METAIRIE, LA. — Chamblee, Ga.-based Audubon has sold The Local on Severn, a 161-unit apartment community in Metairie, for $17.6 million. The buyer was a Texas-based property management firm that has multiple Louisiana apartment communities in its portfolio. Located southeast of Baton Rouge via I-10, The Local on Severn offers studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, as well as two swimming pools and sundecks.
BOSSIER CITY, LA. — The Cordish Companies has set the opening date for its $270 million Live! Casino & Hotel Louisiana — Thursday, Feb. 13, pending approval from the Louisiana Gaming Control Board. The Baltimore-based company launched bookings at the Bossier City hotel last Friday, almost exactly a full year after breaking ground. Additionally, tickets are now on sale for a slate of shows/concerts at the development’s Event Center at Live! Situated along the Red River near Shreveport, La., the Live! Casino & Hotel Louisiana will feature more than 47,000 square feet of gaming space; a sportsbook for live betting on sporting events; an upscale 550-room hotel with a resort-style pool and fitness center; 25,000-square-foot events center; structured and surface parking; a 31-site RV park; and 30,000 square feet of dining and entertainment venues, including Cordish brands Sports & Social, PBR Cowboy Bar and Luk Fu, as well as Ridotto Grand Café and The Prime Rib steakhouse.
MANDEVILLE, LA. — PJ’s Coffee plans to open 12 new locations in the metropolitan Atlanta area over the next seven years. The Peach State currently has a PJ’s Coffee location in Greensboro and construction will soon begin for its next one in Rome. The Mandeville, La.-based coffeeshop chain has more than 185 locations operating systemwide and more than 100 in the development pipeline. “Our expansion into Atlanta represents a game-changing opportunity to share PJ’s unique flavors with a vibrant community that values Southern hospitality and exceptional coffee,” says Lory Schwartz, franchise development manager of PJ’s Coffee. “The city’s dynamic economy, strong coffee culture and affinity for innovation make it the perfect place for our next chapter of growth.”
ALEXANDRIA, LA. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the $9.8 million sale of Holiday Inn Alexandria Downtown, a 169-room hotel located at 701 4th St. in downtown Alexandria that fronts the Red River. The seller was Sharpco Hotels, an investment firm based in Natchitoches, La., that purchased the formerly vacant hotel from the City of Alexandria and revitalized and rebranded the property. A partnership between Tennessee-based VJ Hotels and Texas-based ARK Hospitality purchased the hotel. David Altman of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller in the transaction. Steve Greer served as Marcus & Millichap’s broker of record in Louisiana for the transaction. Holiday Inn Alexandria Downtown features 11,000 square feet of meeting space, a restaurant and Tesla car chargers, as well as direct access to the Randolph Riverfront Convention Center.
In our state of the market overview article in Southeast Real Estate Business October 2023, we defined three challenges in the metro New Orleans multifamily market. These are interest rates, inflation and insurance — or as we dubbed them “the three I’s.” Not to be redundant; however, a year later these elements are still very much factors in the current market and continue to define how multifamily assets are acquired, sold, financed and developed. There is, however, reason for optimism as each of these defining elements has diminished, albeit not completely, from where they were 12 months ago. Interest rates — On Sept. 18, the Federal Reserve reduced short-term rates by 50 basis points — the first reduction in four years. More importantly was the decline in the rate of the 10-year Treasury yield, which is what most multifamily loans are priced from. As of this writing, the 10-year Treasury yield was at 3.76 percent, the lowest it has been in the past 16 months. A further reason for optimism is the fact that the Fed has indicated the potential for four rate cuts next year. There is also the anticipation of further clarity in the capital markets once the …
Despite healthy local market dynamics, the greater New Orleans industrial market did not perform as strongly as insiders expected it to perform over the past 12 months, which is indicative of wider economic factors suppressing a market with pent-up demand. The Port of New Orleans and its access to major shipping routes along the Mississippi River has long been the principal component for industrial real estate in the area. The recent 2024 regular session of the Louisiana Legislature committed $230.5 million to Port of New Orleans infrastructure projects, including allocations to the Louisiana International Terminal, a $1.8 billion project in Violet, La., scheduled to be operational in 2028, which will be the Gulf South’s premier container shipping gateway able to accommodate New Panamax- and Post New Panamax-sized vessels. A bit further up the Mississippi River but still in the greater New Orleans region, Canadian company Woodland Biofuels announced a $1.35 billion investment at the Port of South Louisiana in Reserve, La., to establish the largest renewable natural gas plant in the world. The facility will take waste wood and sugar cane and turn it into natural gas. The process will be carbon-negative, leaving less carbon in the atmosphere than before …
A combination of short sales, declining occupancy rates, loan concerns and migration to suburban offices contribute to uncertainty in the New Orleans office market. As we approach the fourth quarter of this year and begin to reflect back on the market in 2024, the challenges unfortunately outweigh the opportunities. Two notable cases include The DXC Technology Center and The Energy Centre. The DXC Technology Center, located at 1615 Poydras St. in the Central Business District (CBD), a once-prized office tower anchored by Freeport McMoRan, sold for less than $37 per square foot. The building, over 500,000 square feet, traded for $18.5 million, significantly below the remaining debt on the property. The New Orleans Police Department recently signed a lease to occupy approximately 45,000 square feet in the building, which lessens the steep decline in the building’s value. The Energy Centre, located at 1100 Poydras St., is one of the most desirable and best-performing Class A towers in the CBD. It entered receivership, but the building is back on track and is rumored to be nearing a sale. The building owner, The Hertz Group, controls four additional Class A office towers on Poydras St. (400, 650, 701 & 909 Poydras St.), …
ALEXANDRIA, LA. — Blueprint Healthcare Real Estate Advisors has brokered the sale of Regency House Alexandria, an assisted living and skilled nursing community in Alexandria, a city in Central Louisiana that lies on the south bank of the Red River. The seller was a local owner-operator. The buyer, a national owner-operator with an existing presence in Louisiana and experience with HUD’s transfer of physical assets (TPA) process, which involves the assumption of a HUD-insured loan, purchased the asset for an undisclosed price. Regency House Alexandria consists of 10 assisted living beds and 60 skilled nursing beds and only accepts Medicare and private pay as sources of payment.
IRVINE, CALIF. — BWE has arranged a $45.5 million loan for the financing of a Circle K portfolio across six states in the Sun Belt. Located in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina and South Carolina, the portfolio comprises 104 single-tenant convenience store and gas station properties. Tom Kenny and Josh Boehling of BWE’s Irvine, Calif., office arranged the loan through a life insurance company on behalf of the undisclosed borrower. The five-year, fixed-rate financing features interest-only payments and a five-year extension option.
COVINGTON, LA. — Gulf States Real Estate, Development and Construction Services has announced that Kia of Covington will soon open its new car dealership. The site of the future dealership is located at the intersection of I-12 and US Highway 190 on Louisiana’s Northshore. The Kia franchise owner, Kevin Szura, had paused the development due to rising interest rates and construction costs, resulting in a six-month delay. While Szura worked on finding alternative financing sources, the Gulf States team led by Jason Reibert and Mike Saucier “value engineered” more than $500,000 out of the construction budget, which also required approval from KIA’s corporate design team. “Although we will be entering the market six months later than we had hoped, the value engineering and financing efforts were well worth it given today’s tough business climate for new construction,” says Szura. Mark Holcomb Consulting LLC served as an advisor for the new Kia of Covington project.
