SLIDELL, LA. — Q Hotels and Stirling Properties have broken ground on Springhill Suites by Marriott, an 88-room, four-story hotel in Slidell. The hotel will sit on 1.9 acres at the intersection of Ruth Garrett Way and Bill Garrett Road, about 35 miles northeast of downtown New Orleans. Construction is already underway on the hotel with delivery slated for the fourth quarter of 2020. The hotel will be situated within Fremaux Park, Stirling’s 350-acre mixed-use development that includes residential and retail space, including Fremaux Town Center. The 640,000-square-foot retail destination is anchored by Dillard’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Kohl’s and Best Buy and includes restaurants such as Five Guys, Rock N Roll Sushi, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Starbucks and LongHorn Steakhouse. Fremaux Park’s additional phases will include more residential and retail space and bring office and industrial space.
Louisiana
RUSTON, LA. — Hutton has opened Ruston Marketplace, a 103,413-square-foot shopping center in Ruston. The property’s tenants include Hobby Lobby, T.J. Maxx, Ulta Beauty, Five Below and Rack Room Shoes. Ruston Marketplace is situated off of Interstate 20, one mile from Louisiana Tech University. Hutton partnered with the City of Ruston to deliver the project. According to multiple media outlets, the City of Ruston paid $6.4 million to improve the infrastructure around the shopping center to make it more accessible to shoppers.
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.” …
Alpha Capital Acquires 342-Bed Student Housing Community Near University of Louisiana at Lafayette
by Alex Tostado
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.
Bellwether Enterprise Secures $21M Loan for New Medical Office Building in New Orleans
by Alex Tostado
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.
Annex Group to Develop 324-Bed Student Housing Community Near Louisiana Tech University
by John Nelson
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.
HREC Negotiates Sale of Historic Apartment Community in New Orleans to Timeshare Acquisitions
by Alex Tostado
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.