JACKSONVILLE, FLA. AND SEATTLE — EverBank Financial Corp., the Jacksonville-based parent company of EverBank NA, has entered into a $3.9 billion reverse merger transaction with WaFd Inc. (NASDAQ: WAFD), the Seattle-based parent company of WaFd Bank. Under the terms of the agreement, EverBank Financial will merge into WaFd Inc., the latter of which will continue as the resulting financial holding company. WaFd Inc. will remain publicly traded but will change its name to EverBank Financial Corp. and trade on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “EVBK.” Upon closing of the holding company merger, WaFd Bank, which has more than 200 locations in the Western United States, will merge with and into EverBank NA, which has more than 40 locations in Florida, California and New York. Upon completion of the transaction, which is expected for early 2027, EverBank Financial’s investors, which include funds managed by Stone Point Capital, Warburg Pincus, Reverence Capital Partners, Sixth Street, Bayview Asset Management and TIAA, will collectively own approximately 59.2 percent of the pro forma combined company, with WaFd Inc. shareholders owning approximately 40.8 percent. EverBank CEO Greg Seibly will continue to serve as CEO of EverBank post-merger, and WaFd CEO Brent Beardall will serve …
COLUMBUS, GA. — Atlantic Capital Partners has brokered the $48.2 million sale of Cross Country Plaza, a 304,735-square-foot shopping center located in Columbus. Anchored by Publix since 2011, the property was 95 percent leased at the time of sale to tenants including T.J. Maxx, Burlington and 2nd & Charles. Fred Victor of Atlantic Capital represented the seller, Richmond-based Hackney Real Estate Partners, in the transaction. The buyer, Brasswater Inc., a real estate investment firm based in Montreal, has retained Kathy Ward and Shelley Jordan Bell of Atlantic Capital to lease Cross Country Plaza, according to a Facebook post made by the company.
RALEIGH, N.C. — Frankie Lemmon School and Foundation has acquired two office buildings located at 4401 and 4501 Atlantic Ave. in Raleigh. The 114,781-square-foot campus will serve as the nonprofit’s future home and will house the Frankie Lemmon School and Lemmon Tree Academy. The campus will include purpose-built classrooms, therapy rooms, sensory spaces, family support areas and community gathering spaces, with the capacity to serve 230 students. The organization plans to begin construction on its new Raleigh home next year and open its preschool and grade school in 2028. Clayton Collins, Chandler Hawkins and Harrison Benson of CBRE represented Frankie Lemmon School and Foundation in the acquisition. Jane Doggett and Patrick Blackley of Foundry Commercial represented the undisclosed seller.
BALTIMORE — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the nearly $10 million sale of a single-tenant manufacturing facility located at 6901 Rolling Mill Road in Baltimore. Dejana Truck & Utility Equipment has occupied the facility for the past 21 years. Built in 1967 near the Port of Baltimore, the 6.4-acre property features a 75,000-square-foot facility with warehouse space, 6,730 square feet of offices and two acres of industrial outdoor storage. The facility features 20-foot clear heights, 110 parking spaces, six drive-in doors and four loading docks. Bryn Merrey and John Faus of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, a Maryland-based private investment company in the transaction, and procured the buyer, a New York-based, institutionally backed investment fund. Both parties requested anonymity.
When it comes to Florida’s industrial real estate market, Orlando is often viewed as a single, high-growth distribution and operations hub. For those of us on the ground, however, the more important story is that the market is no longer moving uniformly. According to Colliers’ market reports for the second quarter of 2026, the Central Florida market reached approximately 253.6 million square feet of industrial and flex inventory, while industrial vacancy improved to 7.4 percent from 7.5 percent in the first quarter. Those figures point to stable fundamentals overall; however, the reality is that demand is becoming more concentrated in well-connected submarkets with established infrastructure and modern industrial inventory. This shift is most visible among owner-users and tenants seeking less than 100,000 square feet. For these companies, location affects labor access, delivery times and operating costs. Large regional distribution users still evaluate sites through a broader logistics lens, often considering service radiuses of 200 to 400 miles, while smaller and midsized occupiers place greater weight on immediate connectivity. Southeast Orange County Southeast Orange County remains Orlando’s strongest industrial submarket because of its transportation connectivity, established infrastructure and concentration of modern industrial space. Southeast Orange County recorded 240,815 square feet of …
DORAL, FLA. — Cushman & Wakefield has negotiated the sale of Doral Marketplace, an 83,365-square-foot, newly constructed shopping center located in Doral, a western suburb of Miami. According to multiple media outlets, the property sold for $83 million. Whole Foods Market anchors the property, which was fully leased at the time of sale to tenants including Ulta Beauty, Shake Shack, J. Crew and Warby Parker. Mark Gilbert, Adam Feinstein and Mitchell Halpern of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, Atlanta-based SJC Ventures, in the transaction. The buyer is a high-net-worth family office advised by Lincoln Property Co.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — HMF Americana, a “hybrid home” development firm, has acquired a development site in metro Charlotte from locally based grocer Harris Teeter with plans to develop a 221-unit build-to-rent residential community. Situated between Stallings and Weddington, N.C., the development will include cottage-style rental homes, along with a portion of homes that will be reserved for residents age 55 and older. The project will also feature approximately 10,000 square feet of multi-tenant commercial space, with additional land available for future expansion. Dowell Finch of New South Properties is leading commercial leasing efforts at the property. Site work is expected to begin next month, followed by vertical construction in the first quarter of 2027. Initial resident move-ins are expected to begin in the third quarter of 2027.
ORLANDO, FLA. — JLL Capital Markets has arranged the sale of Sea Harbor Office Center, a 356,514-square-foot office building located across from SeaWorld in Orlando. Robbie McEwan, Tucker Brooks and Jesse Jones of JLL represented the seller, Northridge Capital LLC, in the transaction. Duvalla Investments and Epoch Residential purchased the property for an undisclosed price. Originally built in 1984, the eight-story office building features a full-service cafeteria, fitness center, two separate lobbies and a five-story parking garage with 1,250 spaces, as well as an additional 380 surface parking spaces. The 14.2-acre site features Planned Development (PD) zoning that allows for future hotel and/or residential development.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. economy added 162,000 net new jobs in August and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The rise in total nonfarm employment was a strong rebound from the July figure, which the BLS revised upward from -23,000 to +21,000. Combined with an increase of 11,000 jobs in June, employment in June and July is 55,000 higher than previously reported. The August total more than triples what economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected for the month (+53,000), according to CNBC. Additionally, the August gains are more than five times the average monthly gain over the past 12 months (+31,000). Among employment sectors, the biggest gains were seen in food services and drinking places (+59,000) and local government education (+42,000). Other industries that experienced increases last month include construction (+22,000), manufacturing (+16,000) and healthcare (+13,000). Little change was seen in other major sectors including retail trade, transportation and warehousing, financial activities and professional and business services. The BLS also reported that 23,000 information jobs were lost in August, which continues the sector’s downward trend. The information sector, which comprises categories including broadcasting, content creation, data processing, web …
TAMPA, FLA. — Newmark has arranged $215.8 million in bridge financing for a five-property multifamily portfolio in Florida. Matthew Williams, Rob Wright, James Maynard and Kyle Schlitt of Newmark arranged the construction takeout financing through Benefit Street Partners on behalf of the borrower, Waypoint Residential. The 1,274-unit portfolio comprises newly constructed properties in Vero Beach, Port St. Lucie, Palm Bay, Davenport and Gainesville.
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