provider of online real estate marketplaces, information and analytics, plans to expand its research and technology center in Richmond to exceed 1 million square feet campus. The new corporate campus is expected to bring together over 3,000 employees focused on next generation technology, research and development, marketing, sales and operations in support of the real estate industry. Over the next five to 10 years, the planned growth would make CoStar Group the largest technology company and one of the largest private employers in Richmond, according to the company. The planned corporate campus, situated on the James River, will comprise 750,000 square feet across two new planned buildings, combined with CoStar’s current building at 501 S. 5th St. The campus is expected to include a new 26-story LEED Platinum-certified office tower and a six-story, mass timber building to be used as a multipurpose campus hub for employee and community amenities. Amenities at the CoStar campus will include conference space, fitness and wellness amenities, an auditorium, 50,000 square feet of occupiable green roof terraces, shops and a variety of restaurants and dining options, as well as over 2.7 acres of outdoor green space. …
MANSFIELD, TEXAS — South Carolina-based developer Greystar has begun leasing Album Mansfield, a 190-unit active adult community located on the southern outskirts of Fort Worth. Units come in one- and two-bedroom formats and are reserved for renters age 55 and above. Amenities include a pool, outdoor activity terrace, dog park, coffee bar, game room, movie theater, fitness center and walking trails. Rents start at $1,300 per month for a one-bedroom unit.
ATLANTA AND NEWARK, N.J. — Atlanta-based Carroll, in partnership with Newark-based PGIM Real Estate, has bought 12 multifamily communities in Orlando, Sarasota, West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale totaling 3,976 units. All properties were acquired through Carroll’s latest institutional investment vehicle, Carroll Multifamily Venture VI LP. The sales price was not disclosed. Carroll will manage the properties, which include seven Orlando properties, three Sarasota-Bradenton communities, one West Palm Beach property and one Fort Lauderdale community. The properties will all be rebranded under the Arium name, including: • Arium Altamonte Springs (previously Ashford Altamonte Springs) • Arium Winter Park (Bishop Park) • Arium Springs Colony (Springs Colony) • Twelve Oaks at Windemere by Arium (Twelve Oaks at Windemere) • Arium Valencia Gardens (Verona at Valencia Park) • Arium Mission Bay (Mission Bay) • Arium Mariner’s Village (Valencia Plantation) • Arium Bristol Bay (Perico Apartments) • Arium Citrus Run (Mcintosh Apartments) • Arium Grove Walk (Heron’s Run) • Gardens East by Arium (Gardens East) and • Park Place at Turtle Run by Arium (Park Place at Turtle Run) Carroll currently manages 39 properties throughout Florida and more than 13,000 units, totaling $3.5 billion in assets under management. Between 2015 and 2021, Carroll …