RALEIGH, N.C. — Tropical Smoothie Café has announced the signing of a multi-unit development deal with Raleigh entrepreneur Sherman Dye, which will bring five Tropical Smoothie Café locations to the city in the next three years. Tropical Smoothie Café operates nine cafes across North Carolina, three locations in the Raleigh-Durham market and others in Nags Head, Southern Shores, Greenville, Winston-Salem and Southport. The new Raleigh deal is part of the 341-unit brand’s nationwide growth strategy to open 40 additional locations throughout the U.S. in 2013.
While most office markets are bifurcated between Class A and the rest, the Triangle market has a particularly pronounced disparity that is driving market trends. In the first quarter of 2013, Class A vacancy was 12.7 percent — nearly half that of both Class B (24.7 percent) and Class C (23.0 percent). The playing field, in terms of both tenant desires and rental rate differential economics, is skewed heavily in favor of Class A space, which currently only has six options for tenants seeking blocks 50,000 square feet or greater. Not even projects currently under construction, including the NC State Employees Credit Union’s downtown Raleigh headquarters and Diamond View III in downtown Durham, offer available space in that range. Class A vacancy is at its lowest rate in nearly five years and is only slightly above the 11 percent range that spurred the office building boom between 2005 and 2007. The lack of available large blocks has already resulted in lost opportunities and market timing mismatches for potential preleasing or build-to-suit tenants, such as Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton. The law firm recently renewed and expanded its lease in place at The Summit in the West Raleigh submarket, due to …
BRANDON, FLA. — Tampa-based Blue Rock Partners LLC, in conjunction with Goff Capital Partners, has acquired the 366-unit Westbury at Lake Brandon apartments in Brandon for $38.8 million. Blue Rock’s acquisition holdings now surpass 6,400 units in the Tampa Bay and Orlando area, including 2,286 units in Brandon. ARA brokered the transaction of Westbury at Lake Brandon, which is located at 1210 Westbury Pointe Drive. Broadstone Westbury LLC was the seller and KeyBank arranged acquisition financing.
ATLANTA — AmREIT Inc. has announced the acquisition of Fountain Oaks Shopping Center, a 160,600-square-foot, Kroger-anchored shopping center in the north Buckhead submarket of Atlanta, for $27.7 million. The property benefits from more than 72,000 people living within a three-mile radius of the property, daytime employment within the same radius of over 110,000 and average household income of $104,000 within a one-mile radius. The AmREIT team was able to extend the Kroger anchor lease to a 10-year term while the property was under contract to purchase. The acquisition was financed through AmREIT’s credit facility. Kroger, which occupies 59,134 square feet, has served the north Buckhead community from its location in Fountain Oaks since 1988.
TUSCALOOSA, ALA. — The Opus Group has completed construction on a new 42,300-square-foot building in Tuscaloosa for St. Paul, Minn.-based retailer Gander Mountain. Additionally, Opus has been awarded a contract from the retailer for a 45,600-square-foot building in Albany, Ga., which will be Opus’ fourth project with Gander Mountain. 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.
NORFOLK, VA. — CBRE | Hampton Roads has brokered the sale of Franklin Condominiums at 220 W. Brambleton Ave. in Norfolk for $2.67 million. The four-story, 57,630-square-foot mixed-use development includes 19 high-end condominiums ranging from 1,395 to 3,800 square feet. Property amenities include a covered, drive-up entrance way, security, interior courtyard with patios and water features and about 70 parking spaces. Patrick Gill, Chad Lesley and Joanna Hastings of CBRE | Hampton Roads handled the transaction. GTG Financial LLC purchased the property, located in the Freemason District of downtown Norfolk.
PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY, MD. — George Smith Partners has arranged $46.3 million in construction and mezzanine financing on behalf of its clients, Walton Westphalia Development Co. and Walton Westphalia Europe LP, for Phase I construction on a new, 310-acre mixed-use development in Prince George’s County, a suburb of Washington, D.C. When complete, the project, known as Westphalia Town Center, will include a mix of residential, retail, office and hotel products. The construction loan closed with a combined loan-to-value of 59.1 percent and 66.7 percent combined loan-to-cost. Walton Group of Cos. managed the borrowers. Malcolm Davies, Peter Kleinberg and Drew Sandler of George Smith Partners originated the financing. The Westphalia Town Center project will span 310 acres and is anticipated to consist of 845 single-family residences and townhomes, 884 rental apartments, 600 hotel rooms, 2.2 million square feet of office space and 534,000 square feet of retail space.
LANDOVER, MD. — Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp. (MMCC) has arranged $6.4 million in financing for the purchase of a church in Landover. Kevin Thurman of MMCC’s Washington, D.C., office arranged the financing. Stacy Milam of MMCC’s Washington, D.C., office represented the buyer in the transaction, which is currently under contract. The five-year loan is fixed at 5.5 percent with a 30-year amortization schedule.
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.