DOWNINGTOWN, PA. — Gulph Creek Development has developed its eighth hotel in the Philadelphia suburbs. The 115-suite Home2 Suites by Hilton Downingtown-Route 30 features complimentary breakfast and WiFi, a combination laundry and fitness area, Home2 MKT for grab-and-go snacks and an indoor swimming pool. Additionally, each suite features a full-equipped kitchen and modular furniture. Gulph Creek Hotels will manage the hotel, which is located at 975 E. Lancaster Ave. within Ashbridge Commons.
TAMPA, FLA. — Robbins/Electra America LLC (REM), a joint venture between Robbins Property Associates and its investment partner Electra America, has purchased a 12-property multifamily portfolio in North Carolina and Virginia for more than $400 million. Totaling 3143 units, the communities include seven properties in the Charlotte area, four in metro Raleigh and one in Richmond, Va. The new ownership is planning a multimillion-dollar investment program to upgrade the properties’ kitchens, bathrooms, fixtures, lighting and flooring. Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC arranged acquisition financing through Freddie Mac on behalf of REM. With this transaction, REM owns and manages 57 apartment communities totaling 16,689 units.
GREENBELT, MD. — Capital One has provided a $66.7 million acquisition loan for Gates of Cipriano, a 591-unit apartment community located at 8501 Greenbelt Road in Greenbelt. The asset is situated roughly 13 miles outside of Washington, D.C., and across the street from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Abe Hirsch, Jacob Katz and Zev Karpel of Meridian Capital Group arranged the 12-year, Fannie Mae loan through Capital One on behalf of the borrower, BDMG.
NEWPORT NEWS, VA. — Savills Studley has arranged the $64 million sale of City Center at Oyster Point, a nine-building mixed-use property located in the Oyster Point District in Newport News. The development was built as a public-private partnership between nine local partners, joint venture equity partner Northwestern Mutual and the city of Newport News. Patricia Earnest, Lindsay Stroud and Stephanie Lynch of Savills Studley, along with local brokerage partner Harvey Lindsay Commercial Real Estate, represented the local partners and Northwestern Mutual in the sale of City Center at Oyster Point to the newly formed Point Hope LLC. The project includes nearly 575,000 square feet of office and retail space, three publicly owned parking garages, 2,700 parking spaces and a 50,000-square-foot conference center managed by Marriott International. The property’s tenants include PNC Bank, Riverside Health System, Morgan Stanley, city of Newport News, The Boeing Co., Siemens and Progressive Casualty. The Peninsula Division of TowneBank and Union Bank & Trust provided acquisition financing for the transaction.
MIAMI BEACH, FLA. — Ivy Realty has purchased Miami Beach Towers, a two-building, Class A office portfolio in Miami Beach, for $48.8 million. Ivy Realty acquired the assets from Beach Tower LLC, an affiliate of South Florida-based Terranova Corp., which has owned the assets since 2004. Situated 400 feet from Miami Beach’s famous Lincoln Road, the properties are located at 1674 and 1688 Meridian Road and total nearly 120,000 square feet. The office buildings were 69 percent leased at the time of sale to tenants such as Regus, Next Model Management, Verizon Wireless, Barclay’s Real Estate Group, SCPF and Merchant Data Systems. With this purchase, Ivy Realty’s South Florida office portfolio spans roughly 1.7 million square feet. Terranova is currently constructing two neighboring three-story retail buildings that will be anchored by Marshalls and Antropologie. New York City-based design firm James Corner Field Operations plans to overhaul the Lincoln Road District using roughly $32 million from the Community Redevelopment Agency to redevelop the street’s pedestrian-only promenade, as well as Meridian Road and other side streets. Ivy Realty believes the facelift will help boost the visibility and occupancy of Miami Beach Towers.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — MJM Group plans to develop a new Residence Inn by Marriott-Charlotte/Steele Creek in Charlotte. The $20 million hotel will be situated at the intersection of Dixie River Road and Trojan Drive in Charlotte’s Steele Creek submarket. The 82,000-square-foot property will span 120 rooms and feature an outdoor swimming pool, outdoor living area, meeting space and a fitness center. The project team includes St. Louis-based architect Gray Design and civil engineer Stimmel Associates. Raleigh-based MJM Group has selected St. Louis-based Midas Hospitality to manage the hotel upon completion, which is set for late 2017. Chris Thomas of Childress Klein represented the seller in the land transaction. Kurt Schoenhoff of Selwyn Property Group represented MJM Group, which has developed several Marriott-branded hotels in North Carolina including the dual-branded Residence Inn and Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Charlotte Airport and the Courtyard by Marriott at Triangle Town Center-North Raleigh.
BOSTON — Senior Housing Properties Trust (NYSE: SNH) has obtained a $620 million mortgage loan for two life sciences buildings in Boston’s Seaport District. The 15-story, Class A towers include 1.6 million square feet of lab space, corporate office space, structured parking and ground-floor retail space. SNH purchased the towers in May 2014 for $1.1 billion. They are 96 percent leased to Vertex Pharmaceuticals through 2028. Vertex is the manufacturer of hepatitis C and cystic fibrosis pharmaceutical treatments. The 10-year loan is interest-only, carries a fixed interest rate of 3.53 percent and matures in August 2026. SNH will use the loan proceeds to repay a portion of the outstanding borrowings under the company’s $1 billion unsecured revolving credit facility, as well as for general business purposes. Following the repayment, there will be approximately $900 million available under SNH’s unsecured revolving credit facility. “We are pleased to take advantage of the current low interest rate environment to term out the majority of the outstanding balance on our unsecured revolving credit facility and to extend the average maturity of our debt to 8.9 years,” says David Hegarty, SNH’s president and chief operating officer. “We believe that this transaction also highlights the value …
CARROLLTON, TEXAS — Lee & Associates has completed a lease renewal for a 126,882-square-foot industrial space located at 1440 Lemay Drive in Carrollton. Nathan Denton and Adam Graham of Lee & Associates represented the landlord, Evergreen Industrial Properties. Greg Nelson and Conrad Madsen with Paladin Partners represented the tenant, Hilex Poly Co.
With Atlanta’s recent growth in population and workforce, the city has all the attributes of a strong multifamily market. Last year saw peaks in all major metrics: occupancy, absorption and rent. With no end in sight for either trend, developers and investors have focused on urban submarkets — leaving a dearth of inventory in the suburbs and looming questions. Can Atlanta continue to provide affordable communities for its growing middle class or is a housing shortage imminent? A Balancing Act Development has always been a balancing act between the availability of land/zoning, construction costs and the rents a new property can demand. In recent years, almost all new apartment construction has been in high density “urban core” locations. Today, urban locations have matured and are commanding the highest rents in the market due to fundamental changes in perceptions of urban living. Steep rents help offset high construction costs and developers often find more receptive audiences during their zoning hearings in urban areas. While there are pockets of new development in suburban “core” markets, the low levels of activity in the last 10 years don’t compare to Atlanta’s past. For this reason alone, expect to see a long period of rental …
ARLINGTON, TEXAS — Bob Moore Construction has broken ground on a 610,000-square-foot distribution center for TTI Inc. in Fort Worth’s Mercantile Center Business Park. The new TTI facility will house the company’s North American warehouse, assembly and distribution facilities. The space will feature conveyors, pick modules, racking systems and a three-level carousel platform. The building will provide space for office and employee facilities and will include a gym and multiple break areas. The building will be built with tilt-up construction and the entire facility, including the distribution area, will be heated and air-conditioned by a central plant to maintain consistent temperature throughout the building. The property will also include 500 employee parking spaces.