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AUSTIN, TEXAS — Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc. (NYSE: RHP) has reached an agreement with Stratus Properties Inc. (Nasdaq: STRS) to purchase Block 21, a mixed-use and entertainment development occupying a full city block in downtown Austin. Ryman has agreed to purchase the property from Stratus for $275 million, including a debt assumption of $142 million. Block 21 houses Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theater, a 2,750-seat venue that hosts America’s longest running music series, Austin City Limits. Past artists that have played the annual concert series include Dave Matthews Band, Lauryn Hill, Beck, Elvis Costello, Coldplay, Robert Plant, Cyndi Lauper and B.B. King. The project also features W Austin Hotel & Residences, 3TEN ACL Live club, 40,000 square feet of Class A office space and 18,000 square feet of retail and restaurants, including Starbucks and Urban Outfitters. Built in 2010, Block 21 anchors downtown Austin’s 2nd Street District. “Ryman Hospitality Properties’ expertise in both hospitality and live entertainment, plus their demonstrated stewardship of the iconic Ryman Auditorium and Grand Ole Opry, make them the ideal company to usher Block 21 and ACL Live into their next decade,” says William Armstrong III, president, CEO and chairman of the board …

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CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO., CARUTHERSVILLE, MO., AND NEW CUMBERLAND, W.V. — VICI Properties Inc. (NYSE: VICI), a New York City-based REIT that specializes in casinos, has acquired three such properties in Missouri and West Virginia. Eldorado Resorts Inc. sold the assets for $278 million in an all-cash deal. In Missouri, Isle Casino Cape Girardeau is located in Cape Girardeau in the southern part of the state, while Lady Luck Casino is a riverboat casino in Caruthersville, located even further south near the Tennessee-Missouri border. Both cities are situated along the Mississippi River. In West Virginia, Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort is in New Cumberland, a city situated along the Ohio River in the northern part of the state. Isle Casino opened in 2012 and features 41,500 square feet of casino space, three dining venues, a pavilion and an entertainment center. Lady Luck opened 1995 and consists of a dockside casino spanning 21,500 square feet, two restaurants and a 40,000-square-foot pavilion. Mountaineer opened as a racetrack and resort in 1951. The casino debuted in 1994 and offers a 357-room hotel, five dining venues, 1,486 gaming machines and 36 table games. VICI Properties has also entered into an agreement with Colorado-based Century Casinos …

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Quadrant Willows

REDMOND, WASH. — San Francisco-based investor The Roxborough Group LLC has acquired Quadrant Willows, a 248,041-square-foot, Class A office complex in Redmond, an eastern suburb of Seattle. The purchase price was $73.6 million, according to the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce. The four buildings of Quadrant Willows are located along Willows Road in the tech-dominated Redmond submarket. The seller, Equus Capital Partners Ltd., acquired the complex in 2016 and has since completed $850,000 worth of renovations. “We were able to assemble an attractive four-building portfolio, through two separate acquisitions, in one of the most dynamic office markets in the country and take the occupancy from a combined 78 percent at acquisition to 100 percent at the time of sale,” says Robert Butchenhart, vice president for Equus and manager for Equus’ West Coast office. Redmond benefits from Microsoft’s 8 million-square-foot corporate headquarters and the Eastlink Light Rail transit line. “The Redmond submarket is one of the most dynamic Eastside submarkets with 21.5 percent rent growth over the past 24 months. Vacancy, including Microsoft, is at 4.4 percent with overall Eastside vacancy at 4.3 percent,” says Joe Lynch, executive managing director of Newmark Night Frank (NKF), which represented the Equus in the …

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Clearview City Center Metairie

METAIRIE, LA. — The Richards family, the longtime owner and operator of Clearview Shopping Center in Metairie, has unveiled plans to transform the 700,000-square-foot regional mall into a mixed-use destination. Located at 4436 Veterans Memorial Blvd., the new Clearview City Center sits on a 35-acre site approximately six miles northwest of downtown New Orleans. The $100 million project will add a hotel, 260 upscale apartments, open-air restaurants with rooftop seating, 100,000 square feet of office space and green space for outdoor events and concerts. “This is what the next-generation consumer is looking for in a mixed-use development, and we’re bringing it here to the heart of Jefferson Parish,” says Thomas Richards, managing partner of Richards Clearview LLC. The redevelopment will create over 1,600 jobs and is expected to have a $123 million economic impact during construction alone, according to an analysis conduced by Greater New Orleans Inc. Once all phases are complete and Clearview City Center opens, it will support 420 total jobs and deliver $26 million in annual economic impact. Construction on the first phase of the Clearview City Center development is expected to begin in mid-2020, with the shopping center remaining fully operational throughout. The Richards family and …

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NEW ORLEANS — Developers Carpenter & Co. Inc. and Woodward Interests LLC will open a 341-room Four Seasons hotel in New Orleans. The property will also include 92 private residences on the top floors of the building. The project is a redevelopment of the 33-story World Trade Center office building. Completion is slated for late 2020. Two Canal Owner LLC, in which both developers are partners, will own the building. The first Four Seasons in New Orleans, the property will be situated within the central business district. It will be located next to the French Quarter, Warehouse District and the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center and feature views of the Mississippi River. “New Orleans has been a priority market for us for many years and we have been waiting for the right opportunity to make our debut in this dynamic city,” says John Davison, president and CEO of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. The hotel will include meeting and event spaces, four food and drink outlets, retail space, spa facilities and a rooftop pool. Mali Carow, a Four Seasons veteran of almost 20 years, will serve as general manager. Founded in 1960, Four Seasons currently operates 117 hotels and resorts …

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PAWTUCKET, R.I. — Fortuitous Partners has unveiled plans for Tidewater Landing, a $400 million mixed-use development along Pawtucket’s waterfront. The project will include office, residential and hotel space, as well as a 7,500-seat soccer stadium and sports complex for a future United Soccer League (USL) team. Fortuitous Partners will fund the project, while public investment from both the city and state will primarily focus on infrastructure and other non-stadium components of the development plan. “This is an opportunity of a lifetime for the City of Pawtucket, the Blackstone Valley and the State of Rhode Island,” says Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien. “This $400 million investment in one of Pawtucket’s Opportunity Zones will create jobs and be a transformative economic development at the gateway into our state.” Upon completion, Tidewater Landing will comprise more than 200 housing units, 100,000 square feet of retail space, a 200-room hotel, an indoor sports event center and 200,000 square feet of office space. The project is currently focused on the Tidewater and Division Street sites that are owned by National Grid and the city, respectively. The final development sites, phasing, construction costs and schedule for the project will be finalized during an upcoming due diligence period, …

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TYSONS, VA. — A partnership between locally based developer Foulger-Pratt and USAA Real Estate has broken ground on Tysons Central, a 25-story speculative office project located within the Tysons Corner submarket of Northern Virginia. Tysons Central will span 383,628 square feet. Approximately 91 percent of the space will be dedicated to office use, with the remainder for retail and restaurant use. The building will feature 9-foot ceilings and column-free floors that support floor plates ranging in size from 26,000 to 29,000 square feet. Amenities will include a penthouse and fitness center on the top floor, as well as elevated terraces on the upper portion of the building. Gensler designed the project, which will be located just steps away from the Greensboro Metro Station. “As competition for talent intensifies, companies have increasingly selected highly connected and amenitized locations that appeal to an educated urban workforce,” says Cameron Pratt, CEO of Foulger-Pratt. “With only a handful of large blocks available in Tysons, we believe the market will respond strongly to the project’s world-class design, modern efficiencies and unrivaled walkability to transit, local residential and destination retail.” Avison Young has been tapped to lease the building, completion of which is scheduled for 2021. …

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gateway-at-millbrae-calif

MILLBRAE, CALIF. — A partnership between Republic Urban Properties and Principal Real Estate Investors is preparing to break ground on a transit-oriented, mixed-use project named Gateway at Millbrae Station in Millbrae, a suburb just south of San Francisco. Located at the Millbrae Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station, the development will comprise 157,000 square feet of office space, 320 market-rate apartments, 80 affordable housing units, a 164-room hotel, 400 homes and 44,000 square feet of retail. Development costs are estimated at $401 million. The two developers formed a partnership called Republic Millbrae LLC, which will finance, construct and own the residential and office components of the project. “Gateway at Millbrae Station promises to be the new standard for revitalizing transit stations by increasing ridership while increasing revenues and creating much-needed affordable housing and jobs for the city of Millbrae and San Mateo County,” says Michael Van Every, president and CEO of Republic Urban Properties. The Millbrae BART Station and parking garage will remain open during construction, which is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, Dec. 4. “BART’s transit-oriented development helps the Bay Area address two of its greatest challenges: worsening traffic congestion and the lack of affordable housing,” says Bevan Dufty, …

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Burger King

DALLAS AND NEWTON, MASS. — Spirit Realty Capital Inc. (NYSE: SRC), a net-lease REIT based in Dallas, has purchased a national single-tenant retail portfolio for $435 million. The portfolio’s seller is Service Properties Trust (NASDAQ: SVC), a net-lease retail and lodging REIT based in the western Boston suburb of Newton. The portfolio spans 26 states and includes 123 stores leased to 54 different concepts. About a third of the portfolio is leased to restaurants, including Wendy’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, KFC, Skyline Chili, Burger King, Rally’s and Popeye’s. The portfolio’s tenant roster also includes service-oriented and furniture concepts such as LA Fitness, Ashley Home Store, O’Reilly Auto Parts, At Home, Mister Car Wash, Carmax, Crunch Fitness and Tire Warehouse. This transaction is part of SVC’s disposition strategy to sell up to $500 million of net lease assets in connection with its $2.4 billion acquisition of retail properties from Spirit MTA REIT, which Spirit Realty Capital manages. “Coupled with our other recent net lease sales and agreements to sell totaling $66 million, we have reached our target of $500 million in net lease asset sales, the proceeds of which will be used to reduce the company’s leverage,” says John Murray, president and …

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NEW YORK CITY — LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE (LVMH), a French conglomerate and supplier of luxury goods, has agreed to acquire luxury jewelry retailer Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) for approximately $16.2 billion. The sales price equates to $135 per share, to be paid in cash. The deal is expected to close in the second or third quarter of 2020. LVMH, based in Paris, owns more than 70 luxury brands in the clothing, cosmetics, jewelry and spirits industries, including Dom Pérignon champagne, Givenchy clothing and perfume and Christian Dior fashion and perfume. New York City-based Tiffany & Co., which was founded in 1837, currently operates about 300 stores worldwide and employs some 14,000 people. LVMH executives cited the opportunity to grow its watches and jewelry division in American markets as a key driver behind the acquisition. Those items account for just 9 percent of the company’s revenue stream, according to an analysis published by Deloitte earlier this year. In addition, The Wall Street Journal reports that Tiffany has seen its sales slump over the last several years and that the 182-year-old company is focusing more on China, the leading consumer of luxury products. The acquisition by LVMH should help Tiffany …

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