The Nashville office market continues to have positive momentum coming into 2019, following three years of record-setting leasing that brought several big name corporate tenants to the market — plus a recent surprise announcement that Amazon will soon be adding 5,000 employees to Nashville’s central business district (CBD) within the Nashville Yards development. The bulk of the activity is concentrated in CBD Class A office space, as tenants focus on real estate decisions that emphasize recruiting and employee retention. This trend mirrors activity occurring in many major markets across the country. Companies continue to seek the coveted urban work-live-play environments designed to attract the millennial population. Avison Young research shows that the CBD recorded 255,330 square feet of positive net absorption at year-end 2018. Among the large companies that signed notable leases in the urban core in 2018 are Philips, AllianceBernstein and Asurion, which is adding 400 tech employees and consolidating several locations into a new 550,000-square-foot headquarters at 11th Avenue North and Church Street in the Gulch. Construction is scheduled to begin this year on that headquarters, with completion slated by the end of 2021. Nashville’s strong business climate and robust office leasing activity have caught the attention of …
STONE MOUNTAIN, GA. — Arbor Realty Trust Inc. has provided a $47 million refinancing loan for 13Ten Apartment Homes, a 977-unit multifamily complex in Stone Mountain. The 12-year, fixed-rate Fannie Mae loan includes six years of interest-only payments. Stephen York of Arbor originated the loan on behalf of the undisclosed borrower. The asset, which is situated about 15 miles east of downtown Atlanta, was built in 1988 and renovated earlier this year. Community amenities include a fitness center, indoor and outdoor pools, business center, dog park, car-care center and a gazebo with a fishing pier. Local media outlets reported in April 2018 that there was a fire that destroyed 12 units within the apartment community. No details were provided if the refinancing is connected with the fire damage.
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. — Mast Capital has acquired The Quay, a 73,000-square-foot mixed-use shopping center in Fort Lauderdale. The Quay sits on seven acres along South 17th Street near the Stranahan River, three miles south of downtown Fort Lauderdale. The asset was fully leased at the time of the sale to tenants including Boatyard Restaurant, the United States Postal Service and Chipotle Mexican Grill. The property also includes a two-story office building and Boathouse of Fort Lauderdale marina. Hudson Capital Group Inc. sold The Quay. CIT Bank provided acquisition financing, and Roberto Susi of Axiom Capital Advisors arranged the sale.
SUWANEE, GA. — Cushman & Wakefield has arranged the sale of Brookwood Marketplace, a 199,594-square-foot retail center in Suwanee shadow-anchored by Super Target. The property is located at 2615-2635 Peachtree Parkway, about 34 miles north of downtown Atlanta in Gwinnett County. Brookwood Marketplace was 98 percent leased at the time of the sale to tenants including The Home Depot, Bed Bath & Beyond and OfficeMax. Fain Hicks and Mark Gilbert of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, Weingarten Realty, in the transaction. A private individual acquired the asset for an undisclosed price.
OLIVE BRANCH, MISS. — Dougherty Mortgage LLC has provided a $20.7 million Fannie Mae refinancing loan for The Plantation Apartment Homes, a 336-unit community in Olive Branch. The 12-year loan features a 30-year amortization schedule. Plantation Apartment Group LP was the borrower. The Plantation Apartment Homes is situated about 24 miles southeast of downtown Memphis and offers community amenities such as a stocked fishing lake, swimming pool, fitness center, playground, two clubhouses and laundry facilities.
HUNTSVILLE, ALA. — Georgia Tech Research Institute has leased 38,000 square feet of office space within Redstone Gateway, a 76,000-square-foot building in Huntsville being developed by Corporate Office Properties Trust, which will also serve as the landlord. Georgia Tech’s focus in Huntsville is aero-space related reasearch. Redstone Gateway is a research park near U.S. Army post Redstone Arsenal, which is home to the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM), major components of the Defense Intelligence Agency and the NASA‐ George C. Marshall Space Flight Center. Redstone Gateway is expected to open this fall. Georgia Tech will consolidate 70 employees from offices around Huntsville to the new location, with plans to further expand. Dale Lewis and Mark Rosenthal of CBRE and Russ Russell Real Estate represented Georgia Tech in the lease negotiations. The landlord was represented internally by James Lomax.
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Dallas-based development firm Lang Partners has broken ground on The Cooper, a $65 million multifamily project in Fort Worth. Located at 1001 W. Rosedale St., the property will consist of 390 units in one-, two- and three-bedroom formats. Units will range in size from 600 to 1,810 square feet and will feature 10- to 12-foot ceilings, walk-in closets and showers, private terraces, quartz countertops and platinum silver appliances. Communal amenities include a pool with private cabanas, outdoor grilling and lounge area, fitness center with a yoga studio, coffee bar, pet park, coworking office space and package lockers with cold storage and dry cleaning services. KWA Construction is the general contractor and GFF is the architect for the project, which is slated for an August 2020 completion.
CONROE, TEXAS — A partnership between Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Holdings LLC, Atlanta-based Songy Highroads and Baton Rouge, La.-based The Wampold Cos. will open a 360-room Margaritaville Resort at Lake Conroe, about an hour north of Houston. The property, which will be the first Margaritaville-branded project in Texas, will be situated on a 186-acre site that is currently home to La Torretta Lake Resort & Spa. The development team will undertake a renovation project to convert two of the existing restaurants to signature Margaritaville dining concepts, and to refresh the golf course, tennis facilities, spa and outdoor pools. The opening is slated for the third quarter of 2020.
DALLAS — Kaizen Development Partners has begun demolition work on The Link at Uptown, a 300,000-square-foot office project located at 2601 Olive St. in Uptown Dallas. BOKA Powell and Balfour Beatty are respectively serving as the architect and general contractor for the 25-story building, which will be situated near a variety of retail and restaurant destinations. JLL is handling leasing and marketing of the property, which is expected to be complete in fall 2021. An investment fund managed by Goldman Sachs’ merchant banking division is providing project financing.
CARROLLTON, TEXAS — Conti Organization, a multifamily investment firm that owns approximately 7,800 units in the DFW metroplex, has acquired Dawntree Apartments, a 400-unit community in the northern Dallas suburb of Carrollton. Built in 1982 on 23 acres, the community features one- and two-bedroom units and amenities such as a pool, fitness center, tennis court, business center and a resident clubhouse. Conti purchased Dawntree Apartments from California-based Steadfast Income REIT and will rebrand the community as Bella Vista Apartments.