Like many Southeastern markets, the Charlotte industrial market largely hit the pause button from mid-March until June due to COVID-19. While the impacts of the health crisis remain fluid, the market is showing some signs of life, and trends that have long been at play are not likely to be reversed. For the past 90 days, the market has seen a significant drop in leasing and sales activity. The market was a bit sluggish in 2019, but experienced good activity in the first quarter prior to area shutdowns. Asking rents rose 5 percent year-over-year to $4.81 per square foot as new space is being added to the market at a higher price point. That rental rate is a record high for the Charlotte warehouse and distribution market. Most of the recent growth has occurred in the Cabarrus County, Stateline and Airport/West submarkets. Developers continue to fill demand for modern e-commerce, third-party logistics and general distribution space. Additional deliveries will keep upward pressure on vacancy in the near-term, but overall conditions should remain healthy thanks to strong economic tailwinds and Charlotte’s proximity to key East Coast transportation corridors and population centers. Absorption declined significantly over the past 12 months, from 5.3 …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Smithsonian Institution has acquired the 318,557-square-foot West Tower of the Capital Gallery office property in Washington, D.C. for $254 million. The U.S. government entity, which operates 19 museums and nine research centers, will use the building as its new headquarters. Located at 600 Maryland Ave. S.W., the 10-story glass building makes up just over half of the two-building property, which totals 631,029 square feet of Class A office space. Smithsonian also acquired four floors of the eight-story East Tower. Smithsonian already leases office space within the building, and the acquisition is part of a plan to consolidate five office spaces in the Washington, D.C. area into a single location. The financial and administrative offices, currently located in Crystal City at 2011 Crystal Drive, in Arlington, Virginia, are the largest offices to move to the new administrative headquarters. Other offices to be consolidated include spaces at 955 L’Enfant Plaza S.W.; 425 Third St. S.W.; and 901 D St. S.W. The move is scheduled to begin early next year. “The reason for purchasing an office building near the National Mall is twofold — it is more efficient to have staff together in a central location and it is …
HUNTSVILLE, ALA. — Kalikow Group and EYC Cos. will develop Anthem, a $67 million, 406-unit apartment community spanning 40 acres in Huntsville. The developers expect to begin leasing in second-quarter 2021 with construction slated to be complete in early 2022. The developers secured a $42 million syndication loan from IberiaBank and Trustmark Bank. The property will comprise three-story walk-up buildings, one- and two-story single-family homes and duplexes. The single-family homes and duplexes will feature private yards and detached garages. Communal amenities will include a playground, herb garden, dog park, two saltwater pools, two clubhouses and community greens. Unit interiors will include 10-foot ceilings, gas appliances, quartz countertops, LED lighting and vinyl plank flooring. The property will be situated just west of Research Park Boulevard, near Cummings Research Park and Redstone Arsenal.
POOLER, GA. — Extended Stay America Inc. has opened a 124-room hotel in Pooler. Dubbed Extended Stay America-Savannah, the four-story hotel offers a fitness room, laundry room, complimentary WiFi and fully equipped kitchens. The property is located at 500 Outlets Parkway, adjacent to Tanger Outlets Savannah and 12 miles west of downtown Savannah. The general contractor, Integrated Construction, broke ground on the hotel in March 2019. Rule Joy Trammell + Rubio LLC served as the architect and Coleman Co. was the civil engineer. This is the fifth corporate-owned hotel that incorporates Extended Stay America’s newest prototype.
FOREST HILL, TENN. — Doster Construction Co. has delivered Springs at Forest Hill, a 296-unit multifamily community in Forest Hill. Designed by Phillips Partnership, the property offers studio through three-bedroom floor plans. Communal amenities include a pool, fitness center, clubhouse, car care center, grilling area and package services. Springs at Forest Hill is located at 3750 Moraine St., 22 miles east of downtown Memphis. Birmingham, Ala.-based Doster began construction in summer 2018 on behalf of the developer, Continental Partners.
MEMPHIS, TENN. — Gelt Inc. has acquired eight self-storage properties comprising 3,867 units in metro Memphis for $41 million. The portfolio, which totals 490,187 square feet, was 91 percent leased at the time of sale. There are five facilities in Memphis; two in Olive Branch, Miss.; and one in Nesbit, Miss. The single-story properties were built between 1972 and 2006 and feature a mix of drive-up, indoor and climate-controlled units. Portfolio-wide, the unit sizes range from 5 square feet to 430 square feet and average 141 square feet. Citizen Storage will manage all eight properties. Luke Elliott and Michael Mele of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, Merit Hill Capital, in the transaction.
ATLANTA — JLL has negotiated the sale of Marquis at Briarcliff, a 104-unit apartment complex in Atlanta’s North Druid Hills submarket. The property, which built in 1995, offers one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans. Communal amenities include a 24-hour fitness center, pool, grilling areas and a dog park. The buyer, Chicago-based Oak Residential Partners LLC, plans to upgrade unit interiors, exteriors, amenities and landscaping. The buyer also changed the property name to One K Apartments. The community is located at 1000 Gables Way, eight miles northeast of downtown Atlanta. JLL represented the seller, CWS Capital Partners LLC, in the transaction and procured the buyer. The sales price was not disclosed.
NORFOLK, VA. — Divaris Real Estate has arranged the sale of the Arnold B. McKinnon Norfolk Southern headquarters, a 310,745-square-foot office building in downtown Norfolk. The building has been home to Norfolk Southern Railroad’s headquarters since 1988. The company will finish out its lease, which has 18 months remaining, then move to Midtown Atlanta. A joint venture between TowneBank and Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughter (CHKD) acquired the 22-story tower for an undisclosed price from Norfolk Southern. As part of the acquisition, the buyers also purchased the Commercial Place Garage, a 744-space parking garage connected to the tower via skybridge. The parking garage features retailers on the ground level. TowneBank and CHKD will each occupy 10 stories, with CHKD bringing over 475 employees and TowneBank relocating 400. TowneBank has hired WM Jordan as the general contractor to renovate the bank’s future home, on floors that Norfolk Southern is not currently occupying. Creative Development Partners will manage the renovations. Gerald Divaris, Michael Divaris and Jason Oliver of Divaris Real Estate represented the buyers in the transaction. Gayle Bartlett of Divaris Property Management Corp. will continue to manage the building, as well as the parking garage and retail on the first …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nearly 1.5 million Americans filed first-time unemployment claims during the week ending June 20, the U.S. Department of Labor reports. The claims remain historically high in the midst of the worldwide COVID-19 outbreak, though the week-over-week numbers have declined for 12 consecutive weeks. The most recent figure was 60,000 fewer than the previous week’s total. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones anticipated a total of under 1.4 million claims for the week. Furthermore, the four-week moving average has also been steadily declining, dropping by 160,750 claims to 1.6 million, according to the Department of Labor. Continuing claims also fell by 767,000 claims to under just over 19.5 million. This is the first week since the economic shutdown in mid-March that continuing claims have fallen below 20 million.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Atco Properties & Management and Shorenstein Properties LLC have opened the Gama Goat Building, a 140,000-square-foot office building in Charlotte. The new building is situated at 1701 N. Graham St. within the 1 million-square-foot mixed-use development, Camp North End. The open-air property also features four food halls, including La Caseta, Bleu Barn Bistro and Saru by Bow Ramen, which were all unveiled during the grand opening ceremony held Wednesday. S9 Architecture served as the design architect, BB+M Architecture served as the local production architect and LandDesign served as the civil engineer and landscape architect for the Gama Goat Building. Jessica Brown, David Dorsch, Kris Westmoreland and Grant Keyes of Cushman & Wakefield will handle leasing efforts at the building. Approximately 3,000 square feet of retail space is available for lease, including the fourth food stall. Fitness concept bloc also leases space at the Gama Goat Building.