BILOXI, MISS. — Majestic RV Resorts has purchased 22.8 acres of beachfront property from Trustmark Bank for nearly $3 million. The buyer plans to develop an upscale RV park on the property, which is a vacant commercially zoned property. The property is located one block east of the Mississippi Coast Coliseum and adjacent to the former Broadwater Hotel. Sam Ford, an agent affiliated with Coldwell Banker Commercial Alfonso Realty, represented the seller. Marques Thomas with Biloxi-based Latitude Realty represented the buyer in the deal. Majestic RV Resorts has existing RV parks in Savannah, Ga., and Naples, Fla.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Maryland-based REIT JBG Smith Properties (NYSE: JBGS) has sold the Lion Building, a 154,384-square-foot office property in Washington, D.C., for $65 million. The Lion Building, which is located at 1233 20th St. near Dupont Circle, houses the embassies of Vietnam and South Sudan. The location puts the property within walking distance of three different Metrorail stations, 500 retail stores and restaurants and eight hotels. Jim Meisel, Andrew Weir, Matt Nicholson and David Baker of HFF represented JBG Smith in the sale. This quartet of investment advisory professionals also procured the buyer, a joint venture between private investment manager GreenOak Real Estate and Mid-Atlantic investment firm MRP Realty. Cary Abod, Dan McIntyre and Robert Carey of HFF arranged $47.6 million in acquisition financing for the transaction. The lender and loan terms were not disclosed. JBG Smith’s stock price closed at $37.10 per share on Friday, October 26, up from $31.26 per share a year ago. The company, which is listed on Standard & Poor’s MidCap 400 Index, owns and operates assets in infill markets around the Washington, D.C. area. — Taylor Williams
Richmond is thriving and the office market is following suit. The office market, like the broader Richmond region, benefits from Richmond’s diverse economy, high-quality of life at a reasonable cost of living and the steadily growing, highly educated workforce. These attributes make Richmond an attractive option for large employers evaluating cities for operations. Recent entrants to Richmond include CoStar Group, ICMA-RC and Owens & Minor. The CEO of CoStar pointed to Richmond’s educated workforce, affordability and excellent quality of life as the reasons Richmond recently beat out several other Southeast U.S. cities as the new home for the company’s global research headquarters. Growth from within Richmond is also driving the market with new developments of over $1 billion in the pipeline or currently under construction from two of Richmond’s largest employers: Virginia Commonwealth University Health System and Dominion Energy. Their developments in downtown Richmond are accompanied by a wide array of creative office developments in the formerly industrial Scott’s Addition micro-market located near the convergence of Interstates 64 and 95. The city of Richmond continues to be the recipient of most new office development with suburban development being limited and mainly healthcare centric, led by Bon Secours Health System and …
ATLANTA — State Farm Arena, located at 1 State Farm Drive in downtown Atlanta, has opened its doors following a $192 million renovation program, the second largest renovation in NBA history. The Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club committed to an 18-year lease extension to remain in downtown Atlanta at the city-owned arena through 2046. The former Philips Arena features the NBA’s third-largest center-hung scoreboard and fan-friendly food pricing. Restaurant and entertainment options include Zac Brown’s Social Club, Topgolf Swing Suites, Killer Mike’s Swag Shop and a baseline bar and club known as Courtside Club. The Atlanta Hawks celebrated the arena with its home opener against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, Oct. 24. With a sold-out crowd, the Hawks beat the Mavericks 111 to 104. The arena hosts approximately 200 events and nearly 2 million guests annually.
TAMPA, FLA. — Birmingham, Ala.-based Capstone Development Partners has completed the second phase of the Village, an on-campus student housing development at the University of South Florida in Tampa. The second phase of the 2,171-bed mixed-used community features 1,300 beds in three residential buildings. Community amenities include living-learning and activity spaces, classrooms, study rooms and community kitchens, as well as retail space occupied by Starbucks Coffee and BurgerFi. The Village primarily serves first-year students.
ATLANTA — BlackRock, an asset management firm and a technology solutions provider, has selected Atlanta for the company’s newest Innovation Hub. The company plans to expand its presence in Fulton County, partner with the Atlanta business community and local universities and create 1,000 career opportunities over the next several years. This expansion will extend BlackRock’s technology capabilities, as well as provide close proximity to Georgia Tech, where BlackRock sponsors the BlackRock Hallac Scholarship for socioeconomically disadvantaged students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). “Atlanta’s culture of collaboration with public and private stakeholders bolsters our region’s economy, creates well-playing jobs and expands economic opportunity,” says Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. “The opening of BlackRock’s Atlanta Innovation Hub continues this legacy, and we look forward to welcoming and working with them.” According to Dr. Eloisa Klementich, president and CEO of Invest Atlanta, the technology business expansions in Atlanta in 2018 alone are projected to create an economic impact of $500 million, as the companies create thousands of new jobs and millions of dollars of capital investment.
NORTH MIAMI, FLA. — Berkadia has secured $46.5 million in refinancing for the recapitalization of Causeway Square, a 168,956-square-foot mixed-use development located in North Miami. The borrower is Taubco, a real estate developer and manager based in South Florida. 3650 REIT, a Miami-based real estate lending, investment and services firm, provided the 10-year loan. Charles Foschini, Chris Apone and Robert Iudice of Berkadia arranged the financing. Built in 2009 and 2010, Causeway Square features 86,877 square feet of Class A office space, a 5,000-square-foot TotalBank branch, 4,000-square-foot Vitamin Shoppe and a 43,679-square-foot LA Fitness, as well as a 416-spot parking garage. The property is currently 96 percent leased, according to Berkadia.
NORTH PORT, FLA. — A joint venture between West Villages and The Sembler Co. has broken ground on West Villages Marketplace, a grocery-anchored neighborhood shopping center at the corner of West Villages Parkway and U.S. 41 in North Port, a city in south Sarasota County. A 47,000-square-foot Publix will anchor the 105,000-square-foot retail plaza, which is slated to open in fall 2019. Additional tenants will include a mix of services and restaurants. The shopping center is the first retail node to be integrated into the West Villages Florida, a master-planned community that features single-family neighborhoods, schools, State College of Florida-Venice, a wastewater treatment plant and the new $125 million spring training facility for the Atlanta Braves.
TYSONS, VA. — KPMG, one of the world’s Big Four accounting firms, has signed a lease to occupy up to seven floors of The Boro, an under construction 20-story office tower in Tysons. The Meridian Group and Rockefeller Group are co-developing the tower, with Skanska constructing the Gensler-designed building. KPMG plans to relocate approximately 1,830 employees from its current office at 1676 International Drive in Tysons to the new property in 2019. The move brings preleasing to more than 60 percent ahead of construction completion, with approximately 178,000 square feet remaining at the tower. Additional committed tenants include Hogan Lovells, a global law firm, TEGNA, Whole Foods Market and Kerasotes Showplace Theatres. Situated on 15 acres, the transit-oriented property will feature office, retail, restaurant and outdoor space. The LEED Gold-designed tower features nine- to 10-foot ceilings, efficient floorplans and a rooftop terrace. Rob Faktorow and Terry Reiley of CBRE represented the landlords, while Phil Leibow and Bill Craig of JLL represented KPMG in the lease.
MEMPHIS, TENN. — HFF has arranged $85 million in permanent financing for Crosstown Concourse, a mixed-use development in Memphis. The borrower is a joint venture between Crosstown LLC, Crosstown Arts and Kemmons Wilson Cos. The 1.2 million-square-foot Crosstown Concourse is a historic adaptive reuse of the former Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalog order plant and retail store that originally opened in 1927. Situated on 12 acres, the property has been preserved and redeveloped into 645,704 square feet of commercial space, 65,000 square feet of retail space and 265 residential units, averaging 1,044 square feet each. Brian Carlton and Jason Nettles of HFF secured the 20-year, fixed-rate loan through JP Morgan Asset Management on behalf of one or more of its investment advisory clients. At the time of financing, the property was 95 percent leased and has an average of 3,000 visitors per day. Current tenants include Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, ALSAC – St. Jude, Church Health, Crosstown Arts, Cristian Brothers University, Memphis Teacher Residency, Crosstown High School and Teach for America.