ASHBURN, VA. — A joint venture between Novais Partners and the Hanover Co. has announced plans for Rivana at Innovation Station, a 4.4 million-square-foot mixed-use development located 30 miles outside Washington, D.C., in Ashburn. The 103-acre, transit-oriented project will be developed adjacent to Loudoun County’s extension of the Metro Silver Line, one stop from Washington-Dulles International Airport. Current plans for the project include 2,000 multifamily units; 1.8 million square feet of Class A office space; a 185,000-square-foot retail village; a 265-room boutique hotel; and a network of green and public spaces, including an 11-acre park. At the center of the project will be Rivana Village, a walkable network of retail and creative office space inspired by the communal villages that dot Virginia’s landscape. Tenants for this portion of the project will include creative, independently-owned restaurants and local retailers. The development’s office space will include hotel-quality amenities as well as post-COVID-era design and engineering, with advanced filtration systems, upgraded air filters and enhanced cleaning protocols. Each office building is targeting LEED certification. The project’s development team plans to submit a land use application next week for consideration by the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors. Pending legislative approval, Novais expects to break ground …
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MIAMI — Melo Group has started construction of Downtown 1st, a transit-oriented multifamily development at 22 SW 1st St. in Miami’s central business district (CBD). The 57-story tower will include 560 market-rate apartments, 10,000 square feet of office space and 3,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. Completion is slated for 2022. Downtown 1st will include one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. Units will feature glass balconies with bay and city views. Building amenities will include two swimming pools, a fitness center, business center, social room/game room, 24-hour concierge/security and a multi-level garage with valet service. The site for Downtown 1st is in close proximity to Miami-Dade County’s Government Center, the Main Public Library, the Miami-Dade County Courthouse, Miami-Dade College’s Wolfson Campus, the New World School of the Arts and Brightline’s MiamiCentral Melo is also building Downtown 5th, twin 52-story apartment towers in Miami’s CBD. Pre-leasing is underway for the 1,042 units, which are slated for completion this summer. The firm is planning a third multifamily project nearby dubbed Downtown 6th that will total roughly 800 units. All told, Melo Group is expected to deliver nearly 2,500 residential units to Miami’s CBD over the next two years. “We’re bullish on downtown Miami’s CBD,” says Carlos Melo, co-principal of …
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — Jamestown, an Atlanta-based developer and owner of adaptive mixed-use developments around the world, has partnered with Southeast real estate developers William Cogswell and Jay Weaver to redevelop the 45-acre North Charleston Navy Yard. Decommissioned in 1996 but still home to dozens of companies, the waterfront campus will be reimagined into a 1.2 million-square-foot mixed-use neighborhood called Navy Yard Charleston. The project will add new office space, residences, shopping and dining to the nearby Park Circle neighborhood, as well as new green spaces, a concert hall and an outdoor events venue. The development team expects to break ground and begin renovations this year. No other construction timelines or associated costs were disclosed. While Navy Yard Charleston will go through extensive renovations, the team has made a commitment to preserve the area’s architectural detail and history, and bring new amenities to the community. The team also plans to establish a neighborhood employment program, which will reserve project-specific positions for local residents who live within the neighborhood and include a training program to help job seekers enhance their skills. Beginning its operation as a working dry dock in 1901, the Navy Yard maintained a naval presence on the North …
MENLO PARK, CALIF. AND NEW YORK CITY — Flexible office space provider WeWork has entered into an agreement with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) BowX Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: BOWX) to be taken public at an initial valuation of $9 billion. A SPAC is a business entity with no commercial operations that is formed strictly to raise capital through an initial public offering (IPO) for the purpose of acquiring other companies. Menlo Park, Calif.-based BowX Acquisition Corp. is an affiliate of Bow Capital, a venture capital firm begun by Vivek Ranadive, the founder of TIBCO software and owner of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings. The transaction, which is expected to close by the third quarter, will provide New York City-based WeWork with approximately $1.3 billion of cash to fund future growth initiatives. The transaction will be funded with BowX’s $483 million of cash in trust, in addition to $800 million in private investment from capital sources such as Insight Partners, funds managed by Starwood Capital Group and others. SPACs have recently grown in popularity among private and institutional investors alike as vehicles for taking companies public. According to Forbes, which recently analyzed the U.S. activity of SPACs, these entities raised as much …
ARLINGTON, VA. — JBG Smith has started construction of two residential towers at 1900 Crystal Drive in National Landing, a massive development project just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The buildings will total 808 multifamily rental units and around 40,000 square feet of street-level retail across two mixed-use buildings in Arlington. A 27-story southern tower will feature 471 apartments, while the 26-story northern tower will include 337 apartments. 1900 Crystal Drive will feature a private rooftop and green spaces, as well as a pedestrian-friendly street that will serve as a connection between 18th and 20th streets. The property will also have neighborhood improvements such as enhanced streetscapes, a grand staircase connecting to public open space and public bike facilities. National Landing comprises three neighborhoods: Crystal City, Pentagon City and Potomac Yard, that spread across Arlington and neighboring Alexandria. In 2018, online retail giant Amazon choose National Landing for its new headquarters, and JBG Smith was hired as developer, leasing agent and property manager for the project. Amazon says it plans to hire around 38,000 employees in National Landing. Amazon’s growing presence in National Landing is expected to increase the daytime population in the submarket from approximately 50,000 people …
PLANTATION AND MIAMI BEACH, FLA. — Just outside Miami, two large-scale residential developments are underway totaling $695 million. The projects include the Five Park high-rise in Miami Beach and Plantation Walk in Plantation. Five Park A joint venture between Terra, GFO Investments and New Valley is preparing to break ground on Five Park, a $345 million residential tower located at 500 Alton Road in Miami Beach. The 48-story tower will become the tallest building in Miami Beach upon its completion in 2023, according to the developers. Designed by Arquitectonica with interiors by Gabellini Sheppard, Five Park is set to offer 280 two-, three- and four-bedroom residences and penthouses. Shared amenities will include two swimming pools; a restaurant; sunset viewing lounges; a resort-style spa; state-of-the-art fitness center with outdoor exercise areas; a cafe; sky lounge; and building concierge. The Five Park project will also include the development of Canopy Park, a three-acre public park offering green space, pedestrian and bike paths, an outdoor gym, a dog run, children’s playgrounds and public art displays. Construction of the park is scheduled for completion in summer 2021. Approved plans for the site also include the development of Miami Beach Canopy, a pedestrian bridge spanning 5th …
ATLANTA — Google will occupy 19 floors of its new Atlanta office currently under construction in Midtown. The office tower is part of a mixed-use development known as 1105 West Peachtree. Selig Enterprises is developing the office tower, which is slated for completion in the third quarter of 2022. In addition to the 645,000-square-foot office component, the overall project will include a 64-unit condominium tower and a 178-room Epicurean Hotel. Starting next year, Google will take occupancy of five floors, or roughly 150,000 square feet of the Midtown office building. The company says it will move into the remaining space over the next several years. Last week, Google announced that it planned to invest more than $7 billion in offices and data centers across the country and create at least 10,000 new full-time jobs. Of that investment, $25 million is in the state of Georgia. In its 2020 Economic Impact Report, Google shared how more than 67,000 businesses, publishers and nonprofits in Georgia used Google products last year. This activity generated $9.9 billion in economic activity in 2020, a 13 percent increase from 2019. Google has called Georgia home since 2003. The company maintains an existing Midtown office, as well …
ST. LOUIS — Mac Properties, a multifamily residential developer with offices in Chicago, Kansas City and St. Louis, has delivered a luxury apartment tower in St. Louis called One Hundred Above the Park. Clayco was the general contractor for the 36-story project, which overlooks Forest Park within the city’s Central West End neighborhood. “We are proud to have completed this world-class landmark for St. Louis in the midst of the pandemic,” says Matt McKenna, Clayco’s vice president of residential construction. “The project’s success is the result of months-long planning, scheduling and logistical collaboration between all stakeholders.” Mac Properties worked closely with St. Louis Development Corp. and the City of St. Louis to bring One Hundred Above the Park to fruition, and Clayco kept construction on schedule by completing one floor per week. Architect Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang designed One Hundred Above the Park with a “scalloped” glass façade. The angled exterior gives each of the 316 apartments a corner living room with double windows, which helps Mac Properties to improve energy efficiency by promoting natural lighting. Each floorplate is designed into a leaf-shaped pattern, which gives the tower a tiered look. “We hope residents enjoy this distinctive high-rise for …
MIAMI — Shorenstein Properties, a privately owned investment firm with offices in New York City and San Francisco, has sold 2 & 3 MiamiCentral, a 320,000-square-foot office complex in the city’s downtown area. A fund backed by Blackstone purchased the property for $230 million. Constructed in 2018, the two-building complex is located within MiamiCentral, a transit-oriented, mixed-use development that spans nine acres and roughly 3 million square feet of residential and commercial space. The site’s history as a transit hub dates back to 1896, when it served as the southern terminus for Henry Flagler’s Florida East Coast Railway that ran throughout the Florida Keys. According to the Miami Herald, Florida East Coast was the original developer of the MiamiCentral project in 2007. The first office building rises 17 stories and includes a 288-space valet parking garage. The second building comprises four floors of office, eight levels of parking and a 33,000-square-foot Publix grocery store on the ground floor. Amenities include a conference room, caterer’s kitchen, fitness center with locker rooms and an outdoor amenity deck. In addition, the adjacent MiamiCentral train station houses an 18,000-square-foot food hall with more than 20 different food and beverage vendors. Blackstone is also a …
NEW YORK — JLL Capital Markets has arranged $393 million in construction financing for a project that will convert a 399,029-square-foot office building at ABC/Disney’s former headquarters building in Manhattan into a life sciences facility with purpose-built research and lab space. The borrower, a partnership controlled by New York City-based developer Taconic Partners and investment firm Nuveen Real Estate, purchased the building at 125 West End Ave. in 2019 for $230 million. With the vacating of the property by its primary tenant, which operated out of the building from 1985 until its lease expired in January of this year, the partnership is set to begin construction. The senior lender on the four-year, floating-rate financing package was a fund backed by Apollo Global Management, while Oaktree Capital Finance also provided mezzanine debt for the project. Evan Pariser and Geoff Goldstein of JLL placed the financing. The 125 West End Ave. building is located less than a quarter-mile from Lincoln Square and is close to the 1, 2 and 3 subway lines as well as West Side Highway. Additionally, the project is situated just 18 miles from the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. The existing building’s specs allow …