For the remainder of 2018, positive demand drivers will alter new apartment supply’s impact on operations in Louisville. The metro has had a large volume of new apartments to open this business cycle. Since 2013, an annual average of 1,500 units has been completed, totaling approximately 7,400 apartment units. As this new supply entered the market, initially strong leasing helped push vacancy down 100 basis points to 4.6 percent at the end of 2016. However, absorption of apartments softened last year as new units continued to open, lifting vacancy back up 90 basis points to 5.6 percent. This year, approximately 2,800 apartment units will be completed, further testing demand for luxury rentals in Louisville. A team of factors should fuel positive absorption, preventing an alarming uptick and keeping the vacancy rate in the mid-5 percent range. Payroll expansions by tech firms, manufacturing companies and hospitals will support consistent year-over-year hiring and income growth this year. Sub-4 percent unemployment suggests employers will recruit from outside the market to fill open positions or hire recent graduates from the University of Louisville and other local colleges. These job gains should increase the rate of household formations and bolster the market’s millennial base, an …
ELIZABETHTOWN, KY. — The Kirkland Co. has arranged the sale of Crossfield Townhomes, a multifamily property located at 2201 Crossfield Drive in Elizabethtown. Mark Harris Construction sold the property to Bob and Deborah Hart for an undisclosed price. Built in 2017, the property features 28 two-bedroom apartments. Brandon Wilson and Brian Devlin of The Kirkland Co. handled the transaction.
Louisville’s office landscape can be described as a tale of two distinct submarkets woven together by a common thread of consistency. In the central business district (CBD), Class A vacancy rate stands at approximately 13 percent while the suburban Class A vacancy rate hovers around 8.5 percent. As can be noted, there is a substantial gap in occupancy between the two submarkets — 450 basis points. The thread of consistency in the Louisville office market lies in the fact that both are within 100 basis points of those vacancy rates for the same quarter of last year. The suburban office market continues to see healthy rental rate increases driven by the low rate of delivery for new product, coupled with consistently lower vacancy rates. Newer projects are advertising rates in the range of $24 to $28 per square foot, while second-generation, Class A product has quoted rates in the high teens and low 20s. Many companies such as Thornton Oil, BrightSpring Health Services (formerly ResCare) and V-Soft have chosen to grow their headquarters presence in Louisville, which is helping maintain stability in the suburban market. As in most markets, Class B and C product continues to struggle as functional obsolescence, …
HOPKINSVILLE, KY. — Cohen Financial has arranged $18.2 million for the acquisition of the newly constructed Hopkinsville Town Center, a neighborhood retail center in Hopkinsville near the Kentucky-Tennessee border. Hobby Lobby, T.J. Maxx, Ross Dress for Less and Five Below are tenants at the 184,761-square-foot retail center. Dan Rosenberg and Matt Terpstra of Cohen Financial’s Chicago office secured the loan for the undisclosed borrower.
LEXINGTON, KY. — Ziff Properties has purchased the former Golden Burley Tobacco Warehouse and Building Materials Warehouse located on Angliana Avenue in Lexington for an undisclosed price. Fred Pfister of Silvestri Craig Realtors facilitated the transaction. The name of the seller and sales price were not released. Ziff Properties plans to convert the property, which is situated on 3.5 acres, into a Class A self-storage facility with 103,500 square feet of climate- and non-climate-controlled units. CubeSmart Self Storage will manage the asset.
LOUISVILLE, KY. — Brennan Investment Group has acquired an industrial property located at 1300 W. Park Road in the Bullitt submarket of Louisville. Concurrent with the acquisition, the 194,519-square-foot property was leased back to the seller, a joint venture between Westfall Technik and a client of Arch Street Capital Advisors. The building is fully occupied by Amaray, a specialized global plastic packaging company, which was simultaneously acquired by Westfall Technik. Amaray has occupied the property since 2003.
LOUISVILLE, KY. — Goldin Management has sold Colonial Oaks, a multifamily development located at 5011 Southside Drive in Louisville. Patrick Kelley and Connie Kelley acquired the property for an undisclosed price. Built in 1970, Colonial Oaks features 192 units in a mix of one- and two-bedroom layouts. Brandon Wilson and Brian Devlin of Nashville-based The Kirkland Co. brokered the deal.
LEXINGTON, KY. — Silvestri Real Estate has arranged the sale of Springs at Winchester Road Apartments, a multifamily property located at 1809 Meeting St. in Lexington. Continental Properties, a multifamily developer, sold the property for $35.5 million, or $140,873 per unit. Built in 2014, Winchester Road features 252 townhome-style units, gated access and a pet spa. Ken Silvestri, Brandon Cutwright and Robert Jones of Silvestri brokered the transaction.
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, KY. — Fairmount Properties has broken ground on St. Elizabeth Medical Office building at the main entrance to Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights. Fairmount is developing the property in partnership with Northern Kentucky University, St. Elizabeth Healthcare, OrthoCincy, the City of Highland Heights and Campbell County. The project team includes Bialosky, Casler Design Group, Danis, The Kleinger Group, KLH Engineers, Realm Collaborative and THP Limited. Located on Nunn Drive, the 65,000-square-foot facility will offer urgent care, primary care and specialty physicians space, as well as OrthoCincy’s on-site orthopaedical office, physical therapy and other orthopaedical services. The facility is slated to open in early 2020. The medical office is the first phase of a more than $100 million NKU Gateway mixed-use development. Upon complete build-out, the property will include restaurants, retail space, market-rate apartments, a hotel, parking and new public gathering spaces.
SHEPHERDSVILLE, KY. — Walmart will invest $41 million to open a new distribution facility in Shepherdsville, a city roughly 20 miles south of Louisville in Bullitt County. The Arkansas-based retailer will lease a 720,000-square-foot building within Velocity 65 Trade Center, an industrial park located off Interstate 65 along Velocity Way. The center will create 400 full-time jobs upon opening later this fall, and will eventually employ several hundred temporary workers, including seasonal employees. The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority has preliminarily approved Walmart for tax incentives up to $3 million through the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based incentive allows the company to keep a portion of its investment over the agreement term through corporate income tax credits and wage assessments by meeting job and investment targets. Indianapolis-based Browning Investments is the developer and owner of Velocity 65 Trade Center.