BOWLING GREEN, KY. — Pierce Education Properties (PEP) has purchased a 756-bed, off-campus student housing community near the campus of Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green. The property, called College Suites, is a 216-unit community located just south of the campus. The garden-style brick project includes three- and four-bedroom units, each with bed-to-bath parity, full-size appliances including washers and dryers in every unit, private balconies, and a resort-style pool with sundeck and hot tub. Beginning in the spring, PEP will add large, flat-screen TVs in each unit. Community amenities include a 24-hour fitness center, basketball and volleyball courts, a stadium-seating movie theater, computer/media center, complimentary tanning beds and high-speed Internet. KeyBank Real Estate Capital provided acquisition financing on behalf of PEP.
The retail market for Louisville has continued to improve over the past year. New ground-up developments, which have been virtually nonexistent the past five years, are now open for business. Vacancy rates are falling, new tenants are entering the market, and retail investment sales continue to be in high demand. The $2.5 billion Louisville- Southern Indiana Ohio River bridges project is on track for a 2016 opening. New developments in downtown and northeast Louisville, as well as Southern Indiana, are looking to capitalize on the new infrastructure. GBT Realty is looking to expand its presence in the market with a proposed 220,000-square-foot joint venture project across the river in Jeffersonville, Ind. The site is located within in the 170-acre master-planned Jefferson Town Center on Veterans Parkway. Menards is opening a new 200,000-square-foot property this fall across the street from GBT’s proposed development. In addition to GBT Realty’s newly opened Middletown Commons and Jefferson Commons in Louisville, the three projects are from developments that were planned before the Great Recession and now have new life. The Outlet Shoppes of the Bluegrass, located in Simpsonville, Ky., has been a major success since opening in late 2014. After just six months, an expansion …
Louisville’s retail market continues to experience a shortage of space in high-demand markets in spite of several new developments opening over the past year. During this period, two major retail developments have been completed with several smaller projects under construction or in the planning stages. Second-generation big box vacancy is virtually non-existent and finding quality shop space is becoming equally challenging. As a result, rents have escalated to historic highs. The most notable additions to the Louisville market are two neighborhood centers developed by Brentwood, Tenn.-based GBT Realty Corp. Nestled amongst a rapidly expanding residential community and PGA’s notable Valhalla Golf Club in eastern Louisville, the 240,000-square-foot Middletown Commons is anchored by Hobby Lobby, Academy Sports + Outdoor, Ross Dress for Less and Liquor Barn. Jefferson Commons, located in south Louisville, is anchored by Academy Sports + Outdoor, Hancock Fabrics, HH Gregg, Michael’s, Liquor Barn and several fast-casual restaurant concepts. In western Louisville, BC Wood Properties added Hobby Lobby and Goody’s stores at the 350,000-square foot Dixie Manor Shopping Center. Southwest of the city’s central business district, the redevelopment of Dixie Valley Shopping Center expanded its footprint to include additional soft goods retailers such as Marshalls, Ross Dress for Less, …
The Louisville multifamily market has consistently demonstrated strong, favorable market fundamentals, which has drawn significant interest in this growing riverfront city. Since 2010, the market has seen 19.8 percent rent growth and continually posted occupancy gains. This momentum resulted in a record amount of multifamily transactions in 2014 and continues to fuel investor demand today. This momentum in the multifamily sector is happening not only in Louisville, but across the U.S., according to CBRE Research. Overall demand for rental housing continues to be driven by demographic-led household formation and a deepening preference for rental vs. owner tenure. Supply continues to grow briskly and rent and revenue growth are accelerating. Additionally, a recent CBRE multifamily study found that the national homeownership rate is 63.4 percent — its lowest level since 1967. The report also discovered that the national rent growth has reached its strongest year-over-year gain in nine years. And we don’t expect this trend to level off anytime soon. During the first half of 2015, the Louisville market demonstrated strong fundamentals with increasing rents and occupancy. Between 2014 and 2015, the annual market-wide rent growth was 3.4 percent, bringing the average rent to $786, or $0.86 per square foot. The …
LOUISVILLE, KY. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the $22 million sale of Crescent Centre Apartments, a 209-unit apartment community located in downtown Louisville. Built in 1989, the property comprises four residential buildings and 23,160 square feet of commercial space. The development features a central brick courtyard and fountain, two high-speed elevators, controlled card access, fitness center, trash chutes, laundry facilities and a new clubhouse. Chicago-based Trilogy Real Estate Group purchased the apartment development from Coral Gables, Fla.-based Brothers Property Corp. for $105,263 per unit. Aaron Willis and Aaron Johnson of Marcus & Millichap represented the buyer and seller in the transaction.
LEXINGTON, KY. — Silvestri-Craig Realtors has brokered the $11 million sale of Turfland Apartments, a 314-unit apartment community located at 2070 Garden Springs Drive in Lexington. Ken Silvestri of Silvestri-Craig Realtors brokered the transaction. The buyer, a Philadelphia-based investment firm, plans to invest $7 million in upgrades at the property. The seller built Turfland Apartments in 1973 and managed the community up until the sale.
LOUISVILLE, KY. — Molto Properties and Verus Partners have broken ground on Phase II of a 1.2 million-square-foot industrial complex in Air Commerce Business Park in Louisville. Phase II will consist of a 645,840-square-foot cross-dock industrial facility featuring 36-foot clear heights, trailer parking and car parking. Molto Properties pre-leased 74 percent of Phase I to Hillsdale Furniture and is seeking to lease the balance of the 622,426-square-foot building. Doug Butcher and Kevin Grove of CBRE are handling leasing for Molto, Pepper Construction is the general contractor on the project and Verus Partners is the local development partner. Phase I is scheduled to be completed by year-end, and Phase II is set to be delivered by October 2016.
Louisville’s industrial market continues to impress as it has successfully navigated recessionary times to the now current brisk market with solid activity. Even within those leaner times of 2009 and 2010, Louisville grew its occupied footprint by approximately 1.6 million square feet with perhaps a recipe that includes its beneficial geographic location and infrastructure, diverse manufacturing and logistics economy buffeted by UPS Worldport and Supply Chain Logistics, and aggressive state incentives provided by Kentucky and adjacent neighbor Indiana. The I-65 corridor is currently, and has been, white hot over the last 15 years. Louisville, like many similarly sized cities with populations over 1 million, has developed to its outer edges and industrial development is now spilling into smaller adjacent communities such as Shepherdsvillle, Ky., and Jeffersonville, Ind., both of which no longer resemble their former industrial selves. National and international developers like Prologis, USAA, Dermody, Exeter, DCT, Pinchal and Welsh, along with local developers such as Main Street Realty, Capstone, America Place and Crossdock, have found these communities and the I-65 corridor not only ripe with opportunity, but flush with tenants. On the Louisville side of the Ohio River, current speculative construction along the corridor includes more than 1.4 million …
LEXINGTON, KY. — Shake Shack, a popular burger restaurant that began as a hot dog cart in New York City in 2001, plans to open its first Kentucky eatery in Lexington. The restaurant will join the tenant roster of The Summit at Fritz Farm, a mixed-use food hall development that will feature national retailers, chef-driven restaurant concepts, Class A office space, a boutique hotel and upscale apartment residences. The project is set to open in March 2017. The one-level, 3,000-square-foot Shake Shack will anchor The Green, a communal area of the development. Other retailers joining Shake Shack include Whole Foods Market, Kendra Scott, J. McLaughlin, Brooks Brothers, Pottery Barn, J. Alexander’s, Babalu Tacos & Tapas, Steel City Pops and Arhaus.
BUCKNER, KY. — Dahlem Realty Corp. has arranged Kroger’s acquisition of a 15.8-acre parcel in Buckner. Kroger plans to build a new 125,000-square-foot Kroger Marketplace at the site, located at the southeast corner of KY 393 and Commerce Parkway. The center will also feature a Kroger fuel station, two outparcels and a 3,000-square-foot Kroger liquor store, depending on pending state legislation. Dahlem Realty Corp., a Louisville-based brokerage, leasing and management services firm, represented Kroger in the acquisition.