ATLANTA — Americold Realty Trust has acquired Lanier Cold Storage for $82 million. Lanier Cold Storage has two temperature-controlled facilities northeast of Atlanta along Interstate 985. The two facilities total 14 million refrigerated cubic feet and have 51,000 pallet positions. The assets are designed to serve poultry and other products to markets across the country. According to GeorgiaInfo, an online almanac, the poultry industry contributes more than $18.4 billion to the state’s economy each year. Atlanta-based Americold currently has a 3.8 million-cubic-foot facility in Gainesville, one of its 155 temperature-controlled warehouses in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Argentina.
SAVANNAH, GA. — The Port of Savannah and the surrounding industrial market are both growing exponentially. That trend was reinforced with the $172 million investment announced last week by Plastic Express to build two new manufacturing facilities in nearby Pooler. “They’re going to export plastic resins out of our port to the tune of 100,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) per year,” said Hugh “Trip” Tollison, president and CEO of Savannah Economic Development Authority (SEDA). “Plastic Express has instantaneously become one of the port’s largest customers.” Tollison was one of the featured speakers at a luncheon hosted by SEDA on Wednesday, May 1 at 5Church restaurant in Midtown Atlanta’s Colony Square. The event brought together several of Savannah’s top businesses, including Savannah Bourbon, Visit Tybee Island, Georgia Grown, The Salt Table and Leopold’s Ice Cream, which is turning 100 years old this year. Tollison highlighted many economic drivers in the Savannah region, including aerospace giant Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. hiring its 12,000th employee; healthcare system St. Joseph’s/Candler opening a new hospital in Pooler last month; and the film industry that last year doubled its 2017 economic spend thanks to productions of films like the upcoming “Gemini Man” starring Will Smith. The straw …
FAIRBURN, GA. — CT Realty has begun construction on two industrial buildings totaling approximately 1.7 million square feet within Palmetto Logistics Park, which is situated 16 miles southwest of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and next to CSX-Fairburn Intermodal Terminal in Fairburn. The two facilities mark Phase II of the 358-acre distribution center campus that is expected to be complete in 2020. Phase I comprised 1.1 million square feet and was completed in late 2018. CT Realty partnered with Port Logistics Realty; River Oaks Capital Partners; and PGIM Real Estate, the real estate investment business of Prudential Financial Inc., to develop Palmetto Logistics Park. Construction is underway on the first building of Phase II, a more than 1 million-square-foot building that is slated for completion in the first quarter of 2020. Preliminary site work has begun on the second building, a 705,474-square-foot building that is scheduled to be delivered in the second quarter of 2020.
ATLANTA — North American Properties (NAP) has begun vertical construction on the redevelopment of Colony Square, a massive mixed-use campus in Midtown Atlanta. The two components going vertical include the Main & Main food hall operated by Oz Rey and the new IPIC movie theater. In May, NAP plans to open a new 10,000-square-foot urban park named The Grove and a new Starbucks in Building 100. Reopenings at Colony Square in May include a Chick-fil-A, the bike house C-Cycle for Colony Square’s office tenants, the lobby of Building 400 and Establishment, which will debut its patio and outdoor bar this summer. Opening later this year is sushi restaurant Sukoshi, and NAP has commissioned an all-female team to paint a mural titled “Moon Goddess” that front Peachtree Street. Colony Square at full buildout will include 912,000 square feet of Class A office space, 160,000 square feet of retail and restaurants, a 466-room W hotel, outdoor space and 262 luxury residences. NAP is planning for Colony Square’s grand opening in May 2020. Colony Square’s project team includes office leasing firm Cushman & Wakefield, architect of record Lord Aeck Sargent, lead design firm Beyer Blinder Belle, landscape architect Site Solutions, general contractor Hoar …
NAPLES, FLA. AND KENNESAW, GA. — The Sembler Co. and Forge Capital Partners have purchased a pair of Publix-anchored shopping centers in Naples, Fla., and Kennesaw, Ga. The companies purchased the centers for an undisclosed price via their Forge Real Estate Partners IV (FREP) investment fund. The properties include the 59,893-square-foot Naples Lake Village Center and the 68,744-square-foot Kennesaw Walk. Sembler will serve as the property manager and leasing agent for both properties. Including these properties, Sembler and Forge have acquired 14 shopping centers in the Southeast and Texas using their FREP investment vehicles.
ROSWELL, GA. — Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) has brokered the $19.8 million sale of Roswell Distribution Center, a two-building, 259,641-square-foot industrial park in Roswell. Longpoint Realty Partners acquired the asset from an undisclosed institutional investor. Matt Tritschler and Peter Everett of NKF represented the seller in the transaction. Built in 2006 on Hembree Park Drive, the distribution center was 55 percent leased at the time of sale to tenants such as Room & Board Inc., Central EMS and Ferguson Enterprises. Located along Hembree Park Drive, the office building includes 26 dock doors, two drive-in doors and clear ceiling heights up to 24 feet.
POOLER, GA. — Plastic Express has announced plans to expand its operations at the Port Logistics Center near the Port of Savannah with two new manufacturing facilities. The $172 million investment is expected to create 166 new jobs. Located in Pooler, the 172-acre Port Logistics Center is owned and developed by Capital Development Partners Inc. Plastic Express is based in California and operates trucking terminals, warehouses, docks and packaging plants across the country. Griff Lynch, executive director of the Georgia Ports Authority, said in a statement that the project will help establish the Port of Savannah as a leader in the exportation of plastic resins to the oil and gas industry. Genesee & Wyoming will provide rail service for the facility via its Georgia Central Railway. Plastic Express expects to occupy its new facilities in October.
CONYERS, GA. — Tri-Land Properties Inc. has begun construction on the overhaul of Salem Gate Market, a 253,000-square-foot grocery-anchored shopping center in Conyers, about 25 miles southeast of Atlanta. The multimillion-dollar redevelopment will include a 55,000-square-foot Hobby Lobby, 20,000-square-foot Northern Tool + Supply, a 103-room hotel and an Allure Nail & Spa. Tri-Land is rebuilding Salem Gate in a public-private partnership with the City of Conyers. Salem Gate is the first project underway as part of the Conyers Gateway Village District, the product of a new zoning ordinance adopted by the City of Conyers in 2016. In February, the city approved a new Tax Allocation District designation allocating future tax revenues to repay Tri-Land for its infrastructure improvement costs. The metro Chicago-based developer plans to announce additional tenants in the family fashion, sporting goods and value retail segments in the near future. Tri-Land expects to deliver Salem Gate in early summer 2020.
ORLANDO, FLA. AND SAVANNAH, GA. — HFF has originated two separate Freddie Mac loans totaling $37.9 million on behalf of the borrower, Beachwold Residential. The New York-based multifamily investment firm will use the proceeds of the two loans to refinance The Place at Alafaya, a 400-unit multifamily community in Orlando, and to acquire Litchfield Place, a 76-unit apartment community in Savannah. Mona Carlton, Elliott Throne and Jesse Wright of HFF led the debt placement effort for both loans, which featured 10-year terms and fixed interest rates. The Place at Alafaya in east Orlando offers one- and two-bedroom units and amenities such as a pool, tennis courts, basketball court, fitness center and a resident clubhouse. Completed in two phases between 2008 and 2014, Litchfield Place in southwest Savannah features units averaging 1,119 square feet. The seller and sales price of Litchfield Place were not disclosed.
Banyan Street, Greystar Receive Construction Loan for $125M Multifamily Building in Downtown Atlanta
ATLANTA — Banyan Street Capital and Greystar have received construction financing for Ascent Peachtree, the partners’ $125 million, 29-story apartment building in downtown Atlanta. Ascent Peachtree will comprise 345 residential units, 70 of which will be reserved for workforce housing, and will be built on top of an existing parking garage, with residential units beginning on the 11th floor. Invest Atlanta has provided the joint venture with a $9 million loan from Atlanta’s Eastside Tax Allocation District, as well as a lease-purchase bond financing for the project to ensure the workforce units. Additionally, 20 percent of the units will be affordable housing units. Ascent Peachtree will offer studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans ranging in size from 680 to 2,380 square feet. Amenities will include a swimming pool, outdoor entertainment space and a rooftop lounge. Banyan Street and Greystar expect to break ground in May.