DURHAM, N.C. — GFI Software has signed a lease for 16,466 square feet of office space at Winchester Place, located at 4309 Emperor Blvd. in Durham. The company, which develops IT solutions for small to mid-sized businesses, plans to move in this July. Dave Mester of Avison Young represented the tenant in the transaction. Clay Stober of Tri Properties represented the landlord.
ATLANTA — Admiral Capital Group and Wood Partners have partnered with the University of North Carolina Kegan-Flagler Business School's student-managed real estate fund to buy a 17-story condominium property in Atlanta. Brookhaven, located in Atlanta's Buckhead neighborhood, is a Class A, 209-unit community. Built in 1985, the condos were upgraded in 2008 with hardwood floors, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. Atlanta-based Wood Partners led the purchase and the new owners plan to modernize the property. The partnership between Admiral and UNC's Business School was able to build on the mission of both organizations. NBA Hall of Famer David Robinson and Dan Bassichis, a former executive with Goldman Sachs, founded Admiral. A portion of Admiral's profits go toward philanthropic causes that Robinson supports. UNC's student-managed real estate fund was created to provide competitive financial returns to investors and provide first-hand real estate experience to UNC students.
CLEARWATER, FLA. — HEI Hotels & Resorts has acquired the 115-room Residence Inn Clearwater Downtown in Clearwater. The private hotel owner/operator purchased the property as part of its growing portfolio of high-quality, select-service hotels. The hotel will continue to operate under Marriott's Residence Inn brand. The company also recently acquired the 170-room Stoneleigh Hotel in Dallas.
NORCROSS, GA. — PointOne Holdings LLC has purchased Steeple Chase Apartments, a 305-unit community located at 5940 Singleton Road in Norcross for $13.2 million, or $43,525 per unit. The property, situated one mile from I-85, is 96 percent occupied. Mike McGaughy and Jon Kleinberg of Transwestern represented the seller, Cortland Partners, in the transaction.
JACKSONVILLE — Johnson Development has started construction on a 60,000-square-foot medical office building in Jacksonville. The property will be located next to St. Vincent's Medical Center Clay County hospital, a new 64-bed hospital scheduled to open in 2013. The medical office building will house facilities for cardiology, wound care, orthopedics, rehabilitation, neurology and include a sleep center. Johnson Development will own the property with a group of area physicians. The medical office building is slated for completion in October.
NORTH STAFFORD, VA. — Construction is underway on Embrey Mill, an 831-acre, master-planned community in North Stafford, located 40 miles south of Washington, D.C. The property is slated to include 1,827 new homes, 285 acres of open space, public parks, civic and recreation centers and 10 miles of trails. A joint venture between North American Sekisui House and Sekisui House, Japan's largest homebuilder, owns the development. Newland Communities is the project's master developer. Roads for the first phase are already complete, and work has started on Embrey House, the community gathering place for the first neighborhood. It will feature a cafe with outdoor patio, concierge service, swimming pool and sports court. The project is scheduled to open in mid-summer 2013.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Jones Lang LaSalle's capital markets team has closed on the sale of four multifamily properties in the Washington, D.C., area totaling $608 million. In the largest deal, Dweck Properties purchased Archstone Crystal Towers, two 912-unit apartment towers in Arlington, Va., from Equity Residential for $322.2 million. The deal broke the record for the largest sale of a multifamily property in the region. Archstone Crystal Towers was completed in 1968 and underwent a comprehensive renovation in 2002. Al Cissel and Scott Melnick of Jones Lang LaSalle represented the seller in the transaction. WAFRA Investment Advisory Group and Stella Advisors bought the Avalon at Decoverly, a 564-unit apartment community in Rockville, Md., from Avalonbay Communities Inc. for $135 million. Amenities at the Class A property include two outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts and a dog park. Cissel, Melnick and Christine Epenshade of Jones Lang LaSalle represented the seller. JBG Cos. acquired Falkland Chase, a 450-unit garden apartment community in Silver Spring, Md., from Home Properties for $98 million. The community features 57 two- and three-story brick buildings. Cissel and Melnick represented the seller. In the final deal, a joint venture between Laramar and Lubert-Adler purchased Woodvale Apartments, a 24-building …
NASHVILLE — Griffin Capital Corp. has purchased the 21-acre HealthSpring MetroCenter campus in Nashville for $36.4 million. The two-building, 170,515-square-foot campus is located at 500 and 530 Great Circle Road. The u-shaped twin buildings are part of the master-planned MetroCenter business park. The property is fully leased by HealthSpring, a subsidiary of insurer CIGNA. The campus houses the company's shared services such as marketing, sales and customer service. CBRE represented the seller, Nashville-based Southeast Venture, in the transaction. Griffin plans to retain Southeast Venture as the property manager.
RALEIGH, N.C. — The downtown Raleigh skyline will be adding a new 11-story office building by 2014, with project developers expecting to break ground this fall. According to local reports, the Charter Square project has been stalled since the credit markets froze five years ago. But Raleigh-based developer Dominion Realty Advisors announced it is joining the development team and will help commit equity to the project. Dominion will help lead construction of the first of two towers planned for the site. The new $50 million Charter Square building, located across the street from the Marriott City Center Hotel, will encompass 225,000 square feet. The company has secured four tenants who will occupy about 35,000 square feet. JDavis Architects will serve as the project architect and CBRE is the property leasing agent. A general contractor will be selected this summer.
FAIRFAX, VA. — Exxon Mobil Corp. has selected Cassidy Turley to market its 117-acre campus in Fairfax, as it prepares to relocate its local operations to a consolidated site in The Woodlands, a suburb of Houston. The property, located at 3225 Gallows Road, includes five buildings with 1.3 million square feet of office space. The site also includes 1 million square feet of parking structures and 92 acres of undeveloped land.