CLARKSVILLE, TENN. — Nassimi Realty has acquired Two Rivers Center, a 245,000-square-foot retail property in Clarksville, roughly 50 miles northwest of Nashville. The sales price and seller were not disclosed. The property is located less than one mile from Clarkesville’s central business district and 10 miles southeast of Fort Campbell, a U.S. Army installation. At the time of sale, Two Rivers Center was home to tenants including Harbor Freight Tools, Bargain Hunt, Citi Trends and Hooters.
MACON, GA. — Amazon has unveiled plans to open a 1 million-square-foot fulfillment center in Macon. The new center will create more than 500 new full-time jobs upon opening, and will be the company’s fourth warehouse and distribution hub in Georgia. The e-commerce giant currently operates facilities in Braselton, Lithia Springs and Union City. Employees at the new facility will pick, pack and ship large-sized items, including household furniture, sporting equipment and gardening tools. New jobs will include warehouse, management and supervisory positions. The project is being developed in a partnership between Seefried Industrial Partners and an affiliate of USAA Real Estate Co. The Macon-Bibb County Industrial Authority entitled and sold the property.
TAMPA, FLA. — Skanska USA has broken ground on a research and academic tower for the University of South Florida’s Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute in downtown Tampa. The college of medicine will relocate from 12901 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. to the new 395,000-square-foot building within Water Street Tampa, a $3 billion mixed-use project from Strategic Property Partners. HOK is designing the 13-story tower, which will feature a 400-person auditorium, classrooms, study rooms and a series of spaces for informal collaboration and gathering. The new building will be located at South Meridian Avenue and Channelside Drive on an acre of land donated by Tampa Bay Lightning team owner Jeff Vinik. The building is slated for completion in fall 2019.
ATLANTA — Cushman & Wakefield has arranged the $29.8 million sale of a land site located at the corner of Memorial Drive and Bill Kennedy Way in Atlanta’s Reynoldstown submarket. The site was formerly occupied by manufacturer Leggett & Platt. Matt Hawkins, Pierce Owings and Ron Willingham of Cushman & Wakefield represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction. Atlanta-based Fuqua Development acquired the 17-acre property, with plans to develop a $250 million mixed-use development dubbed Madison Yards. The project will include 160,000 square feet of retail space — including anchor tenants Publix and AMC Theatres — 80,000 square feet of loft office space, 550 apartment units and townhomes. Madison Yards is expected to open as early as 2019.
GAITHERSBURG, MD. — Urban Investment Partners (UIP) has acquired Walker House, a 212-unit apartment community located along the Interstate 270 corridor in Gaithersburg, roughly 23 miles northwest of Washington, D.C. CBRE represented the seller, Washington REIT, in the $31.8 million transaction. Capital One provided acquisition financing for the asset. Walker House includes 196 apartment units constructed in 1971, plus 16 garden apartments constructed in 2003. UIP will renovate the property with updated cabinets, counters, appliances, lighting and flooring. UIP will also update the existing fitness center, lounge and other amenity spaces. Walker House was fully occupied at the time of sale.
CELEBRATION, FLA. — Stan Johnson Co. has arranged the $29.5 million sale of the Shoppes at Celebration Place, a 44,095-square-foot retail center located at 6200-6296 W. Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway in Celebration, roughly 3 miles south of Walt Disney World. Joey Odom, Mike Sladich, K.B. Yabuku and Maggie Holmes of Stan Johnson Co. represented both the seller, South Florida-based Flagler Realty & Development, and the buyer, New York-based Ben Hur Investments. At the time of sale, the Shoppes at Celebration Place was fully leased to tenants including Walgreens, Applebee’s, Arby’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, Chipotle Mexican Grill and Five Guys Burgers & Fries.
For the first time since 2009, the U.S. multifamily real estate sector’s annual sales volume is flirting with falling below the preceding year’s total. Through the first three quarters of 2017, U.S. multifamily investment sales totaled a little over $104 billion, according to Real Capital Analytics (RCA), which tracks sales of multifamily properties and portfolios that are $2.5 million and greater. Experts don’t anticipate sales activity in the last quarter of the year to be enough to surpass last year’s grand total of $160.6 billion in trade volume. As a follow up to the cover article “Coming Back Down to Earth” from the September issue of Southeast Real Estate Business, we caught up with Darron Kattan, managing director of Franklin Street’s Tampa office, to get his take on the U.S. multifamily market. The following is an edited interview: Southeast Real Estate Business: Thus far in 2017, multifamily investment sales are on track to be below 2016 totals. In your opinion, what is causing the decreasing volume? Kattan: A few factors are contributing to this trend. First, the slight increase in the interest rates have given the market pause. Many sellers that have owned for a long time are sitting squarely …
CARY, N.C. — MetLife Inc. has broken ground on the third office building at its Global Technology Campus in Cary, roughly 12 miles west of Raleigh. Raleigh-based Highwoods Properties developed all three assets, the first two of which was delivered in 2015. Upon completion, the new building will bring more than 500 jobs to the Cary area. The Global Technology Campus sits on 26.5 acres and, at full build-out, will include three, 213,500-square-foot office buildings. The existing buildings are LEED-certified, and the new building is being designed to achieve the certification as well. The campus features a terrace overlooking Lake Crabtree, an outdoor amphitheater, basketball court, walking trails, campus-wide Wi-Fi, sit-stand desks, wellness rooms, collaborative meeting rooms, coffee bars and structured parking. The new building is slated for completion in the first quarter of 2019.
PLANTATION, FLA. — PREMIER Design + Build Group is leading the design and construction of a 221,542-square-foot warehouse located at the intersection of Interstate 95 and Broward Boulevard in Plantation. Bridge Development Partners LLC is the project developer. Upon completion, the warehouse will have the flexibility to accommodate multiple tenants from 40,000 square feet. The building will feature an ESFR sprinkler system, T-5 energy efficient warehouse lighting, 44 rear-loading dock doors and three drive-in doors. RLC Architects is providing architectural services for the project. Flynn Engineering Services is the civil engineer and DDA Engineers is the structural engineer. Colliers International will represent the building. Construction on the warehouse is slated for completion in the third quarter of 2018.
OCOEE, FLA. — Avison Young has arranged the $23.8 million sale of Good Homes Plaza, a 165,741-square-foot, Publix-anchored center located at 8805-8995 W. Colonial Drive in Ocoee, roughly 13 miles west of Orlando. John Crotty, Ray Hayhurst, Steve Tanner and Joshua Ladle of Avison Young arranged the transaction on behalf of the seller, IMC Equity Group, and secured the buyer, Canadian-based Slate Retail REIT. Good Homes Plaza was 96 percent leased at the time of sale to anchor tenant Publix, Pet Supermarket and Beall’s Outlet Store.
