ORLANDO, FLA. — PACE Loan Group (PLG) has provided a $32.2 million C-PACE loan for the development of Hyatt House, a 274-room extended stay hotel located at 6469 Westwood Blvd. in Orlando. The borrower is a joint venture between New York-based firms GFI Hospitality and LCP Group. The C-PACE loan will cover energy efficient HVAC systems, elevators, windows, high-efficiency plumbing, lighting and mechanical systems. The hotel will have direct access to the Orange County Convention Center upon completion, as well as an onsite restaurant, bar and a fitness center. About 60 percent of the hotel rooms will come equipped with a full kitchen. Crescent Hotels will operate and manage the Hyatt House hotel upon completion. The project team includes general contractor Cleveland Construction and architect Behar Peteranecz Inc.
Southeast
BALTIMORE AND AUSTIN, TEXAS — MCB Real Estate, a privately held commercial real estate investment management and development firm based in Baltimore with more than $4 billion in assets under management (AUM), has completed the acquisition of Austin-based Epic Real Estate Partners. The transaction includes the operation of 15 grocery-anchored shopping centers totaling just over 2 million square feet of retail space across 10 states, with a total portfolio value exceeding $575 million, as well as the operating company encompassing 13 professionals. The assets were cumulatively 92 percent leased and occupied at the time of the merger, and the ownership structure of all property-level limited partnerships stayed intact as part of the transaction. The new AUM, which average 150,000 square feet in size, include: “The Epic Real Estate Partners portfolio, consisting of institutional-quality and high-performing grocery-anchored retail shopping centers, aligns perfectly with our existing national portfolio, while also providing a strong foothold and strategic presence into new submarkets with extremely favorable long-term growth opportunities,” says P. David Bramble, co-founder and managing partner of MCB. “We have known and respected the Epic team for years, and it was extremely important to retain the professional talent at Epic as part of this transaction, …
Johnson & Johnson to Develop Multibillion-Dollar Life Sciences Facility in Wilson, North Carolina
by John Nelson
WILSON, N.C. — Pharmaceutical and home consumer products giant Johnson & Johnson has announced a new multibillion-dollar life sciences facility in Wilson, which sits east of the Raleigh-Durham region along I-95 in Wilson County. The new factory will focus on the production of medicines for oncology and neurological diseases. The development is expected to create up to 500 new jobs and represents the second major investment in Wilson County for Johnson & Johnson. In October 2024, the company announced a $2 billion manufacturing campus that would support 420 jobs. That facility is currently under construction, and Johnson & Johnson has begun hiring advanced manufacturing positions. Additionally, Johnson & Johnson announced last year a $2 billion biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in nearby Holly Springs, N.C. Civic partners on the new factory in Wilson includes the North Carolina Department of Commerce, the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, the North Carolina General Assembly, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, the North Carolina Community College System, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, Wilson Community College, the BioPharma Crescent, Wilson County, the Wilson Economic Development Council and the City of Wilson.
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. — JLL has arranged a $185 million loan for The Main, a 25-story office building located at 201 E. Los Olas Blvd. in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Paul Stasaitis, Geoff Goldstein and Blake Koletic of JLL arranged the floating-rate loan through Nomura on behalf of the borrower, a joint venture between Stiles and Shorenstein Investment Advisors. Delivered in 2020, the LEED Gold-certified building spans 387,401 square feet and features VIP parking, a conference center, fitness center, amenity deck, tenant lounges and onsite restaurants including Moxie’s and Fogo de Chao. The Main was fully leased at the time of financing to tenants including JPMorgan Chase and Raymond James, among others.
LV Collective, Harrison Street to Break Ground on 862-Bed Student Housing Development Near Virginia Tech
by John Nelson
BLACKSBURG, VA. — A joint venture between LV Collective and Harrison Street Asset Management is set to break ground on Rambler, an 862-bed student housing development located near the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg. The eight-story community will span 577,671 square feet and offer 247 apartments and townhomes in studio, one-, two-, three-, four- and five-bedroom configurations. Shared amenities will include a ground-level coffee shop; coworking space with private study rooms; a multi-sport simulator; clubroom and social lounge; fitness center with a yoga and flex studio; wellness lounge with a sauna and cold plunge; and an outdoor pool deck with a hot tub. Site work began in December with completion scheduled for fall 2028. The development team for the project includes Brinkmann, Niles Bolton, Variant Collaborative, Ironwood and Foresight. DLA Piper provided legal counsel for the development.
TAMPA, FLA. AND ATLANTA — Tampa-based commercial real estate services firm Franklin Street has acquired Hodges Ward Elliott (HWE), a global hospitality brokerage firm based in Atlanta with offices in London, New York City, Miami, Tampa and Dallas. HWE will continue to provide its services under its current name and brand and will keep its leadership and brokerage teams intact. “HWE’s experience with executing institutional deals will benefit Franklin Street as we expand our reach and market share,” says Tony DeSisto, president and chief operating officer at Franklin Street. The company opened offices in Nashville and Dallas last year and recently hired a new regional managing director in Miami. HWE will join the Franklin Street platform and have access to the company’s multiple business verticals, including insurance, project management, capital advisory, leasing and property management. HWE team members have joined existing Franklin Street offices in Atlanta, Dallas, Nashville, Orlando and Tampa. Over the past five years, HWE has completed $17 billion in closed transactions, with 30 deals exceeding $100 million. In 2025, the firm closed $1.5 billion in transactions, including the sale of W London and Viewline Resort Snowmass, Autograph Collection in Colorado.
Fundamental macroeconomic changes in the U.S. office market, combined with the enduring resilience of Washington, D.C., make this a unique moment for investment in the region’s office sector. Forward-thinking, data-driven analysis will uncover unprecedented opportunities. Persistent flight-to-quality trends continue to drive a polarization of the D.C. office market more severely than the national average, with trophy vacancy lower and commodity vacancy higher than the overall U.S. office market. Recent sharp federal government cutbacks have caused uncertainty throughout 2025, driving additional occupancy loss in the commodity segment of the market, while a resilient private sector shows seemingly endless demand for top-quality space. Overall, midsized and large private sector tenants in the market plan to grow by an aggregate 350,000 square feet. Expected growth will be driven by law firms, higher education institutions, business and financial services firms and trade associations, including several new-to-market tenants. As a result, standard Class A and B/C vacancy rates are hovering at historic highs of 24 percent and 26 percent, respectively, while trophy vacancy sits at a historic low of 10.2 percent. The overwhelming majority of large and mid-sized blocks of top-quality space are also encumbered. If trophy space continues to be absorbed at the same …
GAINESVILLE, FLA. — CBRE has arranged a $162 million acquisition loan for a six-property multifamily portfolio totaling 1,432 units in Gainesville on behalf of Westlight Capital. Jubeen Vaghefi and Denny St. Romain of CBRE represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction and secured the financing. The multifamily properties named in the portfolio, which are located near major employment drivers, universities and key regional infrastructure, include Hunters Crossing, Huntington Lakes, Lake Crossing, Spyglass, Lakewood Villas and Woodland Villas.
JLL Income Property Trust Acquires Westbury Square Shopping Center in Huntsville for $32M
by Abby Cox
HUNTSVILLE, ALA. — JLL Income Property Trust has acquired Westbury Square, a 115,000-square-foot shopping center located in Huntsville, for $32 million. Tenants at the center, which was fully leased at the time of sale, include T.J. Maxx, Michaels, Stein Mart, Metro Diner, Chicken Salad Chick, Captain D’s, BB&T, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Jenny Craig, Jimmy John’s and Cricket Wireless. Cushman & Wakefield represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction.
ATLANTA — Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP has renewed its 148,000-square-foot lease at 1100 Peachtree, a 28-story office tower in Midtown Atlanta. The global law firm has leased space at the property since 1992 and has recommitted to a 15-year term. 1100 Peachtree is currently 76 percent leased. Sam Hollis, John Izard, Ken Ashley and Christian Taylor of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Brooke Dewey and Alexis Vondersaar of JLL serve as the primary leasing agents for 1100 Peachtree on behalf of ownership, Spear Street, which acquired the 584,066-square-foot office tower in May 2025. The owner is underway on a full refresh of the building’s conference and fitness centers. Completion of the renovation is scheduled for this quarter. Along with the renovation, Spear Street will also welcome two new food-and-beverage concepts — Dos Cominos and Paris Baguette — to the tower’s street-level retail component this year.