NEW ORLEANS — Easterly Government Properties Inc. has acquired a 137,679-square-foot Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Field Office in New Orleans. The seller and sales price were not disclosed. FBI-New Orleans is a four-story, single-tenant facility located on a 6.6-acre site. The FBI’s New Orleans Division oversees federal operations in all of Louisiana, including six satellite offices in Baton Rouge, Alexandria, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe and Shreveport. This build-to-suit construction was originally completed in 1999 and renovated in 2006. The project is now 100 percent occupied by the FBI until August 2029 under a non-cancelable remaining lease term. Additionally, the FBI has an option to renew the lease for an additional 10-year term, expiring in 2039. The building has numerous security features such as a security crash traffic barrier, 24/7 security, visitor screening center and bullet-resistant interior walls, doors and a roof. Easterly Government Properties now owns nine of the nation’s 56 FBI field offices and is the single-largest private owner of FBI field offices in the country.
LAKE CHARLES, LA. — A joint venture between Lotte Chemical USA (KRX: KRW) and Westlake Chemical Corp. (NYSE: WLK) has opened a new chemical plant in Lake Charles, located in the southwest corner of Louisiana near the Texas border. Development costs for the 250-acre campus were estimated at $3.1 billion. The chemical plant produces monoethylene glycol — commonly called MEG — an important ingredient in the making of paper, textile fibers, latex paints, asphalt, resins, antifreeze, coolants and adhesives. With an annual capacity of 700,000 metric tons, the new facility is now the largest MEG plant in the world. South Korea-based Lotte and Houston-Based Westlake expect the plant to generate 250 permanent jobs. According to the Louisiana Economic Development office, approximately 2,000 “indirect jobs” have also been created as a result of this project. “Among Korean petrochemical companies, Lotte Chemical is the first to locate a project in the United States. As such, this project represents a significant investment by Lotte Chemical,” says Jinkoo Hwang, president and CEO of Lotte Chemical USA. “Today also marks the opening of our new corporate headquarters in Lake Charles, and we are very excited to be part of the industrial growth in the region.” …
LAFAYETTE, LA. — Alpha Capital Partners has acquired University Place, a 342-bed student housing community located near the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The acquisition is the second of five identified projects in the company’s Opportunity Zone Fund, which was launched last October in an effort to take part in the opportunity zone program implemented by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. University Place offers access to campus through a private pedestrian bridge, alongside shared amenities including a 24-hour fitness center, swimming pool and cyber café. The new ownership plans to invest capital to reposition the property, details of which have yet to be announced. The seller and terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
BATON ROUGE, LA. — Audubon Communities has completed the restoration of St. Jean Apartments, a vacant 624-unit multifamily property in Baton Rouge. In 2016, Louisiana experienced flooding that left 312 ground-level units at St. Jean with serious water damage and the property was abandoned. In 2017, Atlanta-based Audubon purchased the community for $33.3 million and launched a $20 million restoration and renovation effort. Audubon has since rebranded the 50-acre property as The Reserve at White Oak and is now leasing the community, which is 30 percent occupied.
LITTLE ROCK, ARK. AND SHREVEPORT, LA. — BSR REIT has sold four multifamily properties in Little Rock and Shreveport for a total of $31.7 million. The two properties in Little Rock are Briarwood Apartments, a 280-unit complex built in 1972, and Spring Valley Apartments, a 245-unit community built in 1975. The Shreveport assets are Fox Trail Apartments, a 144-unit property built in 1971, and South Pointe Apartments, a 104-unit complex built in 1972. The seller(s) was not disclosed.
NEW ORLEANS — Bellwether Enterprise has arranged a $21 million permanent loan for Ochsner Health Clinic, a new medical building in New Orleans. The three-story, 58,137-square-foot facility will be located at 1532 Robert E. Lee Blvd., five miles north of downtown New Orleans. The property will offer obstetrics, pediatrics and internal medicine facilities, as well as a full-service imaging center, laboratory and a retail pharmacy. Matt Good of Bellwether’s South Carolina office arranged the loan on behalf of the undisclosed borrowers through Voya Investments.
RUSTON, LA. — The Annex Group is set to break ground on The Annex of Ruston, a 324-bed student housing community located near the Louisiana Tech University campus in Ruston. The development will be situated at 509 W. Line Ave. and will offer one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom, fully furnished units. Shared amenities will include a swimming pool, exercise room, study lounges and secured parking. KeyBank Real Estate Capital provided development financing for the project, which was designed in collaboration with the City of Ruston, KTGY Architecture and HGA Engineering. The community is set for delivery in August 2020.
NEW ORLEANS — HREC Investment Advisors has arranged the sale of the Maritime Building, a 105-unit apartment community built in 1893 in New Orleans. The asset is situated at the corner of Carondelet and Common streets, one block from the French Quarter. The property was considered the city’s first “skyscraper” at 14 stories tall and was extensively renovated in 2010 and 2011. Len Wormser of HREC represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction. California-based Timeshare Acquisitions Real Estate LLC bought the property following the New Orleans City Planning Commission and City Council decision in April 2018 to change the zoning in the central business district from conditional to permitted use for timeshare purposes. The entire asset will be used as a timeshare. The sales price was not disclosed.
LAKE CHARLES, LA. — Money360 has provided a $12.5 million refinancing loan for a 121,070-square-foot retail property in Lake Charles. The term of the recourse loan is 24 months with a 9 percent fixed interest rate. Tenants include Ross Dress for Less, Bed Bath & Beyond, Marshalls and Rack Room Shoes. The borrower and the name of the asset were not disclosed.
BATON ROUGE, LA. — Wetlands mitigation banking has established a track record of success in restoring and preserving crucial ecosystems in many states during the past several decades, while helping smooth the way for commercial development. And as the proven system is positioned to grow and expand, it deserves to be more widely known and recognized, according to a leader in the field overseeing restoration of thousands of acres throughout the South. A mitigation bank is a site that has potential and natural attributes but may have been altered or damaged through overuse or abuse such as ditching, drainage or logging that changed the landscape. Restoring land to function as part of a healthy ecosystem as nature intended takes time and money, planning and preparation. Commercial development relies heavily on mitigation banks in states like Florida where population growth requires land and much of the land is environmentally vulnerable, laced with creeks, rivers, wetlands and woods. One of the pioneers in wetlands mitigation banking, Baton Rouge-based EcoSystem Renewal LLC, has successfully helped restore vulnerable sites throughout Florida, Louisiana and Texas, particularly along the fragile Gulf Coast. The company has a turn-key approach that oversees projects, including dealing with regulatory agencies, and takes the risk of mitigation away from …