HUNTSVILLE, ALA. — RCP Cos. has inked a deal with Marriott International to bring a 150-room AC Hotel to CityCentre at Big Spring, a $100 million mixed-use development in Huntsville. In partnership with Yedla Management Co., Marriott will bring the European-inspired hotel brand to only its 10th market in the U.S. Construction will begin this summer. Located on Williams Avenue, the hotel will feature a lounge area, kitchen with self-serve European fare, complimentary Wi-Fi, mobile check-in and check-out and a 24-hour fitness center. Yedla plans to bring another hotel concept yet to be named to CityCentre at Big Spring, according to RCP.
Alabama
HUNTSVILLE, ALA. — Berkadia has brokered the $15.2 million sale of Stone Crossing, a 276-unit apartment community located in Huntsville. Built in 1986 and renovated in 2009, the two-story, garden-style apartment community has an average unit size of 733 square feet. An entity known as Stone Crossing 2014 LLC purchased the asset from Engel Stone Crossing LLC. David Oakley and David Etichison of Berkadia represented the seller in the transaction.
HUNTSVILLE, ALA. — Hunter Hotel Advisors has brokered the $14 million sale of Homewood Suites Downtown Huntsville, a 101-room extended stay hotel in downtown Huntsville. The hotel was built in 2014 within the Twickenham Square urban center. Hunter Hotel Advisors represented the seller, PHD Hotels, in the transaction. A New York-based investment firm was the buyer.
Bellwether Enterprise Closes Two Loans for Affordable Housing Properties in Alabama, Georgia
by John Nelson
TUSCALOOSA, ALA. AND THOMASVILLE, GA. — Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital LLC has recently closed two loans totaling $8.4 million for Section 8 apartment communities in Tuscaloosa and Thomasville. The affordable housing properties include the 124-unit Creekwood Village Apartments in Tuscaloosa and the 88-unit Wood Valley Apartments in Thomasville. Creekwood Village, which uses two units for the Boys and Girls Club and a daycare center, was built in 1972 and renovated in 2002 with Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC). Wood Valley was built in 1974 and renovated in 2003 with LIHTC. Bellwether Enterprise arranged both loans, which featured seven-year terms, through Freddie Mac on behalf of the borrower, LEDIC Realty Co. LLC.
HOOVER, ALA. — AloStar has provided a $16.8 million acquisition loan for The Cliffs at Rocky Ridge, a 323-unit apartment community in Hoover. AloStar provided the loan to Elmington Capital Group, a Nashville-based commercial real estate investment and development firm.
ALABASTER, ALA. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the $12.7 million sale of Whitestone Shopping Center, a 70,065-square-foot, Publix-anchored shopping center located at 9200 Highway 119 in Alabaster. Built in 2004, the shopping center was 97 percent leased at the time of sale to tenants such as ABC Liquor, Premier Cosmetic and Family Dentistry, Alabaster Eye Care, Jackson Hewitt, Subway and Palm Beach Tan. Also included in the sale was a 9,260-square-foot outparcel currently leased to Buddy’s Home Furnishings. The buyer, Publix Super Markets Inc., was represented internally. Andrew Chason and Brett Chetek of Marcus & Millichap’s St. Louis office represented the seller, a limited liability company based in Montgomery, Ala., in the transaction. Eddie Greenhalgh of Marcus & Millichap’s Mobile office is the firm’s broker of record in Alabama.
BIRMINGHAM, ALA. — Berkadia has brokered the sales of four apartment communities in metro Birmingham totaling $66.3 million. The properties include the 323-unit Cliffs at Rocky Ridge in Hoover and a portfolio of three communities known as the BHM 3Core Portfolio. The three properties in the portfolio include the 241-unit Abbey at Wisteria Crest in Hoover, the 198-unit Abbey at Lakeshore in Birmingham and the 120-unit Abbey at Vestavia Falls in Vestavia. David Oakley and David Etchison of Berkadia’s Alabama office brokered the transactions.
MOBILE, ALA. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the $11.2 million sale of a 41,117-square-foot Walmart Neighborhood Market located at 1300 N. University Blvd. in Mobile. The store is situated less than two miles from the University of South Alabama and features a 20-year lease term with Walmart. Glen Kunofsky of Marcus & Millichap’s Manhattan office and Mike James of the firm’s Encino, Calif., office represented the seller, a major national developer, in the transaction. Eddie Greenhalgh of Marcus & Millichap’s Birmingham office is the firm’s broker of record in Alabama.
BIRMINGHAM, ALA. — Bayer Properties has plans to add a food hall on the ground floor of the historic Pizitz building in downtown Birmingham. The $66 million renovation of the circa 1923 department store building began in 2015. The Pizitz Food Hall will feature food and beverage options, two full-service restaurants, an outdoor seating and entertainment area and an interior bar. The food hall will also serve as an incubator for Birmingham’s up-and-coming chefs, with one of the stalls rotating quarterly to feature a new and different chef. Rule Joy Trammel + Rubio has been hired as the architect for the food hall, whose experience includes Krog Street Market in Atlanta. When complete, the Pizitz building will feature 143 rental apartment residences, 11,000 square feet of office space, The Pizitz Food Hall and an entertainment component in the basement. The Pizitz Food Hall will open concurrently with the project’s residential component in fall 2016.
BIRMINGHAM, ALA. — Cushman & Wakefield’s Atlanta retail investment advisors group has brokered the $25 million sale of Village at Lee Branch II, a 223,100-square-foot shopping center in Birmingham. Monarch Investments purchased the property from Rushmore Properties, a private real estate investment firm based in Chicago. Located at the intersection of U.S. Route 280 and Doug Baker Boulevard, the shopping center’s tenant roster includes Hobby Lobby, Carmike Theaters, Baumhower’s, Taziki’s Café, The Melting Pot and Sport Clips. The sale included several undeveloped pad sites. Mark Joines, Drew Fleming and Fain Hicks of Cushman & Wakefield’s Atlanta office, along with Mark Gilbert of the firm’s Miami office, represented the seller in the transaction.