TYSONS, VA. — Akridge and the Ronald D. Paul Cos. have acquired 1690 Old Meadow Road in Tysons, a Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C., for $7.6 million. The pair plans to redevelop the existing 13,000-square-foot training facility for GEICO into a 250,000-square-foot office building. Upon completion, the 11-story project will sit atop a five-story parking garage and offer ground-floor retail space and on-site amenities such as a conference facility, in-building wireless, a restaurant and a landscaped terrace with common space and bocce ball courts. The property sits directly across the street from the McLean Metro Station and planned Wegmans grocery store. KGD Architecture is designing the redevelopment. The sale of 1690 Old Meadow Road resulted from a tri-party agreement with GEICO and Merritt Properties. GEICO is relocating its current training facility to a new build-to-suit facility in Merritt’s Ashbrook business park in Ashburn, Va. Jeff Groh and Michael Blyumin of JLL represented GEICO, and Joseph Svatos of Akridge represented the buyers in the transaction. Andrei Ponomarev of Akridge represented GEICO in the development and construction phase of the project.
Richmond has become a multifamily safe haven with unemployment rates below the national average and the second-best annual rental returns in the nation at 20.42 percent. Richmond’s high annual returns are due in large part to its population. The city has become a mecca for young adults as 32.2 percent of the population is in its 20s and 30s — well above the national average of 22 percent. This population’s drive for an urban, walkable lifestyle is generating a great deal of development in the CBD, as well as the Manchester submarket where Virginia Commonwealth University’s (VCU) Institute for Contemporary Art is located. VCU’s art institute is the No. 1 art and design school in the country, and continues to draw in Millennials looking to take advantage of the open and historic downtown district surrounding the James River. Richmond’s flourishing, younger population is demanding adaptive re-use and new development and developers in Richmond are answering the call. Areas such as Scott’s Addition, Shockoe Bottom and Manchester have all seen new mid and high-rise developments in recent months that are attracting a plethora of new tenants. Highlights of Richmond’s apartment market include: • 1,000 units are currently under construction with an …
ATLANTA — Marcus & Millichap’s Atlanta office has brokered the $54.9 million sale of a portfolio of five Walmart Neighborhood Markets. Three of the stores are located in Roanoke, Va., one is in Lawton, Okla., and one is in Dell City, Okla. Russell Malayery, Drew Hines and Walter Chapman of Marcus & Millichap’s Atlanta office represented the buyer, a Florida-based private investor, in a 1031 exchange. The seller is a merchant developer. Tom Mann of Marcus & Millichap’s Tulsa, Okla., office is Marcus & Millichap’s broker of record in Oklahoma. Bryn Merrey of Marcus & Millichap’s Washington, D.C., office is the firm’s broker of record in Virginia. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has a 20-year lease at all five stores.
FAIRFAX, VA. — An affiliate of Atlanta-based Songy Highroads LLC has purchased the Hyatt Fairfax at Fair Lakes in Fairfax, roughly 19 miles west of Washington, D.C. The 14-story hotel was constructed in 1989 and features 316 guestrooms, a 24-hour fitness center, heated indoor pool, jogging trails, the NoVa Market convenience store, patio for outdoor events and 9,000 square feet of meeting space, which includes a 4,140-square-foot ballroom. The hotel also features the NoVa Grill and NoVa Bar as dining options for guests. Songy Highroads plans to implement a $14 million renovation to the hotel, which will include updating the pool and fitness center, upgrading rooms and corridors to Hyatt Regency standards and converting 30 to 60 of the guestrooms into extended stay rooms. Future improvements could include enhancing the hotel entrance and adding new meeting space. Songy Highroads hired Ambridge Hospitality to manage the hotel.
WOODBRIDGE, VA. — Pearlmark has closed a $14.8 million mezzanine loan that provided financing for Penzance in the acquisition of Elan Potomac Heights, a recently constructed 288-unit, Class A apartment complex located in Woodbridge, Va. At the time of acquisition, the property was 93 percent leased. The investment was made on behalf of Pearlmark Mezzanine Realty Partners IV (Mezz Fund IV), a fully discretionary investment fund. A major life insurance company provided fixed-rate senior financing. Mark Witt of Pearlmark arranged the transaction. Mezz Fund IV announced its initial closing in June. Mezz Fund IV serves as the firm’s exclusive mezzanine investment vehicle.
FAIRFAX CITY, VA. — NAI KLNB has brokered the $15.3 million sale of Mosby Tower, a six-story, 114,000-square-foot office building located in Fairfax City in northern Virginia. The seller, Premier Suites LLC, recently invested $250,000 to transform the former apartment community into a small office suite complex. The buyer, Korth Investment Properties Group, was self-represented. Christopher Kubler, Brad Berzins and Josh Simon of NAI KLNB represented the seller in the transaction.
HERNDON, VA. — Federal Capital Partners (FCP) has purchased One Dulles Tower, a 400,000-square-foot, Class A office building located at 13200 Woodland Park Drive in Herndon, for $84 million. The property is located two miles east of Dulles Airport and a half-mile from both the future Herndon and Innovation Center Silver Line Metro stations. The office tower is fully leased by Booz Allen Hamilton, a business management consultant that will vacate the property before the end of the year. Bill Collins, Paul Collins, James Cassidy, Jud Ryan and Drew Flood of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, Corporate Office Properties Trust, in the transaction.
FREDERICKSBURG, VA. — Lidl, a grocery retailer based in Germany, has purchased a four-acre land parcel in Spotsylvania County for $3.1 million. Lidl plans to build a 36,000-square-foot grocery store on the site, which is located at the intersection of Gordon Road and Route 3 in Fredericksburg. J.R. Burdette and Jonathan Gardner of Coldwell Banker Commercial Elite represented the seller, Henderson Properties, in the land transaction. This is the second store site purchased by Lidl in Spotsylvania County. In August, Lidl closed on a two-acre parcel in Southpoint II across Southpoint Parkway from Lowe’s Home Improvement and adjacent to 7–Eleven. The company is looking to enter into the U.S market with its first stores planned in Virginia and expected to open no later than 2018. In June, Lidl also purchased an 82-acre parcel to build a major distribution warehouse in Spotsylvania County. The distribution warehouse in Spotsylvania County is planned to be approximately 1 million square feet and cost around $125 million. The facility is also projected to provide 200 local jobs.
RESTON, VA. — Comstock Partners LLC has signed a roughly 10,000-square-foot lease with Farmers Restaurant Group (FRG) for restaurant space at Reston Station, a transit-oriented, mixed-use development located in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Reston. FRG’s Founding Farmers, an American eatery serving farm-to-table food, plans to open its new restaurant at Reston Station in late 2016. Currently under construction, Reston Station will serve as the gateway to the Wiehle Reston-East Metro Station and the terminus of Phase I of Metro’s new Silver Line.
HAMPTON, VA. — CBRE | Richmond and CBRE | Hampton Roads have brokered the $18 million sale of New Hampton Commons Apartments. The 252-unit apartment community is located at 1482 Queens St. in Hampton. Klein Hampton LLC purchased the asset from New Hampton LP. The apartment community comprises one-, two- and three-bedroom townhomes and was 95 percent occupied at the time of sale. The property features a community clubhouse, amenity deck and swimming pool. Craige Pelouze and Charles Wentworth of CBRE | Richmond, along with Dan Johnson and Hank Hankins of CBRE | Hampton Roads, represented the seller in the transaction.