BELTON, MO. — Furniture Deals, a family-owned furniture retailer, has opened a 50,000-square-foot showroom in the North Cass Shopping Center in Belton, located about 21 miles south of Kansas City. Furniture Deals replaces Price Chopper as the anchor tenant of the shopping center. The showroom doubles the size of the company’s original Belton location at 1737 E. North Ave. Founded in 2004, Furniture Deals now employs 100 people and offers a selection of furniture, mattresses and home decor.
ADA, MICH. — MichiganLabs has expanded into the second floor at 452 Ada Drive in Ada, about 10 miles east of Grand Rapids. In December, the software developer leased 2,541 square feet on the third floor. The new office space, totaling 1,643 square feet, will be called “The Lab” and will allow the company to expand its services and hire additional developers. First Cos. is building out the space and Integrated Architecture is providing interior design services. MichiganLabs plans to occupy the new space starting Oct. 7. Jason Webb of Colliers International represented MichiganLabs in the new lease. Brian Sikma of Highpoint Real Estate represented the undisclosed landlord.
ORLANDO, FLA. — Innovatus Capital Partners LLC has acquired Westwood Corporate Center, a five-building, 343,331-square-foot office campus in Orlando. The name of the seller and sales price were not disclosed. The complex was built in three phases between 1988 and 1999. Phase I included three single-story buildings and Phases II and III are both five-story, Energy Star-certified buildings. Westwood Corporate Center was 97 percent leased at the time of sale to 25 tenants. The largest tenant — Marriott Vacations Worldwide — opened its global headquarters at the property in 1996 and has since more than tripled its footprint, expanding eight times to its current operations at 157,400 square feet. The property features a four-story, 1,463-space parking garage, and is situated on 21 acres, roughly 12 miles from Orlando International Airport.
SUMMERVILLE, S.C. — SunTrust Commercial Real Estate (CRE) has provided $39 million in construction financing for the development of South City Summerville, a 360-unit apartment community in Summerville, roughly 25 miles northwest of Charleston. Mark Hancock of SunTrust CRE originated the financing on behalf of the project developer, a joint venture between Watkins Real Estate Group and Retail Planning Corp. South City Summerville will be situated on 39 acres and will include a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans. The joint venture expects to wrap up construction on the project in June 2020.
JACKSON, MISS. — KeyBank Real Estate Capital has provided a $30.6 million Fannie Mae loan for the acquisition of The District Lofts, a 261-unit apartment community in Jackson. Chris Black and Caleb Marten of KeyBank originated the 10-year, fixed-rate loan with five years of interest-only payments and a 30-year amortization schedule. The name of the borrower was not disclosed. Constructed in 2017, The District Lofts features a saltwater pool with sundeck, outdoor kitchens, outdoor fireplace, bocce ball court, fitness center, coffee bar, indoor pet spa and a covered parking deck.
NEW ORLEANS, LA. — Sonnenblick-Eichner Co. has arranged a $29.2 million loan for the refinancing of the Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery, a historic, 167-room hotel in New Orleans’ Warehouse Arts District. The five-year, floating-rate loan was priced at a spread in the mid-300s over LIBOR. The name of the borrower was not disclosed. The hotel underwent a $14 million renovation in 2015 that included the renovation of guest rooms, bathrooms, public spaces and a build-out of the ground floor retail space. The hotel is home to Compère Lapin, an upscale restaurant and bar helmed by James Beard Award-winning chef Nina Compton. The Old No. 77 Hotel was originally constructed in 1854 as a warehouse building. The facility was used as a chandlery, and traded in goods used for sailing voyages.
DALLAS — After experiencing exceptional rent growth between 2014 and 2017, it may be time for developers of multifamily product in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) metroplex to shift their attention from the revenue side of the equation to the expense side. According to CoStar Group, average asking rents across DFW rose by about 12 percent between 2014 and 2017. The year-over-year rent growth of 6.3 percent that occurred between 2014 and 2015 marked a 10-year high for the market and kicked new development into high gear. Now, however, the metroplex has become inundated with new multifamily supply — nearly 22,000 new units delivered in the past 12 months. Rent growth has slowed to about 2.2 percent year-to-date and vacancy is inching upward. But rather than pump the brakes on building, developers should be looking for ways to cut costs, not push rents, if they want to maintain their current levels of profitability. Such was the conclusion of six multifamily developers who gathered at the seventh annual InterFace Multifamily Texas conference on Sept. 26. Held at the Westin Galleria hotel in Dallas, the event drew roughly 250 attendees. Matt Brendel, divisional president and managing partner at Irving, Texas-based JPI, was the …
NASHVILLE, TENN. — Morgan Properties has acquired a four-property, 826-unit multifamily portfolio in Nashville for $91 million. Cardone Capital sold the garden-style properties, which include Hickory Creek, Lincoya Bay, Sheffield Heights and Jackson Grove. The transaction is the first acquisition in Tennessee for Morgan Properties, a national real estate investment and management company headquartered in King of Prussia, Penn. “Entering Nashville is a major milestone for Morgan Properties,” says Jonathan Morgan, president of Morgan Properties JV, an affiliate of Morgan Properties. “Nashville is a hot market and we have been targeting it for quite some time. We felt this portfolio gave us a foundation to build on as we continue to seek follow-on investment opportunities to scale our footprint in the market.” Morgan Properties plans to invest $8.7 million in renovations to the properties that will include enhancing curb appeal and signage; upgrades to kitchens and bathrooms; washer and dryer installations; and enhancements to the fitness center, playgrounds, dog parks, pool areas, exterior fitness areas and other amenities. In addition, the company will provide new tech features such as electronic locks, Wi-Fi enabled thermostats and light switches, and an Amazon Echo with voice control over all devices in select units. Morgan …
The most active commercial real estate category in the Twin Cities metro area over the last several years, in terms of leasing activity and new construction sales, has been industrial product. New construction has been trending toward office warehouse and bulk buildings with higher clear heights, as tenants are implementing new racking systems and growing upward to optimize their space. On the surface, this trend may sound like it will leave behind the lower-clear height flex and office showroom buildings. However, owners of flex and office showroom buildings in Minneapolis-St. Paul are finding new interest by providing creative amenities and repositioning assets that are attracting entirely new tenant prospect types and reinventing what an office showroom building can become. The ability to target a wider potential prospect pool including office users, retailers and non-traditional industrial users is reliant on proper vacancy preparation to be able to show the space as a true blank slate. Through white-boxing the space, owners show that the space has high ceilings with an industrial feel, an aesthetic that many office users are interested in, but at a significantly lower price point versus many office buildings. Another benefit of the office showroom product is that there …
ALLENTOWN, PA. — Real estate development company City Center Investment Corp. has topped out Five City Center, a 13-story office tower in Allentown. The 300,000-square-foot building is located at Eighth and Hamilton streets and will feature an all-glass exterior with first-floor retail space. Payroll processing provider ADP has leased 243,241 square feet at Five City Center to house its regional sales division. The building is slated to open by Sept. 1, 2019.
