NASHVILLE, TENN. — Albion Residential has secured a construction loan for the first of two residential towers at Albion Music Row, the company’s previously announced multifamily development in Nashville. The Chicago-based developer and Clark Construction recently broke ground on the first tower, a 29-story high-rise comprising 458 units. Matthew Schoenfeldt, Mary Dooley and Brian Dawson led the JLL team that secured the undisclosed amount of financing for the first tower through Pacific Life Insurance Co. The first high-rise will include micro, studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, as well as 4,000 square feet of ground-level restaurant/brewery space. Amenities will include indoor and outdoor fitness studios, a rooftop pool and library, coworking space and a music lounge with a recording studio and podcast room. Albion Residential expects to deliver the first units in fall 2026. Upon completion, Albion Music Row will span two acres and comprise 850 apartments, as well as restaurants, shops and a public plaza on the ground level. The design-build team includes Chicago-based Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture and several Nashville-based companies: Barge Cauthen & Associates (civil engineer), Hodgson Douglas (landscape architect), SDL (structural engineer) and I.C. Thomasson (MEP engineer).
Tennessee
NASHVILLE, TENN. — Video game developer Iron Galaxy Studios has signed a 25,000-square-foot office lease at 333 Commerce in Nashville. The company, which has studios in Chicago and Orlando, will be relocating from UBS Tower, where it occupied space on a temporary basis. Kevin Ziomek, Corey Siegrist and Jim Rose of JLL represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Amenities at the building include an 8,000-square-foot fitness center, outdoor courtyards and recently renovated lobby and common areas.
Naftali Credit, J.P. Morgan Provide $120M Financing for Mixed-Use Project in Nashville
by John Nelson
NASHVILLE, TENN. — Naftali Credit Partners and J.P. Morgan have provided $120 million in financing for 1111 Church Street, a recently developed multifamily and retail project in Nashville. New York City-based Tidal Real Estate Partners is the borrower. The five-year financing comprises a senior loan from J.P. Morgan and a mezzanine loan from Naftali, which will be used to refinance an existing construction loan and provide bridge financing to a sale or permanent financing. Keith Kurland, Aaron Appel, Jonathan Schwartz, Adam Schwartz, Michael Diaz and Michael Ianno of Walker & Dunlop arranged the financing on behalf of the borrower. Located in the North Gulch neighborhood, the property features 380 multifamily units in studio, one- and two-bedroom layouts, in addition to 52,000 square feet of amenities, 45,000 square feet of retail space and dedicated parking. Amenities include an outdoor pool, fitness center, pickleball court and golf simulators, and a recently opened Puttshack.
CHATTANOOGA, TENN. — Developer 3H Group has broken ground on a new, 123-room Hyatt-branded hotel in Chattanooga. Dubbed the Caption by Hyatt Chattanooga, the property is being developed under a franchise agreement between 3H and Hyatt Hotels Corp. The Caption brand reflects Hyatt’s aim for the hotel to cater to “sociable travelers who want to work, eat, or socialize in communal spaces that encourage meaningful conversations.” Upon completion, the hotel will feature a 24-hour market, workspaces, a rooftop bar, meeting space and food-and-beverage concept Talk Shop. This will mark the second Caption by Hyatt hotel in Tennessee. A construction timeline for Caption by Hyatt Chattanooga was not disclosed.
ANTIOCH, TENN. — FCP has acquired Hickory Lake Apartments, a 322-unit multifamily community located at 3940 Apache Trail in Antioch, roughly 11 miles outside Nashville. The property features units in one-, two- and three-bedroom layouts. Amenities at the community include two swimming pools, a playground and grill and picnic areas. FCP assumed a HUD loan as part of the acquisition. Zac Wracher of The Kirkland Co. represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction. The sales price was also not disclosed.
Villas Student Housing, Student Quarters Break Ground on 605-Bed Community Near University of Tennessee
by John Nelson
KNOXVILLE, TENN. — A partnership between Villas Student Housing and Student Quarters has broken ground on a 605-bed student housing development across from the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville. The 235,000-square-foot community will be located at the intersection of 1425 Rocky Shore Lane and 1440 Cityview Lane. The property will offer units in studio through five-bedroom configurations across two six-story buildings. Shared amenities will include a resort-style swimming pool, basketball court, fitness center and study spaces. The design-build team for the project includes Rhode Partners, Southern Building Group, DCI Engineers, Cannon & Cannon and V3 Consulting Engineers. The development is anticipated for completion in summer 2026.
MEMPHIS, TENN. — CBRE has arranged a $12 million acquisition loan for a 150,000-square-foot distribution center located at 6325 Global Drive in southeast Memphis. The facility, which features nearly 40,000 square feet of cold storage space, was fully leased to Vistar, a division of Performance Food Group, at the time of financing. Bob Ybarra, Bruce Francis, Shaun Moothart, Doug Birrell, Nick Santangelo and Jim Korinek of CBRE’s Capital Markets Debt and Structured Finance team arranged the financing on behalf of the buyer, Pacifica Real Estate Group. The loan was underwritten with a 10-year term and 5.55 percent interest rate. The seller was not disclosed.
MARLBOROUGH, MASS. — BJ’s Wholesale Club, an operator of member retail warehouse locations, plans to open five new clubs in the Southeast and Indiana this fiscal year, which ends Feb. 1, 2025. The new clubs will be located in Maryville, Tenn., a suburb of Knoxville; Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Palm Coast and West Palm Beach in South Florida; and Carmel, Ind., a suburb of Indianapolis. Earlier this month, the Marlborough-based company announced its plans to open a new store near Jefferson Mall in Louisville, Ky. BJ’s Wholesale expects each new club to create roughly 150 new jobs. The company first opened its warehouse club model in New England in 1984. Today, BJ’s Wholesale operates 244 clubs and 175 BJ’s Gas stations in 20 states.
CHATTANOOGA, TENN. — A partnership between Novare Group and Batson-Cook Development Co. (BCDC) has begun leasing Populus Waterside, a 344-unit apartment community located along Gunbarrel Road in Chattanooga. First residents are beginning to move into the property, which offers studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans. Monthly rental rates range from $1,400 to nearly $2,500, according to the property website. Amenities include a game room, coworking micro-offices, fitness center with a yoga room, resort-style pool, sun deck, tanning ledge, a dog park, pet spa and an outdoor fire pit. The design-build team includes architect Dynamik Design, civil engineer MAP Engineers and general contractor Construction Enterprises Inc.
Nashville Attracts Big Brands Like In-N-Out While Carving Out Distinct Pocket Neighborhoods
by John Nelson
By Katie Lester of Colliers Nashville’s economy experienced some of the healthiest growth in the nation in 2023, with a job growth rate of 3.7 percent, putting it among the top five of the largest 50 metros. Forecasted by Oxford Economics, overall jobs are projected to grow 1.2 percent in 2024 and by 0.8 percent per year in 2025 through 2028, outpacing the U.S. average of 0.5 percent. Nashville also received high marks from the Urban Land Institute, ranking the “No. 1 Market to Watch” in its 2024 Emerging Trends in Real Estate report. This is the third consecutive year that Nashville has earned the top spot in this ranking, a true nod to the confidence and strength of Nashville’s commercial real estate market. The report credits Nashville and other “Supernova” cities as having above-average levels of economic diversity and high-wage jobs that attract investors’ appeal and confidence in sustaining high growth in the coming years. These fundamentals have been a boon to the retail market and have helped attract new-to-market retail brands to Middle Tennessee. Most notably, after a multi-city, multi-state search over the course of two years, In-N-Out Burger picked Middle Tennessee to locate its Eastern Operations Hub, …