ALEXANDRIA, VA. — Rubenstein Partners LP has purchased 2461 Eisenhower Avenue, a 360,000-square-foot mixed-use property in Alexandria. The project comprises a 14-story, 335,000-square-foot office tower wrapped by 25,000 square feet of retail and restaurants. The office building is currently gutted and is undergoing a 15-month transformation into a Class A property with a fitness center and conference facilities. Rubenstein Partners also purchased an adjacent retail pad at 2425 Eisenhower Ave. that is zoned for 7,500 square feet. The properties are located across the street from the National Science Foundation’s new 720,000-square-foot headquarters and the Eisenhower Avenue Station Metro within the 56-acre Hoffman Town Center.
Southeast
WASHINGTON, D.C. — HFF has arranged two loans totaling $36.2 million for the Holiday Inn Express & Suites and Fairfield Inn & Suites in Washington, D.C. The two adjacent hotels each have 126 guest rooms and feature a breakfast area, lobby, fitness center, swimming pool, business center and between 600 and 800 square feet of meeting space. The Holiday Inn Express & Suites (1917 Bladensburg Road) and the Fairfield Inn & Suites (2305 New York Ave. N.E.) share 251 parking spaces on approximately 3.6 acres at the intersection of Bladensburg Road and New York Avenue. Mark Remington of HFF arranged the $19.3 million loan for Holiday Inn Express & Suites and the $16.9 million loan for Fairfield inn & Suites through Burke & Herbert Bank on behalf of the borrower, Rocks Engineering Co. The fixed-rate loans each have a term of 10 years.
As Charlotte’s job growth has returned, so has traffic into Uptown during rush hour, a new apartment project on every corner, healthy single-family demand and a food fight. Currently there is an all-out war for grocery market share between behemoths Harris Teeter, Publix and Walmart Neighborhood Market, all adding stores at a record rate, while Whole Foods Market continues to expand within the market on a measured basis. Newcomers Sprouts Farmers Market and Lidl, a German-based supermarket grocer offering discount items, are set to make market entries between 2016 to 2018, with Food Lion planning to refurbish a number of their stores in the market. Pappas Properties has begun construction on a Harris Teeter at Berewick and Raley Miller in a joint venture with Levine Properties, and has filed a rezoning petition to add another Harris Teeter at the corner of Fairview and Providence. Harris Teeter has recently added a store in Cornelius, as has Publix. Publix has recently opened a new store in the booming South End submarket located along the transit line on South Boulevard and has won zoning approval for a store to be constructed at Cotswold. A grocer is also rumored to be scouting a redevelopment …
ORLANDO, FLA. — Inland Real Estate Acquisitions Inc. has acquired The Retreat at Orlando, a student housing property located near the University of Central Florida (UCF) campus in Orlando, for $72.5 million. Landmark Properties and Harrison Street Real Estate Capital LLC sold the property to Inland. Mark Cosenza of Inland Real Estate Acquisitions facilitated the transaction on behalf of an Inland affiliate. Located approximately two miles south of UCF, the cottage-style property was built in 2014 and comprises 221 units with 894 total beds. Each fully furnished unit includes a washer and dryer, a security system and high-speed Internet. The property also features a LEED-certified clubhouse with a computer lab, fitness center, yoga and Pilates studio, tanning beds and a multi-tiered resort-style pool with cabanas, hammocks and a hot tub. Residents also have access to on-site pool tables, a golf simulator, big screen TVs, tennis courts, volleyball courts and bocce ball and grilling areas. The Retreat at Orlando is 100 percent leased for the 2015-2016 school year. Landmark Properties will continue to manage the community on behalf of Inland.
CHAMBLEE, GA. — Pattillo Industrial Real Estate and Parkside Partners Inc. have formed a joint venture, known as Trackside Partners LLC, to develop a Class A office project in Chamblee, a northeast suburb of Atlanta. The MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) board of directors selected the joint venture to develop the project, known as Trackside, on a 2.2-acre site located at Peachtree and Chamblee Tucker roads. MARTA owns the site, which is located across from the Chamblee MARTA station. Upon completion, the two-phase, 80,000-square-foot Trackside will be Chamblee’s first Class A office development. Trackside will serve as the new headquarters for Pattillo Industrial Real Estate, which will occupy 20,000 square feet of the four-story, 50,000-square-foot Trackside One building. Pattillo will relocate 35 employees in second-quarter 2017 from its current offices in Stone Mountain, Ga., where the firm has been headquartered since 1975. Pattillo’s office space will feature a rooftop deck and a two-level sky lobby with a walkway beneath a glass roof. Trackside Two will be a two-story, 30,000-square-foot office building that also features a single-level parking deck. Both phases will feature first-floor retail and restaurant space. Construction is scheduled to begin in second-quarter 2016 on Trackside One. Chad …
CHARLOTTE, N.C. AND MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Divaris Real Estate Inc. (DRE) has brokered the acquisition of two properties in the Carolinas totaling $34.9 million. DRE represented Armada Hoffler Properties, a publicly traded REIT, in its $26.2 million purchase of Providence Plaza in Charlotte and its $8.7 million purchase of Socastee Commons in Myrtle Beach. The properties were acquired as part of a 1031 exchange in separate transactions. Providence Plaza is a 103,118-square-foot mixed-use development that was built in 2007 and was 97 percent occupied at the time of sale. Socastee Commons is a 57,273-square-foot, Bi-LO-anchored shopping center that was fully leased at the time of sale. Alex Divaris and Jason Oliver of DRE brokered the Providence Plaza transaction, and Divaris and Sandy Cohen of DRE brokered the Socastee Commons deal. DRE has been retained to lease and manage both properties.
ORANGEBURG, S.C. — Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust (Wheeler REIT) has purchased Grove Park Shopping Center, a 106,557-square-foot shopping center in Orangeburg. The shopping center is located at the interchange of U.S. Route 178 and Route 21 within a two-mile radius of Claflin University and South Carolina State University. The grocery-anchored center was 90 percent leased at the time of sale to tenants such as Bi-LO, AT&T, Kool Smiles and Republic Finance. Virginia Beach, Va.-based Wheeler REIT purchased the property using a combination of cash and debt.
ORLANDO, FLA. — Colliers International Central Florida has announced that Glickman Retail Group, a retail investment advisory firm in Orlando, has joined the company’s retail services team. Glickman Retail Group completed more than $40 million in real estate sales transactions year-to-date and has numerous more transactions set to close this year. Joining Colliers from the Glickman Retail team are Sean Glickman, Tom Hall, Chris Smith and Brandon Rapone. The team will join Cynthia Shelton and Kane Morris-Webster as part of Colliers International Central Florida’s retail investment team, focusing on the sale of retail investment properties in Central Florida.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — John Hancock Real Estate has acquired 1750 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, a 13-story, Class A office building located in Washington, D.C.’s central business district, for $182 million. The 278,916-square-foot office building was 97 percent leased at the time of sale. The LEED Gold-certified property underwent renovations in 2001 and 2014. The property is located between the White House one block to the east and the World Bank headquarters one block to the west. John Hancock is the U.S. division of Manulife Financial Corp., one of the largest life insurance companies in the world.
SAVANNAH, GA. — Co-developers Mariner Group and Brand Properties have begun construction on Mariner Grove, a new luxury apartment community that will be situated less than two miles from Savannah’s Historic District. The $41 million project is expected to be complete by October 2016. The property’s layout options include studios and one- and two-bedroom units, and initial rents are expected to range from $1,000 to $1,600. The project’s unit interiors will feature walk-in closets, stainless steel appliances, washer and dryers, hardwood floors and nine-foot ceilings. Mariner Grove’s amenities will include a fitness center, resort-style pool, business center, conference room, bicycle service station and a dog park. The new community will be situated on a site that features Savannah’s famed live oak trees. Mariner Group and Brand Properties have tapped Thomas and Hutton as the project’s engineer and Choate Construction as the general contractor.