TALLAHASSEE — NorthMarq Capital has arranged a $30 million loan for the refinancing of Victoria Grand Apartments, a 320-unit community located at 2350 Phillips Road in Tallahassee. Melissa Quinn and David Schofield arranged the 10-year loan on behalf of the borrower, Victoria Grand Acquisition, through Freddie Mac. The loan includes two years of interest-only payments and a 30-year amortization schedule.
GAITHERSBURG, MD. — Equus Capital Partners has acquired a four-building, 282,523-square-foot office and lab portfolio in Gaithersburg for $41.4 million. The acquisition included a 4.9-acre parcel that can accommodate the development of 125,000 square feet of office and lab space. The buildings are 95 percent occupied to life science tenants, including Medimmune and Qjagen. The properties are located at 25, 35 and 45 W. Watkins Mill Road, near I-270. Jim Meisel, Dek Potts and Matt Nicholson of HFF as well as Robert Scheer and Matt Brady of Scheer Partners represented the seller in the transaction. Roy Perry and Kyle Turner of Equus also assisted in the deal.
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The University of South Carolina Development Foundation has acquired 1027 Barnewell St. in Columbia's central business district for $1.3 million. The 10,000-square-foot office building was formerly occupied by the South Carolina School Board Association. Dick Stanland of NAI Avant represented the seller in the transaction.
NORTH PORT, FLA. — North Port Innovation has acquired 14 bank-owned industrial condominiums, totaling 17,650 square feet, in the North Port Park of Commerce, located at 1050-1090 Innovation Ave. Gary Tasman and Shawn Stoneburner of Cushman & Wakefield, Commercial Property Southwest Florida LLC represented both parties in the transaction.
The Charlotte, N.C., apartment market is well into its recovery; 2012 proved to be a strong year with improving fundamentals, healthy transaction volume and the formation of a robust new development pipeline. The exceptional year that Charlotte experienced in 2012 was not fully anticipated at year’s end 2011. However, MPF Research’s second quarter report (July 2012) showed Charlotte’s year-over-year rent growth at 6.8 percent, placing it third in the top 10 markets for rent growth nationally (of the top 50 national markets). This trend was reinforced by MPF’s third quarter publication which reported year-over-year rent growth of 6.3 percent. This marked the fourth straight quarter of year-over-year rent growth in excess of 6 percent. In addition, the report showed overall market occupancy levels of 95.9 percent, the second highest achieved in 14 years. Such favorable news serves as confirmation that the Charlotte economy has remained strong through the financial crisis, as banking sector jobs have remained largely intact and the overall economy of Charlotte is more diverse than many once thought. As a result of the favorable market dynamics, Charlotte’s visibility amidst the national investment landscape has increased, causing investors, developers and lenders alike to take note. Charlotte has quickly …
TUSCALOOSA, ALA. — Chance Partners has started construction on Green Bear Lofts, a 53-bed luxury apartment community at the intersection of Greensboro Avenue and Bryant Drive in Tuscaloosa. The project will also include 3,985 square feet of street-level retail space. Green Bear Lofts will offer one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Amenities will include on-site parking, a residents-only clubroom and a pocket park with water features. Rents will start in the low $700's per bed, per month. The project team includes The Preston Partnership, APEX Construction Services LLC and Walker & Associates Inc. Asset Campus Housing will manage the property.
JACKSONVILLE AND ORLANDO, FLA. — Crocker Partners has acquired two recently foreclosed Florida office parks, adding more than 1.3 million square feet to the private equity company's portfolio. The company acquired Freedom Commerce Center, a 752,000-square-foot, seven-building complex in Jacksonville, for $28 million. Crocker also picked up Orlando University Center, a 386,000-square-foot, five-building center, for $33.5 million. Crocker Partners previously owned the assets and sold them in 2005 to a private equity firm. The buyer plans to reposition the assets.
BOWLING GREEN, KY. — Meridian Design Build has completed the construction of an 85,000-square-foot Staybridge Suites Hotel in Bowling Green. The three-story, 124-unit hotel includes studio, one-, and two-bedroom layouts with fully-equipped kitchens. Hotel amenities include a fitness center, outdoor pool and on-site meeting rooms to accommodate the needs of business travelers and other extended-stay guests. The project team also included Adkisson & Associates Architects, Arnold Consulting Engineering Services and Dellisart LLC.
DORAL, FLA. — SeaFreight Agencies Inc., a cargo and shipping solutions company, has signed a 148,750-square-foot industrial lease at the International CorporatePark, located at 9950 NW 17th St. in Doral. The deal makes SeaFreight the sole tenant in the Class A building, which includes 16,000 square feet of office space. Walter Byrd, Ben Eisenberg, Thomas Kresse and Carlos Gaviria of Transwestern represented the tenant in the transaction. Steve Medwin and Nick Wigoda of Jones Lang LaSalle represented the landlord, IndCor Properties.
GREEN HILLS, TENN. — Brasfield & Gorrie has been select as the general contractor for the Burton Hills office project in Green Hills. The three-story, 110,000-square-foot building will sit atop a three-story parking deck. The project will include a separate, 60,000-square-foot parking deck. The facility will serve as the headquarters for Nashville-based AmSurg Corp. Construction of the 120-car parking structure will begin this month, with construction of the office building following in summer 2013. Hastings Architecture Associates is the project architect.
