WAXAHACHIE, TEXAS — Atlanta-based Hotel Equities and owners Thomas and Michael Chen of Scenic Capital Advisors have broken ground on a new Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott hotel in Waxahachie. The hotel will be located at 2020 Civic Center Lane at the intersection of I-35 E and Highway 287, 30 minutes south of Dallas. Expected to open in early summer 2016, the hotel will sit beside the Waxahachie Civic Center, and across from the newly completed Baylor Scott & White Hospital.
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of Forest Apartments, a 24-unit apartment property located in Fort Worth. Trey McGhin and John Barker of Marcus & Millichap’s Fort Worth office marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a private investor. McGhin and Barker also represented the buyer, a private investor that purchased the property in a 1031 exchange. Forest Apartments is located at 3200 Lake Como Drive. The property includes access to the Camp Bowie cultural district, I-30 and is five miles from Downtown Fort Worth. Each unit has one bedroom and one bathroom, with laminate and carpet flooring.
SUGAR LAND, TEXAS — Planned Community Developers has acquired a five-acre lakefront site in Sugar Land for the development of a Class A office building with structured parking and a planned 134-room hotel. The site is within walking distance of dining, shopping, residential and medical properties, including Whole Foods Market, 14 restaurants, Lifetime Fitness and 320 town homes, patio homes and lifestyle garden homes.
TULSA, OKLA. — KeyBank Real Estate Capital has secured a $10 million interim loan for Fairmont Terrace Apartments, an affordable housing complex located in Tulsa. The 336-unit, garden-style apartment property was built in 1975 and will be renovated using low-income housing tax credits and HUD financing. Kelly Frank of Key’s Community Development Lending Group arranged the financing on behalf of Millennia Housing Development, which was used to acquire the property.
HIGH POINT, N.C. — Ziegler, a specialty investment bank, has arranged a $66.1 million bond issue for Maryfield Inc., a North Carolina not-for-profit that owns and operates Pennybyrn at Maryfield, a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) in High Point. Proceeds of the bonds will be used to pay off bonds from 2005 and 2010, fund a debt service reserve fund for the bonds and pay fees and expenses incurred by the sale of the new bonds. Located on 68 acres, Pennybyrn consists of 180 independent living units (131 apartments and 49 cottages); 48 assisted living units (24 standard care and 24 memory care); and 125 skilled nursing beds.
LOUISVILLE, KY. — 908 Development Group, in a joint venture with Harrison Street Real Estate Capital, has begun construction on The Nine at Louisville, a 385-bed, urban infill project located adjacent to the University of Louisville. The Nine at Louisville will be a purpose-built student housing project to serve the students of The University of Louisville and will target students seeking pedestrian access to classrooms, the student center and athletic fields. The Nine at Louisville will be located immediately across the street from the University of Louisville Student Center. The community will consist of two-, three-, four- and five-bedroom units. Each floor plan will offer private bathrooms, will be fully furnished and will have finishes such as granite countertops, showerheads with Bluetooth-enabled capabilities, in-unit washer and dryers and stainless steel appliances. Amenities at The Nine will include a resort-style pool, outdoor grilling and gaming areas, business center with cyber café, numerous 24-hour study lounges, tanning beds, a fitness facility and game room. Gated parking will be provided in a covered and secure setting. The Nine at Louisville was designed by Humphrey’s & Partners Architects, with interior design services provided by Sixth River. Whittenberg Construction Co. has been selected as the …
COCONUT GROVE, FLA. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of two office buildings in Coconut Grove: Bayview Executive Plaza and Continental Plaza. The total sales price for the two assets is $42 million. Located at 3225 Aviation Ave., the 57,155-square-foot Bayview Executive Plaza has a tenant roster including Femwell Group Health Inc., Wolfberg Alvarez & Partners and Pinchasik Yelen Muskat Stein LLC. Located at 3250 Mary St., the 80,380-square-foot Continental Plaza is leased to tenants such as The Downs Law Group and HealthSun Health Plans Inc. Douglas Mandel and Benjamin Silver of Marcus & Millichap’s Fort Lauderdale office represented the undisclosed seller and procured the buyer, Allegra Holding.
FORT MYERS, FLA. — Walker & Dunlop Inc. has arranged an $11 million acquisition bridge loan for The MacFarlane Group, which will use the loan to convert the currently Ambassador Hotel in Fort Myers into a 323-unit independent living facility. The development plan for the property is fully approved. Daniel Lisser, New York-based senior vice president, led the Walker & Dunlop team that structured the one-year bridge loan, which includes full-term interest only payments. ACRES Capital, a bridge lender that started its business just a few months ago, provided the financing after the original lender dropped out of the deal.
One of the biggest stories in the hotel industry today is the growth of the boutique segment. Independent groups such as Ace Hotels, 21C, Grupo Habita and citizenM registered record growth in the last few years. Meanwhile, all the major brands have incorporated a boutique component. That trend was reinforced last December when IHG purchased Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants. For its part, Hyatt launched Andaz several years ago, and Marriott has rolled out the Autograph Collection, Moxy, EDITION and AC Hotels in the past few years. Even Best Western has unveiled its new urban boutique concept — Vib. I get the following question a lot: “Why should we invest in boutique hotels?” The conventional wisdom among investment funds tasked with finding hotel assets is to look for branded assets in the top five markets that are deemed less risky by pundits. However, some hotel investors don’t realize the substantial RevPAR (revenue per available room) premiums you can get with boutique properties over standard branded hotels. Among boutique properties, we’re seeing RevPAR premiums of 10 to 20 percent — sometimes 50 percent — over traditional hotels (see chart). Boutique hotels have less rigorous brand standards, if any at all, and offer …
SAVANNAH, GA. — Meridian Capital Group has arranged an $18.2 million acquisition loan for Holiday Inn Savannah Historic District in Savannah. The five-story, 127-room hotel is located at 15 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Savannah’s Historic District. The hotel opened in 2007 as a Four Points by Sheraton and was renovated and rebranded in 2014. Noam Kaminetzky of Meridian’s Boca Raton, Fla., office arranged the two-year, interest-only loan through a balance sheet lender with an exit to CMBS execution. The floating-rate loan features a one-year extension option. The unnamed borrower is a large international hotel operator, according to Meridian Capital Group.
