RICHMOND, VA. — CoStar Group Inc. has purchased a five-story, 117,448-square-foot office building in Richmond’s Manchester district. The locally based real estate information and analytics firm acquired the property for $20 million. The seller was not disclosed. Located at 901 Semmes Ave., the office building is situated across James River from CoStar’s planned corporate campus spanning 750,000 square feet. The property was vacant at the time of sale and was formerly anchored by SunTrust Bank (now Truist Financial Corp.), which relocated to an adjacent building. CoStar employs more than 1,200 people in the Richmond area. Over the next five to 10 years, CoStar expects to become the largest tech company and one of the largest private employers in Richmond.
RICHMOND, VA. — Pinecrest has broken ground on Parc View at Commonwealth, a 509-bed community in Richmond serving students attending Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). The 275,000-square-foot property will offer a mix of one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom units with bed-to-bath parity. Shared amenities within the 16-story community are set to include study spaces; a two-story parking garage with bike parking; a penthouse-level clubhouse; multi-purpose art studio; Zen wellness terrace; outdoor courtyard; and a rooftop deck lounge with grills, fire pits and seating. The project team includes Hickok Cole Architecture & Interior Design, Timmons Group Civil Engineering and Rycon Construction. Pinecrest, a student housing developer with offices in metro Chicago and Los Angeles, plans to deliver Parc View at Commonwealth in summer 2024.
NEW YORK CITY — New York City-based Vesper Holdings has acquired a four-property, 2,761-bed student housing portfolio for approximately $240 million. The properties are located in Georgia, Virginia, Kentucky and Indiana. Jaclyn Fitts of CBRE negotiated the transaction on behalf of the undisclosed seller. The properties in the portfolio include a 635-bed community located near Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind.; a 699-bed community located near the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Ky.; a 736-bed community located near Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Ga.; and a 691-bed community located near Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va. The portfolio had an average occupancy of 97 percent at the time of sale. This transaction brings Vesper’s portfolio to a total of 23,544 beds. Vesper’s portfolio is managed by Vesper’s subsidiary property management company, Campus Life & Style.
NEWPORT NEWS, VA. — Berkadia has secured $36.6 million in HUD-insured construction financing for Huntington Pointe Apartments, a 176-unit multifamily project in the Hampton Roads city of Newport News. Amy Gay and Stephen Murden of Berkadia secured the loan on behalf of the borrower, Virginia-based The Breeden Co. The 40-year HUD 221(d)(4) loan was financed through the HUD Green MIP Reduction program and features a fixed 3.36 percent interest rate and an 85 percent loan-to-cost ratio. Designed by Humphreys & Partners Architects, Huntington Pointe will offer one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans in one elevator building and two carriage-style, walk-up buildings. Community amenities will include a swimming pool, clubhouse with a clubroom, kitchen, business office and a fitness center. Located at 903 Denbigh Blvd., the property is situated about two miles from Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport and 30 miles from Norfolk.
ALEXANDRIA, VA. — Douglas Development has purchased 515 King St., a 70,000-square-foot office property in Alexandria. JLL represented the undisclosed seller in the $12 million transaction. The office property recently had renovations completed, including a lobby renovation, ground-floor retail renovation, designated office suites and the upgrade of coworking spaces. Additional plans called for refreshing the public spaces and incorporating a gym and locker rooms. Douglas Development is currently negotiating with perspective tenants for the retail spaces, with the anticipation of a restaurant opening. Located in the heart of Old Town Alexandria, 515 King St. is situated about nine miles from Washington, D.C.
ALEXANDRIA, VA. — St. Louis-based Twain Financial Partners has plans to redevelop Hotel Heron, an approximately 90,000-square-foot hotel redevelopment in Alexandria. Construction on the $76.5 million adaptive reuse project is set to begin in June and wrap by November 2023. Twain Financial provided $59.2 million in financing through a mixture of sale-leaseback financing and both federal and state historic tax credit equity on behalf of the developers, May Riegler Properties and Potomac Investment Properties. The Hotel Heron project will restore the original George Mason Hotel building, which was constructed in 1925. The hotel will contain 134 rooms and 30,000 square feet of amenities, meeting space, restaurant space and ground-floor retail. Aparium Hotel Group will manage the hotel and restaurant upon completion. The property is currently being used as an office building and parking garage.
RICHMOND, VA. — JLL Capital Markets has arranged the sale of Stony Point Fashion Park, a 396,961-square-foot, open-air shopping center in Richmond. David Monahan, Cameron Pittman, Jordan Lex, Jimmy Appich and Spotty Robins of JLL represented the seller, a receiver acting pursuant to a receivership order entered by the Circuit Court of the City of Richmond. Second Horizon Capital acquired the asset for an undisclosed price. Opened in 2003, Stony Point Fashion Park is anchored by Dillard’s and an 83,600-square-foot Saks Fifth Avenue. The center is also home to RH, Tiffany & Co., Brooks Brothers, Anthropologie, Latitude Seafood, P.F. Chang’s, CMX CineBistro, Vineyard Vines, Talbots, Fleming’s Steakhouse, Eggspectation and LensCrafters. Located on 45 acres at 9200 Stony Point Parkway, the property is situated 10 miles from downtown Richmond and 22.4 miles from Richmond International Airport.
FREDERICKSBURG, VA. — Bonaventure, in partnership with Cafaro Properties, has broken ground on Attain at Spotsylvania Towne Centre in Fredericksburg, located approximately 55 miles southwest of Washington, D.C. and 50 miles north of Richmond. The 271-unit, Class A apartment development will replace a former Sears anchor store that closed in early 2020, furthering the revitalization of the Spotsylvania Towne Centre mall. The apartment project will include amenities such as a resort-style pool, artificial turf recreation area, outdoor kitchen, clubhouse, business center and fitness center. According to Bonaventure, the development of Attain is projected to create 388 new construction-related jobs and generate more than $1.1 million in real estate and other tax revenues annually. A timeline for completion and construction costs were not provided. “As an experienced local developer that owns its assets for the long term, we are committed to delivering a rental housing experience that combines best-in-class architecture, amenities and service,” says Dwight Dunton, founder and CEO of Bonaventure. “We look forward to contributing both to Fredericksburg’s housing supply and the renaissance of this well-located property.” Owned by Cafaro Co., Spotsylvania Towne Centre is home to numerous retailers and restaurants. Early last year, the Spotsylvania Board of Supervisors approved …
ARLINGTON, VA. — Jefferson Apartment Group, with its Chilean-based partner STARS REI, has broken ground on a 98-unit apartment community at 1031 N. Vermont St. in Arlington. Construction is expected to be completed by early 2024. The new development will offer one-, two- and three-bedroom floorplans in a seven-story building. Unit features will include quartz countertops, tile backsplashes, stainless steel appliances and plank flooring. Many units will also include private terraces and balconies. Community amenities will include a resident lounge, rooftop terrace, below-grade parking totaling 120 spaces, 40 bicycle spaces and resident storage. KGD Architecture is the designer for the project and Donohoe Construction Co. is the general contractor. United Bank provided an undisclosed amount of financing.
KINGSTOWNE, VA. — Avison Young has brokered the sale of a retail portfolio totaling 410,398 square feet in Kingstowne, located in Fairfax County approximately 13 miles southwest of Washington, D.C. Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE: FRT) purchased the portfolio for $200 million. The deal will close in two parts, with the first half already completed and the second half scheduled to close in July. Dean Sands and Chip Ryan of Avison Young represented the seller, The Halle Cos. The portfolio is 97 percent leased to 61 tenants, including supermarkets Safeway and Giant. According to local news outlets, the properties also feature tenants such as T.J. Maxx, Ross, HomeGoods, &pizza and Cava. The retail portfolio includes a significant portion of Kingstowne Towne Center, a live-work-play power center in Virginia. The Halle Cos. developed Kingstowne Towne Center in the mid-1980s, converting 1,200 acres into a master-planned community. With large expanses of green space and a centralized town center, Kingstowne is considered one of Northern Virginia’s best places to live and work, according to Avison Young. “Kingstowne Towne Center, with its attractive demographics and significant barriers to entry, is reflective of our Northern Virginia growth strategy, and further demonstrates our corporate commitment to …