With a 20 percent increase in population in the City of Richmond over the past half decade, and more to come, the city still struggles to attract national retail tenants such as The TJX Cos., Williams-Sonoma and Ann Taylor LOFT, as well as other soft and hard goods users. What Richmond does not struggle attracting are breweries, distilleries, regional and local restaurant operators and many start-up retailers dipping their toes into the growing 22 to 35 demographic calling Scott’s Addition and Manchester home. The food-and-beverage scene in Greater Scott’s Addition is blowing up with the addition of restaurant operations such as ZZQ (rated the best BBQ in Richmond), Lucky AF (from EAT Restaurant Partners), Wood & Iron, Tazza Kitchen and the James Beard Award-winning Peter Chang’s. When coupled more than 15 breweries, distilleries and the city’s only meadery, this energy is attracting ‘retailtainment’ such as River City Roll, Bingo Beer, The Circuit, Tang & Biscuit, Movieland by Bow Tie Cinema and Brambly Park. TRP (Thalhimer Realty Partners), Historic Housing (Louis Salomonsky’s firm) and Capital Square 1031 are local companies leading the developments, and Greystar and Bonaventure have come in from out of town to plant their flag as well. The …
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA. — Northmarq has negotiated the $43 million sale of Bayville Apartments, a 240-unit, Class B multifamily property located at 1512 Kindly Lane in Virginia Beach. Wink Ewing, Mike Marshall and Matt Straughan of Northmarq represented the seller, Thalhimer Realty Partners, in the transaction. Keith Wells, Reina Abboud and Hunter Wood of Northmarq’s debt and equity team arranged an undisclosed amount of acquisition financing on behalf of the buyers, Linden Property Group and Matador Capital Management. Bayville Apartments consists of one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans with short-term leases available for residents. Community amenities include a business center, bark park, onsite maintenance and management, package receiving, a playground and a pool.
ASHLAND, VA. — Merritt Properties has acquired Crescent Business Center, a five-building industrial park totaling 262,256 square feet in Ashland, about 10 miles north of Richmond. An affiliate of Thalhimer Realty Partners Inc. doing business as Crescent Business Center LC sold the asset for $41.3 million. Eric Robison of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer represented the seller in the transaction. Crescent Business Center is situated along I-95 on 20 acres and features an additional 19 acres for future development. The park was fully leased at the time of sale to tenants including Trane U.S., Electronic Systems, Motion Industries and Sunbelt Rentals.
Similar to the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, a gap has started forming with price expectations between apartment owners and investors. The price disparity at the start of the pandemic was driven namely by market uncertainty, adjustments to underwriting assumptions and increases to lender and insurance escrow requirements. As the pandemic played out, we saw a mass exodus from denser gateway cities, an influx of government stimulus money and a phasing out of state-specific stay-at-home orders that allowed the economy to open back up. Capital moved away from the retail and hospitality industries hit the hardest, with the multifamily sector reaping the benefit. The second half of 2020 saw a dramatic rise in rents, occupancy and new lease and renewal signings. These trends led to a calming of the debt and capital markets, paving the way for the price gap between buyers and sellers to evaporate as an unprecedented wave of investment flooded into the multifamily space, with 2021 hitting a new high of $213 billion of investment volume, well above the previous peak of $129 billion in 2019, according to Yardi Matrix data. Now midway through 2022, we’re seeing a buyer-seller price gap begin to take …
CHESTERFIELD, VA. — American Landmark has purchased Element at Stonebridge, a 400-unit apartment community located at 301 Karl Linn Drive in Chesterfield, just south of Richmond. The seller and sales price were not disclosed. Built in 2016, Element at Stonebridge offers one- and two-bedroom floor plans ranging from 563 to 1,236 square feet. The apartments include designer wood cabinets, granite counters with deep sinks and chrome fixtures, full-size washers and dryers, plank flooring, walk-in closets and island kitchens in most units. Amenities include a saltwater pool, 24-hour fitness center, yoga studio, clubroom with billiards and TVs, outdoor game and TV lounge, courtyard with grills and firepit, 24-hour business center and community Wi-Fi. Element at Stonebridge marks American Landmark’s second acquisition in Virginia this year, following Boulders Lakeside Apartments in January, which is only an hour away from Element at Stonebridge.
At the mid-year mark, industrial occupancy in the greater Richmond area remains strong, closing with an overall occupancy rate of 98.5 percent in the categories being tracked (Class A, B, select C vacant and investor-owned product with a minimum of 40,000 square feet total RBA). Class A occupancy remained steady at 97 percent at the end of the second quarter. Class B occupancy also remained steady at 94 percent at the end of the first quarter. CoStar Group reports overall industrial occupancy at 96.8 percent for product of all sizes, including investor-owned facilities, but excluding flex space (minimum 50 percent office). There remains a shortage of space in the 25,000- to 50,000-square-foot range as most spec buildings being built are larger single-tenant buildings. Richmond’s strategic Mid-Atlantic location along Interstate 95 provides access to 55 percent of the nation’s consumers within two days’ delivery by truck, and in addition to being the northernmost right to work state on the Eastern seaboard, Virginia has once again been named as the No. 1 state for business by CNBC. Metro Richmond has a civilian labor force of almost 700,000 (1.03 million population) with unemployment rates at 3.7 percent as of June. With 12 Fortune …
TAMPA, FLA. — JLL has provided $262 million in Freddie Mac loans for the refinancing of a portfolio of six Southeastern multifamily properties totaling 1,494 units. Tampa-based Carter Multifamily owns the properties, which are located in Maryland, Virginia and Alabama. The portfolio comprises all garden-style assets, including: the 326-unit Park at Kingsview Village in Germantown, Md. the 240-unit Stonecreek Club in Germantown, Md. the 336-unit Hunt Club in Gaithersburg, Md. the 220-unit Springwoods at Lake Ridge in Woodbridge, Va. the 180-unit Windsor Park in Woodbridge, Va. the 192-unit Oaks of St. Clair in Moody, Ala. Melissa Marcolini Quinn and Lee Weaver of JLL originated the debt through Freddie Mac. Each of the loans was features a seven-year term and a floating interest rate. JLL, which will service the loans, also secured $40 million in new equity as part of the larger recapitalization of the portfolio. The equity partner was not disclosed. “Despite turbulent debt markets, we were able to facilitate a refinance of the portfolio with favorable senior financing from Freddie Mac, which was attracted to the deal due to the portfolio’s contribution to its mission and the borrower’s strong track record,” says Quinn. — Taylor Williams
PORTSMOUTH, VA. — Woda Cooper Cos. Inc. has opened Holley Pointe, an affordable housing community located at 622 Effingham St. in downtown Portsmouth. The property features 50 two- and three-bedroom apartments reserved for residents earning up to 30 to 80 percent of area median income. Rents are $350 to $1,135 per month depending on the unit size and income restriction. Designed by Hooker DeJoung Architecture, community spaces at Holley Pointe include a community room with a kitchen, library, laundry, fitness room, elevator, park areas with benches, bike racks and off-street parking, as well as an onsite leasing and management office and 6,500 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor. Virginia Housing awarded Low Income Housing Tax Credits to Woda Cooper to support financing, including equity invested by Wells Fargo. Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust also provided construction financing. The project team includes civil engineer Hoggard-Eure Associates and structural engineer Speight Marshall Francis. Holley Pointe is named after the late Dr. James Holley III, a former mayor of Portsmouth.
NEW YORK CITY — A joint venture between two New York City-based investors, Turnbridge Equities and Fundamental Advisors LP, has sold its five-building Northern Virginia Cybersecurity and Defense Infrastructure office portfolio for $220 million. The buyer was undisclosed. The joint venture began assembling the 860,000-square-foot portfolio in 2018 with the goal of mitigating rollover risk related to single-tenant occupancy by creating a multi-tenant portfolio with staggered lease terms. The properties were 96 percent occupied at the time of sale by tenants that include Lockheed Martin Corp., General Dynamics Corp., Boeing and Northrop Grumman Corp. The portfolio includes a 205,074-square-foot property at 460 Herndon Parkway in Herndon; a 84,652-square-foot property at 14700 Lee Road in Chantilly; a 112,623-square-foot building at 21700 Atlantic Blvd. in Sterling; a 184,414-square-foot property at 12450 Fair Lakes Circle in Fairfax; and a 273,713-square-foot complex located at 10302 and 10304 Eaton Place in Fairfax. Eric Berkman, Shaun Weinberg and Kevin Sidney of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller in the transaction. “Cybersecurity is among the fastest growing areas of government contracting, and the portfolio was assembled to take advantage of these trends with a strong roster of leading tenants that are immune to work-from-home trends …
WINCHESTER, VA. — The Meridian Group and Wickshire Industrial have broken ground on Phase I of One Logistics Park, a 2.7 million-square-foot industrial campus located near I-81 in Winchster. The first phase comprises a 1 million-square-foot, cross-dock facility that will feature 40-foot clear heights, 50- by 54-foot column spacing, tilt-wall construction, 65-foot speed bays, 250 trailer drops and 230 parking spaces. At full buildout, the 277-acre One Logistics Park will feature distribution facilities as well as 100,000 square feet of quick-service restaurants, a gas station/convenience store and other retail options. The project team includes civil engineer Gordan, horizontal construction manager Perry Engineering and architect and general contractor Shockey. John Lesinski and Ben Luke are leading the Colliers team to market the project.