TAMPA, FLA. — Robbins/Electra America LLC (REM), a joint venture between Robbins Property Associates and its investment partner Electra America, has purchased a 12-property multifamily portfolio in North Carolina and Virginia for more than $400 million. Totaling 3143 units, the communities include seven properties in the Charlotte area, four in metro Raleigh and one in Richmond, Va. The new ownership is planning a multimillion-dollar investment program to upgrade the properties’ kitchens, bathrooms, fixtures, lighting and flooring. Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC arranged acquisition financing through Freddie Mac on behalf of REM. With this transaction, REM owns and manages 57 apartment communities totaling 16,689 units.
Southeast
GREENBELT, MD. — Capital One has provided a $66.7 million acquisition loan for Gates of Cipriano, a 591-unit apartment community located at 8501 Greenbelt Road in Greenbelt. The asset is situated roughly 13 miles outside of Washington, D.C., and across the street from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Abe Hirsch, Jacob Katz and Zev Karpel of Meridian Capital Group arranged the 12-year, Fannie Mae loan through Capital One on behalf of the borrower, BDMG.
NEWPORT NEWS, VA. — Savills Studley has arranged the $64 million sale of City Center at Oyster Point, a nine-building mixed-use property located in the Oyster Point District in Newport News. The development was built as a public-private partnership between nine local partners, joint venture equity partner Northwestern Mutual and the city of Newport News. Patricia Earnest, Lindsay Stroud and Stephanie Lynch of Savills Studley, along with local brokerage partner Harvey Lindsay Commercial Real Estate, represented the local partners and Northwestern Mutual in the sale of City Center at Oyster Point to the newly formed Point Hope LLC. The project includes nearly 575,000 square feet of office and retail space, three publicly owned parking garages, 2,700 parking spaces and a 50,000-square-foot conference center managed by Marriott International. The property’s tenants include PNC Bank, Riverside Health System, Morgan Stanley, city of Newport News, The Boeing Co., Siemens and Progressive Casualty. The Peninsula Division of TowneBank and Union Bank & Trust provided acquisition financing for the transaction.
MIAMI BEACH, FLA. — Ivy Realty has purchased Miami Beach Towers, a two-building, Class A office portfolio in Miami Beach, for $48.8 million. Ivy Realty acquired the assets from Beach Tower LLC, an affiliate of South Florida-based Terranova Corp., which has owned the assets since 2004. Situated 400 feet from Miami Beach’s famous Lincoln Road, the properties are located at 1674 and 1688 Meridian Road and total nearly 120,000 square feet. The office buildings were 69 percent leased at the time of sale to tenants such as Regus, Next Model Management, Verizon Wireless, Barclay’s Real Estate Group, SCPF and Merchant Data Systems. With this purchase, Ivy Realty’s South Florida office portfolio spans roughly 1.7 million square feet. Terranova is currently constructing two neighboring three-story retail buildings that will be anchored by Marshalls and Antropologie. New York City-based design firm James Corner Field Operations plans to overhaul the Lincoln Road District using roughly $32 million from the Community Redevelopment Agency to redevelop the street’s pedestrian-only promenade, as well as Meridian Road and other side streets. Ivy Realty believes the facelift will help boost the visibility and occupancy of Miami Beach Towers.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — MJM Group plans to develop a new Residence Inn by Marriott-Charlotte/Steele Creek in Charlotte. The $20 million hotel will be situated at the intersection of Dixie River Road and Trojan Drive in Charlotte’s Steele Creek submarket. The 82,000-square-foot property will span 120 rooms and feature an outdoor swimming pool, outdoor living area, meeting space and a fitness center. The project team includes St. Louis-based architect Gray Design and civil engineer Stimmel Associates. Raleigh-based MJM Group has selected St. Louis-based Midas Hospitality to manage the hotel upon completion, which is set for late 2017. Chris Thomas of Childress Klein represented the seller in the land transaction. Kurt Schoenhoff of Selwyn Property Group represented MJM Group, which has developed several Marriott-branded hotels in North Carolina including the dual-branded Residence Inn and Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Charlotte Airport and the Courtyard by Marriott at Triangle Town Center-North Raleigh.
With Atlanta’s recent growth in population and workforce, the city has all the attributes of a strong multifamily market. Last year saw peaks in all major metrics: occupancy, absorption and rent. With no end in sight for either trend, developers and investors have focused on urban submarkets — leaving a dearth of inventory in the suburbs and looming questions. Can Atlanta continue to provide affordable communities for its growing middle class or is a housing shortage imminent? A Balancing Act Development has always been a balancing act between the availability of land/zoning, construction costs and the rents a new property can demand. In recent years, almost all new apartment construction has been in high density “urban core” locations. Today, urban locations have matured and are commanding the highest rents in the market due to fundamental changes in perceptions of urban living. Steep rents help offset high construction costs and developers often find more receptive audiences during their zoning hearings in urban areas. While there are pockets of new development in suburban “core” markets, the low levels of activity in the last 10 years don’t compare to Atlanta’s past. For this reason alone, expect to see a long period of rental …
SUNBURY, PA. — Weis Markets Inc., a Mid-Atlantic grocery retailer, has reached an agreement with Food Lion LLC to purchase 38 Food Lion supermarket locations in Maryland, Virginia and Delaware. The assets include 21 stores in Maryland, 13 in Virginia and four in Delaware. This transaction marks Weis Markets’ entry into Virginia and Delaware. Upon completion of the transaction and the purchase of five Mars Super Markets in Baltimore County, Weis will have increased its store count by 25 percent and will operate 202 stores in seven states — Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and West Virginia. Weis Markets will convert the 38 stores to its brand upon completion of the transaction. The portfolio sale is part of a previously announced merger agreement between Delhaize Group, a Belgian food retailer with a presence in seven countries on three continents, and Koninklijke Ahold, a Dutch food retailer whose grocery brands include Stop & Shop and GIANT. The international retailers have agreed for their U.S. subsidiaries to sell 86 of their stores to other food retailers such as Sunbury-based Weis Markets.
MEBANE, N.C. — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has opened a new $100 million distribution center in Mebane, roughly 23 miles west of Durham. The new industrial property is expected to create 550 jobs. The Mebane Walmart Distribution Center will be used to supply and distribute perishable food products for more than 55 Walmart stores in North Carolina and Virginia. This new facility is Wal-Mart’s fourth distribution center in North Carolina. Wal-Mart Stores held a grand opening ceremony on Wed., July 13 attended by North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory and other local officials.
RICHMOND, VA. — Colliers International has arranged the $81 million sale of a three-property, 818-unit multifamily portfolio in Richmond. The properties include Champions Club, Park West End and Hickory Creek. Will Mathews, Jason Hetherington, Bruce Milam and Jackie Noel of Colliers’ east region multifamily advisory group represented the seller, CORE Realty Holdings Management, in the transaction. Richmond-based McCann Realty Partners purchased the 294-unit Hickory Creek, while Irvine, Calif.-based MDO Capital purchased Champions Club and Park West End Apartments.
ATLANTA — Parkside Partners has formed a joint venture with Payscape, a financial technology firm that provides payment processing software for small to mid-size businesses, to purchase and renovate a 43,430-square-foot office building in Midtown Atlanta. The companies will renovate the two-story asset located at 1438 W. Peachtree St. for Payscape’s new headquarters. Payscape will triple its square footage following its move from its current location at 729 Lambert Drive in Atlanta. The joint venture purchased the property from Lyrasis, which signed a long-term lease prior to the sale for 9,200 square feet of office space at the property. Additionally, AlliedBarton Security Services currently occupies 11,475 square feet in a long-term lease. The asset will be 80 percent leased when Payscape takes occupancy in the fall. MSTSD is the architect of the $8 million renovation, which is expected to wrap up by the first quarter of 2017. The renovations include painting the building’s brick exterior, transforming the office suites to a loft-style design, renovating the lobby, installing skylights on the second floor and landscaping the grounds. Howard Boyd of Hailey Realty represented the joint venture in the purchase, and Iberia Bank provided acquisition financing on behalf of the new ownership. …