Top Stories

Midtown Opportunities Acquires Shops at Sunset Place in South Miami for $65.5M

by John Nelson January 18, 2021

SOUTH MIAMI, FLA. — Midtown Opportunities, a real estate investment fund based in Miami, has purchased The Shops at Sunset Place in South Miami for $65.5 million. The open-air lifestyle property features nearly 515,000 square feet of retail and office space leased to tenants such as AMC Theatres and LA Fitness. A partnership between Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE: FRT), Grass River Property Co. and Comras Co. sold the mixed-used development after more than five years of ownership. Midtown Opportunities has retained Grass River to manage the asset. Federal Realty, Grass River and Comras sold Sunset Place at a significant loss, according to the Miami Herald. The newspaper reported in 2015 that the buyers purchased a majority interest of the once-popular mall from Simon Property Group for $110 million. The Shops at Sunset Place is located on nearly 10 acres at 5701 Sunset Drive. The development is situated near the South Miami Metrorail Station, South Miami Hospital and the University of Miami. No details were disclosed about Midtown Opportunities’ plans related to Sunset Place. The property was 78 percent leased at the time of sale. Other tenants include Barnes & Noble, Gametime and Splitsville, as well as the Yumbrella Food …

January 18, 2021

California Development Leasing Activity Office Top Stories Western

Beyond Meat to Open 300,000 SF Headquarters Near Los Angeles

by Katie Sloan January 15, 2021

EL SEGUNDO, CALIF. — Beyond Meat Inc. (NASDAQ: BYND), a producer of plant-based meat replacement products, has signed a 12-year lease for a 300,000-square-foot corporate headquarters less than one mile south of Los Angeles International Airport at 888. N. Douglas St. in El Segundo. The headquarters will be located within a four-building, 550,000-square-foot creative office and industrial campus currently under development by Hackman Capital Partners, which is scheduled for completion this spring. Beyond Meat’s offices are set to open in fall of this year and will include advanced research labs and incubator spaces for the development of new technologies and more innovative products. The company’s headquarters is designed for LEED and Fitwel certification in alignment with Beyond Meat’s mission and commitment to sustainability and workplace wellbeing. “Our new campus and state-of-the-art research facilities will house cutting-edge fundamental and applied research alongside globalized product development teams, all in service to a single goal — creating meat from plants that is indistinguishable from its animal protein equivalent,” says Ethan Brown, founder and CEO of Beyond Meat. The JLL team of Gary Horwitz, Blake Searles, Connor Hall and Kamil Agha represented Beyond Meat in the leasing transaction. The company also tapped DPPM Project Management …

January 15, 2021

Acquisitions Industrial Massachusetts Northeast Top Stories

CBRE Arranges $154M Sale of Industrial Portfolio in Metro Boston

by Alex Tostado January 14, 2021

WILMINGTON, MASS. — CBRE has arranged the $154 million sale of an eight-building, 687,000-square-foot industrial portfolio in Wilmington. The properties were 96 percent leased at the time of sale to 27 tenants including Crate & Barrel, Energy Sciences, 3Step Sports and Altro USA Inc. A joint venture between Boston-based Oliver Street Capital and Bain Capital Real Estate acquired the portfolio, which spans 49 acres. The buildings are located at 21, 42, 65 and 80 Industrial Way; 42 and 80 Rear Industrial Way; 1 Progress Way; and 844 Woburn St., four miles north of the Interstate 95-93 interchange and 17 miles north of Boston Logan International Airport. Scott Dragos, Doug Jacoby, Chris Skeffington, Tony Hayes, Tim Mulhall, Roy Sandeman and Daniel Hines of CBRE represented the seller, I. Fred Dicenso Trust LLC, in the transaction. “Boston is a target market on all investors’ radar right now, and it’s not very often a true infill industrial cluster becomes available,” says Dragos. “What this portfolio uniquely offered was its scale, location, proximity to I-93 and market opportunities.” — Alex Tostado

January 14, 2021

Development Florida Hospitality Multifamily Single-Family Rental Southeast Top Stories

Dart Interests to Redevelop 1,100-Acre Resort Bordering Walt Disney World in Orlando

by Kristin Harlow January 13, 2021

ORLANDO, FLA. — Dart Interests has unveiled plans to redevelop Villas at Grand Cypress in Orlando into a massive vacation rental resort and hotel project named Evermore Orlando Resort. The 1,100-acre resort is adjacent to Walt Disney World. At full buildout in 2023, the 10,000-bedroom project will represent an equity investment in excess of $1 billion. Evermore’s first phase will include nearly 1,500 rooms spread across single-family rental homes, villas, flats and hotel guestrooms. Plans call for 69 houses ranging in size from five to 11 bedrooms. “Dart is introducing an entirely new hospitality category that will change the landscape of vacation rental homes,” says Christopher Kelsey, president of Dart. “We are creating the first-ever wholly owned, large-scale community of purpose-built vacation rental homes and operating them with hotel-quality standards.” According to Kelsey, Dart’s approach to this project solves the main problem for vacation renters — uncertainty in the quality of the home. The centralized ownership model ensures the same quality for each residence, as opposed to most other vacation homes that are owned by individuals. In addition to vacation homes, the complex will also include 76 four-bedroom flats, 41 two- and four-bedroom villas and a Conrad hotel, which is …

January 13, 2021

Acquisitions California Nevada Seniors Housing Top Stories Washington Western

Aegis Living, Blue Moon Capital Buy Seniors Housing Portfolio in Western US from Healthpeak for $350M

by John Nelson January 12, 2021

BELLEVUE, WASH. AND BOSTON — Aegis Living, a seniors housing owner and operator based in Bellevue, has acquired 10 properties from Healthpeak Properties Inc. (NYSE: PEAK). Aegis already operated the communities under a lease agreement with Healthpeak Properties, a Denver-based real estate investment trust (REIT). Aegis’ joint venture partner on the $350 million acquisition is Blue Moon Capital Partners LP, a Boston-based private equity investor in the seniors housing sector. The portfolio is located in Washington, California and Nevada, totaling 702 units of assisted living and memory care. The acquired communities include: • Aegis Living Callahan House (Shoreline, Wash.) • Aegis Living Shoreline (Shoreline, Wash.) • Aegis Living Kirkland (Kirkland, Wash.) • Aegis Living Las Vegas (Las Vegas) • Aegis Living Dana Point (Dana Point, Calif.) • Aegis Gardens Fremont (Fremont, Calif.) • Aegis Living Granada Hills (Granada Hills, Calif.) • Aegis Living San Francisco (San Francisco) • Aegis Living Pleasant Hill (Pleasant Hill, Calif.) • Aegis Living Ventura (Ventura, Calif.) The transaction is the largest in Aegis’ history. The acquisition is the next step in the company’s growth strategy, which includes doubling its ownership portfolio by 2030, according to Aegis’ founder and CEO Dwayne Clark. “At a time when …

January 12, 2021

Company News Development New Jersey Northeast Retail Top Stories

PREIT Receives Zoning Approval to Add Multifamily, Hotel Uses to New Jersey’s Moorestown Mall

by Taylor Williams January 11, 2021

MOORESTOWN, N.J. — Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT) has received a zoning approval that will allow the Philadelphia-based mall owner to add up to 1,065 multifamily units and a hotel to its Moorestown Mall in Southern New Jersey. For PREIT (NYSE: PEI), which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in early November, the move is part of a larger effort to diversify the real estate at several of its regional malls. Dubbed a “densification plan” by company executives, PREIT’s plan to sell parcels of land to multifamily developers is expected to generate as much as $150 million in proceeds that will be used to reduce its outstanding debt. The company is in the process of delivering 3,500 apartments across its properties as part of the initial phase of the plan, which could ultimately see as many as 7,000 multifamily units and several hotels added to PREIT’s properties. The first phase of the multifamily component at Moorestown Mall will consist of 375 units and a hotel with an unspecified number of rooms. “Our foresight has shaped a high-quality portfolio with a strong retail core that attracts a distinctive mix of new uses to redefine the future-ready retail and leisure district,” said …

January 11, 2021

Company News Retail Top Stories

Loves Furniture & Mattresses Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection

by Katie Sloan January 8, 2021

WARREN, MICH. — Loves Furniture & Mattresses, owned by Dallas-based private equity firm U.S. Assets Inc., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this week amid struggles brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Loves was formed in April of this year and acquired 27 Art Van Furniture locations across Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Virginia and Maryland in May. That deal did not include the stores’ underlying real estate, which had already been sold off, according to reports by the Detroit Free Press. The company also opened or acquired 13 additional locations between May and October of 2020 in Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The board of directors for Loves attributes the continuing pandemic, government restrictions on business operations, the need for additional operational financing and creditor demands as reasoning for the Chapter 11 filing. The Warren-based company plans to pare down its store count to 13. The remaining stores will host going-out-of-business sales organized by Planning Furniture Promotions, which assists furniture stores with liquidation, according to reports by The Detroit News. A testament to these struggles is seen in a lawsuit recently filed by Mississippi-based furniture maker Southern Motion Inc. and its subsidiary Fusion Furniture Inc., which alleges a break of contract by Loves …

January 8, 2021

Acquisitions Development Life Sciences Massachusetts Northeast Office Top Stories

BioMed Realty Acquires Former John Hancock Building in Boston, Plans Life Sciences Conversion

by Alex Tostado January 7, 2021

BOSTON — BioMed Realty has acquired the former headquarters of John Hancock Life Insurance Co. in Boston and plans to convert the 14-story building into a life sciences facility. The building, which is located at 601 Congress St. in the Seaport District, features floor plates ranging from 19,000 to 50,000 square feet, 11 elevators, 14-foot ceilings on the second and third floors, 12-foot ceilings on the fifth through 14th floors, a fitness center, six-story atrium, two rooftop decks, conference center and a café. The property has sat vacant since 2018 when John Hancock consolidated its Boston offices to its building in the Back Bay district. BioMed, a Blackstone subsidiary, acquired the 485,000-square-foot property from an affiliate of Manulife Investment Management for an undisclosed price. Robert Griffin, Edward Maher, Matthew Pullen and Samantha Hallowell of Newmark brokered the deal. BioMed says the building is ideal for the planned conversion due to its mechanical and structural infrastructure, collaborative meeting areas and strong visual identity. BioMed is yet to select a general contractor for the conversion project, which the San Diego-based company expects to deliver in the second half of 2022. The Seaport District is situated along the Boston Main Channel and is …

January 7, 2021

Affordable Housing Development Multifamily Southeast Tennessee Top Stories Virginia Washington Western

Amazon Launches $2B Housing Equity Fund to Preserve, Create 20,000 Affordable Housing Units

by Kristin Harlow January 6, 2021

SEATTLE — Amazon has launched its Housing Equity Fund, a more than $2 billion commitment to preserve and create over 20,000 affordable housing units in Washington State’s Puget Sound region; Arlington, Va.; and Nashville, Tenn. — three metro areas where the company has or expects to have at least 5,000 employees each in the coming years. Amazon’s first investments include $381.9 million in below-market loans and grants to the nonprofit organization Washington Housing Conservancy (WHC) to preserve and create up to 1,300 affordable units at the Crystal House multifamily property in Arlington. WHC purchased Crystal House recently using Amazon’s capital. Rents at the property will be significantly lowered to target households earning less than 80 percent of the area median income (AMI). The conversion of existing apartments to affordable units began on Jan. 1 and will continue over the next five years. A 99-year covenant ensures that Crystal House will remain affordable for the long term. Arlington County has lost approximately 14,400 privately owned, affordably priced housing units since 2000, according to the county’s government. In addition, the Seattle-based online retail giant has committed $185.5 million in below-market loans and grants to King County Housing Authority (KCHA) to preserve up …

January 6, 2021

Acquisitions Development Mixed-Use North Carolina Office Retail Southeast Top Stories

Epic Games Acquires Metro Raleigh Mall for $95M, Plans New Headquarters Campus

by John Nelson January 5, 2021

CARY, N.C. — Epic Games Inc., a global gaming company whose products include the hit video game “Fortnite,” has purchased a distressed mall in Cary for its new headquarters campus. The property, Cary Towne Center, spans 980,000 square feet and in recent years lost three of its five anchor tenants, with only Dave & Buster’s and Belk remaining. Epic purchased the 87-acre site from Turnbridge Equities and Denali Properties for $95 million. Stephen Porterfield of Capital Associates represented Epic in the transaction. Founded in 1991, Epic has had its headquarters in Cary for more than 20 years and will continue to operate from its offices at 620 Crossroads Blvd. until completion of the redevelopment, which is estimated to be in 2024. Epic plans to break ground on the adaptive reuse project this year, thanks in part to Turnbridge and Denali getting Cary Towne Center rezoned in late 2019. The developers purchased the distressed mall in January 2019 for $31 million, according to Triangle Business Journal. Turnbridge and Denali had planned to transform the mall into a 4 million-square-foot project dubbed Carolina Yards, but ultimately decided to sell the property to Epic. “Epic shares our vision for transforming Cary Towne Center …

January 5, 2021

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