HATTIESBURG, MISS. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of Campus Cottages, a 44-unit apartment community located at 119 North 35th St. in Hattiesburg, less than a half-mile from the University of Southern Mississippi. Built in 1967, the community features apartments in one- and two-bedroom layouts. Andrew Jacobs, Josh Jacobs and Royce Emerson of Marcus & Millichap represented the undisclosed seller in the $2.4 million transaction. The buyer was also not disclosed.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Total U.S. nonfarm payroll employment increased by 517,000 in January, while the unemployment rate fell to 3.4 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The monthly figure nearly triples the estimate from Dow Jones economists of 187,000 jobs, according to CNBC. Additionally, the outlet reports that the January unemployment rate is the lowest jobless level for the U.S. economy since May 1969. Just like the December report, the leisure and hospitality sector was the leading job creator in January with 128,000 new jobs. This surpasses the monthly average for the sector in 2022 of 89,000 jobs. Despite the recent gains, the leisure and hospitality industry still falls below its pre-pandemic employment level by 2.9 percent, or 495,000 jobs, according to the BLS. Government added 74,000 jobs in January, led by state government education with 35,000 new jobs. The BLS attributes the increase to the return of University of California workers after their strike ended in December. Other notable gains were seen in professional and business services (+82,000 jobs), healthcare (+58,000), retail trade (+30,000), construction (+25,000) and transportation and warehousing (+23,000). The BLS also revised its November and December jobs report summaries to the tune …
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. — Tavistock Development Co. has topped off a new hotel and resort residential tower as part of the redevelopment of Pier Sixty-Six, a mixed-use waterfront destination in Fort Lauderdale. The reimagined Pier Sixty-Six Resort and The Residences at Pier Sixty-Six are set to debut next year. Situated on 32 acres along the Intracoastal Waterway, the overall development will ultimately include the resort and 62 luxury condominiums, as well as the property’s 164-slip marina, restaurants, shops and offices. The project team includes general contractors Americaribe and Moriarty, which are employing 1,000 construction workers for the redevelopment project.
KISSIMMEE, FLA. — Prospect Real Estate Group II LLC and American Landmark Communities plan to develop a 355-unit apartment community in Kissimmee, a suburb of Orlando. Prospect recently purchased the 10.7-acre development site, located at North Rose Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, for $10.4 million. David Calcanis of Colliers represented the seller, Boston-based Saxon Partners LLC, in the land transaction. Moushimi Chinni Ganguli of CityLights RE represented the buyer. Scott+Cormia and WGI designed the four-story, Advantis-branded apartment community to feature 16 live-work units atop nearly 900 square feet of commercial space that is ideally suited for medical office space due to its proximity to two prominent hospitals, Osceola Medical Center and AdventHealth Kissimmee. Most apartments will come in studio, one-, two- or three-bedroom layouts. Prospect and American Landmark expect to break ground on the project in the second quarter and to complete construction in second-quarter 2025.
OPA-LOCKA, FLA. — The Kroger Co. has opened a 60,000-square-foot industrial facility in the South Florida city of Opa-Locka. Ocado Group, an e-commerce grocery delivery firm based in the United Kingdom, operates the automated facility. Situated on the north side of Miami-Dade County, the facility serves as a last-mile “spoke” facility that works in conjunction with Kroger’s 375,000-square-foot customer fulfillment center in Groveland, Fla. The new facility extends Kroger’s delivery capabilities to South Florida, with Homestead, Fla., serving as the farthest south the grocer can make deliveries. Kroger expects to employ 90 associates at the Opa-Locka facility. In addition to the Groveland facility, the Cincinnati-based grocer currently operates customer fulfillment centers in Monroe, Ohio; Forest Park, Ga.; Pleasant Prairie, Wis.; Dallas; Romulus, Mich.; and Aurora, Colo. Additional customer fulfillment centers are slated for California; Frederick, Md.; Phoenix; Cleveland; Charlotte; South Florida and the Northeast.
GLEN BURNIE, MD. — Brennan Investment Group has purchased 15.8 acres along Solley Road in Glen Burnie, a suburb of Baltimore. The Chicago-based firm plans to develop an 80,275-square-foot industrial facility on the site. The building is slated for completion later this year and is intended to be the first of several investments for Brennan in the Washington-Baltimore corridor. The property, which will offer tenants interstate access via I-695, is situated 12 miles from Baltimore-Washington International Airport. The building is designed to accommodate one or two tenants, according to Brennan.
HARTSVILLE, S.C. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the $5 million sale of a 14,450-square-foot store at 901 S. 5th St. in Hartsville that is net-leased to Walgreens. The drug store chain has a little less than 11 years left on the lease, as well as 50 one-year extension options. A buyer based on the East Coast purchased the store in an all-cash deal from the seller, a limited liability company. Both parties requested anonymity. Bruce Cowley and Lisa Sickinger of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller in the transaction. Ben Yelm, Marcus & Millichap’s South Carolina broker of record, assisted in the deal.
By Willy Walker, CEO of Walker & Dunlop Fed’s Recent Mistakes In a recent Walker Webcast, “Most Insightful Hour in CRE with Dr. Peter Linneman” part of our ongoing webinar series, renowned economist Dr. Linneman and I discussed his views on monetary policy, inflation and what the economic and commercial real estate landscape looks like for 2023. Throughout the past year, the Federal Reserve has been raising the federal funds rate faster than we have ever seen. This, of course, has led to a drastic increase in the cost of borrowing, the likes of which haven’t been seen in decades. In just one year, the effective federal funds rate has increased from 0.08 percent in February 2022, all the way to a target range of 4.5 to 4.75 percent in February 2023. This has led many to believe that the Fed has considerably overshot where rates should be since the market wasn’t given ample time to react to each rate hike. This rapid increase in interest rates has reduced lending activity in terms of new loans, leading to a sharp decline in demand for real estate, as well as major price corrections. Additionally, the rapid rise in borrowing costs has …
BENTONVILLE, ARK. — Sam’s Club, a division of Bentonville-based Walmart Inc. and a leading membership warehouse club retailer, plans to open more than 30 new “clubs” across the United States over the next several years. The first store, which is planned for an undisclosed Florida city, is slated to open in 2024. The new clubs will span approximately 160,000 square feet, which is larger than most current locations. Most new stores will feature a seafood/sushi island, full-service floral and walk-in dairy and fresh coolers, as well as a larger healthcare space featuring a patient waiting area, health services suites, private consultation rooms and dedicated hearing and optical centers. Many of the new locations will also include fuel stations and liquor offerings. In addition to the new stores, the company has a multiple-year plan to invest in and modernize its supply chain through new distribution and fulfillment center locations across the country. Sam’s Club will launch five new supply chain fulfillment and distribution centers this year, with the first location planned in Georgia in the third quarter. Kathryn McLay, CEO of Sam’s Club, says the decision to invest in expanding the company’s physical footprint was motivated by historic comparable sales growth …
ATLANTA — GID Development has signed four new tenants to join High Street, a $2 billion mixed-use, transit-oriented development underway in Atlanta’s Central Perimeter submarket. Phase I of the development, which will span 10 city blocks near the Dunwoody MARTA station, is set to come on line in 2024. The new tenants joining High Street include three food-and-beverage concepts — Agave Bandido, Cuddlefish and Ben & Jerry’s — as well as boutique beauty salon Sugarcoat. Previously committed tenants at High Street include Puttshack and Hampton Social. In addition to 150,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, the development will feature 90,000 square feet of new loft offices, 600 apartments and a signature park.
