ORLANDO, FLA. — Centennial Bank has originated a $21 million construction loan for Phase II of Celebration West, a planned 84,000-square-foot retail center in Orlando. The property is located at the intersection of Interstate 4 and World Drive, five miles from Walt Disney World. The borrower, Unicorp National Developments Inc., acquired the site in April 2019 from Disney. Dave & Buster’s and a regional grocery chain will anchor Celebration West. Other tenants will include Dunkin’, Walgreens and Burger King, bringing the property to 56 percent preleased. A timeline for Phase II was not disclosed. Robby Barrows of Centennial Bank originated the loan on behalf of Unicorp, which is also underway on a $1 billion mixed-use development in Orlando known as O-Town West.
ATLANTA — Chick-fil-A has signed an office lease to occupy the sixth floor of 725 Ponce, a new mixed-use development located on Atlanta BeltLine’s Eastside Trail adjacent to Ponce City Market. The 40,000-square-foot space will house 250 corporate employees and will be an extension of the company’s support center south of Atlanta. Chick-fil-A is expected to move into the new space in summer 2020 when the buildout is complete. A 60,000-square-foot Kroger recently opened at the base of 725 Ponce. Jon Mayeske and Janelle Beasley of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Aileen Almassy, also of Cushman & Wakefield, represented the landlord, New City Properties.
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — A joint venture between KRE Group and Northwestern Mutual is underway on development of 351 Marin, a 507-unit multifamily building in Jersey City. The building will feature 8,000 square feet of commercial space, a 4,500-square-foot public plaza and two floors of amenities for residents. The property is located in close proximity to numerous retail and restaurant options, as well as the Grove Street PATH transit station. Leasing is slated to begin in fall 2021.
NEW YORK CITY — Avison Young has negotiated the leasing of over 45,700 square feet of office space at 1140 Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan. Vatic Labs, a trading technology firm, signed a 12,750-square-foot new lease for its New York City headquarters. Real estate investment firm Almanac Realty Investors signed a 12,750-square-foot office lease extension and expansion, and PSL Group, a pharmaceutical research, medical education and publishing firm, signed a 12,750-square-foot office lease extension. Grace Beauty, a marketer, investor and distributor of beauty products, signed a 7,466-square-foot office lease renewal. Todd Korren, Brooks Hauf and Peter Johnson of Avison Young represented the landlord, New York City-based REIT, in each of the four lease negotiations.
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — Urban Spaces has sold 85-95 First Street, a 10,000-square-foot retail building in Cambridge, for $11.2 million. The building was competed in June with 4,600 square feet of space preleased to specialty pet food and supply store Loyal Companion. Paint supply store Sherwin-Williams has also agreed to lease 2,900 square feet, and another undisclosed tenant has agreed to lease the remaining 2,500 square feet. Conviser Property Group represented Urban Spaces in the building sale.
PHILADELPHIA — Greystone has provided an $8 million Fannie Mae loan for the refinancing of a portfolio of workforce housing properties totaling 88 units in Philadelphia. All properties received fully amortizing adjustable-rate mortgages. The exact locations of the properties were undisclosed. Anthony Cristi of Greystone originated the loan on behalf of the borrower, La Gioconda Co.
NEW YORK CITY — Cognitive computing services provider Digital Reasoning has signed a 5,819-square-foot office lease in Manhattan. The space is located on the 31st floor of 11 Times Square, a 1.1 million-square-foot commercial tower. The company is moving its New York City office from 853 Broadway and is expected to move into its new space by mid-November. Kyle Wainwright and Paul Ippolito of Newmark Knight Frank represented Digital Reasoning in the lease negotiations. JLL represented the landlord, SJP Properties, along with Zach Freeman on an internal basis. SJP’s project solutions team is constructing a build-to-suit boardroom for the tenant.
IRVINE, CALIF. — A public-private partnership between American Campus Communities (ACC) and the University of California – Irvine has opened Plaza Verde, a 1,441-bed, on-campus residential tower. The community offers fully furnished units and shared amenities including state-of-the-art fitness centers, multi-purpose rooms, outdoor pavilions, an academic success center and group and private study spaces. The community is seeking LEED Platinum status, and features an all-electric system that eliminates the need for natural gas. “In addition to being a healthy and dynamic student community, Plaza Verde is the greenest large-scale student community that has been developed,” says Bill Bayless, CEO of ACC. “We have gone to extensive lengths to ensure sustainability and student-focused design are at the forefront, from initially designing and testing systems for an efficient and comfortable community, then arranging a sizable offset for energy that will actually be achieved.”
LOS ANGELES — R.D. Olson Construction has completed The Curve at West Angeles, a 70-unit, 80,000-square-foot affordable mixed-use community in the Park Mesa Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. The art deco-style project is a joint venture between Related California and West Angeles Community Development Corp., and features 2,000 square feet of retail space in addition to 50,000 square feet of affordable housing reserved for residents over age 62. The five-story community features 24 studios and 45 one-bedrooms ranging from 400 to 630 square feet, as well as one manager’s apartment. The first-floor retail portion of the project can accommodate up to three tenants, and West Angeles Community Development Corp. has a boardroom and leasing office onsite. The development is just blocks away from Destination Crenshaw, a new 1.3-mile art and cultural experience that celebrates the area’s heritage as the largest black community west of the Mississippi River. The Crenshaw/LAX light rail line, which is currently under construction, will have a stop less than a block away. R.D. Olson Construction worked with KFA Architects and Mannigan Design on the project.
CHICAGO — Lathrop Community Partners, a development partnership between Related Midwest, Heartland Housing and Bickerdike Redevelopment Corp., has revitalized the Julia C. Lathrop Homes public housing project in Chicago. Originally built in 1938 as part of the nation’s New Deal public housing effort, the project now consists of a mixed-income residential property. The rehabilitated North Campus includes the original administration building and updated apartment buildings along the re-activated riverfront. The 35-acre project features 16 buildings. Design firm HED served as the executive architect for Phase I of the redevelopment, which is now open. The firm helped with modernizing historic structures, addressing accessibility challenges and coordinating new technology and HVAC systems. When all phases are complete, Lathrop will comprise a total of 1,116 residences, with 494 units leased at market rates, 222 offered to working families that meet affordable housing guidelines and 400 reserved for Chicago Housing Authority households. The flagship amenity at Lathrop is the five-acre riverfront park, reimagined by landscape architectural firm Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates. The project team also included Farr & Associates, JGMA, McGuire Igleski & Associates and Terra.