The business and employment gains in the Tampa Bay market are helping landlords attract new retail names to the market to fill space and subsequently raise rents. The area shows good signs of a healthy market, with strong leasing activity and a growing need for new development. The retail vacancy rate continues to drop, ending 2014 at 6.3 percent versus 6.9 percent in the first quarter of that year, according to CoStar. Rents are positively going the other way, rising to $13.73 per square foot from $13.57 per square foot over the same time periods. Space is extremely tight in some submarkets, just 2.1 percent in south Tampa and northeast Tampa, and 4.5 percent in the larger I-75 corridor at the end of last year, according to CoStar. The lack of space can be attributed in part to the slow pace of new construction. Developers and their lenders are being more cautious, having learned lessons from the last recession. At the same time, a number of new concepts, all of which are good for the market, are arriving in Tampa Bay. The current situation puts landlords in even more control than they had last year. They’re using this period to …
DORAL, FLA. — The Related Group, in partnership with Prudential Real Estate Investors and Shoma Homes, has secured a $137 million construction loan for Phase III of CityPlace Doral, a mixed-use development located in Doral, west of downtown Miami. The third phase of development will include 304 residential units located above 250,000 square feet of retail space. CityPlace Doral is more than 60 percent pre-leased to tenants including The Fresh Market, CinéBistro-Cobb Theatres, Kings Bowling and 30 additional restaurants and retail shops. The first phase of CityPlace Doral is set to open in November 2016. Suffolk Construction is building the project, and Related Urban is in charge of leasing efforts.
ATLANTA — CBRE has arranged the $81.6 million sale of a four-asset portfolio comprising four freestanding, single-tenant Lowe’s Home Improvement stores in the Atlanta metropolitan area totaling approximately 532,735 square feet. Chris Bosworth, John Read, Will Pike, Philip Voorhees, Jimmy Slusher and Brian Pfohl of CBRE represented the seller, IRA Capital LLC, in the transaction. American Realty Capital Properties Inc. purchased the portfolio. Each Lowe’s location has a long-term lease, which was recently extended by 10 years with six, five-year options to extend.
WILMINGTON, N.C. — KeyBank Real Estate Capital has arranged a total of $34.9 million in Freddie Mac financing for a four-property, 694-unit multifamily in Wilmington. The apartment properties include Hawthorne at New Centre, Hawthorne Centre North, Hawthorne Commons and Hawthorne Lofts South. Charles Williams and Jeffrey Hunkele of KeyBank’s commercial mortgage group arranged the loans, which were used to pay off existing KeyBank balance sheet loans.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — NorthMarq Capital has secured a $20 million loan for Palisades Apartments, a 224-unit multifamily property located at 1100 Palisades Circle in Asheville. Bill Matone of NorthMarq’s Charlotte office arranged the fully amortizing, 20-year loan through an unnamed life insurance firm.
LOUISVILLE, KY. — Lancaster Pollard has provided $5.4 million in HUD financing for Springhurst Pines, a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) in Louisville. Baptist Homes Inc. (BHI) owns and operates the CCRC, which includes three separate facilities on a 20-acre campus. The financing will be used to convert 35 percent of the community’s semi-private Medicaid skilled nursing units to private Medicare units, as well as build a 40-unit Medicare wing with therapy space. The nonrecourse loan made through HUD’s 232/241(a) supplemental loan program has a loan term of 25 years. Chris Blanda led the transaction for Lancaster Pollard.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Skanska USA plans to break ground on a new 11-story, Class A office building in Washington, D.C.’s Capitol Riverfront submarket. Skanska will build and develop the 236,806-square-foot property, as well as invest $116 million into the project. The property will include ground-floor retail space and four levels of below-grade parking. Construction manager Skanska USA Building is aiming for LEED Gold certification for the project. Construction will begin later this summer and is scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2017.
LEXINGTON, KY. — The University of Kentucky Board of Trustees has approved the next phase of the university’s on-campus housing revitalization that will bring the total number of beds delivered or currently under development to 6,504. Scheduled for completion in 2017, University Flats will comprise a seven-story building at University and Complex drives on the University of Kentucky’s (UK) Lexington campus. Designed to provide separate living communities for upper-level undergraduate students, and graduate and professional students, it will provide 771 beds in 312 apartments in various styles and sizes, from studios to four bedrooms. Each apartment will include furnishings and a full kitchen. EdR will finance the previously announced $74 million development through its On-Campus Equity Plan — The ONE PlanSM — which uses the company’s equity and financial stability to fund projects on university land. This program gives the university access to a single partner and helps create long-term financial benefits for EdR and UK. EdR will provide financing, oversee development and construction, and will be responsible for maintenance and management, while UK provides residence life services.
COLLEGE PARK, GA. — Air Realty has broken ground on ThePad on Harvard, a mixed-use, transit-oriented multifamily project located roughly 400 feet from the College Park MARTA station. The property, located at 1777 Harvard Ave., is the first multifamily community to break ground in College Park in the past 40 years. Phase I of construction comprises 109 apartment units. The Atlanta Aerotropolis Alliance, a nonprofit organization that works to leverage the growth of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to the surrounding neighborhoods, sees ThePad on Harvard as the cornerstone of the revitalization of the communities around the airport. Air Realty is partnering with HJ Russell & Co. on the project, which is slated for a spring 2016 completion.
ALPHARETTA, GA. — Huntsville, Ala.-based Triad Properties has selected Atlanta-based Choate Construction to build a four-story, 106,000-square-foot medical office building in Alpharetta. The $26 million facility will be situated on a 11.7-acre site at the northeast corner of Old Milton Parkway and GA 400, which is adjacent to Northside Hospital’s 140-acre Alpharetta Medical Campus. The site will feature both the Class A medical office building and either an ambulatory care center or urgent care center. Atlanta-based HealthAmerica Realty Group has begun pre-leasing and marketing the property. The design team includes architect Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart & Associates and civil engineer Wolverton & Associates. Choate Construction expects to complete the property in the fall of 2016.