CECIL COUNTY, MD. — Lidl has opened a 700,000-square-foot regional distribution center in Cecil County. The German-based grocer invested $100 million in the project, which is expected to create more than 200 full-time jobs. Cecil County is situated in northeast Maryland, 53 miles from Baltimore and 60 miles from Philadelphia. Lidl officials said the center will service stores in five states. The discount grocer operates more than 85 stores in nine states on the East Coast. This is the second distribution center Lidl is developing in 2020, having broken ground on a facility in Covington, Ga. in early February.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Seefried Properties and Clarion Partners LLC have acquired 50 acres in Charlotte to construct a five-building, 590,000-square-foot industrial campus. The property will be able to accommodate users seeking 20,000 to 180,000 square feet. Buildings will feature 32- to 36-foot clear heights, 130- to 210-foot truck courts, 50 trailer parks, a total of 686 parking spaces and an ESFR sprinkler system. The property is situated at the southeast corner of Beam Road and Pine Oaks Drive, six miles south of Charlotte Douglas International Airport and seven miles southwest of downtown Charlotte. The developers expect to complete the shells by the second quarter of 2021. Merriman Schmitt Architects is the architect, and Burton Engineering is the civil engineer. Spencer Yorke and Jordan Quinn of JLL will lead the leasing efforts for the new project.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In the April issue of the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) Monthly Economic Review, NRF chief economist Jack Kleinhenz says in order to see the economy bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic, the country must first “get the virus under control.” The Associated Press reported Thursday morning that U.S. unemployment claims hit 6.6 million for the week ending March 28, doubling that of the 3.3 million claims filed in the week ending March 21. “How quickly the country gets a handle on containing the virus will determine the degree of the impact on the economy and how soon businesses can reopen,” Kleinhenz wrote in the report. The NRF report highlighted that leaving 2019, the gross domestic product (GDP) was growing at 2.1 percent clip year over year and that the U.S. economy benefits from sound fundamentals, unlike during the Great Recession. “Once the pandemic is over, we hope we will find that there is nothing structurally wrong with the economy and that any deficiencies were solved by monetary and fiscal policies,” Kleinhenz said. Washington, D.C.-based NRF has advocated for retailers and policies for more than 100 years.
TALLAHASSEE, FLA. — Fla. Governor Ron DeSantis has issued a statewide stay-at-home order that will go into effect Friday, April 3 at 12:01 a.m. The executive order will expire April 30, though the governor can extend it then. The full list of essential reasons and businesses has not yet been released, but DeSantis says it will closely resemble what Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez published March 26. In Gimenez’s order, non-essential commercial and retail businesses were ordered to close, as well as hotels, motels and short-term rental properties. Essential services remaining open include construction sites, grocery stores, pharmacies, take-out food counters and gas stations.
FALLS CHURCH, VA. — JLL has brokered the sale of 2941 Fairview Park Drive, a 367,349-square-foot, 15-story office building in Falls Church. The sales price was not disclosed, although multiple media outlets report the asset traded for $97.6 million. The property was 94 percent leased at the time of sale to multiple Fortune 500 companies and the headquarters of defense and aerospace firm Booz Allen Hamilton. The building features 9- to 12-foot ceiling heights, a restaurant, café and a fitness center. The asset is situated 15 miles west of downtown Washington, D.C. Bill Prutting of JLL represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction. An affiliate of Silicon Valley-based Menlo Equities acquired the building.
WESLEY CHAPEL, FLA. — Preferred Apartment Communities (PAC) has acquired Altis Wiregrass Ranch, a 392-unit multifamily community in Wesley Chapel. The seller and developer, The Altman Cos., delivered the property in 2018. PAC acquired the property after making an investment in the construction loan for the property two years ago. The sales price was not disclosed, but the Atlanta-based REIT said it purchased the asset in all cash. Altis Wiregrass Ranch is situated within Wiregrass Ranch, a master-planned, mixed-use community spanning 5,000 acres. The apartment community is located at 28878 Golden Vista Blvd., 22 miles north of downtown Tampa. Communal amenities include a fitness center, pool and package services.
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — TSCG has negotiated the $17.1 million sale of The Shoppes at Centre Pointe, a 139,688-square-foot retail center in North Charleston. Ashley Home Furniture, Dollar Tree and Staples anchor the center, which was 98 percent leased at the time of sale. Other tenants include Dunkin’, Sally Beauty, GameStop and Cici’s Pizza. The property is situated at 4950 Centre Pointe Drive, 11 miles north of downtown Charleston. Anthony Blanco and Jeff Yurfest of TSCG represented the seller, an undisclosed investor based in Atlanta, in the transaction. The buyer was an undisclosed, Georgia-based entity affiliated with Olympic Property Management.
GALLATIN, TENN. — Staghorn Capital Partners has arranged a $5.4 million construction loan for RREAF Holdings to develop Phase I of Shoppes at Hunter Pointe in Gallatin, about 30 miles northeast of Nashville. The property is expected to comprise 25,147 square feet and, with appropriate performance of Phase I, the loan will aid in developing Phase II. The loan features a floating interest rate with two years of interest-only payments followed by a 25-year amortization schedule. Tyler Rentfro of Staghorn Capital originated the loan through an undisclosed regional bank on behalf of the borrower. A timeline for construction was not disclosed.
TUCKER, GA. — The City of Tucker in metro Atlanta has signed a 22,000-square-foot lease at 1975 Lakeside Parkway to consolidate its City Hall and general administration services. The City has been operating in a 4,860-square-foot space since incorporating four years ago. Cresa Global Inc. represented the City in the lease negotiations, and Cresa’s project management team will build out the space. Construction is expected to begin in mid-April with an expected move-in date at the end of June. The new City Hall is situated 14 miles east of downtown Atlanta.
Raleigh checks all the boxes: a youthful, highly educated population, top research universities, a thriving large cap research and tech sector, plus clement weather. It’s Austin with more first-rate college basketball teams and less traffic. Despite its conspicuous lack of entry barriers, multifamily investors and developers have placed enormous bets on Raleigh’s continuing success. Since 2017, apartment properties valued at nearly $8 billion have exchanged hands and over 15,000 market-rate apartment units worth more than $2.5 billion were delivered — a commitment of capital the equivalent of roughly $11,000 for every working Triangle resident. Competition promises to be no less taxing this year. Supply in 2020 will approach 8,000 units, easily the largest vintage in market history and an increase of 40 percent from last year. Few players have regrets. The metro apartment and labor markets continue to perform at full throttle, and investment returns remain among the highest in the country. There were, however, moments of doubt. Recent preliminary Bureau of Labor Statistics payroll employment and hourly wage data for the nine-month period that ended in June 2019 recorded uncharacteristically soft results. Initial reports suggested that metro payroll job formation had limped along at a 1 percent annual pace …