BIRMINGHAM, ALA. — The Opus Group, in partnership with The McKinney Fund & Co., has broken ground on a 522-bed student housing community near the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). The 17-story mixed-use development will offer floor plans ranging from studios to four-bedroom units. Shared amenities will include a fitness center, spa, study rooms and lounges, an outdoor amenity deck with fitness areas, fire pits, a coffee bar, club room, rooftop pool and grilling stations. Myefski Architects designed the community. Auburn, Ala.-based Rabren General Contractors will serve as general contractor, and Creative License International will design the interiors for the project. The community is scheduled to open in fall 2020.
BIRMINGHAM, ALA. — Barings Multifamily Capital has provided a $10.9 million Fannie Mae refinancing loan for Flats on 4th, an 86-unit mid-rise apartment complex in downtown Birmingham that was built in 2017. The 10-year term loan comes with a 30-year amortization schedule and three years of interest-only payments. The complex is 97.7 percent occupied. The borrower was not disclosed.
BIRMINGHAM, ALA. — Shipt, a same-day delivery marketplace based in Birmingham that was purchased by Target Corp. in December 2017, will become the anchor tenant of Shipt Tower, currently known as Wells Fargo Tower. The 30-story, 514,893-square-foot building is located at 420 20th St. North in Birmingham’s central business district. According to local media outlets, Shipt signed a 60,000-square-foot lease with building owner Hertz Investment Group, and Philip Currie of J.H. Berry Commercial Real Estate represented Shipt in the lease negotiations. The tallest skyscraper in Birmingham will undergo renovations in Shipt’s space, the lobby and common areas, and will bear the Shipt logo in 2020. Bill Smith launched Shipt in 2014 in his hometown of Birmingham and has expanded its service to cover 250 markets across the country. Last summer, Shipt announced its intentions to keep its headquarters in Birmingham and create an additional 881 jobs. The company will maintain its headquarters in the nearby John Hand Building.
MOUTAIN BROOK AND VESTAVIA HILLS, ALA. — Publix Super Markets will acquire two Western Supermarket locations in Alabama as the grocer expands its Birmingham footprint. The location in Vestavia Hills, about nine miles south of downtown Birmingham, will open as a Publix grocery store. The location in Mountain Brook, four miles south of downtown Birmingham, will open as a GreenWise Market. GreenWise Market is a specialty, natural and organic store featuring a variety of house-prepared meals and grab-and-go items. It is the seventh announced GreenWise Market and is expected to open in third-quarter 2019. The other location will be torn down and rebuilt into a 35,000-square-foot Publix. An opening date has not been announced. The sales prices of the properties were not disclosed.
Bridge Investment Group Acquires Somerby Living Services, Including Nine Seniors Housing Communities
NEW YORK CITY AND BIRMINGHAM, ALA. — An affiliate of Bridge Investment Group has purchased Somerby Senior Living Services, a seniors housing operator based in Birmingham. The seniors housing firm is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dominion Partners, a Birmingham-based real estate developer. The sales price was not disclosed. The acquisition includes a nine-property portfolio of seniors housing assets located in prime markets in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee. The portfolio’s unit mix includes 134 independent living villas, 771 independent living units, 393 assisted living units and 260 memory care units. Ryan Maconachy and Chad Lavender of HFF represented Dominion Partners in the portfolio sale. Sarah Anderson led HFF’s debt placement team to secure acquisition financing on behalf of Bridge. Bridge currently owns 90 properties totaling 10,600 units across two private equity funds managed by its seniors housing affiliate, Bridge Seniors Housing Fund Manager. “We are excited to further vertically integrate Bridge Seniors Housing Fund Manager through this acquisition,” says Robert Chapin, CEO of Bridge Seniors Housing Fund Manager. Bridge plans to retain David Grady, president and chief operating officer of Somerby, to lead the company post-acquisition. Somerby currently has 20 corporate-level employees and more than 1,350 property-level …
BIRMINGHAM, ALA. — Berkadia has arranged the $56 million sale of Wildwood Crossings Apartments, a 520-unit multifamily complex in Birmingham. The buyer, New York City-based White Eagle Property Group LLC, will renovate the interiors of the units as well as update amenities community-wide. David Oakley, David Wilson, Caleb Frizzell and Abe Maddox of Berkadia represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction.
HUNTSVILLE, ALA. — Leidos Inc., a defense, aviation and biomedical research company, has signed a 61,358-square-foot lease at 915 Explorer Blvd. in Huntsville. The company occupies multiple locations in the city but plans to consolidate much of its operations to the single-story flex building. The property is located within Cummings Research Park, the second-largest research park in the United States, trailing only Research Triangle Park in Raleigh. Carter Burwell of JLL’s Birmingham office, and Doug Seale and Mateo Diachok of JLL’s Washington, D.C., office, represented Leidos in the transaction.
BIRMINGHAM, ALA. — Easterly Government Properties Inc., a real estate investment trust focused on the acquisition, development and management of Class A commercial properties leased to the U.S. government, has acquired the 83,676-square foot U.S. Department of the Treasury facility in Birmingham. Known as TREAS-Birmingham, the property is a three-story, Class A build-to-suit facility that was constructed in 2014. The building is 100 percent leased to the Treasury on an initial 15-year, non-cancelable term expiring in December 2029. The sales price and seller were not disclosed.
SARALAND, ALA. — Hampton Inn & Suites has opened a new 100-room, $15.5 million hotel in Saraland. Located about 12 miles north of Mobile, the hotel is Hampton’s first new prototype in a decade. Guestrooms have been redesigned to feature larger windows and bathrooms with improved lighting, décor and bath fixtures. Other amenities include 900 square feet of meeting space, a board room, complimentary breakfast, pool, fitness center and a business center. The business employs more than 18 full-time workers and will eventually employ 30 full- and part-time workers.
HUNSTVILLE, ALA. — Mag Mile Capital has arranged financing for a single-tenant retail property in Huntsville. Rob Bernstein originated the $2 million, 10-year loan. The specific location of the property, its tenant and the lender were not disclosed. The borrower is an entity controlled by Ari Benmosche and Randall Briskin that owns a portfolio of assets in the Midwest and Northeast.