CHARLOTTE, N.C. — JLL has negotiated the sale of a five-property industrial portfolio spanning 652,647 square feet in submarkets in the Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham areas. The specific properties were not released. Pete Pittroff, Michael Scarnato, Dave Andrews and Michael Lewis of JLL represented the seller, LM Real Estate Partners, in the transaction. Lightstone purchased the portfolio for an undisclosed price. Peter Rotchford and Taylor Allison of JLL arranged a seven-year, fixed-rate acquisition loan for Lightstone through Voya Investment Management. According to JLL, the portfolio offered a value-add opportunity to the buyer as there is 116,000 square feet of availability and in-place rents roughly 27 percent below market rates. The 12 tenants in the portfolio have about 3.6 years of WALT (weighted average lease term) remaining.
BATON ROUGE, LA. — Atlanta-based Hunter Hotel Advisors has brokered the sale of Crowne Plaza Executive Center Baton Rouge, a 294-room hotel located near the campus of Louisiana State University (LSU) and Tiger Stadium. APM Property Holdings LLC purchased the hotel from a private seller for an undisclosed price and has selected Schulte Hospitality to operate the hotel. The Crowne Plaza features an outdoor pool, a 3,000-square-foot fitness center, the Patio Grille and Lounge restaurant and more than 32,000 square feet of flexible event space, including 17 meeting rooms and three ballrooms. Tim Osborne and Kami Burnette of Hunter brokered the transaction. Additionally, Adeel Amin of Hunter arranged an $11.7 million acquisition loan that was underwritten at a 65 percent loan-to-value ratio with interest-only payments over the three-year term.
SILVER SPRING, MD. AND FAIRFAX, VA. — Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp. (MMCC) has arranged a $17 million loan for the refinancing of a nine-property retail portfolio located in the Washington, D.C. suburbs of Silver Spring, Md., and Fairfax, Va. The properties — which total roughly 71,000 square feet — include multi-tenant retail strip centers, single-tenant retail properties and single-tenant restaurants. Jared Cassidy of MMCC’s D.C. office secured the five-year loan through a local bank. The financing carries a 12-month adjustable rate, 25-year amortization schedule and a 55 percent loan-to-value ratio.
ORLANDO, FLA. — Universal Orlando Resort’s newest theme park, Epic Universe, is officially opening on May 22, marking the first major theme park to open in Central Florida in 26 years, according to CNN. The new park will include five distinct components: Celestial Park, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter’s Ministry of Magic, Super Nintendo World, How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk and Dark Universe. According to multiple media outlets, Epic Universe is estimated to have cost roughly $7.7 billion to build, although Universal Orlando Resort hasn’t commented on the new park’s price tag. At 750 acres, including both guest areas and backstage space for employees, Epic Universe is also reported to be the largest singular theme park in the world. The main hub of Epic Universe will be Celestial Park, which offers guests two rides — a dual-track roller coaster and a carousel — as well as shops, restaurants and bars. From this hub, guests can choose to enter four other portals, with each leading to a different themed land. Dark Universe brings the famous “Universal Pictures Monsters,” including Dracula, the Wolf Man and the Invisible Man, to life, along with its anchor attraction, “Monsters Unchained: …
PENSACOLA, FLA. — JLL has arranged the sale of The Edge, a 344-bed student housing property located near the University of West Florida campus in Pensacola. Built in 2017, the community offers 84 fully furnished units in three-, four- and five-bedroom configurations. Shared amenities include a 24-hour fitness center, cyber café, coffee bistro, resort-style pool, grilling area and hammocks. The property was 97 percent leased for the 2024-2025 academic year at the time of sale. Joe Ayers and Cliff Taylor of JLL arranged the disposition on behalf of the seller, Campus Realty Advisors. The buyer and terms of the transaction were not released. The University of West Florida has experienced six consecutive years of enrollment growth, according to JLL, with a record-breaking class of 14,712 students for the 2024-2025 academic year.
VALDOSTA, GA. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the $18.3 million sale of 805 Harmon Heights Apartments & Condos, a 100-unit multifamily community located at 805 Harmon Drive in Valdosta. The buyer, an unnamed Tennessee-based firm, acquired the property from Bobby Diaz of Diaz Construction LLC, the local developer and operator of the property. John Brigel of Marcus & Millichap’s Tampa office represented the seller in the transaction with assistance from John Leonard, Marcus & Millichap’s broker of record for Georgia. 805 Harmon Heights was delivered between 2009 and 2021 and was recently renovated. The property features one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments across nine buildings. Brigel says that the sales price of $182,500 per unit is “a record-setting figure for South Georgia.”
CORAL GABLES, FLA. — Blanca Commercial Real Estate (Blanca CRE) has negotiated three office leases at The Plaza Coral Gables, a mixed-use development in the Miami suburb of Coral Gables that includes two Class A office towers exceeding 450,000 square feet. The latest round of leases brings the property’s office component to full occupancy. These deals include Baycrest Partners (1,800 square feet), ALTI (6,000 square feet) and Marcum (9,600 square feet), which are joining existing tenants including Apple, Bacardi and Hinshaw & Culbertson. Max Rossi of Newmark represented Baycrest Partners, Thomas Haughton of CBRE represented ALTI and Carlyle Coffin of Stream Realty Partners represented Marcum in the lease negotiations. Tere Blanca, Danet Linares and Andres del Corral of Blanca CRE lead the office leasing team at The Plaza Coral Gables on behalf of the landlord, Agave Holdings. In addition to office space, the mixed-use development features the 242-room Loews Coral Gables Hotel, 165,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, the 170-unit The Reserve apartments and a 2,000-space parking garage.
CHATTANOOGA, TENN. — Flagship Healthcare Properties has acquired East Ridge Physicians Building, a 27,657-square-foot medical outpatient building located at 929 Spring Creek Road in Chattanooga. Situated adjacent to the 128-bed HCA Parkridge East Hospital, the Class A facility was fully leased at the time of sale. The buyer acquired the property through its private REIT, Flagship Healthcare Trust. The seller and sales price were not disclosed. Built in 1985, East Ridge Physicians Building’s interior and exterior were renovated last year by the previous owner. Flagship will provide property management and asset management services for the facility.
ANNAPOLIS, MD. — Demand for seniors housing has reached an all-time high, according to the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC). In a press release, the Annapolis-based organization reported that occupancy rates in the United States increased 30 basis points — from 87.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024 to 87.4 percent in the first quarter of 2025 — referencing data from NIC MAP, which tracks occupancy rates in 31 primary markets throughout the country. Occupancy across independent living properties rose to 89 percent from 88.6 percent in the same period, and occupancy rates in assisted living communities increased to 85.8 percent from 85.5 percent. The first quarter of 2025 marked a record for occupied seniors housing units, with roughly 621,000 units occupied, an increase from 617,000 in the fourth quarter of 2024. Simultaneously, construction starts in the seniors housing sector were at only 1,076 units, their lowest since the second quarter of 2009. Approximately 19,500 units total were under construction in the first quarter of 2025, marking the lowest level since 2013. Rental rates, on average, saw a slight decrease quarter-over-quarter.
HYATTSVILLE, MD. — Gilbane Development has cut the ribbon on Sovren, a five-story, 293-unit multifamily community in Hyattsville. Amazon’s housing equity fund contributed debt to fund the development. Located within the larger mixed-use development of The Riverfront at West Hyattsville, Sovren has direct access to the West Hyattsville Metro station and the Northwest Branch Anacostia River trail system. Sovren includes 147 units reserved for residents earning 80 percent or less of the area median income, as well as 2,500 square feet of retail space and an art-wrapped, 298-space parking garage. The community offers studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom floorplans ranging from 429 square feet to 1,417 square feet in size. Amenities at the property include a resort-style swimming pool with cabanas, fitness center with a dedicated yoga space, coworking areas, dog park, pet-washing facilities, outdoor grilling areas, fire pits and an entertainment lounge with a billiards table. Monthly rental rates for Sovren begin at $1,860, according to Apartments.com.