MIAMI — Tower Commercial Real Estate has launched a full-service cannabis real estate brokerage division in Florida. Tower has closed $50 million worth of cannabis-related retail and industrial transactions in the past 18 moths and has another $15 million of cannabis-related sales expected to close by the end of the year in the state. Senior managing director Scott Allen and senior director Rob Foster of Tower will lead the division. As of May 2, Florida had 213,000 people enrolled in its medical marijuana program with more than 10,000 people signing up each month, making it one of the fastest medical marijuana programs in the country, according to Tower.
Main Street is making a comeback, and this is not news by any means. This growing trend is not only affecting real estate in the greater Atlanta area, but also throughout the United States. Main Street’s demise began with the design of President Eisenhower’s interstate highway system. It allowed travelers to bypass once sustaining rural towns and divided urban cities in their hearts. In Atlanta, it’s easy to notice with the unconscionable prejudice that comes with the interstates that divide our city compounded by the inefficiency of MARTA. The fall of Main Street was further catalyzed by the rise of the service-based economy and exportation of U.S. manufacturing to low cost nations, allowing larger retailers to capitalize and increase their market share by selling low-cost goods. Increasing affordability, especially for consumer goods, is great for everyone -— no one wants to be digging out of their savings for daily necessities — especially in a time when almost half the country cannot afford a $400 medical bill. However, this increased our fascination with saving on discretionary spending and led to increased demand for the “big-box” store. Large retailers’ capitalization on this trend led to increased foot traffic to their centers. Developers’ …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Lee & Associates has named Josh Simon president of the firm’s new Washington, D.C/Northern Virginia regional office. Simon previously served as a partner with NAI KLNB. Pierce Kruetzer — also formerly of NAI KLNB — joins Simon as a principal with the new Lee & Associates office. Simon expects to grow the office with eight to 10 brokers to assist clients in need of office landlord representation, office tenant representation, retail leasing, industrial leasing, debt services and investment sales services. “Establishing a presence in Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia is an extremely critical component of the Mid-Atlantic expansion strategy outlined by Lee & Associates several years ago, given the continued strength and momentum of the commercial real estate sector surrounding the Nation’s Capital,” notes Allan Riorda, Lee & Associates Board Member and President of the Maryland office. “This program most recently initiated in central Pennsylvania with the opening of the Harrisburg office. Over the next several years, we intend to establish locations in Baltimore, Frederick, Hagerstown and points throughout northern Virginia including Dulles and Tysons Corner.” Simon says, “With its business model, Lee & Associates is able to offer more competitive commission splits, backed by similar tools …
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Madison Capital Group has broken ground on 577 Meeting Street, a 118-unit apartment complex within an Opportunity Zone in downtown Charleston. Madison Capital expects the project to deliver in early 2021. 577 Meeting Street will offer studio and one-bedroom floor plans. Patterson Real Estate Advisory Group arranged construction financing through CIBC Bank USA on behalf of Madison Capital, which is also raising equity for the project through a single-asset Opportunity Zone Fund. This is Madison Capital’s eighth multifamily development in Charleston.
PERRY HALL, MD. — Senior Helpers has broken ground on Town Square, an 11,000-square-foot center in Perry Hall that will cater toward seniors in the area. Senior Helpers, a provider of in-home senior services, plans to open Town Square this fall. Town Square, situated at 9708 Belair Road, 15 miles northwest of downtown Baltimore, will offer seniors an interactive environment set in the 1950s. This is the first of several planned centers around the country. Each new Town Square will feature an interactive midcentury “town” that includes 13 distinctive storefronts and experiences that evoke the age when most members were young adults. These experiences include a 1950s-era diner, vintage car, movie theater, library, game room and garden shop, all arranged around a green central park. Each Town Square is designed to accommodate 100 guests per day. The first Town Square will be open to seniors in the Baltimore metro area and surrounding communities.
CHARLESTON, S.C. — FCP and High Real Estate Group have sold Plantation Oaks, a 264-unit multifamily community in Charleston, for $36.1 million. New York-based White Eagle Property Group acquired the property. In July 2015, FCP recapitalized the property and became partners with High Real Estate for Plantation Oaks, as well as a property in Charlotte that also sold to White Eagle. Plantation Oaks offers one- and two-bedroom floor plans and communal amenities including a bark park, pet spa, 24-hour health club, residential clubhouse, car care center, boat parking, fitness center and a saltwater swimming pool. Alex Okulski and Anthony Rotunda of Newmark Knight Frank represented the sellers in the transaction.
LOUISVILLE, KY. — A joint venture between Hendon Properties and Harbert United States Real Estate Fund VI LP (HUSREF VI) has sold Westport Village, a 169,515-square-foot shopping center in Louisville, for $30.3 million. Westport Village is situated at 1315 Herr Lane, 10 miles east of downtown Louisville. Since acquiring the site in May 2016, Hendon Properties has signed 13 new leases totaling 56,000 square feet and renewed 32 leases totaling 102,000 square feet. Birmingham, Ala.-based Wicker Park Capital Management LLC acquired the center.
PASADENA, MD. — KeyBank Real Estate Capital has provided a $26.6 million, non-recourse bridge loan to refinance Pasadena Crossroads, a 320,249-square-foot retail center in Pasadena. The loan includes funds for leasing and capital expenditures. The center was originally built in 1973 and was renovated earlier this year. Hobby Lobby, Art Van Furniture, LA Fitness and Sprouts Farmers Market anchor the property, which is 37 percent leased. Jacob Proctor of KeyBank arranged financing on behalf of the undisclosed borrower.
ATLANTA — Jamestown has acquired The Shops Buckhead Atlanta, a 355,646-square-foot retail and office property in Atlanta’s Buckhead district. Situated along Peachtree Road and bounded by Pharr Road and Buckhead Avenue, The Shops Buckhead Atlanta is home to international retail brands such as Hermès and Tom Ford, as well as restaurants, entertainment and fitness tenants. The office space is fully leased to two tenants, Spanx’s global headquarters and No18, the first U.S. coworking location. Additionally, the property includes two prime development sites totaling 2.7 acres. OliverMcMillan developed the upscale, six-block property in 2014. In 2018, Brookfield Residential purchased OliverMcMillan and certain assets in its portfolio, which did not include Shops Buckhead Atlanta. Richard Reid, Trey Morsbach, Barry Brown, Jim Hamilton and Mike Allison of JLL represented the seller, an institutional joint venture, in the transaction. Atlanta-based Jamestown, which developed Ponce City Market and Manhattan’s Chelsea Market, will host a series of town hall meetings in the coming weeks that will be open to the community.
ORLANDO, FLA. — Orlando has topped CBRE’s list of tech talent momentum markets in the firm’s annual Scoring Tech Talent Report, which measures growth and acceleration in 50 cities across the United States and Canada. Over the two-year period from 2017-2018, the tech talent labor force in Orlando grew 14.1 percent compared with the previous two-year period. According to the study, San Diego and Chicago were the second and third fastest growing cities with 10.2 percent and 8 percent increases from 2017-2018, respectively. Cleveland (7.9 percent) and Long Island, N.Y. (7.1 percent) round out the top five growing markets. CBRE also found that the number of students completing tech degrees in Orlando increased 59.1 percent from 2013 to 2017, a year in which 2,744 students completed such degrees in Orlando. The report found that the 10 fastest-growing markets increased their tech labor pools between 33 and 54 percent over the past five years.