ATLANTA AND MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Atlanta-based Home Depot and Mooresville, N.C.-based Lowe’s Cos. Inc. both had strong fourth-quarter sales despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The CEOs of both firms cited increased demand for home improvement products as the catalyst behind their sales jumps. Home Depot’s (NYSE: HD) sales increased 25 percent year-over-year for its 2020 fiscal fourth quarter, which CNBC reports outperformed the 19.2 percent growth that analysts were expecting. Home Depot’s fiscal fourth-quarter 2020 ended on Jan. 31, 2021. Home Depot’s digital sales rose 83 percent in the fourth quarter compared to a year ago. Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW) sales increased 28.1 percent in the fourth-quarter fiscal year 2020, which also outstripped expectations of 22 percent growth, according to CNBC. Lowe’s fiscal fourth quarter 2020 ended Jan. 29. The retailer’s e-commerce sales jumped by 121 percent, while all merchandising departments saw 16 percent growth. According to CNBC, Home Depot gets 45 percent of its sales from professionals, such as electricians and contractors, while the rest come from unprofessional, do-it-yourself customers. This was higher than Lowe’s, which gets 20 to 25 percent of its total sales from professional individuals.
RIVERDALE, GA. — American Street Capital (ASC) has arranged an $8.1 million cash-out refinance loan for River Ridge Apartments, a 150-unit multifamily complex in Riverdale. The borrower and agency lender’s names were not disclosed. Edward Streit of ASC arranged the Fannie Mae loan, which features a 12-year term with two years of interest-only payments and a 30-year amortization schedule. The loan retired the existing agency debt. Built in 1972 and renovated in 2019, River Ridge is a 20-building community, with 110 two-bedroom and 40 three-bedroom apartments. The market-rate property is located at 235 Roberts Drive, approximately 7.4 miles from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Community amenities include 276 surface parking spaces, a common laundry facility, playground and an onsite property manager.
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Morgan Properties, Olayan America Acquire 14,414-Unit Apartment Portfolio Across Midwest, Southeast for $1.7B
KING OF PRUSSIA, PA. — Morgan Properties and Olayan America have acquired a portfolio of 48 apartment communities totaling 14,414 units in 11 states for $1.7 billion. STAR Real Estate Ventures, a joint venture between El-Ad National Properties LLC and Yellowstone Portfolio Trust, was the seller. The portfolio, named the North Star Portfolio, consists of Class B assets in Florida, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Maryland. On average, the communities total 300 units each and date to 1985. “While most of our competitors remain defensive and on the sidelines, Morgan Properties continues to play offense. North Star was right in our wheelhouse given the barriers to entry and we pounced on the opportunity to secure it,” says Jonathan Morgan, president of Morgan Properties. “The North Star investment speaks to the strength of our partnership with Morgan Properties and our continued confidence in the multifamily sector,” says Erik Horvat, managing director and head of real estate at Olayan America. The buyers plan to invest an additional $100 million for enhancements and amenity upgrades at the properties. With the North Star acquisition, Morgan and Olayan entered five new states, including Florida, Texas, Georgia, Louisiana and …
MADISON, GA. — Woda Cooper Co. and Parallel Housing Inc. have broken ground on Canaan Crossing, a new 60-unit, $13 million affordable housing community in Madison. The property will be located at the corner of Wheat and March streets in Madison’s Canaan historic neighborhood. Canaan Crossing will include 60 townhomes and apartments with -one, -two and -three-bedroom units for families earning up to 60 percent of area median income (AMI). The development is expected to be certified LEED for Homes Gold. Each unit will have a high efficiency HVAC system and Energy Star appliances, including dishwashers and washer/dryer hookups, as well as high-quality finishes such as vinyl tile. Community amenities will include a playground, community gardens, a covered picnic area with tables and grills, onsite management/leasing office and a multipurpose room with kitchenette and laundry facility. In addition, there will be dedicated space available to provide private preventive health screening and wellness programs to the residents. The Georgia Department of Community Affairs provided funding through the allocation of federal and state Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and a HOME loan. CREA LLC invested in the allocated tax credits in exchange for equity financing to assure long-term affordability for Canaan Crossing. Summit …
ATLANTA — Airbnb plans to open a technical hub in Atlanta by the end of 2021. The company did not disclose what area of Atlanta that it is going to occupy. The San Francisco-based lodging company originally made plans to open the hub in 2019 but had to stop development due to travel restrictions and the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2020, Airbnb had to let 25 percent of its team go. Now that travel is picking up again, Airbnb has decided to move forward with its East Coast expansion. Airbnb anticipates the hub will be home to one of its product developments teams and will become the regional base for hundreds of technical and non-technical roles over time. Atlanta was the city that Airbnb choose due to many factors, including strong educational infrastructure and supporting communities of color. If any economic incentives or credits are associated with the East Coast hub location, Airbnb plans to donate them back to Atlanta for community impact initiatives.
GAINESVILLE, GA. — Cottrell, a locally based trailer manufacturer, will build a second manufacturing facility in Gainesville valued at $125 million. The 500,000-square-foot facility will serve as the Cottrell’s North Campus, adjacent to its existing South Campus in Hall County. Cottrell, which specializes in manufacturing trailers that haul cars (or auto haulers), opened its first facility in 1973 at 2125 Candler Road in Gainesville. The company expects land development and facility construction to take 24 to 30 months to complete and plans to break ground during the third quarter of 2021. Certain aspects of production will be transferred to the new North Campus facility when complete, while the existing buildings of the South Campus will be used to support future business growth. Cottrell currently employs more than 1,000 people at its Gainesville facility, and it is looking to hire more after the second facility is built. Kristi Brigman of Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) represented the Global Commerce Division on this project in partnership with the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce, the City of Gainesville and Jackson EMC.
BRASELTON, GA. — Lee & Associates’ Atlanta office has arranged a 589,680-square-foot industrial lease at Park 85 Business Park in Braselton. Billy Snowden, Rick Tumlin and Mike Sutter of Lee & Associates represented the tenant, California-based Comptree Inc., in the lease transaction. Bob Currie, Brad Pope and Reed Davis of JLL represented the landlord, Los Angeles-based CBRE Global Investors. The newly built facility is located at 1380 Jesse Cronic Road in Atlanta’s I-85 Northeast submarket. This is the third Atlanta facility for Comptree, which specializes in the acquisition and distribution of furniture, outdoor accessories and printer media. The company supports e-commerce via websites Meritline and ABCink.
ATLANTA — Dwight Capital has provided $40.5 million in HUD financing for Walton Westside, a 254-unit apartment community located at 790 Huff Road NW in Atlanta’s West Midtown. Built in 2014, Walton Westside has one residential building and one garage building. Community amenities include a rooftop patio with a gazebo, swimming pool, dog park, coffee shop and an outdoor fireplace. The property is located 15 miles from the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Walton Westside is Energy-Star-certified, thus qualifying for HUD’s Green Mortgage Insurance Premium (MIP) reduction, which was set at 25 basis points. Brandon Baksh and Karnveer Bal of Dwight Capital originated the loan on behalf of the undisclosed borrower. Dwight Capital LLC is a commercial real estate finance company based in New York.
LAWRENCEVILLE, GA. — America’s Realty LCC, a Baltimore-based investment group, and investment partners Borough Equities and Dragon Fly Investments have purchased River Exchange, a 263,651-square-foot shopping center in Lawrenceville. The property is anchored by Kroger, which recently extended its lease by five years. John Tennant and Bryan Belk of Franklin Street represented the local owner, Monarch Investments, in the $19.3 million disposition. Marc Tropp of Eastern Union Funding arranged acquisition financing on behalf of the buyer. In addition to Kroger, River Exchange’s tenants include Goodwill, Farmers Home Furniture, Metro by T-Mobile, Citi Trends, Habitat for Humanity ReStore, Hertz, Cato and One Main Financial, as well as a Kroger fuel center. River Exchange is located at 2100 Riverside Parkway about 29 miles from downtown Atlanta in Gwinnett County.
ATLANTA — Berkadia has brokered the $7.8 million sale of Arbor Gardens, a 102-unit multifamily property in Atlanta. Matthew White, Paul Vetter, Andrew Mays and Judy MacManus of Berkadia’s Atlanta office led the transaction on behalf of the seller, a joint venture between Atlantica and Auerbach Funds. Arbor Gardens sold to White Mountain Management, and the sales price equals to $76,471 per unit. The property was 99 percent occupied at the time of the sale. Built in 1973, Arbor Gardens is located at 5503 Riverdale Road in the Atlanta portion of Clayton County. The property is 3.4 miles south of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The community’s amenities include a swimming pool, playground, sports court and community garden. Atlantica is a real estate firm based in Atlanta, Auerbach Funds is a real estate private equity firm based in New York and White Mountain Management is an independent investment firm based in New Jersey.