NEW ORLEANS — HREC Investment Advisors has brokered the portfolio sale of three Hampton Inn & Suites hotels and one parking garage in downtown New Orleans. The hotel portfolio includes the 288-unit Hampton Inn & Suites – Convention Center; the 210-unit Hampton Inn & Suites – Downtown/French Quarter Area; the 100-unit Hampton Inn – Garden District/St. Charles Avenue; and the 529-space EZ Park Garage. Paul Sexton, Geoff Davis, Scott Stephens and Mike Cahill of HREC, along with Hayden Wren of New Orleans-based Corporate Realty Inc., represented the seller in the transaction. Highpointe Hotel Corp. will continue to operate the three hotels. The buyer was an entity related to an unnamed major international equity fund.
NEW ORLEANS — KeyBank Real Estate Capital has secured a $43.5 million loan for a two-property Renaissance hotel portfolio in New Orleans. John Hofmann of KeyBank arranged the non-recourse CMBS loan with a fixed interest rate. The two properties — the 272-room New Orleans Pere Marquette Hotel and the 217-room New Orleans Arts Hotel — were constructed in the early 1900s and renovated in 2013.
NEW ORLEANS — NorthMarq Capital has arranged refinancing for a portfolio of five multifamily communities located in New Orleans. The properties include Washington Place Apartments (25 units), Liberty Park Apartments (10 units), Forest Park Apartments (20 units), Riverview Apartments (45 units) and Cypress Park Apartments (65 units). Robert Bhat of NorthMarq’s Miami office arranged the loan with 10-year terms and 20-year amortization schedules. Bhat arranged the loans through a Fannie Mae DUS lender on behalf of the borrower, Bruno Inc.
LAFAYETTE, LA. — CBL & Associates Properties Inc. and Stirling Properties have formed a joint venture to develop Ambassador Town Center in Lafayette. The 58-acre site at Caffery Parkway and Kaliste Saloom Road will house the 425,000-square-foot shopping center. The property’s tenant roster will include Costco, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Field & Stream, Marshalls, HomeGoods, Nordstrom Rack, Off Broadway Shoes, Chuy’s, Panera Bread and Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers. Construction is set to begin this month and the property is slated to open in March 2016. Ambassador Town Center is expected to create 2,200 construction jobs and 1,000 permanent jobs.
SLIDELL, LA. — Doster Construction Co. has commenced construction on the Springs of Fremaux Town Center in Slidell, roughly 33 miles north of New Orleans on the other side of Lake Pontchartrain. The new community will be part of the new Fremaux Town Center mixed-use development. Ranging from studios to three bedrooms, the asset will feature a 4,000-square-foot clubhouse, resort-style pool, 24-hour fitness center, business center, dog park, pet spa, car care center and attached and detached garages. The project team includes developer Continental Properties Co. Inc. and architect Phillips Partnership.
BATON ROUGE, LA. — KTGY Group Inc. and Baton Rouge-based JTS are planning to develop Rouzan Village in Baton Rouge. The project will feature 80,000 square feet of retail space anchored by a 33,000-square-foot Alamo Drafthouse Cinema and up to 220 residential units including live/work studios. Rouzan Village will be the commercial and retail center of Rouzan, a 120-acre master-planned development in Baton Rouge’s Southdowns neighborhood near the intersection of Perkins Road and Glasgow Avenue. Two parking structures and street parking will provide parking for roughly 900 cars. The theater is expected to begin construction next year and open in mid-2016. Rouzan Village’s residential component is expected to break ground in mid-2015 and take approximately 14-18 months to complete.
BATON ROUGE, LA. — IBM has topped off its new nine-floor technology center under construction in downtown Baton Rouge that will cost $30.5 million to develop. The technology center, which will reportedly create 800 jobs, is part of a $55 million urban development project that will also feature 525 Lafayette, a 10-story residential tower. Commercial Properties Realty Trust, a REIT, is building the urban development project and Wilbur Marvin Foundation will own it. The property is scheduled for completion in May 2015. The topping off ceremony was attended by Gov. Bobby Jindal, IBM vice president Tim McLachlan, Baton Rouge Area Foundation president and CEO John Davies and Louisiana Economic Development (LED) secretary Stephen Moret. LED offered IBM a performance-based incentive package that includes grants totaling $29.5 million over 12 years.
COVINGTON, LA. — Stirling Properties has brokered the sale of three retail centers in Louisiana and Alabama totaling $15.2 million. The three properties include a CVS in Baton Rouge, La., that sold for approximately $4.8 million; the Conn’s-anchored Park Plaza in Lake Charles, La., that sold for $6 million; and the 42,257-square-foot Woodmere Crossing in Montgomery, Ala., that sold for $4.4 million. A private New York-based investor purchased the CVS in Baton Rouge from a private Louisiana-based investor in a 1031 tax-deferred exchange. Patrick Luther and Matthew Mousavi of Faris Lee Investments assisted in the sale. A private investor based in Houston purchased Park Plaza from Weingarten Realty Investors. The property was 40 percent vacant at the time of sale. BV Belk Properties purchased Woodmere Crossing via auction. Jeff Barnes of Stirling’s Mobile office assisted in the transaction along with Auction.com. Woodmere Crossing’s tenant roster includes Petco, Books-A-Million, Jason’s Deli and Sally Beauty Supply. Beezie Landry of Stirling’s Covington office represented the seller in all three transactions.
LACOMBE, LA. — Weyerhaeuser Real Estate Development Co. (WREDCO) has begun developing Tamanend, an 848-acre master-planned community that will feature office space, a college, retail, restaurants and single- and multifamily residential units. Tamanend will be located in the centermost part of St. Tammany Parish north of Lacombe, which is approximately 45 minutes north of New Orleans. Gulf States Real Estate Services is providing project management, marketing and real estate consulting for the project. Northshore Technical Community College is planning to open an advanced technology center and STEM campus at Tamanend.
There is a buzz about New Orleans — no longer are only locals singing the virtues of this great American city. In fact, Forbes rated New Orleans the fastest-growing city since the recession in 2013, Bloomberg describes the Crescent City as “Boomtown,” CNN Money rated Louisiana as one of the most entrepreneurial states and Career Builder.com cited New Orleans as one of the fastest for wage growth in the United States. A spotlight has been shining on the dynamics of this market, and local, regional and national investors have taken notice. According to our most recent survey, rental rates in metro New Orleans range from a low of $0.80 per square foot to as high as $2.25 per square foot. Average monthly rent is $1.02 per square foot, and overall occupancy is at 93 percent. The geography of New Orleans is such that there are numerous barriers to entry, most notably the lack of available land to develop multifamily communities. As a result, the Downtown/ Warehouse District is experiencing a major renaissance whereby mid- and late-1920s office buildings are being converted to multifamily. Notable developments downtown that are under construction or soon to commence include The South Market, which will …