MAITLAND, FLA. — Bell Partners has purchased Trelago, a 350-unit apartment community located at 601 Trelago Way in Maitland, about nine miles north of Orlando. The Greensboro, N.C.-based investment firm has rebranded the property as Bell Trelago. Bell Partners purchased the community on behalf of the company’s Bell Growth & Income Fund from the undisclosed seller. Walker & Dunlop brokered the transaction. The sales price was not disclosed. Built in 2019, Bell Trelago is situated on 20 acres and offers views of Lake Hope. Amenities include a resort-style pool and pool deck, fitness center and lakefront amenities. The property is part of the 135-acre Trelago mixed-use project that will feature a Trader Joe’s grocery store.
Southeast
CLARKSVILLE, TENN. — The Dowd Cos. has brokered the $5.6 million sale of Clarksville Square, an 89,924-square-foot shopping center located at 1041 Riverside Drive in Clarksville, approximately 50 miles north of Nashville. John Dowd and Theresa Johnson of Dowd Cos. represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction. The buyer was a locally based investor. Built in 1967, Clarksville Square was fully leased at the time of sale to tenants including Dollar Tree, Big Lots and Farmers Home Furniture. The shopping center includes a retail outparcel leased to O’Reilly’s Auto Parts that was included in the sale.
Reports: Fortress Investment Buys Pokemon-Anchored Manufacturing Campus Near Raleigh for $226.5M
by John Nelson
MORRISVILLE, N.C. — Fortress Investment Group has purchased a majority of Spark LS, a 106-acre life sciences campus in the Raleigh suburb of Morrisville, for $226.5 million, according to Triad Business Journal. The sale covers six parcels, including two new advanced manufacturing facilities, totaling 80 acres. The news outlet also reported the buyer secured an acquisition loan from Bank of America totaling $111.1 million. In December, the seller, affiliates of Starwood Capital Group and Trinity Capital Advisors, signed a nearly 1.3 million-square-foot lease with Millennium Print Group for 20 years, with a 20-year renewal option. Doug Cook of Cushman & Wakefield arranged the lease. The tenant is a subsidiary of The Pokemon Co. International and produces Pokemon playing cards. The company plans to occupy more than 400,000 square feet of existing space and a new ground-up building totaling 866,000 square feet that will deliver in 2027, according to a December press release from Trinity Capital. Triad Business Journal reports that the status of the construction and upfit for Millennium Print is “unclear” in light of the ownership change.
ORLANDO, FLA. — Cross Ocean Partners and CP Group have acquired an eight-property office portfolio in Central Florida for $96 million. The properties span 722,456 square feet and include Central Fairwinds in downtown Orlando (169,600 square feet); 1101 Greenwood in Lake Mary (155,048 square feet); Research Commons and Tech Point I and II in Orlando (188,738 square feet); Ingenuity Point in Orlando (125,616 square feet); and University Tech Center in Orlando (83,454 square feet). The portfolio was 93 percent occupied at the time of sale to tenants including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fairwinds Credit Union, Siemens Energy, Galen College of Nursing, Abbott Rapid Dx, Health First and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). Robbie McEwan and Matt McCormack of JLL represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction. CP Group will retain JLL to oversee leasing across the portfolio.
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.
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.