BIRMINGHAM, ALA. — KeyBank Real Estate Capital has provided an $11 million Fannie Mae loan for Devonshire Place Apartment Homes, a 332-unit affordable housing complex in Birmingham. The property was built in 1971 and purchased by the borrower in 2015. Erik Storz of KeyBank’s commercial mortgage group arranged the 10-year, fixed-rate loan, which the borrower will use to refinance an existing KeyBank bridge loan.
TEMPLE TERRACE, FLA. — Tampa-based Blue Rock Premier Properties LLC has purchased the 776-unit River Chase Apartments in Temple Terrace, a city within Tampa’s metropolitan area. Blue Rock Premier bought the property from CNLKOR River Chase LLC for $70 million. River Chase was roughly 97 percent occupied at the time of sale. The new buyer plans to invest $6.7 million in capital improvements to the exterior and interior of the asset, which will be rebranded as The Park at Valenza. The improvements will include gated entry, clubhouse, fitness center, coffee shop, wood flooring, cabinets, counters, new appliances and washer/dryer units in every residence. Grandbridge Real Estate Capital provided acquisition financing for Blue Rock Premier, a multifamily investment firm led by Randy Ferreira in partnership with Deerfield Beach, Fla.-based Konover South LLC. Jamie May, Edward Yang and Jonathan Barclay of JMB Tampa brokered the transaction.
ELDERSBURG, MD. — Black Oak Associates has completed the $60 million redevelopment of Eldersburg Commons, a 300,000-square-foot shopping center formerly known as Carrolltown Mall. The retail development is located at 6400 Ridge Road in Eldersburg in Carrolltown County. The official grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony is set for June 16. The project is anchored by a 190,000-square-foot Walmart Supercenter, which opened last fall. The redevelopment has attracted 17 new retailers, including AT&T, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Dental Care at Eldersburg Commons, Jimmy John’s, MOD Pizza, Noodles & Co., Olympia Sports, Petco, Sleepy’s, T.J. Maxx, Ulta Beauty and The Vitamin Shoppe. Other tenants opening later this year include Hair Cuttery, Luxury Nails & Spa, Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt and Sunny’s Fine Wines & Liquors. Eagle Realty served as Black Oak’s lending partner for the redevelopment. The project team includes leasing broker KLNB Retail, civil engineer Development Design Consultants, general contractor Glen Arm Building Co., traffic engineer The Traffic Group, traffic consultant Lenhart Traffic Consulting, architect Banta Campbell Architects and civil engineer Kimley-Horn.
NORFOLK, VA. — Simon Property Group has begun construction on Norfolk Premium Outlets, a 332,000-square-foot outlet mall located at I-64 and Northampton Boulevard in Norfolk. Set to open in summer 2017, the property will feature 85 designer and name-brand retailers, as well as a Market Hall with multiple dining options. Simon expects the new outlet mall to create 500 full-time construction jobs and 800 full- and part-time jobs upon completion. Norfolk Premium Outlets will serve the Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Hampton Roads markets in Virginia.
ALPHARETTA, GA. — Hines and Cousins Properties have signed Microsoft Corp. to a 43,000-square-foot office lease at 8000 Avalon, a 224,000-square-foot, Class A office development under construction in Alpharetta. With the Microsoft lease, 8000 Avalon is now 19 percent pre-leased with initial occupancy slated for the second quarter of 2017. Hines and Cousins are co-developing the $72 million project, which is the only office building in Phase II of Avalon. Pete Shelton and Drew Levine of Colliers International’s Atlanta office represented Microsoft in the lease transaction.
BETHESDA, MD. — Walker & Dunlop Inc. has agreed to purchase the commercial mortgage servicing rights associated with a $3.8 billion servicing portfolio from Oppenheimer Multifamily Housing & Healthcare Finance Inc., a subsidiary of Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. Walker & Dunlop will use available capital to fund the approximately $45 million purchase price. The portfolio comprises more than 480 multifamily and healthcare loans insured by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The acquisition will make Walker & Dunlop the largest HUD multifamily and healthcare servicer in the U.S.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — House Bill 2 (HB2), the recently passed North Carolina bill that requires transgender individuals to use public bathrooms corresponding to the sex on their birth certificate, has rocked the state since its passing on March 23. Tech giant PayPal has scrapped its previously announced plans to bring 400 jobs to Charlotte; artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, Maroon 5 and Nick Jonas canceled planned concerts in North Carolina; and the NBA is considering moving its 2017 All Star Weekend away from Charlotte. In addition to these headlines, corporate relocation inquiries to North Carolina have essentially “gone away,” according to Chris Schaaf, executive vice president of JLL. “If you look at JLL’s core business and offerings, one of those services relates to major relocations. The easiest thing for me to do would be to sit up here and say how busy we are for that aspect of our business, but the reality is that it’s come absolutely to a screeching halt,” says Schaaf, speaking at the seventh-annual InterFace Carolinas conference held on June 1 at the Hilton Charlotte Center City. The conference drew 249 brokers, developers, contractors, financial intermediaries, owners and managers who do business in North …
Greenville is undergoing significant growth and capturing the attention of national investors and tenants. Historically high rental rates, increased occupancy and strong construction activity for the first time in recent years collectively indicate a healthy market. Additionally, tight market conditions provide an ideal investment sales environment encouraging landlords to market their office assets for sale, something they couldn’t justify doing a few years ago. The market’s occupancy rate was up to 85.2 percent at year-end 2015 from 83.7 percent the previous year. As demand grows and space is absorbed, the market is shifting in favor of landlords, who are pushing up rental rates to levels never before seen in the market. Asking rental rates for Class A office space in the market averaged $22.41 per square foot at year-end 2015, increasing 9 percent in a one-year span. Class A space in the central business district (CBD) is even more costly with asking rental rates averaging $25 per square foot. With office users showing a strong desire to locate in the market and willingness to pay higher rental rates for quality space, developers are turning to new construction and adaptive reuse projects to meet the heightened demand for space. Several projects …
DURHAM, N.C. — Akridge and Northwood Ravin plan to develop 555 Mangum, a 10-story, 240,000-square-foot office tower in downtown Durham. The project will be situated on the site of the former Elkins Chrysler dealership on the corner of South Mangum Street and Jackie Robinson Drive. The property will include ground-floor retail space, a penthouse conference center, fitness center, rooftop lounge and terrace and a courtyard featuring artwork from local artists. Akridge and Northwood Ravin plan to deliver 555 Mangum in late 2018. The partnership has selected Mac Hammer and Doug Cook of Cushman & Wakefield to lease and market the project’s office component and Charlie Coyne of CBRE to lease and market the retail component.
MELBOURNE, FLA. — Kayne Anderson Real Estate Advisors has purchased Sonata at Melbourne, a Class A seniors housing community in Melbourne, on the Atlantic coast of Florida approximately 70 miles southwest of Orlando. HFF arranged the transaction on behalf of the undisclosed seller, which divested the property free and clear of existing debt. Built in 2012, Sonata at Melbourne is situated on more than 12 acres and features 47 independent living, 54 assisted living and 34 memory care units, which were 97 percent leased at the time of sale. Ryan Maconachy and Chad Lavender led the HFF team representing the seller.