ORANGE BEACH, ALA. — Hotel Equities has opened Island House Hotel Orange Beach — a DoubleTree by Hilton hotel, located at 26650 Perdido Beach Blvd. in Orange Beach. The Atlanta-based company completed a multimillion-dollar renovation prior to opening. The 10-story, 161-room hotel features 6,000 square feet of meeting, ballroom and banquet space and is located on a private beach on Alabama’s Gulf Coast.
Urban submarkets have largely carried the Birmingham multifamily market’s recovery. However, going forward investors will look to capitalize on greater yields in suburban submarkets. Despite rising rents, absorption continues to climb and concessions are falling off. Greater absorption metrics will be a recurring theme this year as rising construction costs and tightening access to capital constrain new development. Supportive Economy Birmingham’s economy added 8,000 net jobs year-over-year as of December 2016, growing at an accelerated rate of 1.6 percent. Further, unemployment remains low at 5.4 percent. Industries such as transportation, education, healthcare, government, and finance are at the forefront of job growth in the market, accounting for 75 percent of the net jobs added. Moody’s projects that the metro will add more than 24,000 net jobs through 2020, expanding by approximately 4.7 percent. Recent expansion announcements in the market reaffirm this trend, including the Project Sunrise deal that will create 746 manufacturing jobs via a $120 million investment in the former Meadowcraft facility. Another needle-moving deal is Mercedes-Benz U.S. International’s $1.3 billion plant expansion in Vance, which has resulted in automotive suppliers growing their footprint in the market. For instance, Eissmann Group Automotive recently added 200 jobs in nearby Pell …
When comparing Birmingham’s industrial market to other major cities in the Southeast, “The Tortoise and the Hare” comes to mind. Birmingham has had slow and steady progress — not to say that our sister cities have periods of laziness and napping. Birmingham’s current pace of activity is more the norm and thankfully the trends remain positive with 2016’s transaction numbers actually tilting in the direction of a “hare-like” pace. Occupancy rates for the 15 million-square-foot, multi-tenant industrial market eclipsed 90 percent for the first time since 2005. We had positive absorption of over 400,000 square feet with just under 1.5 million square feet of inventory remaining. During 2016, 12 new lease transactions of 50,000 square feet and larger were completed, eight of which were automotive related. These 12 transactions compare to seven and eight in 2014 and 2015, respectively, which is a strong increase. Leases of note include 270,600 square feet to a third-party logistics provider for Mercedes-Benz; 240,240 square feet to Grupo Antolin, a Spanish-based supplier of interior parts for Mercedes-Benz; and a 225,496-square-foot lease directly with Mercedes-Benz. Much of the remaining 1.5 million square feet of inventory is Class B or lower quality, so finding suitable space has …
BIRMINGHAM, ALA. — Kirco and its construction management affiliate Kirco Manix, in partnership with Phoenix Senior Living and EDT Inc., has broken ground on The Bluffs at Greystone, a 132-unit senior housing community in Birmingham. The community will provide both independent and assisted living and will be designed to include memory care units in the future. Slated to open in July 2018, the property will feature an indoor pool, wellness center, dining, beauty salon, yoga studio and demonstration kitchen. The project marks Kirco’s entrance into the senior living sector in the state of Alabama.
For the first time in quite a while, the Birmingham office market has experienced a rejuvenation and resurgence, catered around growth, a diversification of the tenant base and an effort to attract and retain bright young minds. Like many markets nationally, the city’s focus on urban renewal has made downtown Birmingham an attractive place to live, work and play, and thus will help companies attract talent to the market. Birmingham has entered a new era of industry and residential growth with one of the Southeast’s most dynamic markets after evolving from a historically steel and manufacturing-focused economy. Driven by a new generation of local leaders who have focused on developing biotechnology, life sciences and automotive sectors as catalysts for growth, Birmingham has witnessed a remarkable economic transformation. A preference for dynamic locations to live, work and play is occurring in Birmingham, as a significant amount of development has taken place in downtown Birmingham. While the bulk of this activity is occurring on the multifamily side, the same factors that draw people to live downtown are expected to positively impact the desire of employees to work downtown. In the long run, it is reasonable to expect office development to take off …
DECATUR, ALA. — Trillium Capital Resources has arranged a $6.5 million Freddie Mac loan for the refinancing of Summer Key Apartments, a 188-unit multifamily community in Decatur. Trillium arranged the 10-year, non-recourse loan with a fixed interest rate 198 basis points over the 10-year Treasury yield. The loan features a 70 percent loan-to-value ratio.
The Birmingham retail market had an explosive 2016. Several large projects were announced or completed, while traditional indicators of market health also showed promising signs of growth. TopGolf will soon be coming to the Uptown District, while Regions Field, home of the Birmingham Barons minor league baseball team, continues to attract surrounding development. Breweries remain a mainstay in Birmingham’s social scene, and they have demonstrated a capability to revive entire neighborhoods. As the natural beauty of Alabama becomes more important to residents and newcomers, the Red Rock Trail System’s green space bicycle system, which encompasses over 200 miles of green space trails and over 600 miles of street-based paths connecting all corners of the Birmingham area, will continue to grow in importance and recognition. By the fourth quarter of 2016, retail vacancy had decreased to 5.4 percent, down from 6.1 percent at the beginning of 2016, while market rents for major submarkets held steady around $12.37 per square foot. Downtown Birmingham, which hasn’t been viewed as a major retail area for decades, is the site of resurgent interest and accompanying capital. Some of the revitalization is occurring due to a renewed interest in public greenspaces, such as the recently developed …
HUNTSVILLE, ALA. — The Hollingsworth Cos. has broken ground on a 252,000-square-foot industrial facility within SouthPoint Industrial Park in Huntsville. The property will be SouthPoint’s fifth building, and Hollingsworth plans to commence construction on a sixth this summer. Situated along Interstates 65 and 565, the new property will feature 32-foot clear heights and 14 loading docks. Hollingsworth has completed a few industrial projects in the Southeast recently, including a 264,763-square-foot asset in Cookeville, Tenn.; a 183,618-square-foot expansion in Prince George, Va.; and a 127,950-square-foot manufacturing facility in Andersonville, Tenn.
HUNTSVILLE, ALA. — Dallas-based Venture Commercial Real Estate has arranged a 20,000-square-foot lease for Northern Tool + Equipment in Huntsville. The new store will be located at 7262 Governors West along Interstate 565. Clay Mote of Venture Commercial is the master broker for Northern Tool in all markets across the U.S. and represented the tenant in lease negotiations. Kathy Dennis of The Shopping Center Group’s Birmingham office represented the landlord, Sen LLC.
MOBILE, ALA. — Hutton Co. has sold McGowin Park, an approximately 375,000-square-foot, open-air shopping center located at 3075 Government Blvd. in Mobile. Cole Credit Property Trust IV Inc. purchased the asset for $77.8 million. Completed in 2016, McGowin Park’s tenant roster includes Dick’s Sporting Goods, Field & Stream, HomeGoods, Ross Dress for Less, Hobby Lobby, Best Buy, Old Navy, Petco, Ashley Furniture HomeStore and Dollar Tree. The center is shadow-anchored by Costco and Regal Cinemas and features additional development opportunities with three outparcel pads and two restaurant pads. Richard Reid and Jim Hamilton of HFF represented Hutton Co. in the transaction. Kevin MacKenzie and Mark Sixour of HFF arranged a $42.8 million, seven-year, fixed-rate acquisition loan through a life insurance company on behalf of Cole Credit Property Trust IV.