LADY LAKE, FLA. — The Orlando office of ARA has recently brokered the sale of the 356-unit Courtney Villages in Lady Lake for $30.2 million. Kevin Judd, Patrick Dufour and Matt Wilcox of ARA’s North Florida-based sales team represented the seller, Orlando, Fla.-based Contravest, in the transaction. Jacksonville, Fla.-based GMC Property Management purchased the asset, which was 96 percent occupied at the time of sale.
BALTIMORE — St. John Properties Inc. has initiated construction activities on the first building within its new Route 100 Tech Park, an 18-acre mixed-use development configured to support more than 120,000 square feet of office, R&D/flex and retail space upon final build-out. Located at 1743 Dorsey Road in Baltimore, the inaugural building under construction is a single-story, 24,190-square-foot building that features 16-foot ceiling heights, ample glass lines and an adjacent surface parking lot. The project is a joint venture with Michael Stavlas and Jon Zhoulis of Hanover Princess LLC. The new building is also designed to achieve LEED Silver certification.
MIAMI — Equity One Inc. has sold Plaza Alegre and Meadows, two Publix-anchored centers totaling 163,935 square feet in the Miami submarket of West Kendall, for an aggregate purchase price of $35.9 million. A fund managed by the Goldman Sachs Real Estate Investment Group purchased the assets free and clear of existing debt. Completed in 2003, the 88,411-square-foot Plaza Alegre is situated on nearly eight acres. The center is 94.6 percent leased to tenants including Publix, Goodwill and Wells Fargo. Meadows features 75,534 square feet of retail space that is 95.5 percent leased. Tenants include Publix, Supercuts and GNC. Danny Finkle, Luis Castillo and Rob Saracco with HFF represented the seller.
TUSCALOOSA, ALA. — The Opus Group has completed the construction of a 42,300-square-foot retail building for Gander Mountain, an outdoor specialty retailer offering hunting, fishing, camping and marine lifestyle products. The store is located at the former site of Bear Bryant Motors in Tuscaloosa. Opus Development Co. LLC provided development services, Opus Design Build LLC was the design-builder for the project and Opus AE Group LLC provided architecture and engineering services. In addition to the Tuscaloosa location, Opus also built the new Gander Mountain store in Valdosta, Ga., and provided construction management services for the location in Opelika, Ala. Opus was also recently awarded a contract from the company for a 45,600-square-foot store in Albany, Ga., which is scheduled to open in October.
MORRISVILLE, N.C. — Four new tenants have signed on to Phase III of Park West Village, located at the southwest corner of Cary Parkway and NC-54/Chapel Hill Road in Morrisville. ULTA Beauty, Chico's, White House | Black Market and Soma Intimates will all open in spring 2014. Park West Village is a 100-acre mixed-use development that includes a town center district, community center, restaurants and a movie theater. The development will also feature a residential, office and hospitality component.
ACWORTH, GA. — Inalfa Roof Systems, a global supplier of vehicle roofing systems, will open a manufacturing plant in Acworth, investing $17.1 million in the facility and creating 300 jobs. The facility will be located at Cherokee 75 Corporate Park in Cherokee County. The plant is expected to initially open in January 2014 and become fully operational during the second quarter of 2015. The plant will be the fourth in the United States and the first in the Southeast for Inalfa, which is based in Veray, The Netherlands. Wylly Harrison is the project manager for the Georgia Department of Economic Development, which partnered with the Cherokee Office of Economic Development in the project location.
MEBANE, N.C. — Exeter Property Group has acquired the Ford Motor Co. High-Velocity Center (HVC), a Class A distribution facility located at 1099 Corporate Park Drive in Mebane, for approximately $10.3 million. The purchase price for the 252,000-square-foot distribution center equates to $40.83 per square foot. The property is 100 percent leased to Ford Motor Co., which extended its lease in June for another five years. Built for Ford in 2003, the Ford HVC is part of the North Carolina Industrial Center, a 600-acre mixed-use development that includes office, manufacturing and distribution space. Kevin Markwordt, Julian Brown and Walter Byrd of Transwestern’s Southeast investment services group represented the seller, LNR, in the transaction.
BOCA RATON, FLA. — Kayne Anderson Real Estate Advisors, the real estate arm of Los Angeles-based Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, has signed a lease for 12,637 square feet of office space at One Town Center in Boca Raton. Formerly known as the Tyco Building, One Town Center was converted from a single-use, Class A office building to a multi-tenant office building earlier this year. In addition to amenity upgrades and renovations to the lobby and common areas, the third floor was renovated as a multi-tenant office floor. Kayne Anderson, which is the first tenant signed on to the renovated property, will be occupying half of the third floor. Michael Erickson with CBRE represented the owner, MetLife, in the lease transaction. Jeff Kelly, along with John Jaspet, represented the tenant.
ELLISVILLE, MISS. — Pure Development has completed construction for a $56 million manufacturing plant for GE Aviation in Ellisville. The 340,000-square-foot facility manufactures advanced composite components for aircraft engines and systems. GE Aviation will employ 250 people at the plant by 2017. It marks the second project Pure Development has completed for GE Aviation in Mississippi. Pure developed another facility in Batesville that opened in 2008.
JESSUP, HALETHORPE AND COLUMBIA, MD. — CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) has arranged the sale of a 705,379-square-foot industrial portfolio in the I-95 corridor between Baltimore and Washington, D.C. The portfolio contains three Maryland properties situated at 8210 Wellmoor Court in Jessup, 4615 Hollins Ferry Road in Halethorpe and 9325 Snowden River Pkwy. in Columbia. The portfolio was 95 percent leased at the time of closing. The CBRE team of Jonathan Beard, Bo Cashman and John Boote represented the undisclosed seller. The buyer was MIM-Hayden Real Estate Funds.