LAFAYETTE, LA. — Capital One Bank has provided a $47.7 million loan for Ambassador Town Center, a 430,000-square-foot, open-air retail center in Lafayette. The property is located on more than 60 acres at the southeast corner of Ambassador Caffery Parkway and Kaliste Saloom Road. Ambassador Town Center is currently 98 percent leased to Costco Wholesale, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Field & Stream, Marshalls, HomeGoods, Nordstrom Rack, Off Broadway Shoes and PetSmart. The borrowers, Stirling Properties LLC and CBL & Associates Properties Inc., used the seven-year, fixed-rate loan to retire an existing construction loan.
Louisiana
Evans Senior Investments Arranges $22.2M Sale of Seniors Housing Community in Louisiana
by John Nelson
COVINGTON, LA. — Evans Senior Investments has arranged the $22.2 million sale of The Trace at Claiborne Hill, a 94-unit independent living, assisted living and memory care community in Covington, approximately 40 miles north of New Orleans. A private equity company acquired the Class A community from a regional operator. The purchase price equates to $236,170 per unit. Built in 2009, The Trace at Claiborne Hill features 70 independent living and assisted living units, plus 24 memory care units added in 2014. At the time of the sale, the facility was 99 percent occupied. The 84,961-square-foot property sits on 2.7 acres in St. Tammany Parish, where the 65-and-older population is projected to increase 47 percent between 2010 and 2019. Evans Senior Investments represented the unnamed seller in the transaction. The capitalization rate was 7 percent on the trailing six months NOI of $1.56 million.
SLIDELL, LA. — Wells Fargo has provided a $73 million, 10-year loan for Fremaux Town Center, a roughly 635,000-square-foot open-air retail shopping center located at the southwest corner of I-10 and Fremaux Avenue in Slidell. Fremaux Town Center is currently 95 percent leased and jointly owned by affiliates of CBL & Associates Properties Inc. and Stirling Properties LLC. The borrowers used proceeds from the loan to retire two existing construction loans.
NEW ORLEANS — Provenance Hotels Partners Fund I, an investment vehicle sponsored by Portland-based hotel operator Provenance Hotels, has purchased Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery in New Orleans for an undisclosed price. The 167-room boutique hotel is located at 535 Tchoupitoulas St. in New Orleans’ Warehouse Arts District. The hotel features Compère Lapin, a French and Italian restaurant helmed by chef Nina Compton. Provenance Hotels bought out the ownership stake in Old No. 77 from its partners — affiliates of New York-based GB Lodging and Dallas-based Woodbine Development Corp. The trio opened the hotel in August 2015.
CAMERON, LA. — Port Cameron LLC plans to develop a new deep-water staging port in Cameron, a town near Lake Charles in Louisiana’s Gulf Coast region. As the largest private energy services facility on the Gulf Coast, the new port complex will facilitate energy development in the Gulf of Mexico. Construction on the $1.5 billion project will commence in November, and Phase I of the project is slated for completion by the third quarter of 2017. Phase I will encompass 500 acres, with an additional 750 acres available for expansion in the future. In addition to the new port, the project includes constructing approximately 25,000 linear feet of all-weather roads and two new concrete bridges. The new port will be located on the Calcasieu Ship Channel, roughly 185 miles east of Houston and approximately 50 miles south of I-10. Mark Nicholas, John Talhelm, Richard Quarles and Joe Berwick of JLL Houston’s office are leading the leasing efforts for Port Cameron. According to an economic impact study by Louisiana-based economic consulting firm Loren Scott Associates, when fully leased, activity at the port will create approximately $2.8 billion in sales and about 10,000 jobs for the state of Louisiana.
MANDEVILLE, LA. — Stirling Properties has opened a new Whole Foods Market at Premier Centre in Mandeville. Along with the recently opened Forever 21 Red, the 40,000-square-foot store is replacing a former Albertson’s grocery store. The 273,000-square-foot Premier Centre is fully leased to tenants including Stein Mart, Bed Bath & Beyond, T.J. Maxx, Barnes & Noble, Old Navy, Gap/Gap Kids, Rack Room Shoes, Banana Republic, American Eagle Outfitters, Hallmark, LOFT, Victoria’s Secret, Aéropostale, Buckle, Apricot Lane, H.W. Rosenblum, Earthsavers, Bath & Body Works, Motherhood Maternity, Chase Bank, Chili’s Grill & Bar, Romano’s Macaroni Grill, la Madeleine and Pinkberry. Tesla electric car charging stations are also available in the parking lot. Stirling Properties developed Phase I of Premier Centre in 1999 and Phase II in 2000 and currently holds the managing and leasing contract. The new Whole Foods store will employ approximately 100-120 team members.
CARENCRO, LA. — Stirling Properties has brokered the sale of a 16.1-acre lot of land located at 3810 N.E. Evangeline Thruway in Carencro near the intersection of I-10 and I-49. The buyer, Wal-Mart Real Estate Business Trust, has begun to build a new 182,000-square-foot Walmart Supercenter at the site. The new store, which is set to open in early 2017, is expected to create 300 jobs. Seth Citron and Ryan Pecot of Stirling Properties brokered the land deal.
COVINGTON, LA. — Dallas-based Cypress Equities has acquired Covington Nord du Lac shopping center, a 460,000-square-foot regional retail power center located in Covington, roughly 40 miles north of New Orleans. The center comprises 214,000 square feet of existing space, 83,000 square feet of partially built improvements and 162,000 square feet of planned development space. Tenants including Hobby Lobby, Academy Sports + Outdoors, Petco and Kohl’s anchor the center. Kyle Stonis, Scott Tiernan and Pierce Mayson of SRS Real Estate Partners represented Cypress Equities in the transaction.
LAKE CHARLES, LA. — Fast-casual Newk’s Eatery opened its 100th restaurant in Lake Charles on April 4. The restaurant is the first Newk’s franchise location for Southeast Restaurant Group, a New Orleans-based veteran operator of franchise and independent restaurants, and the third restaurant nationwide to feature Newk’s “Generation 2” restaurant design. The Jackson, Miss.-based brand’s newest restaurant marks the halfway point in its aggressive growth plan to open 200 units by 2019. The restaurant is one of 15 units planned by Southeast Restaurant Group for the southwest Louisiana and southeast Texas region over the next seven years. The group’s development agreement complements the brand’s ongoing expansion efforts along the Gulf Coast and is Newk’s largest build-out commitment to date.
COVINGTON, LA. — Doster Construction has broken ground on Springs at River Chase, an apartment community located in Covington, situated across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans. The property will feature floor plans ranging from studio to three-bedroom, and community amenities will include a clubhouse, resort-style pool, 24-hour fitness center, dog park, attached and detached garages, car care center and a pet spa. The project team includes developer Continental Properties and architect of record Phillips Partnership. Doster has completed more than 1,000 units of multifamily housing in the last year, including Springs at Fremaux in Slidell, La.