ELMHURST, ILL. — Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital LLC has provided a $28.8 million Freddie Mac loan for the acquisition, rehabilitation and preservation of Elmhurst Terrace, a 315-unit affordable housing property in Elmhurst. Phil Melton of Bellwether Enterprise’s Dallas office originated the 10-year, fixed-rate loan. Developer Cohen-Esrey was the borrower. In addition, Bellwether’s parent company, Enterprise Community Investment Inc., along with BMO Harris Bank and Cohen-Esrey, have invested $17 million for the rehabilitation and preservation. Located about 20 miles south of downtown Chicago, Elmhurst Terrace was originally constructed in 1947. Monthly rents range from $975 to $1,400. Unit renovations will include new kitchen appliances and finishes, flooring and light fixtures. Plans also call for exterior improvements as well as the addition of a pet park and barbecue stations. The renovations are scheduled for completion in the next one to two years.
KANSAS CITY, MO. — Newmark Grubb Zimmer (NGZ) has arranged the sale of Midtown Park and Rivergate Business Center, two light industrial parks containing a total of nine buildings in Kansas City, for an undisclosed price. The properties total 560,000 square feet. There are four buildings within Midtown Park and five buildings within Rivergate. The portfolio is home to 29 tenants that occupy space ranging in size from 3,600 to 80,000 square feet. Mark Long, John Hassler, Scott Bluhm and Trenton Wahl of NGZ represented the seller, Brennan Investment Group. Sealy & Co. purchased the portfolio.
NOBLESVILLE, IND. — Lightstone Group has purchased Autumn Breeze Apartments in Noblesville for an undisclosed price. Built in 2009, the 280-unit apartment community is located at 14901 Beauty Berry Lane. Amenities include a pool, business center, dog park, sun patio and grilling pavilion. Steve LaMotte Jr. of CBRE represented the seller, Passco Cos. Dan Sacks of Greystone originated a $29.9 million Freddie Mac loan for the acquisition.
MARION, OHIO — Greystone has provided a $6.5 million Fannie Mae loan for the refinancing of Professional Park Apartments in Marion, about 50 miles north of Columbus. The 100-unit multifamily property is situated on seven acres and features a mix of garden- and townhome-style units. Jason Yuen of Greystone originated the 10-year loan, which features a 30-year amortization. The West 5 Group was the borrower.
LOS ANGELES — CIM Group has agreed to purchase Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, an 869,000-square-foot mall in the Crenshaw/Baldwin Hills submarket of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Times reports the sales price at over $100 million. The seller is Chicago-based Capri Urban Investors, which took control of the property in 2019 from Capri Capital Advisors, the Times also reports. The mall is situated on 40 acres at 3650 W. Martin Luther King Blvd., eight miles west of downtown Los Angeles. The Walmart and Sears stores shuttered prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, leaving over one-third of the property vacant. Cinemark Theater is also a tenant. The Macy’s and IHOP locations at the mall were not part of the sale. A timeline for the sale closing was not disclosed. The asset is adjacent to the Crenshaw-LAX metro light-rail station, an eight-mile line that will connect the neighborhood to Los Angeles International Airport. The station is slated to open by the end of the year. CIM Group reportedly plans to add office space to the property, closing the door on rumors that residential units might go up at the mall. “We have the opportunity to bring a fresh perspective to the future of …
MELBOURNE, FLA. — Aerion Supersonic has unveiled plans to develop Aerion Park, a future $300 million office campus in Melbourne. The property will span 60 acres at the Orlando Melbourne International Airport and form a new global headquarters and integrated campus for research, design, build and maintenance of the company’s supersonic aircraft. The company is relocating from Reno, Nev., and will break ground later this year. Aerion expects to create 675 jobs by 2026. At the new site, Aerion will build the AS2, the world’s first privately built supersonic jet.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) sent a letter to the U.S. Congress on Monday requesting more funds for small business hotels across the country. According to a report from AHLA, small business hotels won’t be able to bring back laid off employees or prevent further layoffs with the current funds offered by the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), the Small Business Association (SBA) initiative established by the CARES Act. The PPP funds cover 47 percent of a hotel’s operating costs, the AHLA says in the letter. The Washington, D.C.-based organization also reports 61 percent of U.S. hotels, approximately 33,000 properties — are defined as small businesses. The letter was signed by more than 13,000 hotel owners. AHLA projects that 2020 hotel occupancy will go as low as 38 percent, the lowest figure since the Great Depression. Furthermore, the report finds that hotel staff nationwide has been cut by 70 percent since mid-March. AHLA states even after recovery begins, the hotel sector will not generate significant revenue to cover costs, given that hotel occupancy is not projected to return to pre-crisis levels before 2021 and revenue won’t return to pre-crisis levels until 2022.
DURHAM, N.C. — Magma Equities has acquired Independence Park Apartments, a 312-unit multifamily community in Durham, for $50 million. The property offers one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans spanning 13 three-story buildings. The community was built in 2009 and sits on 23 acres at 215 William Penn Plaza, four miles north of downtown Durham. Communal amenities include a pool, fitness center, business center, clubhouse, 24-seat multimedia theater, tennis court, sand volleyball court, basketball court, playground and a dog park. Independence Park was 96 percent occupied at the time of sale. Due to COVID-19, Magma will suspend renovation plans and immediately begin outreach to offer any assistance it can to keep tenants housed. Dennis Harris of The Kirkland Co. represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction. Greystone provided a Freddie Mac acquisition loan to the buyer.
ALPHARETTA, GA. — Neal Freeman will begin construction in May on Fairway Social, a golf and entertainment concept in Alpharetta. The 11,000-square-foot entertainment destination, Fairway Social, will be located in The Maxwell, a joint development between Mayfair Street Partners, LLC and The Providence Group of Georgia LLC. The Maxwell will include 44,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and office space, as well as 138 residential units. Seven sports simulators will offer virtual golfing on more than 80 notable courses, as well as provide simulated games for baseball, football, soccer, lacrosse, hockey, cricket and zombie dodgeball. The venue will also feature a section called Back Nine, which will have nine customizable holes on synthetic turf with synthetic sand traps, bridges and putting challenges. The indoor and outdoor bar area, named Par Bar, will be adjacent to seating for more than 80 diners in an area to be known as The Tee Room. There will also be an indoor-outdoor patio bar on the rooftop called Eagles Nest. The Maxwell is situated 25 miles north of downtown Atlanta.
ATLANTA — Harold Schumacher, founder of The Schumacher Group in Atlanta, died Saturday at the age of 72. Schumacher attended Michigan State University and moved to Atlanta as a public school teacher in the 1970s. He worked part-time as a restaurant critic for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Schumacher worked at The Shopping Center Group, now known as TSCG, as a broker for four years before founding The Schumacher Group in 1991. Some of Schumacher’s major clients include Verizon Wireless, Bruster’s, Metrotainment Cafes (Hudson Grill and Garrison’s), Varasano’s Pizza and Golden Corral. The firm also is part of the Retail Brokers Network, a national consortium of independent retail and restaurant pros.