WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Hunt Real Estate Capital has provided an $18.8 million loan for the refinancing of Villages at Wake Forest, a student housing community near Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem. Hunt originated the 10-year loan through Fannie Mae with three years of interest-only payments followed by a seven-year amortization schedule. The borrower, Wake Forest Student Housing Associates LLC, purchased the asset in April 2018 and in January 2019 constructed an additional 20 bedrooms. Villages at Wake Forest now features 270 beds within 69 units, each with three or four bedrooms set within cottage-style buildings. Community amenities include a pond, outdoor lounge area and a fire pit. Wake Forest University has a three-year live-on campus requirement, but students who study abroad during the fall semester can petition the school to allow them to live off-campus, which many Village at Wake Forest’s residents take part in.
WOODSTOCK, GA. — Hudson Capital Properties (HCP) has acquired Bell Woodstock, a 498-unit, garden-style multifamily community in Woodstock. HCP plans to raise rents over the next five to seven years before renovating the property. The community is situated at 1 Sycamore Lane, 29 miles north of downtown Atlanta. Communal amenities include a nine-hole putting green, Starbucks Coffee bar, conference room, resident lounge, two swimming pools, two tennis courts, two car care centers, clothes care center, fitness center, grilling areas, outdoor kitchen and a sand volleyball court. Kevin Geiger of CBRE represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction. The sales price was not disclosed.
ATLANTA — Coworking firm Spaces will occupy 40,000 square feet of Building I within The Collective at Concourse in Atlanta’s Central Perimeter submarket. Spaces will occupy the entire eighth floor, as well as conference space, by November. Totaling 751,093 square feet, Buildings I, II and IV at The Collective at Concourse are undergoing a $6 million renovation to improve lobbies with collaboration spaces, natural light, new conference centers and a new greenspace for community events. This will be Spaces’ sixth location in metro Atlanta.
SAVANNAH, GA. — Premier Design + Build Group has broken ground on a 285,527-square-foot cold-storage facility for Frozen Assets Cold Storage in Savannah. The facility is expected to be complete in spring 2020 and will offer warehouse storage with 50-foot clear ceiling heights, a 19,518-square-foot blast freezer, two freezer rooms, boxing room, and an ammonia refrigeration system that will allow the freezers to maintain temperatures between 38 and minus-10 degrees. The building’s exterior will feature 39 truck doors, 54 trailer positions, 68 parking stalls and a drive-in door. The property is situated on 20 acres at 2375 Tremont Road, six miles south of the Port of Savannah. Samantha Skopek of Premier will oversee the design and construction. Harris Architects Inc. is providing architectural services, Swift Structural Design LLC is providing structural engineering services and Thomas & Hutton is providing civil engineering and landscape architecture services for the project. This is the first project for Premier in the state of Georgia.
ATLANTA — Middleburg has purchased three workforce housing properties in Atlanta. The assets include The Grove, a 220-unit community located at 5100 Welcome All Road; Park at Bouldercrest, a 438-unit complex situated at 26 Bouldercrest Lane SE; and Majestic Park, a 298-unit property located at 1991 Delowe Drive SW. The Grove and Park at Bouldercrest were vacant, and Majestic Park was 15 percent occupied at the time of the sale. Middleburg is planning to renovate all three properties to improve physical assets and communal amenities.In addition, Middleburg will also rebrand the properties, with The Grove becoming Vesta Red Oak, Park at Bouldercrest becoming Vesta Bouldercrest and Majestic Park becoming Vesta Adams Park. The acquisition and renovations of all three properties are estimated to cost $91 million. Middleburg will provide responsive community programs to its residents and engage the local community through job fairs, afterschool programs and continuing education for adults. Acquisition financing was provided through Middleburg Workforce Housing Fund, a fund that was created in January and is now closed following this transaction. Middleburg also acquired Vesta Derby Oaks in Louisville, Ky., through the fund. Middleburg has partnered with KeyBank Real Estate Capital Community Development Lending and Investment (CDLI) and …
NORCROSS, GA. — Cushman & Wakefield has arranged the sale of Canopy, a 684-unit apartment complex in Norcross. Canopy was built in 1987 on 59 acres in metro Atlanta’s Gwinnett County, one of the fastest growing counties in the country for more than 20 years. Canopy offers community amenities such as a fitness center, two swimming pools, soccer field, resident clubhouse with children’s library, playgrounds and dog parks. Mike Kemether and Tyler Averitt of Cushman & Wakefield represented the sellers, Atlanta-based Cortland and Oaktree Capital Management, in the transaction. Priderock Capital Partners acquired the property for an undisclosed price.
ATLANTA — CIM Group has renamed downtown Atlanta’s Gulch district as Centennial Yards. CIM will develop Centennial Yards to include 12 million square feet of office, retail, apartment and hotel space. Local news outlets reported the site was up for consideration for Amazon’s national HQ2 search in 2017 and 2018. CIM Group expects the project to add 12 city blocks to the 16-acre site, which is currently a parking lot for nearby destinations including State Farm Arena and Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Los Angeles-based CIM bought the site in December for a reported $115 million. According to a press release, the term “Centennial” creates a clear geographical reference to the project’s location along Centennial Olympic Park Drive. Moreover, with over 100 years of rail and industrial history at the site, the moniker “Yards” pays homage to the rail history of the area. A timeline for construction of Centennial Yards was not disclosed.
MONROE, GA. — Hitachi Automotive Systems Americas Inc., a global supplier of automotive parts, has announced a massive, multi-year expansion of its manufacturing plant in Monroe, approximately 45 miles east of Atlanta. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced on Friday, May 17 that Hitachi will invest anywhere from $100 million to $330 million in expanding its existing facility. The project is expected to bring an additional 100 jobs to Walton County. The parent company of Hitachi Americas, Hitachi Automotive Systems Ltd., is headquartered in Tokyo and manufactures engine powertrain systems, electric powertrain systems and integrated vehicle control systems. The company opened its first facility in Georgia in 1997 and currently employs more than 900 people in the Peach State, making it the largest employer in Walton County. The expansion project will be unveiled in phases over the next five years, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and parts produced at the plant will continue to be sold to major automotive companies like Ford, General Motors, Honda and Nissan. Hitachi cited larger growth in the automotive industry and the strength of the local workforce as the key incentives behind the expansion project. “It’s our goal at the Georgia Department of Economic Development to …
ATLANTA — Woodbine Legacy Investments (WLI) has completed a $20 million renovation of W Atlanta-Buckhead, a 12-story, 291-room hotel in Atlanta’s Buckhead district. The renovation began in May 2018. Guest accommodations — 286 guest rooms, four WOW Suites and one EWOW Suite — were enhanced with new headboards, armoires, damask wallcoverings and carpeting, 55-inch TVs, in-room Nespresso machines, beverage bar and artwork throughout. Communal renovations included new furnishings, an upgraded lobby and living room, upgraded fitness center and added Wi-Fi and meeting space throughout the hotel. The design team included architect and interior designer C+TC Studio, which designed the hotel’s rooftop bar, Whiskey Blue; interior designer Studio 11, which designed the lobby; and general contractor Genoa Construction. A second phase of renovation is planned for later this year, which will focus on updating the hotel’s restaurant, Cook Hall.
ATLANTA — John Portman & Associates has unveiled plans for 712 West Peachtree, a 578,851-square-foot office tower in Midtown Atlanta. The tower will stand 20 stories high and include one story below ground. The total rentable office space will span 309,465 square feet from the eighth to 20th floor. The building will also include 8,761 square feet of retail space, 516 parking spaces and an outdoor terrace on the eighth floor. Developed by Portman Holdings LLC, an affiliate of the Atlanta-based architectural firm, 712 West Peachtree will be located near NCR’s headquarters, Anthem Technology Center and Norfolk Southern’s headquarters. The project is also near Coda at Tech Square, a 770,000-square-foot mixed-use development on the edge of Georgia Tech’s campus that Portman Holdings is also developing. A timeline for 712 West Peachtree’s construction was not disclosed.