RICHMOND, VA. — Richmond-based Direct Mail Solutions has acquired a 229,829-square-foot industrial building in Richmond for $9.4 million. The property features ESFR sprinklers and 38-foot clear heights. The property spans 23.8 acres and is located at 4650 Oakleys Lane, seven miles east of downtown Richmond. Cliff Porter and Robert Porter III of Porter Realty Co. Inc. represented the seller, 4650 Oakleys Lane LLC, in the transaction.
AUBURN, ALA. — SiO2 Materials Science will invest $163 million to expand its Auburn plant that will produce vials and syringes to aid a potential COVID-19 vaccine. Construction is underway on the 70,000-square-foot project, which is located at 2425 Innovation Drive, less than one mile from SiO2’s current plant located at 2250 Riley St and seven miles southwest of Auburn University. SiO2 expects to create 220 jobs when the expansion is complete. In June, SiO2 announced a $143 million contract with federal government agencies for a production scale-up of the company’s packaging platform for storing coronavirus vaccines and therapeutics. Auburn-based SiO2 applies a patented glass-like coating to plastic surfaces.
ATLANTA — Alliance Residential will develop Broadstone Upper Westside, a 314-unit apartment complex in Atlanta’s Upper Westside neighborhood. The complex will offer studio, one- and two-bedroom floor plans. Communal amenities will include a community kitchen, clubroom, fitness center, courtyard and a saltwater pool. The Phoenix-based developer closed on the 12-acre site in late June and expects to break ground this year. Alliance plans to open the community in fall 2021. Located at 2167 Bolton Drive NW, the asset is situated seven miles northwest of downtown Atlanta adjacent to the city’s West Midtown district. Dynamik Design is the architect of Broadstone Upper Westside.
TAMPA, FLA. — The Radco Cos. has sold Mabry Manor, a 372-unit multifamily community in Tampa, for $42.8 million. The property offers studio, one- and two-bedroom floor plans. Communal amenities include a pool, sundeck, fitness center, clubhouse, fishing lakes with floating deck and fishing pier, coffee bar, laundry facilities and a business center. Radco acquired the asset in 2016 for $20.1 million. The asset is located at 4902 N. Macdill Ave., five miles northwest of downtown Tampa in the Northwest Tampa submarket. TLR Group acquired the community. Jason Stanton and Cole Whitaker of Berkadia represented the seller in the transaction.
BOCA RATON, FLA. — Fairstead has acquired Gould House, a 101-unit Section 8 seniors housing community in Boca Raton. The property is located on the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County Campus. While the seller and price were not disclosed, Fairstead did unveil plans for a $6 million rehabilitation of the entire complex. The project will include new kitchens, baths, lighting, HVAC, flooring and windows for all apartments, as well as common area improvements to the security systems, grounds, lobbies, community room and management office. Fairstead financed the acquisition through the issuance of federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) and tax-exempt bonds from the Housing Finance Authority of Palm Beach County. The Freddie Mac lender/bond purchaser in the transaction was Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC, and the LIHTC investor was Regions Affordable Housing LLC.
JOHNSON CITY, TENN. — Washington Prime Group (WPG) has signed Chipotle Mexican Grill and Chicken Salad Chick to the tenant roster of The Mall at Johnson City, a mall in Johnson City that is currently being redeveloped. The two eateries are expected to open in spring 2021. Other new and committed tenants include HomeGoods, which will replace the former Sears department store; Palmetto Moon, a Southern apparel retailer that opened in June; and Rose & Remington and Curve & Cloth, which are set to open next spring. WPG is renovating the interior common areas and exterior entrances, which will include aesthetic upgrades such as new seating, lighting, flooring and finishes. Existing tenants at the mall include Belk, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Champs Sports, Chick-fil-A, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Forever 21, GameStop, Hot Topic, JC Penney, Ulta Beauty and Victoria’s Secret. WPG reopened the mall in early May following a temporary shut down due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
KENOSHA, WIS. AND KANNAPOLIS, N.C. — KKR (NYSE: KKR), a global investment firm based in New York City, has acquired two e-commerce distribution centers totaling approximately 2.5 million square feet for $260 million. One of the properties is located in Kenosha, approximately 30 miles south of Milwaukee. The other is in Kannapolis, approximately 25 miles northeast of Charlotte. In a release, KKR said that the properties were both 100 percent leased to a “high-quality, investment-grade tenant on a long-term basis.” Multiple news outlets, including both the Milwaukee Business Journal and the Charlotte Business Journal, report that Amazon is the occupant of both facilities. Regarding the Wisconsin facility, KKR acquired the 1.5 million-square-foot complex for $176 million, or $115 per square foot, according to the Milwaukee Business Journal. Prologis sold the two-building property, which is located off Interstate 94. The 1 million-square-foot facility in North Carolina is known as CLT 3 and sold for $84 million. The seller was not disclosed. “The current environment will lead to continued acceleration of e-commerce penetration which drives demand for large, modern distribution centers like the ones we are acquiring,” says Roger Morales, partner and head of Americas acquisitions at KKR. “Logistics real estate represents …
The COVID-19 outbreak had a tremendous impact on retail across the country, and Charlotte was no exception. As stores were forced to close, business owners had to devise creative ways to operate during the pandemic. Rent deferral, Paycheck Protection Program funds, layoffs and furloughs were some of the ways owners addressed cash flow. Many restaurants faced questions regarding takeout, delivery service, menu adjustments, table spacing and employee safety. Enhanced cleaning procedures, payment procedures, marketing adjustments and general overall operations were other issues facing many restaurants and retailers. Restaurants with drive-thrus and takeout, as well as ones capable of adding “COVID-19-friendly” delivery options, were able to remain open, albeit with decreased sales volume. Despite all efforts, the trickle-down effect will likely cause several restaurants and retailers to permanently close and not survive this downturn at all. As Phase I and II of North Carolina’s economic reopening went into effect and additional stores began to reopen in some capacity, retailers began to adapt to new ways to operate with safety protocols in place. As a result, more discounts and flash sales were offered, and curbside pick-up became a prevalent way to shop. The next six months should reveal how the COVID-19 pandemic …
MIAMI — East End Capital has received civic approval to build Foyer Wynwood, a 12-story multifamily project planned for Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood. The project marks the debut of the developer’s co-living brand Foyer, which will operate the co-living segment of the 375,000-square-foot development. The property will feature 236 multifamily residences in both micro-unit and co-living floor plans, as well as coworking space. The City of Miami’s Urban Development Review Board recently approved Foyer Wynwood, which will front North Miami Avenue from 24th and 25th streets. The development will be situated near attractions in Wynwood such as Veza Sur Brewery, The Wynwood Arcade, Oasis, The Salty and the planned Arlo Hotel. Designed by Kobi Karp Architecture & Design, Foyer Wynwood’s community amenities will include a gym, juice and coffee bar, pool deck, chef-kitchen and entertainment space, art studio areas and rooms for recording podcasts and green-screen filming. Monthly rents for co-living bedrooms at the project — which include the furnishings, electricity, common area cleaning and WiFi — are expected to start around $1,500 per month. East End Capital expects to break ground in early 2021.
ATLANTA — Brookfield Properties Retail Group has submitted initial plans for the redevelopment of the eastern portion of Cumberland Mall, a 1 million-square-foot regional mall in northern Atlanta’s Cumberland-Galleria submarket. Cobb County submitted the proposal on behalf of the Chicago-based developer to the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA) to review as a Development of Regional Impact (DRI), which is a distinction for projects that have outsized impact on civic functions such as schools and traffic. Brookfield hopes to reshape the mall into a town center with 445,000 square feet of office space, 312 multifamily residences, 31,200 square feet of retail and restaurant space and 10 bus bays. Additionally, What Now Atlanta reported that Cobb County recently issued permits for a new Round 1 Bowling & Amusement attraction to begin construction for a new 80,000-square-foot venue at the former Sears, which closed in 2018. The initial action that Brookfield is proposing for Cumberland Mall is for the 14-acre site at 2940 Cobb Parkway to be rezoned as mixed-use. According to the filing with the GRTA, the developer hopes to complete the phased redevelopment in 2025. The Cumberland-Galleria submarket has been transformed in the past four years with the addition of the …
