Arkansas

BENTON, ARK. — GBT Realty has opened The Shoppes of Benton, a $36 million shopping center in Benton, roughly 25 miles southwest of Little Rock. The 170,000-square-foot center is home to tenants including PetSmart, Kay Jewelers, Maurices, Texas Roadhouse, T.J. Maxx, HomeGoods, Ulta Beauty and Hobby Lobby. Tuesday Morning, Avalon Nails, Flowers & Home, All Aboard Restaurant & Grill, Red Robin and Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers are expected to open by the end of the year. The Shops at Benton is GBT Realty’s first project in Arkansas.

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FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. — KeyBank Real Estate Capital has secured a $29.5 million loan for Sterling District, a 198-unit student housing community in Fayetteville, less than a half mile from the University of Arkansas campus. Caleb Marten of KeyBank structured the fixed-rate, first-mortgage loan with seven years of interest-only payments through a correspondent life company relationship. Sterling District features a swimming pool, hot tub, fitness center, study rooms, game rooms, cyber café and an outdoor courtyard with barbeque grills.

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FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. — Strategic Student & Senior Housing Trust Inc., a REIT focusing on student housing and seniors housing acquisitions and sponsored by SmartStop Asset Management LLC, has purchased a student housing community near the University of Arkansas for $57 million. Known as The District, the 592-bed community is located at 376 W. Watson St. in Fayetteville, roughly a half-mile from the university’s campus. The 198-unit property includes one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom, fully furnished floor plans. Completed in 2016, the LEED Gold-certified community features a business center, study rooms, pool, spa, courtyard, fitness facility and a yoga room. Asset Campus Housing will manage the property, which was 95 percent preleased at the time of sale for the 2017-2018 academic year.

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LITTLE ROCK, ARK. — Ziff Properties Inc. has purchased Bowman Curve Shopping Center, an 81,271-square-foot retail development located near the intersection of North Bowman Road and West Markham Street in west Little Rock. Mason Lewis and Todd Rice of Colliers International represented the buyer and seller in the $7.1 million transaction. The company plans to invest in cosmetic and structural renovations for the center.

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BENTONVILLE, ARK., AND NEW YORK CITY — Walmart (NYSE: WMT) has agreed to acquire online apparel retailer Bonobos Inc. for approximately $310 million in cash. Walmart, the giant discount department store chain, expects to complete the transaction by September. The announcement comes on the heels of Walmart’s acquisition of online women’s apparel retailer ModCloth in March. Founded in 2007 by Andy Dunn and Brian Spaly, New York-based Bonobos designs and sells its own brands of clothing for men. These brands will be featured and sold on various Walmart-owned digital platforms, including Jet.com, which Bentonville-based Walmart acquired in August 2016 for approximately $3 billion. Bonobos also operates 35 physical retail locations, known as Guideshops, across the United States. Walmart currently has no plans to feature lines of Bonobos clothing in its brick-and-mortar locations, according to The New York Times. Under the terms of the agreement, Dunn, the current CEO of Bonobos, will oversee the company’s collection of clothing brands that are designed in-house and distributed online. Marc Lore, CEO of Walmart U.S. e-commerce and founder of Jet.com, says the acquisition reflects the company’s long-term e-commerce strategy. “We’re seeing momentum in the [e-commerce] business as we expand our value proposition with customers,” he …

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FORREST CITY, ARK. — Shandong Ruyi Technology Group (Ruyi), a textile manufacturer based in China, plans to invest $410 million into the former Sanyo manufacturing facility in Forrest City. The facility will be the company’s first property in North America. Ruyi plans to employ up to 800 people at the plant, with plans to begin renovations in the fourth quarter of this year. The property has been vacant since Sanyo shut down production in 2007. Ruyi will use the facility to take 200,000 tons of Arkansas cotton annually and spin it into yarn for textile use. The company plans to begin operating at the Forrest City plant by mid-2018. The Arkansas Economic Development Commission worked with Ruyi to bring this deal to fruition. Ruyi can earn up to $4 million in grants from the State of Arkansas, depending on the company’s job creation at the plant.

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MISSISSSAUGA, ONTARIO — R&R Real Estate Investment Trust (R&R REIT) has agreed to acquire a portfolio of nine extended stay hotels in the Southeast and Midwest totaling 1,020 rooms for an aggregate purchase price of $35 million. The properties are currently owned and operated by entities controlled by R&R REIT’s Majid Mangalji and Michael Klingher. Five of the hotels operate under the HomeTowne Studios brand, and the remaining four operate under the HomeTowne Suites brand. The properties are located in Kentucky, Georgia, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, Illinois and South Carolina. Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP and Greenberg Traurig LLP acted as legal counsel to the REIT, and Raymond James Ltd. acted as financial advisor to the special committee charged with approving the portfolio acquisition. Following the closing of the acquisition, the REIT’s portfolio will comprise 10 hotels located in nine states.

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LITTLE ROCK, ARK. — Pillar, a division of SunTrust Bank, has originated a $25.5 million HUD loan for the refinancing of Metropolitan Apartments, a 260-unit multifamily community in Little Rock. The market-rate property was fully occupied at closing. Evan Hom of Pillar’s New York office originated the 35-year loan on behalf of the borrower, Transcontinental Realty Investors/Adobe Properties, a Dallas-based multifamily property owner and developer. The HUD financing features a fixed interest rate and a 35-year amortization schedule.

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FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. — Little Rock-based BSR Trust LLC has completed the acquisition of Mountain Ranch Apartments, a 360-unit apartment community located in Fayetteville. Built in 2009, Mountain Ranch contains a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom residences and sits on 15 acres across Interstate 49 from the University of Arkansas campus. BSR Trust owns more than 9,200 units in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Mississippi. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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LITTLE ROCK, ARK. — KeyBank Real Estate Capital has arranged a $47.7 million acquisition loan for two Class B apartment communities in Little Rock totaling 712 units. The properties, Chenal Lakes Apartment Homes and Brightwaters Apartment Homes, were built in the mid-1980s and underwent several renovations between 2011 and 2016. Erik Storz of KeyBank arranged the 10-year loan through Fannie Mae’s Green Rewards Loan Program. The financing features five years of interest-only payments and a 30-year amortization schedule.

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