NEW ORLEANS — The city of New Orleans will sell 1,786 adjudicated properties across the city through a new online auction process. The sale will provide winning bidders with full ownership of each property and with guaranteed title insurance. A property is adjudicated to the city when its property taxes have not been paid — becoming delinquent — and the city is unable to sell the property at a tax sale. The city will only auction properties where five years have elapsed from the date of an attempted tax sale. The first online auctions are expected to take place this summer.
BOCA RATON, FLA. — Integra Real Estate Capital has arranged a $3 million refinance of City Plaza, an 11,000-square-foot retail property located in downtown Boca Raton. Igor Goldenberg of Integra arranged the seven-year loan through an unnamed regional balance sheet lender at a fixed interest rate. The recently renovated City Plaza’s tenant roster includes Tendler Orthodontics, Little Caesars Pizza, GK BloDryBar & Salon, The Seed Coffee | Juice and G+O2 Fitness.
PORTSMOUTH, VA. — Growth Equity Group has acquired the Charlestowne Townhomes, a 50-unit townhome rental community located at 1590 Darren Circle in Portsmouth, part of the Hampton Roads region. The property features two- to four-bedroom units ranging from 940 to 1,254 square feet. Charlestowne Townhomes is located near Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Bon Secour’s Medical Center and the Portsmouth Marine Terminals. Growth Equity Group has also recently acquired the 32-unit Midlands Townhomes in Williamsburg, Va., and the 178-unit Timberwoods in Newport News, Va. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Nashville is now an established growth leader regionally and nationally. The city was a national trailblazer as the U.S. economy recovered from the Great Recession. That head start positioned Nashville to take advantage of broader growth trends and stay ahead of the pack as the remainder of the region and country started to grow again. Moody’s Analytics places Nashville firmly in an expansion phase, with fourth quarter employment growth 330 basis points ahead of the prior year, in-migration driving single-family housing permits up 13 percent last year and accelerating wage growth. Quoting Moody’s, “With the commercial real estate market tightening quickly, the pace of hiring will soon be contingent on how quickly new offices can be built or renovated. Yet there is still a good chance office-using employment could beat expectations, especially after 2016.” Class A buildings continue to dominate growth. Overall absorption for 2014 totaled 666,639 square feet, while Class A absorption was 689,009 square feet. Absorption exceeded construction by over 200,000 square feet, and Class A vacancy dropped from 5 percent at the beginning of the year to 3.5 percent at year-end. Vacancy that low inhibits movement, as is obvious in Brentwood with only 45,000 square feet vacant, …
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. — Berger Commercial Realty has brokered the $22.1 million purchase of 4.3 acres of land located at 1701 S.E. 17th St. in Fort Lauderdale. Alliance Residential Co. purchased the former Ocean World site from Art Institute Investments LLC. Alliance plans to develop a 394-unit, eight-story apartment community named Broadstone Harbor Beach at the site. The complex will feature a club room, swimming pool, putting green, fitness center, 2,700 square feet of retail space and a 4,600-square-foot retail outparcel. Alliance will break ground on Broadstone Harbor Beach in the second quarter. Steve Hyatt of Berger Commercial Realty represented Alliance in the land acquisition.
MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. — Palmetto Park has broken ground on the inline space at Palmetto Gardens Plaza, a 63,000-square-foot shopping center located at 3799 N.W. 167th St. in Miami Gardens. The shopping center is anchored by Walmart Neighborhood Market. The owners of Palmetto Gardens Plaza have secured T-Mobile, Cell Phone Repair and Lee Nails as tenants. Palmetto Park expects to wrap up construction in the third quarter. Palmetto Park is a joint venture between DZD Palmetto, owned by Zvi and Daniel Shiff of DZD Holdings and Alan Macken and Andrew Verzura of VCM Builders to develop the commercial property. VCM Builders is one of several affiliates of Macken Cos.
COLUMBIA AND GREENVILLE, S.C. — Berkadia has brokered the sale of two multifamily communities in Columbia and Greenville totaling $7.3 million. The transactions include the $5.5 million sale of the 152-unit Shandon Crossing in Columbia and the $1.8 million sale of the 37-unit Hampton Harbor in Greenville. Warrendale, Pa.-based DBC Shandon Crossing LP purchased Shandon Crossing from Atlanta-based Varden Capital Properties LLC. Mark Boyce, Andrew Mays and Paul Vetter of Berkadia brokered both transactions.
LINTHICUM, MD. — DTZ has brokered the $6.5 million sale of a Class A office building located at 999 Corporate Blvd. within the Airport Square Business Park in Linthicum, a city in the Baltimore-Washington Corridor. Heritage Properties purchased the 67,384-square-foot property from LNR Partners LLC. Jonathan Carpenter, Nicole Keelty and Graham Savage of DTZ’s capital markets team in Baltimore represented LNR in the transaction.
BRADENTON, FLA. — Walker & Dunlop Inc. has originated $9 million in financing for Ranch Lake Plaza, an 85,656-square-foot retail property in Bradenton. The center is anchored by Goodwill Industries Manasota Inc., which recently signed a 15-year lease and will open its store this month. Ranch Lake Plaza was 95 percent leased at the time of the transaction. Alison Williams of Walker & Dunlop’s Tampa office led the team that structured the 10-year loan with a 30-year amortization schedule through an unnamed CMBS lender. The loan also featured two years of interest-only payments.
COLUMBIA, S.C. AND HIGH POINT, N.C. — Capital One Multifamily Finance has closed a total of $39.5 million in agency loans for the acquisition of two apartment communities in the Carolinas. Chad Thomas Hagwood of Capital One originated both agency loans on behalf of the borrowers, affiliates of EBSCO Income Properties. The loans included a $20.5 million Freddie Mac loan for EBSCO’s acquisition of Polo Village, a 312-unit apartment community in Columbia, and a $19 million Fannie Mae loan for the acquisition of Highbrook Apartments, a 312-unit Class B apartment community in High Point. Watson Bryant of Multi Housing Advisors’ Charlotte office brokered the sale of both communities.