ORLANDO AND COCOA BEACH, FLA. — The Shopping Center Group has finalized the sale of two central Florida shopping centers totaling $10.8 million. The properties include a Starbucks Coffee-anchored retail center near Walt Disney World Resort that sold for $3.3 million. The property is fully leased to tenants such as Subway, Tennis Plaza and three local businesses. The Shopping Center Group represented the seller, an affiliate of Tiforp Development, in the sale to a foreign investor. The Cocoa Beach property is a Publix-anchored neighborhood center that sold for $7.5 million. The property, known as Banana River Square, is 89 percent leased and is located in Cocoa Beach’s Space Coast neighborhood. The Shopping Center Group represented the seller, an affiliate of Columbus, Ga.-based Victory Real Estate Investments, in the transaction. An affiliate of Publix Supermarkets Inc. purchased the property. The two transactions bring The Shopping Center Groups’s Florida investment division’s total aggregate volume for 2013 to $130 million.
Southeast
TAMPA, FLA. — HFF has arranged a $16.4 million refinancing for Wildwood Acres, a 340-unit multifamily community located at 13418 Dottie Drive in Tampa. The community is 99 percent occupied and includes one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom layouts. The complex’s amenity package includes two swimming pools, a laundry facility, picnic areas and a dog park. Elliott Throne, Todd Adams and Matt Mitchell of HFF arranged the seven-year loan through Freddie Mac’s CME program.
ROCKVILLE, MD. — Federal Realty Investment Trust has received approval from the Montgomerty County Planning Board for additional development at Pike & Rose, a 3.4 million-square-foot mixed-use, transit-oriented development under construction. Pike & Rose is located in the White Flint District of Montgomery County in Maryland. The approval will allow Federal Realty Investment Trust to add about 1.6 million square feet of commercial space to the 170,000 square feet of retail, 80,000 square feet of office space and 493 residential units currently underway, set to open in mid-2014. The approval includes six new city blocks, Rose Park, a boutique hotel with 200-300 rooms, about 200,000 square feet of additional retail space, more than 460 residential units and 1.4 million square feet of Class A office space. Federal Realty expects to break ground on some of the additional approved buildings in 2014.
DURHAM, N.C. — Skanska USA has been awarded a $65 million contract to renovate and construct Duke University’s West Campus Union. The 115,000-square-foot project will feature student dining, casual common spaces, faculty common areas, meeting rooms, food preparation facilities, storage and mechanical rooms. During construction, Penn Pavilion will temporarily house dining facilities for students. New York-based Grimshaw is designing the new West Campus Union to LEED certification standards. Skanska will break ground on the facility in November. The project is slated for a December 2015 completion.
WILMINGTON, N.C. — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of The Forum, a 105,000-square-foot boutique retail center located at 1125 Military Cutoff Road in Wilmington, for $24.7 million. Lori Schneider of Marcus & Millichap’s Fort Lauderdale office represented the seller, Swain & Associates, the developer of The Forum. Schneider also represented the buyer, L&B Realty Advisors LLP, a Texas-based pension fund advisor.
LILBURN, GA. — Kimco Realty Corp. has purchased Five Forks Crossing, a 73,910-square-foot, grocery-anchored retail center located at 3050 Five Forks Trickum Road in Lilburn, a suburb of Atlanta. Kimco acquired the fully leased center for $10 million. Kroger anchors the center, which also includes Coast Dental, The UPS Store, Wood Eye Care and Great Clips on its tenant roster. Fred Victor of Transwestern represented the seller, SWA Investment, in the transaction. Kimco was represented internally by Ross Cooper.
MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. — The owners of Palmetto Gardens Plaza, a planned 63,000-square-foot retail center located at 3799 N.W. 167th St. in Miami Gardens, have avoided the property’s foreclosure by reaching a settlement with lender PNC Bank. The owners have since secured a new $4.5 million loan with Hudson Financial Services and signed a 41,000-square-foot lease with Walmart to have a Neighborhood Market Store anchor the property. David Larson of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank secured the financing from Hudson Financial Services. Richard Schermer of Pathman Lewis LLP served as legal counsel during the lease negotiations and assisted in the final closing of the loan. Ravi Batta of Rosenfeld Stein Batta PA and The Law Firm of Michael L Feinstein PA represented the owners during the litigation and final settlement negotiations with PNC Bank.
MIAMI — Blanca Commercial Real Estate has completed four new leases for 28,000 square feet at Waterford Centre, a 91,285-square-foot, Class A office building in Miami’s Airport submarket. The office building, owned by New Boston Fund, is located at 6205 Blue Lagoon Drive. The four new tenants include Whirlpool, Remy Cointreau, Franklin Street Real Estate Services and McAfee Inc. Danet Linares and Andres del Corral of Blanca Commercial Real Estate negotiated the four lease transactions on behalf of New Boston Fund. Waterford Centre’s other tenants include Xerox, The Parker Co. LLC, Travel Traders and OMD USA.
There is a buzz about New Orleans — no longer are only locals singing the virtues of this great American city. In fact, Forbes rated New Orleans the fastest-growing city since the recession in 2013, Bloomberg describes the Crescent City as “Boomtown,” CNN Money rated Louisiana as one of the most entrepreneurial states and Career Builder.com cited New Orleans as one of the fastest for wage growth in the United States. A spotlight has been shining on the dynamics of this market, and local, regional and national investors have taken notice. According to our most recent survey, rental rates in metro New Orleans range from a low of $0.80 per square foot to as high as $2.25 per square foot. Average monthly rent is $1.02 per square foot, and overall occupancy is at 93 percent. The geography of New Orleans is such that there are numerous barriers to entry, most notably the lack of available land to develop multifamily communities. As a result, the Downtown/ Warehouse District is experiencing a major renaissance whereby mid- and late-1920s office buildings are being converted to multifamily. Notable developments downtown that are under construction or soon to commence include The South Market, which will …
LAFAYETTE, LA. — The Ainbinder Co. has broken ground on Ambassador Crossing Shopping Center, located at the intersection of Ambassador Caffery Parkway and Settlers Trace Boulevard in Lafayette. A 36,200-square-foot Whole Foods Market will anchor the 108,000-square-foot neighborhood center. Other tenants will include J. Crew, Carter’s Babies & Kids/Osh Kosh B’Gosh, Lee Michaels Jewelers, Massage Envy, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Which Wich and Superior Nails. The Ainbinder Co. acquired the development site from the Saloom Family of Lafayette. Chris Campion of Houston-based CAC Realty represented Ainbinder, and Jack Castle of Lafayette represented the Saloom Family. Rick Kirschman of New Orleans-based Kirschman Realty represented Whole Foods in the lease transaction. Ruben Alvarez of Sovereign Bank in Houston provided construction financing for the development. The design team includes architect Boucher Design Group of Houston, project engineer Paul Miers Engineering of Lafayette and general contractor Parkes Construction of Nashville. Shaw MacIntyre and Ed James of UCR Moody Rambin Page in Houston are handling the property’s leasing.