BATON ROUGE, LA. — Interstate Hotels & Resorts has sold the Hilton Garden Inn Baton Rouge Airport to a fund managed by Fairwood Capital for $10.6 million. The property is located at 330 Harding Boulevard in Baton Rouge. Amenities include a fitness center, a business center and a pool. Interstate will use the sale as a way to pay down its senior credit facility, which matures in 2012.
TITUSVILLE, FLA. — An undisclosed bank has sold a Titusville Comfort Inn to a private party for $3 million. The 117-room property, which was built in 1974, is located at 3655 Cheney Highway. Jaimin Patel of Marcus & Millichap’s Tampa, Fla., office marketed the property for the seller.
NAPLES, FLA. — CB Richard Ellis has represented an undisclosed seller in the sale of 72 condominium units in The Reserve at Naples to a private buyer for $3.2 million. The 300-unit property, located near Pine Ridge Road and Interstate 75 in Naples, had 72 remaining unsold units from when the property was sold to a converter in 2005. Jonathan Richards and Ann Bailey of CB Richard Ellis’ office in Fort Myers, Fla., represented the seller.
WOODSTOCK, GA. — CH Realty IV/Woodstock, an affiliate of Dallas-based Crow Holdings, has borrowed a $27.37 million loan for the 498-unit Alta Woods Apartments in Woodstock. The complex, which is spread across 19 buildings, features two pools, a fitness center, a putting green and two tennis courts. Freddie Mac financed the 7-year loan. Michael Riccio and Christine Kubas of CB Richard Ellis’ office in Hartford, Conn., and Robert LaChapelle of the firm’s Atlanta office arranged the loan.
ORANGE BEACH, ALA. — Balmaquien Hospitality, an affiliate of Innisfree Development, has commenced development of a new $31 million beachfront hotel in Orange Beach. The new hotel, which will be branded a Hampton Inn & Suites, will rise nine stories and contain 160 rooms. Amenities will include an outdoor pool with a tiki bar and beach access as well as 5,000 square feet of meeting space. The hotel will be situated across from the Shoppes at Palm Pointe. Preliminary site work is under way, with vertical construction expected to start in December. Completion is slated for early 2011. Birmingham, Ala.-based Robins and Morton is serving as general contractor, and Behar & Peteranecz is providing architectural services.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Lerner Enterprises and The Tower Companies have begun renovations to Washington Square, a 1 million-square-foot office tower located at 1050 Connecticut Ave. in Washington. Construction will include new glazing on ground-level windows, new full-height revolving glass entrance doors, new architectural glass and stainless steel canopies that incorporated LED technology, streetscape improvements, high-definition LED message boards, elevator lobby renovations, garage valet area and main parking level lobby renovations, and a modernized security infrastructure. The Washington office of Gensler Associates is the project architect, and Falls Church, Va.-based HITT Contracting is the general contractor. Completion is slated for summer 2010. Lerner and Tower first developed Washington Square in 1982.
GREER, S.C. — Grubb & Ellis|The Furman Co. has arranged a lease for approximately 266,000 square feet of warehouse space in Greer. Speedway Packaging & Distribution will occupy the space, which is located at 1221B S. Batesville Rd. The lease is valued at $3.3 million. Perry Major of Grubb & Ellis represented Speedway in lease negotiations. Major and John Scott, also of Grubb & Ellis, represented the landlord, ProLogis.
WOODLAWN, MD. — Blue & Obrecht Realty has completed the sale of The Hunter Building, a 22,192-square-foot flex building located at 1724 Whitehead Rd. in Woodlawn. Richard Blue of Blue & Obrecht Realty represented the seller, Atlantic Realty Cos. Paul Obrecht and Krager Sanders, also of Blue & Obrecht, represented the buyer, Emjay Engineering & Construction Co. The acquisition price was not disclosed.
The secret to success in any market is diversity. When a city’s economy isn’t wedded to a single industry, there’s more chance that area can survive a downturn. Crews Johnston of Colliers Turley Martin Tucker says Nashville is such a place. The city has a significant healthcare presence and a number of automakers, but Johnston says none of these industries have suffered an outright collapse akin to the downfall of the big financial firms. “Everybody talks about a diversified economy; we actually have one,” he says. This array of companies has left Nashville office brokers with a better outlook on the current crisis than their contemporaries in similar markets. Unemployment is sitting steady, and office vacancy has topped out at around 13 percent, with most of the empty space situated in the downtown and airport markets. The Interstate 65 corridor, which includes the Cool Springs and Brentwood submarkets, is actually doing relatively well. In fact, national tenants looking to move into Nashville often find the market is tight. According to Johnston, four or five national firms are currently circling the city, looking for available space. On the flip side, very little is happening in the sales arena. Sellers are reluctant …
BALTIMORE — Healthcare Trust of America has purchased the Smyth Professional Building, a 62,000-square-foot medical office property, from MedStar Health for $11.25 million. The property is attached to Good Samaritan Hospital in Baltimore. Smyth Professional Building is 98 percent leased; MedStar and Johns Hopkins University occupy 61 percent of the building.
