With an economy that's normalizing with improving fundamentals, the Atlanta retail market is on the right track for sustained growth. Throughout 2013, Atlanta experienced a drop in vacancy rates along with the unemployment rate. In addition, retail sales rose nearly 3.5 percent over last year, provoking a rise in consumer confidence. The unemployment rate in Georgia fell from 9 percent in 2012 to 8.3 percent in 2013. This is still a full point below the national average. For 2014, the unemployment rate in Georgia is expected to reach well under 8 percent. During the last 12 months, Atlanta has experienced job growth of 2.5 percent. Retail payrolls are also expected to continue improving in 2014, pushing a near 3 percent gain as a result of both increasing existing stores sales as well as modest new store opening growth. Vacancy Rates, Rent Growth Since the beginning of the year, overall metro retail vacancy rates have dropped below 11 percent, which is a 50 basis point decrease over last year. Neighborhood and community retail centers still maintain the highest vacancy of just under 15 percent. Power centers have experienced a strong year-over-year recovery, averaging a 7.5 percent vacancy across the region. Tenant …
Southeast
ATLANTA — Avison Young has acquired The Eidson Group, a privately held real estate services company based in Atlanta. Effective immediately, Douglas Eidson will join Avison Young as principal and Scott Perry will join the firm as an associate broker. Both Eidson and Perry will continue to focus on tenant representation. Eidson founded The Eidson Group in 1998. The Atlanta office of Avison Young has more than 75 employees with approximately 20 million square feet of space under property management.
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. — Housing Trust Group (HTG) has broken ground on Village Place, a $15 million seniors housing development located at 720 N.E. 4th Ave. in Fort Lauderdale. Village Place will include 112 units with eco-friendly water fixtures, cable and satellite hookups, exercise room and a gated entrance with touchpad entry. The National Association of Home Builders is expected to designate Village Place a green building upon completion. Broward County Housing provided $125,000 toward the project, while U.S. Bank provided $38.6 million through its community development subsidiary. The loan amount includes a $13.2 million construction loan, $3 million permanent financing loan and more than $22.4 million of Low Income Housing Tax Credit equity, which was awarded by Florida Housing Finance Corp.
SAVANNAH, GA. — Colliers International has arranged the $6.3 million sale of Southchase Shopping Center, an 87,348-square-foot retail property located at 1132 Abercorn St. in Savannah. Hobby Lobby will anchor the shopping center, which also includes a PetSmart. Hobby Lobby will move into its 58,595-square-foot space in the summer. Atlanta-based RCG-Savannah LLC purchased the property from Savannah-based Dean Forrest Partners LP. Ashley Smith of Colliers International represented the seller in the transaction, and Drew Fleming and Mark Joines of Cassidy Turley represented the buyer.
NASHVILLE, TENN. — Prologis Inc has acquired six Class A logistics facilities totaling 1.8 million square feet in Nashville. The portfolio includes assets in the SouthPark and CentrePointe industrial parks and is more than 90 percent leased to 12 customers, including Nissan Trading Corp. Americas. Prologis owns and manages 39 facilities totaling 6.3 million square feet in the Nashville market.
HORN LAKE, MISS. — Virtus Real Estate Capital has purchased the 97,800-square-foot Outback Storage facility, located near the intersection of Highway 51 and Goodman Road in Horn Lake, a suburb of Memphis, Tenn. The Class A self storage facility includes 636 climate- and non climate-controlled units. Virtus has brought on Extra Space Management, the facility management division of Extra Space Storage, to manage the property.
BALTIMORE — Cassidy Turley has brokered the sale of a 25-story office tower located at 36 S. Charles St. in Baltimore’s CBD. Los Angeles-based Laurus Corp. purchased the 294,274-square-foot office building from AREA 16B Associates LP. Jonathan Carpenter and James Wellschlager of Cassidy Turley represented the seller in the transaction.
JUPITER, FLA. — CBRE has arranged the sale and financing of the Jupiter Medical and Technology Park, located at 1701 Military Trail in Jupiter. The buyer, Hollywood, Fla.-based POH Jupiter Ownership LLC, purchased the 185,000-square-foot campus for $30.7 million. CBRE arranged $26 million in acquisition financing for the buyer through RAIT Financial Trust, a Philadelphia-based REIT and bridge lender. The seller, Jupiter RE Investments LLC, is the real estate holding company affiliated with Florida Turbine Technologies, which occupies 34 percent of the medical/office campus. Nearly half of the property is occupied by GE Medical Systems, a subsidiary of GE Healthcare. The CBRE professionals involved in the transaction include Scott O’Donnell, Dominic Montazemi, Miguel Alcivar, Christian Lee, Robert Smith, Charles Foschini and Jason Hochman.
ATLANTA — Carter-Haston Holdings has purchased Glenwood East, a 236-unit multifamily community located at 390 Stovall St. in Atlanta's Glenwood Park neighborhood. Property amenities include a penthouse-level clubroom, outdoor courtyard, dog park and fitness centers. The mid-rise complex is also located in close proximity to the city's BeltLine. David Gutting and Derrick Bloom with Jones Lang LaSalle's capital markets team represented the sellers, Alliance Residential and Prudential Real Estate Investors, in the transaction.
GAITHERSBURG, MD. — NorthMarq Capital has arranged $22.4 million in acquisition financing for Oakwood Corporate Apartments, a 136-unit multifamily property located at 9890 Washingtonian Blvd. in Gaithersburg. The high-rise apartment community is located in Washingtonian Center and Rio Entertainment Center, a mixed-use development. Gary McGlynn, Jason Smith and Frank Relihan of NorthMarq’s Washington, D.C., office arranged the financing on behalf of the borrower through an insurance company.