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While Apartment Size Shrinks, Amenity Spaces Grow, Says InterFace Panel

by Kristin Harlow December 5, 2017

ATLANTA — The amenities arms race is still in full swing. During the architecture and design panel at the eighth annual InterFace Multifamily Southeast conference held on Tuesday, Nov. 28 at the Westin Buckhead in Atlanta, industry experts discussed how they design today’s multifamily projects with large-scale, luxury amenities in mind. The conference drew 402 multifamily professionals. “There’s so much competition in this space and amenities are really the differentiating factor for all these projects,” said Brad Lutz, director of business development for Dallas-based Humphreys & Partners Architects. “With this shift from homeownership to renting, you have to provide something that’s going to not only attract renters, but retain them long-term.” Joining Lutz on the panel was JoAnn McInnis, vice president of client services and business development at Virginia-based Carlyn & Co. Interiors + Design; B.J. Laterveer, director of the multifamily housing studio at Alpharetta, Georgia-based Wakefield Beasley & Associates; and Les Juneau, president of Atlanta-based Juneau Construction Co. Cannon Reynolds, managing director of architecture for Atlanta-based Niles Bolton Associates, moderated the panel. Both millennials and empty nesters are driving demand for apartment space as they continue to forego homeownership. The U.S. homeownership rate was 63.9 percent in the third quarter of …

December 5, 2017

District of Columbia Illinois Maryland Massachusetts Midwest Multifamily Northeast Pennsylvania Southeast Top Stories

Harbor Group Affiliate Acquires 9,677-Unit Multifamily Portfolio for $1.8B

by Taylor Williams December 4, 2017

NORFOLK, VA. — An affiliate of Harbor Group International (HGI) has acquired a portfolio of 25 multifamily properties totaling 9,677 units across five major metropolitan areas for $1.8 billion. The sellers were affiliates of Lone Star Funds. The transaction, which closed on Nov. 30, is HGI’s largest to date and increases the value of its investment portfolio from approximately $5.2 billion to $7.1 billion. The properties, which boast a collective occupancy rate of 95 percent, are located in the metro areas of Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. HGI plans to invest roughly $80 million in capital improvements to the unit interiors and communal amenities of the properties. Berkadia and New York-based Meridian Capital Group secured approximately $1.4 billion in acquisition financing for the deal. Berkadia secured roughly $927 million in fixed- and floating-rate debt through Freddie Mac, while Meridian Capital secured approximately $512 million in fixed-rate debt through New York Community Bank. Among the portion of the financing arranged by Berkadia, 11 of the properties totaling $789 million were financed at a fixed interest rate. The remaining five assets totaling $138 million were financed with a floating-rate vehicle. Laura Cathlina and Sharon Plattner of Berkadia led the loan …

December 4, 2017

Massachusetts Multifamily Northeast Top Stories

New Boston Fund Sells 217-Unit Luxury Apartment Tower in Boston for $144.5M

by Kristin Harlow December 1, 2017

BOSTON — New Boston Fund has sold The Tower at One Greenway in Boston for $144.5 million. The 217-unit luxury apartment tower is located at 99 Kneeland St. Completed in 2015, the property is 21 stories tall, featuring 3,180 square feet of retail space and a 135-space underground parking garage. Apartment units average 822 square feet in size. Amenities include a rooftop terrace with fire pits; an outdoor park with deck and grills; balcony lounge; resident lounge with billiards and entertainment bar; fitness center; yoga studio; dog wash; bike store; electric car charging stations; and BeanTowne Coffee shop. The unprecedented demand for Boston residential real estate was cited as the reason for selling the property, according to Jim Kelleher, CIO at New Boston Fund. Matthew Lawton, Riaz Cassum, Chris Phaneuf and Mark Campbell of HFF marketed the property on behalf of the seller. PGIM Real Estate purchased the property. New Boston Fund is a privately owned real estate investment manager. The company has developed or acquired commercial and residential properties with a cumulative market value of about $3.5 billion, including 23 million square feet of commercial real estate and 7,500 residential units. — Kristin Hiller

December 1, 2017

Conference Coverage Features Georgia Multifamily Southeast Top Stories

InterFace Panel: Multifamily Remains Smart Investment, But Good Deals are Harder to Find

by Camren Skelton December 1, 2017

ATLANTA — Strong fundamentals have propelled the U.S. multifamily market forward in 2017 and leave it poised for a healthy 2018, but good deals are harder to come by in today’s market for investors, according to panelists at the eighth annual InterFace Multifamily Southeast. The average cap rate for the multifamily sector in the third quarter registered at 4.3 percent, 12 basis points lower than the same period in 2016, and 15 basis points lower than 2015, according to JLL. “Of the 22,000 units that we are going to close this year — mostly A-minus to B assets — the average cap rate is 4.8 percent, across roughly 45 different transactions,” said James Kane, senior vice president of asset management at Starwood Capital Group’s Atlanta office. “This is in top markets like Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Houston, D.C., Denver, etc. — the suburban cornucopia of markets across the U.S.” “With cap rate compression and the rise in interest rates since the Trump election, it’s made it increasingly hard for us to find yield in spaces we are comfortable with,” added Colin Gillis, vice president of acquisitions for the Southeast at Irvine, Calif.-based Passco Cos. LLC. Although spreads are tightening as a whole, …

December 1, 2017

Mixed-Use Nevada Retail Top Stories Western

VICI Properties to Buy Harrah’s Las Vegas Casino from Caesars in $1.14B Sale-Leaseback Deal

by John Nelson November 30, 2017

LAS VEGAS — An affiliate of Caesars Entertainment Corp. (NASDAQ: CZR) has agreed to sell the real estate assets of Harrah’s Las Vegas Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip for $1.14 billion. The buyer is VICI Properties Inc. (OTC: VICI), a Las Vegas-based REIT spun off last month from Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. Inc., a subsidiary of Caesars Entertainment. As part of the transaction, VICI will lease back the land and real estate to Caesars under a 15-year, triple-net lease agreement with four five-year renewal options. Harrah’s Las Vegas spans 4.1 million square feet and contains 90,600 square feet of casino space and 2,530 hotel rooms. The property features a Mardi Gras and carnival theme, with 16 restaurants and bars, retail shopping, spa services, a parking garage and 24,000 square feet of meeting space. VICI Properties also entered into a definitive agreement with Caesars to sell approximately 18.4 acres of undeveloped land located behind the LINQ Hotel & Casino and Harrah’s Las Vegas for $73.6 million. It is expected that Caesars will use the land with certain other parcels to construct a convention center adjacent to Harrah’s Las Vegas. “These transactions illustrate the growth potential provided by our …

November 30, 2017

Civic Conference Coverage Features Georgia Southeast Southeast Feature Archive Top Stories

Growing Smartly is a City’s Biggest Challenge, Says InterFace Keynote Speaker

by John Nelson November 30, 2017

ATLANTA — Tim Keane, City of Atlanta’s planning commissioner, is tasked with a monumental challenge facing many planners: how to practically design the future for a city on the cusp of a population boom. Citing the Atlanta Regional Commission, Keane said that the Atlanta metro area is on track to add 2.5 million people over the next 25 years, the equivalent of adding the entire metro Charlotte population. The city’s in-town population is also expected to grow from less than 500,000 today to 1.2 million in that same time frame. Adding to the challenge are city departments and communities that are unwilling to change because of a mindset that is resistant to growth. “Everyone thinks that more people is bad,” said Keane, who previously worked in the city planning departments in Davidson, N.C., and Charleston. “They don’t work on the assumption that a clear future for themselves is better with more people. We have to break out of that mentality because the change is happening.” Keane was the keynote speaker at the eighth annual InterFace Multifamily Southeast conference, held on Tuesday, Nov. 28 at the Westin Buckhead in Atlanta. Hosted by InterFace Conference Group and Southeast Real Estate Business, the …

November 30, 2017

Connecticut Hospitality Northeast Top Stories Western

Summit Hotel Properties Acquires Four-Hotel Portfolio for $164M

by Nellie Day November 29, 2017

AUSTIN, TEXAS — Summit Hotel Properties (NYSE: INN) has purchased a four-property hotel portfolio for $164 million. The portfolio contains a total of 652 guestrooms. The acquisition includes the 207-room Courtyard New Haven at Yale in New Haven, Conn.; the 148-room Hilton Garden Inn Boston/Waltham in Waltham, Mass.; the 175-room Residence Inn Cleveland Downtown in Cleveland; and the 122-room Homewood Suites by Hilton Tucson/St. Philip’s Plaza University in Tucson, Ariz. The Courtyard New Haven is situated adjacent to Yale University. It is the only Marriott-branded hotel within nearly 10 miles of downtown New Haven. The hotel underwent a renovation of all public spaces and guestrooms in 2016. The Hilton Garden Inn Boston/Waltham is centrally located along the Route 128/Interstate 95 corridor known as America’s Technology Highway. The hotel benefits from strong corporate demand with 16.4 million square feet of office space within three miles of the property and another 1 million square feet under construction. The recently renovated Residence Inn Cleveland Downtown is positioned within the Central Business District’s 9.5 million square feet of Class A office space, which includes the headquarters of Fortune 500 companies Sherwin-Williams, KeyCorp and Cliffs Natural Resources. The Homewood Suites by Hilton Tucson/St. Philip’s Plaza …

November 29, 2017

California Office Top Stories Western

KBS Strategic Opportunity REIT Sells 11-Property Office Portfolio to Singapore-Based Investor for $804M

by Katie Sloan November 28, 2017

NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF. — KBS Strategic Opportunity REIT Inc. has sold a portfolio of 11 office properties to various subsidiaries of Keppel-KBS US REIT, a newly formed Singapore-based REIT, for $804 million. “We believe that the Singapore transaction was an excellent opportunity to monetize these assets at attractive pricing and to utilize a substantial portion of the net proceeds to invest in new opportunistic investments, as well as current capital projects,” says Keith Hall, CEO and director of KBS Strategic Opportunity REIT. The portfolio of properties includes: 1800 West Loop, a 400,101-square-foot office tower in Houston. Westech 360, a 175,529-square-foot, four-building office park in Austin, Texas. Great Hills Plaza, a 139,252-square-foot, three-story office building in Austin. Westmoor Center, a 612,890-square-foot, six-building office campus in Westminster, Colo., 11 miles northwest of Denver. Iron Point Business Park, a five-building, 211,887-square-foot office park in Folsom, Calif. The Plaza Buildings, two office properties totaling 490,994 square feet in Bellevue, Wash., 10 miles outside Seattle. Bellevue Technology Center, a 330,508-square-foot, nine-building office campus located in Bellevue. Northridge Center I and II, two office buildings totaling 188,509 square feet in Atlanta. West Loop I and II, a 313,873-square-foot, multi-tenant office complex in the Bellaire submarket of Houston. Powers …

November 28, 2017

Features Multifamily Top Stories

The ‘Three Cs’ of Property Management: Communication, Connection and Comradery

by Kristin Harlow November 28, 2017

Being part of a community is an important factor when renters choose a building to call home. According to a National Apartment Association’s report entitled “Adding Value in the Age of Amenities Wars,” a sense of community is what’s behind five of the top 10 amenities added or upgraded in apartments since 2014. Including clubhouses, common areas for socializing and fitness and business centers — the community aspect of apartment living is a huge draw. As property managers, we are constantly challenged to ‘Keep up with the Joneses’ when it comes to offering the latest and greatest amenities. So much so that figuring out how to creatively “add” space to make room for new amenities when updating older buildings has become a top priority. However, while extensive amenities are considered basic requirements for today’s renters, it doesn’t matter how great the amenities are if the building doesn’t have a heart and soul that resonates with residents. To foster that sense of community, there are three best practices in property management to keep in mind: communication, connection and comradery. Make Communication Easy Technology has provided residents the ability to communicate with property management at their convenience. Gone are the days of …

November 28, 2017

Retail Top Stories

ICSC Report: Brick-and-Mortar Retailers Capture 75 Percent of Thanksgiving Sales

by Taylor Williams November 27, 2017

NEW YORK — Retailers with a brick-and-mortar presence captured approximately 75 percent of all sales transacted over Thanksgiving weekend 2017, according to a report by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) released Monday, Nov. 27. Combined, online and brick-and-mortar retail sales during Thanksgiving and Black Friday clocked in just shy of $8 billion, an 18 percent increase over the same two-day period in 2016, according to Adobe Analytics, which measures transactions of the 100 largest American web retailers. On Black Friday itself, online sales eclipsed $ 5 billion, up from $3.34 billion in 2016. The ICSC report found that over the course of the weekend, more than 145 million Americans shopped at malls and shopping centers — 105 million on Black Friday alone — where they spent an average of $377.50 per shopper. Approximately one-quarter of the average shopper’s total expenditure went to dining and other experiences. All told, consumers spent an average of $78.70 per head at dining and entertainment destinations in association with Black Friday 2017. “Shopping centers across the country should feel very optimistic about the season ahead,” says Tom McGee, president and CEO of ICSC. “What we are seeing over the course of the year, and …

November 27, 2017

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