KISSIMMEE, FLA. — Village at Secret Lake LP has borrowed $47.21 million for the planned 432-unit Village at Secret Lake apartment complex in Kissimmee. The property will be comprised of 12 four-story buildings and features a resort-style pool. The 40-year loan comes with a 6.25 percent interest rate and a 40-year amortization. Carolyn Whatley of Love Funding’s Palm Beach, Fla., office secured the HUD loan.
Southeast
HAPEVILLE, GA. — Imagine Downtown, an affiliate of Atlanta Development Authority and Central Atlanta Progress, has loaned $6 million to Jacoby Development for its 6.5 million-square-foot Aerotropolis Atlanta mixed-use development. The project will be located at the former Ford Atlanta Assembly Plant in Hapeville, near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. IDI’s loan will go toward the development’s $96 million first phase, which consists of demolition of existing buildings, environmental remediation of the site and a 4,000-space parking lot. IDI provided the loan through its $30 million of tax credit authority, part of an $80 million New Market Tax Credits allocation from the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
NEW BERN, N.C. — Augusta, Ga.-based Hull Storey Gibson Cos. has completed a renovation of its 361,000-square-foot Twin River Mall, now known as The New Bern Mall. The property is located at the intersection of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and U.S. Highway 70 in New Bern. Exterior work included a new mall entrance with enhanced signage. Workers added new paint, carpet and tile to the interior as well as raising the ceiling and upgrading the bathrooms.
OOLTEWAH, TENN. — GVH Duff Associates has sold a single-tenant property net-leased to BB&T to Arden Square for $1.46 million. BB&T’s 20-year lease of the Ooltewah property includes 12.5 percent rent increases every 5 years. Mark Taylor and Dean Zang of Marcus & Millichap’s Philadelphia office represented the seller. Stanton Falk of the firm’s Cincinnati office represented Arden Square.
CORAL GABLES, FLA. — A group has invested $900 million into a depository institution in order to acquire Coral Gables-based BankUnited from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The investors, led by John Kanas, include funds advised by The Blackstone Group, The Carlyle Group, WL Ross & Co. and Centerbridge Partners. The FDIC acted as BankUnited’s receiver and sold the company’s operations, deposits and assets. Kanas, a 35-year industry veteran, will serve as chairman and CEO of the new financial institution, which will retain the BankUnited name. Bank of America Merrill Lynch Securities and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom advised the investor group and the new management of BankUnited. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz also served as advisors.
LOUISVILLE, KY. — Canton, Mass.-based Baskin-Robbins has outlined a plan to open more than 20 new stores in Louisville and surrounding counties. The company is currently searching for franchisee candidates. The ice cream purveyor currently oversees three stores in the Louisville area and operates nearly 2,700 stores throughout the country.
RICHMOND, VA. — Chesapeake, Va.-based LTD Management Co. and Forest City Commercial Development have completed the 151-unit Hyatt Place Richmond Airport. The hotel is located in The Shops at White Oak Village at 4401 S. Laburnum Ave. in Richmond. The property features a wine and coffee café, a TV den and an e-room in the lobby. The Richmond hotel, one of 143 Hyatt Place properties throughout country, is the first of four projects to be developed by LTD Management and Forest City.
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO — Nordstom and Saks Fifth Avenue have signed letters of intent to anchor the Plaza Internacional shopping center. The Puerto Rican property is being developed by Bloomfield, Mich.-based Taubman Centers and San Juan-based New Century Development. In addition to 650,000 square feet of retail space, the development will include a hotel and a casino.
These haven’t been the easiest times to maintain optimism or even a somewhat sunny outlook, which is a crucial characteristic for those of us who lease office properties in Atlanta or anywhere else in the United States. Everywhere we turn, we’re constantly pounded with negative economic news as the pillars of American industry teeter and equity markets gyrate. But unlike the frozen credit markets, at least the reeling equity markets aren’t completely stagnant. We’re starting to see signs of life, and the main question on everybody’s mind is have we hit bottom? Let’s hope so. There are a few early indicators pointing up, and long-term prospects suggest that metro Atlanta can maintain the growth that transformed the city during the past 30 years. First, Jones Lang LaSalle research has found that metro Atlanta’s office markets, including sublease space, absorbed 182,432 square feet in the first quarter of this year. That would’ve been a bad quarter in 2006, but coming off a year where the office market had negative net absorption of more than 850,000 square feet, we’ll take it. Unfortunately, the urban markets — Buckhead, Midtown and Downtown — posted negative net absorption of 47,640 square feet in the first …
CORAL GABLES, FLA. — A group has invested $900 million into a depository institution in order to acquire Coral Gables-based BankUnited from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The investors, led by John Kanas, include funds advised by The Blackstone Group, The Carlyle Group, WL Ross & Co. and Centerbridge Partners. The FDIC acted as BankUnited’s receiver and sold the company’s operations, deposits and assets. Kanas, a 35-year industry veteran, will serve as chairman and CEO of the new financial institution, which will retain the BankUnited name. Bank of America Merrill Lynch Securities and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom advised the investor group and the new management of BankUnited. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz also served as advisors.