LOUISVILLE, KY. — Louisville-based PRG Investments has brokered the sale of three restaurants in Kentucky and South Carolina. PRG brokered the sale-leaseback of two Raising Cane restaurants in central Kentucky: 551 Keene Center Drive in Nicholasville and 2555 Nicholasville Road in Lexington. Fred Sutterlin and Reed Weinberg of PRG represented the buyer, an individual investor based in Louisville, in the transaction. David Graves of Cypress Property Group represented the seller. Sutterlin also brokered the franchise sale-leaseback of a Dunkin’ Donuts located at 754 Folly Road in Charleston, S.C. on behalf of the buyer, a private investor based in Louisville.
LOUISVILLE, KY. — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of Glenmary Village Apartments, a 272-unit multifamily community located off Bardstown Road at 9606 Clubview Drive in southeast Louisville. Aaron Johnson of Marcus & Millichap’s Louisville office represented the seller in the transaction. The buyer, Utah-based Peak Capital, purchased Glenmary Village for an undisclosed price. Built in 2003 on 22 acres, Glenmary Village Apartments features a large pool and sun deck and an upgraded resort-style clubhouse with veranda, business center, workout facilities and a kitchen area.
NEWPORT, KY. — Inland Real Estate Corp., in a joint venture arrangement with Dutch pension advisor PGGM, has acquired Phase II of Newport Pavilion, a shopping center located in Newport, part of the Cincinnati MSA. Inland and PGGM purchased the 115,000-square-foot asset for $23.6 million. Phase II’s tenant roster includes Dick’s Sporting Goods, T.J. Maxx, Buffalo Wild Wings, Panera Bread, Chipotle Mexican Grill, T-Mobile and Sport Clips. The Inland-PGGM joint venture purchased Phase I of Newport Pavilion earlier this year. The entire 337,300-square-foot power center is currently 96 percent leased.
LOUISVILLE, KY. – Doster Construction Co. has broken ground on the $45 million The Clubhouse Student Apartments in Louisville. The project will be located adjacent to the University of Louisville campus and consists of three five-story wood frame buildings. The new complex will have 758 beds and more than 400,000 square feet of living space. Amenities will include two courtyards, a swimming pool, a club room, fitness area, a theater, computer/study room and a hammock garden. The project also includes a five-and-a-half level parking garage that will accommodate more than 625 spaces. Buck Development Louisville LLC, affiliated with The John Buck Co., is the project’s developer, Doster is the general contractor and Henneman Engineering Inc. is the architect of record. Peak Campus Management will manage the asset.
The trends in Louisville are typical of a market rebounding. According to CBRE Research, the Louisville market is experiencing rent growth, vacancy declines, construction increases and more speculative product hitting the city. Leasing volume is increasing steadily, and investment sales are peaking as well. The Louisville industrial market remains tight even with several recent construction completions. With more than 100 million square feet of industrial space in the area, Louisville is a major player in the Eastern United States distribution market. Despite several lease and sale transactions consummating in the second quarter of 2014, market vacancy increased slightly to 4 percent, which reflects the fact that several large speculative buildings came on line during the period offsetting otherwise net positive absorption. As expected, with existing industrial inventory levels at an all-time low and new building deliveries coming on line and more on the horizon, market vacancies rose to 3.9 percent in the first quarter of 2014, ending a streak of 13 consecutive quarters of declining vacancy. Louisville remains an extremely tight market, even considering the increase in the vacancy rate. In addition, compared to the percentage of total market size in neighboring cities like Columbus, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Nashville and Memphis, …
The economic recovery has flipped Louisville’s office market. Historically, the central business district (CBD) has lower vacancy and higher leasing rates than the suburban office market, while new development and low barriers to entry generally kept vacancy higher in the suburbs. Now, suburban vacancy rates rest below the CBD’s, especially for Class A product. Even as speculative development returns to the suburbs, the submarket’s hot streak shows no signs of abating, and the downtown submarket has plenty of positive momentum as well. Suburban Class A vacancy was 8.4 percent at mid-year, with average asking rates in the $20 to $22 per square foot range, or higher in top-tier new office developments. The suburban office market has been quite active, but Class A and B vacancies haven’t materially changed this year due to a spate of renewals and net moves from one building to another. Still, we expect a noteworthy fourth quarter as demand is perhaps as strong as it’s ever been, and owners remain aggressive, in many cases offering three months free rent and turnkey tenant improvements with long-term deals. Lack of available large blocks of space could lead to build-to-suit activity, too. There are virtually no available blocks of …
Louisville is riding a wave of momentum after hosting its third PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in August. In addition, the $2.5 billion Louisville-Southern Indiana Ohio River bridge projects are under construction and scheduled to open in 2016. This project adds two new bridges, an east end bridge connecting I-265 in Kentucky with I-265 in Indiana, and a second bridge located downtown as part of improvements to I-65. These significant infrastructure improvements are a game changer in the fact that they will improve accessibility to new retail trade areas such as southern Indiana and northeast Louisville. In anticipation of the Kentucky International Convention Center being dramatically expanded and remodeled, Louisville has five hotels under construction or planned for downtown. Omni Hotels & Resorts will build its first property in Kentucky in Louisville, a 600-room convention hotel at Third and Liberty streets. Estimated to open no later than 2017, the Omni will be adjacent to 200 apartments, a grocery store and retail shops. The project is a public-private partnership between Omni, Cordish Cos., metro government and the state of Kentucky. REI Real Estate Services and Poe Cos. are developing a 172-room Aloft Hotel located in the central business district at …
Limited multifamily rental development and additional hiring by local employers will sustain another strong year for the Louisville apartment sector during 2012. Despite a slight increase in vacancy during the first three months of the year, tight conditions prevail as many residents moved into apartments during the past two years. Local employers expanded payrolls during the past two years and more than half of the jobs lost in the metro during the recession have been recovered. The market continues to benefit from the revival of Ford, while the area’s logistics and transportation employers have added workers as more packages and freight move through Louisville en route to other markets. The reinvigorated drivers of apartment demand continue to benefit most locations around the metro, but none more than the submarkets encompassing suburban communities located beyond the inner beltway. Overall vacancy in this area, which contains about three-fourths of the market’s apartments, sits at less than 4 percent, with the Class A rate closer to 3 percent. A lack of new construction will keep rents and vacancies healthy in the Louisville metro area. The 35-unit Whiskey Row Lofts in the West Central submarket delivered in the first quarter, becoming the only market-rate …
As 2012 begins the Louisville retail market continues to positively move forward. The energy and optimism in the national markets is well reflected in the city with new tenants entering the area for the first time and a variety of locals, regional and national players looking to expand. The greatest challenge currently in the market is the scarce availability of quality space which is hindering some retailers’ entry into the market today and could seriously affect future growth. Fall 2011 saw Guitar Center, Nike Factory Store and Trader Joe’s all opened in Shelbyville Road Plaza in the city’s main retail core, St. Matthews. While the influx of new tenants is positive, the ownership still must re-tenant vacant boxes left by Circuit City, Wild Oats and Border’s Books. Most recently, Anthropologie announced that it would join Macy’s, Sear’s and Von Maur at Oxmoor Mall further solidifying Oxmoor as the city’s premier upscale shopping destination. Mall St. Matthews continues to be well occupied while appealing to a slightly younger clientele. Other new additions to St. Matthews trade area include Mellow Mushroom Pizza, Tin Roof and Bruegger’s Bagels. The biggest news in the northeast segment of the trade area was the $78 million …
Industrial developers in the Louisville area are struggling to remain busy at a time when construction starts are non-existent. The area usually attracts logistics companies and distribution firms that benefit from Louisville’s location and the city’s transportation routes. But today, tenants simply aren’t interested in building new properties, and developers can’t secure the financing needed to construct speculative developments. “Most developers are hurting right now,” says Michael Norris of Ray & Associates/TCN Worldwide. “A lot of developers are struggling to make their financial obligations.” New development has stopped, but tenants and buyers are still looking around, searching for good deals. In the past two quarters, Norris has seen a few 100,000-square-foot leases in Louisville; this isn’t much compared to pre-recession activity, but it means the market is still moving. According to CB Richard Ellis, more than 32 firms were looking for spaces of more than 100,000 square feet during the second quarter. Big leases in the second quarter include Motorcycle Superstore’s 126,000-square-foot lease and CAT Logistics 50,000-square-foot lease. In order to attract these deals, landlords are piling on the incentives. “Landlords are getting creative, either offering additional TI or offering several months of free rent. They have to offer the …