ATLANTA — The Flying Biscuit Café, an Atlanta-based breakfast and brunch restaurant chain, plans to open 15 new locations in 2025. Founded in 1993, Flying Biscuit Café currently operates 35 locations, with a strong presence in Georgia, Texas, Alabama, Florida and the Carolinas. In 2025, the company will open restaurants in new markets, including Spartanburg, S.C.; Huntsville, Ala.; Knoxville, Tenn.; Tallahassee, Fla.; and Jonesboro, Ark. The Flying Biscuit Café opened five restaurants in 2024, which brought more than 150 jobs to local communities in Charleston and throughout Texas.
Southeast
PEBB, Banyan to Develop 23-Acre Retail Project at Tradition Development in Port St. Lucie, Florida
by John Nelson
PORT ST. LUCIE, FLA. — PEBB Enterprises and Banyan Development have acquired a 23-acre parcel in Port St. Lucie with plans to develop a retail project at the site. Dubbed the Shoppes at Southern Grove, the retail center will be situated within the Tradition master-planned community. This marks the second retail development within Tradition for the joint venture, which acquired the site from an entity doing business as Mattamy Palm Beach LLC for $7.5 million. Upon completion, the project will feature a shopping center on 14.2 acres with additional outparcels available for ground lease ranging in size from 1 to 2.4 acres.
MIAMI — Newmark has brokered the more than $400 million sale of the W Hotel South Beach in Miami. Reuben Brothers purchased the 20-story, oceanfront property from Tricap. The sale marks the largest hotel transaction in the Miami market this year, according to Newmark. The property is also the newest hotel to sell in the market since 2021. The W Hotel, which Tricap completed in 2009, features more than 300 hotel and condo units. There are multiple luxury restaurants, including The Grove, Mr. Chow and WET Bar, as well as a full-service spa. The 3.8-acre site at 2201 Collins Ave. formerly housed a Holiday Inn hotel, which was demolished in 2006. The tower sits immediately adjacent to Miami Beach with views of Biscayne Bay and the Miami River. The hotel features convenient access to I-195 and I-395 and is proximate to luxury retail options along the waterfront. Newmark represented Manhattan-based Tricap in the sale. Eastdil Secured also advised the seller. Tricap has developed a portfolio of real estate holdings, including hotel, office, retail and mixed-use properties in major metropolitan markets such as New York City, Miami, Silicon Valley, Seattle and Las Vegas. London-based Reuben Brothers is a private equity, real …
Welsh Semiconductor Manufacturer IQE Plans to Invest $305M for Expansion in Greensboro, North Carolina
by John Nelson
GREENSBORO, N.C. — IQE Inc., a global semiconductor manufacturer based in Wales, has announced plans to invest $305 million to expand its manufacturing facility in Greensboro to produce next-generation compound semiconductor material. The investment is subject to customer commitments and funding from the federal CHIPS Act. The expansion is expected to create 109 new jobs in North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad region, which sits between Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham along I-85. “IQE’s major reinvestment in Guilford County is a testament to the quality of our world-class workforce, the strength of our business climate and our leadership in clean energy and technology,” says North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper. Operating in Greensboro for more than a decade and with 72 employees, IQE manufactures “epi wafers” using molecular beam epitaxy for the defense and aerospace industries. The new investment would add a complementary epitaxy called metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) and would provide a new clean technology for semiconductor chip production to help serve the electric vehicle (EV) market. North Carolina is growing its EV manufacturing base. For example, VinFast, an EV manufacturer based in Vietnam, is currently building out a $4 billion factory in nearby Chatham County.
ATLANTA — Newmark has arranged the $140 million recapitalization for Corso Atlanta, a 203-unit upscale seniors housing community located at 3200 Howell Mill Road in the city’s West Paces Ferry area. Newmark’s Healthcare & Alternative Real Estate Assets group secured the 10-year Freddie Mac senior loan, which features five years of interest-only payments, and secured a preferred equity investment from Kayne Anderson Real Estate Debt. Sarah Anderson, Chad Lavender, Ryan Maconachy, Mills Poynor and Ben McElroy of Newmark facilitated the recapitalization on behalf of the borrower, Galerie Living. Corso Atlanta features independent living, assisted living and memory care residences, along with high-end amenities including chef-led dining options, a heated swimming pool, fitness center, full-service salon, multiple outdoor spaces, a theater, floral shop and a gift boutique.
GASTON, S.C. — Red Rock Developments has delivered a 519,792-square-foot speculative industrial facility located at 201 Integrity Way in Gaston, a suburb of Columbia. The cross-dock warehouse is situated along I-26 in Calhoun County within the 760-acre Sandy Run Industrial Park, a portion of which also lies within Lexington County. Chuck Salley, Thomas Beard and John Peebles of Colliers are marketing the property to an industrial user for sale or lease on behalf of Red Rock. Colliers has also been retained for property management services. The design-build team includes Miller Valentine Construction, MCA Architecture, Alliance Consulting Engineers and S&ME. The facility, which is expandable to nearly 1.2 million square feet, is the only available industrial building in Central South Carolina with 40-foot clear heights, according to Red Rock.
Berkadia Secures Equity for Recapitalization of Two Multifamily Communities in Georgia, North Carolina
by John Nelson
AUGUSTA, GA. AND KANNAPOLIS, N.C. — Berkadia JV Equity & Structured Capital has arranged joint venture equity for the recapitalization of two multifamily properties in Georgia and North Carolina totaling 566 units. The sponsor is The Sterling Group and the properties include Argento at Riverwatch, a 296-unit community in Augusta, and Argento at Kellswater Bridge, a 270-unit property in Kannapolis. The joint venture equity partner and financing amount were not disclosed. Cody Kirkpatrick, Noam Franklin and Chinmay Bhatt led the Berkadia JV Equity & Structured Capital team in the recapitalization.
MURRELLS INLET, S.C. — A fund launched by South Florida-based commercial real estate brokerage services firm NAI Merin Hunter Codman has sold Prince Creek Village, an 18,035-square-foot shopping center located at 11920 SC Highway 707 in Murrells Inlet, a suburb of Myrtle Beach. The fund, named MHCommercial Real Estate Fund, sold the property after five years of ownership to Prince Creek Investments LLC, an affiliate of Zapolski Real Estate LLC, for approximately $6.4 million. Tom Kolarczyk and Andrew Jomantas of JLL Capital Markets’ Charlotte office represented the seller in the transaction. Prince Creek Village was fully leased at the time of sale. The property is shadow-anchored by Publix and is adjacent to TPC Championship Myrtle Beach Golf Club.
Despite healthy local market dynamics, the greater New Orleans industrial market did not perform as strongly as insiders expected it to perform over the past 12 months, which is indicative of wider economic factors suppressing a market with pent-up demand. The Port of New Orleans and its access to major shipping routes along the Mississippi River has long been the principal component for industrial real estate in the area. The recent 2024 regular session of the Louisiana Legislature committed $230.5 million to Port of New Orleans infrastructure projects, including allocations to the Louisiana International Terminal, a $1.8 billion project in Violet, La., scheduled to be operational in 2028, which will be the Gulf South’s premier container shipping gateway able to accommodate New Panamax- and Post New Panamax-sized vessels. A bit further up the Mississippi River but still in the greater New Orleans region, Canadian company Woodland Biofuels announced a $1.35 billion investment at the Port of South Louisiana in Reserve, La., to establish the largest renewable natural gas plant in the world. The facility will take waste wood and sugar cane and turn it into natural gas. The process will be carbon-negative, leaving less carbon in the atmosphere than before …
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Northmarq has arranged the $41.8 million sale of South Tryon Apartments, a 216-unit multifamily community located at 7601 Holliswood Court in Charlotte. McDowell Properties acquired the asset from MAA. Andrea Howard, Allan Lynch, John Currin, Caylor Mark, Jeff Glenn and Austin Jackson of Northmarq’s Carolinas Multifamily Investment Sales team represented the seller in the transaction. Additionally, Faron Thompson, Grant Harris and Cabell Thomas of Northmarq secured a $24.8 million acquisition loan on behalf of the buyer. The permanent, fixed-rate loan features a five-year term with a 35-year amortization schedule. Built in 2002 and renovated in 2022, South Tryon Apartments features units in one-, two- and three-bedroom layouts. Amenities at the property include 36 detached garages, 42 storage spaces, a fitness center, pool, dog park, grilling area, car care center and playground. The community is situated roughly nine miles from both Charlotte Douglas International Airport and Uptown Charlotte.