WASHINGTON, D.C. — Divco West Real Estate Services (DivcoWest), a real estate investment firm based in San Francisco, has opened an office in Washington, D.C. Located at 1620 L St. N.W., the new location joins the firm’s roster of offices in Boston, Los Angeles and New York. Additionally, DivcoWest has acquired Avalon Woodland Park, a 392-unit apartment community in Herndon, Va., for an undisclosed price. The company purchased the asset in partnership with Arlington, Va.-based Blackfin Real Estate Investors and renamed the property as Adara Herndon. The gated community features a fitness center, resort-style pool, picnic tables and park benches, sand volleyball court, children’s playground and private garages.
DUMFRIES, VA. — HREC Investment Advisors has arranged the sale of Holiday Inn Dumfries-Quantico Center, a 107-room hotel located at 3901 Fettler Park Drive in Dumfries, approximately 30 miles from downtown Washington, D.C. Nabria Capital sold the property for an undisclosed price. The name of the buyer was not released. Kevin Hanley and Ketan Patel of HREC’s Washington, D.C., office represented the seller in the transaction. Situated 6.4 miles from Marine Corps Base Quantico, the hotel features complimentary wired and wireless internet access and 32-inch TVs with cable programming. On-site amenities include an outdoor pool, 24-hour fitness center and the Quantico Bar and Grill.
MCLEAN, VA. — Freddie Mac has announced that Deborah Jenkins will be named executive vice president and head of its Multifamily division, effective immediately. Additionally, Jenkins has assumed a role as member of the company’s Senior Operating Committee. “Debby’s transition into her role as head of the Multifamily business has progressed very well,” said Donald Layton, CEO of Freddie Mac. “Debby is dedicated to ensuring this growing segment of our company continues to be an industry leader, innovator and a critical financier of rental housing that is affordable to low- and moderate-income families.” In September, Freddie Mac announced the retirement of CEO Donald Layton taking place in the second half of 2019, as well as the commencement of the CEO Succession Plan and the elevation of former head of Freddie Mac Multifamily, David Brickman, to president of the company. Since 2010, Jenkins has led Multifamily Underwriting and Credit, overseeing all credit approvals and due diligence processes, asset level securitization activities, as well as credit policies and governance for all Multifamily’s products.
If you mention the phrase “retail apocalypse” to anyone in the Richmond market, you will immediately receive a puzzled look back. The Richmond retail market is about as far away from a retail apocalypse as any market in the country. Yes, we have seen the Toys ‘R’ Us, Sears, Macy’s and Kmart closures, but with close to 83 million square feet of retail space in the Richmond MSA, the current retail vacancy rate is below 5 percent. The vacancy rate is at, or near, a record low and demand for more space remains robust. New retail development projects are leasing quickly and several noteworthy redevelopment projects are in the works. In May 2016, Wegmans opened its first 120,000-square-foot Richmond store at Stonehenge Village along Midlothian Turnpike. In August of that same year, Wegmans opened its second store at West Broad Marketplace in Short Pump. Since those two openings, Richmond has received new attention from many national tenants, developers, and investors looking to enter the market. Market activity has been driven by the likes of Wegmans, Kroger, Publix, Aldi, Lidl and Whole Foods Market, as well as Gold’s Gym, Planet Fitness and Crunch Fitness. In 2016, Ahold announced it would sell …
MCLEAN, VA. — Cohen Financial has secured a $12.5 million loan with Reinsurance Group of America for the acquisition of a retail property in McLean, about 10 miles west of Washington, D.C. Thomas Wiedeman of Cohen Financial secured the fixed-rate, non-recourse, 11-year loan with a 20-year amortization schedule and a 65 percent loan-to-value ratio for the borrower, a local commercial real estate investor. REI Tysons occupies the 32,857-square-foot, single-tenant property located at 8209 Watson St. in McLean.
BLACKSBURG, VA. — Hunt Real Estate Capital has provided a $9 million first mortgage bridge loan for the acquisition and renovation of a student housing portfolio located near Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in Blacksburg. The acquisition includes two garden-style student housing communities — Carlton Scott Apartments and Stonegate Apartments — totaling 196 beds on two non-contiguous parcels at 500 Broce Drive and 600 Appalachian Drive. The portfolio consists of 13 two- and three-story buildings offering one-, two- and three-bedroom units. The borrower, Willow Creek, plans to begin exterior renovations on both properties upon closing. Renovations are set for completion in May 2019.
VIENNA, VA. — MetLife Investment Management has provided a $156.2 million loan for the refinancing of Modera Avenir Place, a grocery-anchored mixed-use development in Vienna. The development was completed in two phases in 2013 and 2015 and includes 628 residential units and is anchored by a ground-floor Harris Teeter supermarket. Additional retail tenants include Inova Care Center and Thai by Thai restaurant. Nicole Brickhouse, Jamie Leachman, Jennifer Keller, Mike Tepedino, Sue Carras, Walter Coker and Brian Crivella of HFF secured financing on behalf of the borrower, a joint venture between Mill Creek Residential Trust LLC and institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management, to secure the floating-rate loan, which provided the borrower with the most flexibility, according to HFF. Loan proceeds were used to retire existing construction financing. The residential units at the stabilized property include stainless steel appliances, quartz countertops and central heat and air conditioning as well as hardwood-style flooring. Community amenities include two swimming pools with sun decks, grilling stations, billiards, gaming consoles and business centers with cyber cafes.
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 …
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.
While there has been a strong demand for investment properties in Richmond, there remains a limited availability of both freestanding facilities and portfolio deals. In recent investment activity, the Byrd Corporate Park in eastern Henrico County sold to a joint venture between Dreyfuss Investments and Wells Holding Group for $31.3 million after previously transferring in 2011 for $26.3 million. The 10-building flex complex spans 475,783 square feet and was 80 percent leased at the time for sale. The three-building Interport Business Center, also located in eastern Henrico, sold at the end of 2017 to MDH Partners, adding to its Richmond International Airport area holdings. Containing 620,296 square feet total, the complex sold for $29 million and is now fully leased. Leasing Buoys Occupancy Local expansion has remained strong, a trend consistent with the Richmond market, and regional and national companies with an existing presence in the area have also announced expansions. The metro area has also seen the introduction of new manufacturers with large industrial footprints, further evidencing the benefits of the area’s location and infrastructure. At the mid-year mark, the Richmond area’s industrial market has continued to strengthen, closing with an overall occupancy rate of 94 percent in the …