SAVANNAH, GA. — Burroughs & Chapin, a retail investment REIT based in Myrtle Beach, S.C., has acquired an 8,800-square-foot retail property located at 5-15 W. Broughton Street in downtown Savannah’s Historic District. Originally built in the 19th century, the property is fully leased to tenants including Ann Taylor LOFT, FedEx Office and Flying Monk, an Asian restaurant. The seller and sales price were undisclosed.
MABLETON AND LAWRENCEVILLE, GA. — Avison Young has arranged the sale of two shopping centers located in metro Atlanta. The dispositions include The Village Shoppes at Creekside, a 212,654-square-foot shopping center located in Lawrenceville, which sold for $18.5 million; and The Plaza at Mableton, a 63,367-square-foot shopping center located in Mableton. Theresa Johnson of Avison Young represented the seller, Torchlight Investors, in the Lawrenceville transaction. Johnson also represented the seller, Plaza of Mableton LLC, in the Mableton transaction. The buyers and purchase price of Plaza at Mableton were undisclosed.
ATLANTA — Atlanta-based Bull Realty has brokered the $5.5 million sale of three retail properties totaling nearly 21,000 square feet in Atlanta’s Grant Park neighborhood. Graveyard Retail LLC purchased the assets from Hangar LLC and White Front LLC. Located at 415 and 421 Memorial Drive and 304 Oakland Ave., the properties are leased to tenants such as Tin Lizzy’s, Ria’s Bluebird Café, Java Cat, Express Cleaners, My Friend’s Growler Shop, Mezcalito’s and House of Blended Ink Studios. The properties are situated across the street from the Historic Oakland Cemetery and nearby mixed-use residential developments including The Leonard, Oakland Park and The Jane. Andy Lundsberg of Bull Realty represented the sellers in the transaction.
LITHIA SPRINGS, GA. — Z Gallerie, a Los Angeles-based furniture retailer, plans to open a 225,000-square-foot warehouse within Skyview Business Center in Lithia Springs, about 18 miles west of Atlanta via Interstate 20. The property will house the home furnishings retailer’s East Coast presence, as the company currently supports all 68 of its stores and online orders from one warehouse on the West Coast. Z Gallerie operates two stores in the Atlanta area: Atlantic Station and Perimeter Mall. The facility will feature office and warehouse space, 34 loading docks, two drive-in bays, 32-foot clear heights, an ESFR sprinkler system and T5 lighting. The property represents a $3.7 million investment on behalf of Z Gallerie. The company plans to be fully operational in 2019 and create 115 jobs at the new facility. Steve Grable and Barry Hill of JLL represented Z Gallerie in the lease negotiations. Trey Barry, Todd Barton and Greg Haynes of CBRE represented the landlord, Huntington Industrial Partners.
SANDY SPRINGS, GA. — Washington, D.C.-based StoneBridge Investments has acquired 550 Abernathy Apartments, a 228-unit multifamily property located at 550 Abernathy Road N.E. in Sandy Springs, a suburb of Atlanta in Fulton County. StoneBridge purchased the property from an entity controlled by Harbor Group for $31 million. 550 Abernathy is located within Atlanta’s Central Perimeter submarket, which features three major hospitals situated on “Pill Hill,” the 1.5 million-square-foot Perimeter Mall and more than 31 million square feet of office space, including the new East Coast hub for State Farm and the new headquarters for Mercedes-Benz USA, set to open in 2018. StoneBridge plans to upgrade the community’s interiors with granite countertops, more open floor plans and hard-surface flooring. The firm will also add to the property’s newly renovated clubhouse and pool with outdoor additions including poolside cabanas, a fire pit and an outdoor kitchen. Other planned upgrades include building exteriors and landscaping. Kevin Geiger of CBRE represented the seller in the transaction. ZRS Management, an affiliate of StoneBridge, will manage 550 Abernathy.
LAWRENCEVILLE, GA. — Steadfast Apartment REIT III Inc. (STAR III) has purchased Reflections on Sweetwater, a 280-unit apartment community located in Lawrenceville, a northeast suburb of Atlanta in Gwinnett County. STAR III purchased the asset from the undisclosed seller for $32.4 million. Built in 1996, Reflections features one-, two- and three-bedroom units averaging 933 square feet, with rents averaging $965 per month. Unit interiors include 9-foot ceilings, washer/dryer connections, crown molding, built-in bookshelves, breakfast bars, ceiling fans and private balconies or patios. Community amenities include a resort-style pool with a sundeck, 24-hour fitness center, playground, clubhouse with resident lounge, outdoor grills, business center, lighted tennis-courts, walking trail, on-site lake, car-washing station and detached garage parking. The property was 95.7 percent occupied at the time of sale. The previous owner upgraded half of the apartment units, and STAR III plans to renovate and paint the remaining units when turning the apartments between residents.
ALPHARETTA, GA. — G&C Mansell Investors LLC, an affiliate of South Florida-based investment firm Grover Corlew, has purchased five office buildings within Mansell Court at Mansell Overlook in Alpharetta for $12.3 million. The portfolio originally sold in 2007 for $22 million. Totaling nearly 190,000 square feet, the office buildings were a combined 77 percent leased at the time of sale. The new ownership plans to invest $1 million in significant upgrades to the brick office buildings, which were constructed in 1987. Grover Corlew has awarded Heather Lamb of CBRE the leasing assignment for all five buildings.
ROYSTON, GA. AND SUMMERVILLE, S.C. — Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust Inc. (Wheeler REIT) has acquired two BI-LO-anchored shopping centers located in Georgia and South Carolina for a combined $11 million. The acquisitions include Tri-County Plaza, a 67,577-square-foot shopping center located in Royston, Ga.; and Sangaree Plaza, a 66,948-square-foot shopping center located in Summerville, S.C. BI-LO recently executed lease extensions at both locations. Tenants at Tri-County Plaza include Maxway, Shoe Show and Snap Fitness. Tenants at Sangaree Plaza include H&R Block and Check Into Cash. Kyle Stonis and Pierce Mayson of SRS Real Estate Partners represented Wheeler REIT in the transaction.
The Atlanta office market has continued down a path of steady recovery and absorption, although the pace remains somewhat muted from prior recovery cycles. As outside investors have warmed up to the city of Atlanta, they have been comforted by a safe and positively boring period of growth. For the last couple of years, investors have been committed strongly to value-add opportunities throughout metropolitan Atlanta, including areas that have historically been out of favor like Alpharetta and Peachtree Corners. The fundamental improvements in the market rents and occupancy continue to support bullish forecasts for office space in Atlanta with significantly low vacancy and steady rent growth. Atlanta’s office market sits at 12.1 percent vacancy, 6 percent rent growth and 3.6 million square feet of positive net absorption after several years of consistent absorption and falling vacancy. With value-add being a buzz word throughout the Southeast, many investment sales brokers have taken core assets and found ways to present them as opportunities for value-add in an effort to reach a larger pool of investors. Investor appetite continues to be measured and very focused on downside risk versus upside potential. This has inflated the return expectations for very solid real estate, making …
ALPHARETTA, GA. — Avison Young has brokered the $57 million sale of Milton Park, a two-building office campus spanning 320,000 square feet in Alpharetta. Matt Tritschler of Avison Young represented the buyer, Adventus Realty Trust, in the transaction. The seller and sales price were undisclosed, but the Atlanta Business Chronicle reports that a venture between Talcott Realty Investors LLC and Greenstone Properties were represented by CBRE and sold the assets for $57 million. Milton Park is situated off North Point Parkway near North Point Mall and Avalon. The two six-story buildings were 88 percent leased at the time of sale to tenants such as Landis+Gyr, Pegasystems and Schneider Electric.
