FORT PIERCE, FLA. — KeyBank Real Estate Capital has provided a $20 million Fannie Mae refinancing loan for Sabal Chase, a 340-unit affordable housing community in Fort Pierce. The property comprises 20 three-story building spanning 29 acres. Sabal Chase offers one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans. Communal amenities include a clubhouse, pool, business center, fitness center and a car care center. The borrower, Harmony Housing, acquired the property in 2014. The community was built in 2001 and offers units reserved for residents earning 50 percent and 60 percent of the area median income (AMI). Al Beaumariage and Kyle Kolesar of KeyBank originated the loan on behalf of the borrower.
Southeast
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is expected to grant extensions to the 45-day identification period and 180-day purchase period that applies to commercial real estate investors seeking to transact via 1031 exchanges. The expectation that an extension will be granted is supported by Legal 1031 Exchange Services, a New York-based law firm specializing in this type of transaction. The firm is one of several trade groups that has pushed Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to make an official announcement on the subject. Historically, extensions for both periods have been 120 days in length. The IRS has already extended the deadline for filing federal income taxes for 2019 to July 15, 2020 in response to the pandemic.
LOUISVILLE, KY. — Molto Properties has broken ground on a 324,012-square-foot industrial building within Renaissance South Business Park in Louisville. The new speculative building will be situated on 22.4 acres and will feature 36-foot clear heights, ESFR sprinklers, LED lighting, 2,760 square feet of speculative office space, 234 car parking spaces, 98 trailer park spaces, a loading area with 42 dock-high doors and four drive-in doors. Molto expects to deliver the facility by December. Kevin Grove and Doug Butcher with CBRE will be leading the leasing/selling efforts of this project. Paul Hemmer Co. is serving as the general contractor. Louisville Renaissance Zone Corp. is the main developer of Renaissance South Business Park, a 680-acre business park situated two miles from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport.
State of Georgia to Set Up Alternate Care Facility at Georgia World Congress Center for Coronavirus Patients
by Alex Tostado
ATLANTA — The State of Georgia has signed a contract with Pacific Architects and Engineers (PAE) to build a 200-bed, alternate care facility at Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) in downtown Atlanta for coronavirus (COVID-19) patients, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced Sunday. Starting immediately, the Georgia National Guard, Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, Department of Community Health, Department of Public Health and contractors will begin to prepare GWCC to house and treat patients with mild to moderate illness levels excluding ventilator support. Nearby Grady Memorial Hospital will lend additional support to the center. As of Monday, April 13, there have been 10,726 confirmed cases in Georgia and 1,422 in Fulton County, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU). HealthData.org projects the peak date for COVID-19 cases in the state will be Sunday, April 26.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Cushman & Wakefield has arranged the sale of Consolidated Center, a four-building, 174,000-square-foot office campus in Winston-Salem. The property is situated on 9.5 acres at 3334 Healy Drive, five miles west of downtown Winston-Salem. The asset was 91 percent leased at the time of sale to tenants including Lowes Foods and Novant Health. David Finger and Sara Owen of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, Dallas-based Macfarlan Capital Partners, in the transaction. Greensboro, N.C.-based Deep River Partners acquired the property for an undisclosed amount.
US Travel Association: Spending Down 85 Percent from Last Year in Midst of Coronavirus Outbreak
by Alex Tostado
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A recent report from the U.S. Travel Association found that travel spending is down 85 percent from this time last year due to the worldwide coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The week ending April 4 saw $3.3 billion in spending, down from $21.9 billion the same week a year ago. The U.S. Travel Association says that with now five weeks of evident COVID-19 impact, the U.S. travel economy has lost $60.8 billion. More than $36 billion (60 percent) of these losses have been realized in the past two weeks. With the shared decrease in spending, the organization expects that 5.9 million travel-related jobs will be lost by the end of April. Southwest Airlines says it will cut flights by up to 50 percent in June. Furthermore, American Airlines has said it will cut 80 percent of its flights in May and cut its international summer flights by 60 percent. As of this writing, there were 547,627 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU). The U.S. Travel Association is a nonprofit organization representing the travel industry, such as airlines, cruise lines, buses, rail transportation, museums, amusement parks and state tourism offices, which generates …
In Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus resisted the Sirens’ beguiling music by lashing himself to the mast of his ship. But few relocating businesses, ambitious young people from the Midwest and Mid-South or multifamily developers have been able to resist the charming sounds wafting from Music City these days. Nashville’s pro-growth disposition, competitive operating cost structure, high quality of life and vital cultural scene make it a formidable competitor for investment and business relocation among U.S. growth markets. Beverage marketer Icee, e-commerce unicorn SmileDirectClub and Mitsubishi North America were just a few of the nearly 100 companies that elected to move headquarters operations to or expand in the Nashville area last year. The moves were emblematic of Nashville’s emergence as the go-to spot for major industries — Tennessee now ranks second among states for automobile manufacturing employment after Michigan — and fast-growing tech-focused start-ups. The pipeline is just as robust in 2020. Employment statistics speak for themselves. Nashville added 30,000 or more payroll jobs in each of the last eight years: one of only two U.S. metros in the under 1.5 million-job weight class to check that box (Austin is the other.) While the unemployment rate was only 2.8 percent in January, …
The Birmingham multifamily market demonstrated its evolving strength last year. Continued job growth and limited apartment inventory led to the area reporting its highest occupancy rate in 10 years (94.8 percent) and monthly effective rent advancing 1.8 percent annually to $984 by year-end. In the early months of 2020, we did not see any slowdown in terms of deal volume. Due to rising concerns around market volatility and ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 crisis, we are faced with uncertainty in terms of how the local Birmingham area, along with the rest of the country, will perform in the year ahead. It is difficult to predict market activity, but Birmingham has demonstrated positive trends worth noting. Catching investors’ eyes In recent years, the area’s employment growth and strong fundamentals have piqued investor interest. Out-of-state groups are increasingly venturing into Birmingham. This trend has led local developers to emphasize merchant-builds, actively constructing and redeveloping properties to fill this competitive demand. Off-market transactions have recently seen an increase in frequency as investors are able to be more aggressive on pricing, which is enhanced by this unprecedented interest rate environment. Across all asset classes, the Birmingham market has enticed investors with a variety of …
FALLS CHURCH, VA. — Equus Capital Partners Ltd. has sold a 282,542-square-foot office building in Fairfax for $52 million. The property is located at 8111 Gatehouse Road, 15 miles west of downtown Washington, D.C. The building was 92 percent leased at the time of sale. The Philadelphia-based seller recently implemented a $7 million capital investment program in the building that included adding a fitness center and locker rooms, as well as upgrading the lobby, common corridors, daycare and underground parking. James Cassidy and Jud Ryan of Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) represented the seller in the transaction. An undisclosed buyer acquired the property for $184 per square foot.
ATLANTA — The 32nd annual Hunter Hotel Investment Conference has been canceled for 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The conference, which brings together hotel investors, managers, developers, lenders and brokers, was originally scheduled for March 18-20 in downtown Atlanta, but was postponed indefinitely March 12 by Hunter Hotel Advisors. After much deliberation, the Atlanta-based organization decided to outright cancel the 2020 conference. “Through continually following the published guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and our local health officials we simply do not want to risk the health of any of our attendees or the people with whom they come into contact,” according to a statement that appears on the Hunter Hotel Conference website. In 2019, the conference attracted more than 1,850 attendees from across the Southeast. As of this writing, there are 467,184 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU). There are 1,336 confirmed cases in Fulton County, where the conference typically takes place. The next Hunter Hotel Investment Conference is now scheduled for March 9-11, 2021.