ATLANTA — Paper products manufacturing and marketing giant Georgia-Pacific has announced plans to redevelop the company’s 51-story world headquarters building and the surrounding city block in downtown Atlanta. Upon completion, the development will feature more than 400 apartment units on the tower’s top floors; 125,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment space; 600,000 square feet of Class A office space anchored by Georgia-Pacific and its parent company, Koch Inc.; 35,000 square feet for a large, central plaza; more than 2,100 parking spaces; and MARTA and Atlanta Streetcar transportation access. “The office landscape has changed, and we recognize that the adaptive reuse of our site and office tower can create greater long-term value,” says Christian Fischer, president and CEO of Georgia-Pacific. “We are also acutely aware of the need for more residential, shopping, dining and entertainment options in our downtown neighborhood, which is why Georgia-Pacific is excited to provide a space that will offer unmatched opportunity in downtown Atlanta.” Additionally, the redevelopment plans will allow for future multi-phase hospitality, retail and residential development opportunities at the site. Delivery of the transformed campus is scheduled for fall 2027. Located at 133 Peachtree St., the office tower has been occupied by Georgia-Pacific …
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NEW YORK CITY — Investment firm Gencom has acquired the 587-room Thompson Central Park Hotel in New York City. Ramsfield Hospitality Finance, funds managed by AB CarVal and Affinius Capital LLC provided a $230 million loan for the acquisition. Eastdil Secured represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction and also represented Gencom in arranging the acquisition financing. Situated on Manhattan’s Billionaires’ Row just south of Central Park, the luxury hotel rises 42 stories on 56th Street. Formerly the Parker Hotel, the property underwent a $100 million renovation and rebranding beginning in 2021. The hotel features 4,500 square feet of meeting space and various food-and-beverage concepts. A 6,500-square-foot Exhale Spa and fitness center is slated to open later this year. The hotel’s “Upper Stories” experience includes a private arrival and departure process and an exclusive guest lounge. A collection of guestrooms and suites are perched on the property’s topmost floors. Restaurants at the Thompson include Burger Joint, a popular burger eatery that is open for lunch and dinner; Parker’s, a restaurant on the hotel’s main level that features live music and crafted cocktails named after famous jazz songs; and Indian Accent, an upscale dining experience by Chef Manish Mehrotra that offers …
NEW YORK CITY — Global investment management firm AllianceBernstein LP (NYSE: AB) has opened its new office at The Spiral, a 66-story office tower in New York City’s Hudson Yards district. The office spans 189,000 square feet across four floors and houses two business lines for the tenant: AllianceBernstein and Bernstein Private Wealth Management. Tishman Speyer delivered The Spiral last year at 66 Hudson Blvd. E, which is situated on the west side of Midtown Manhattan. The tower sits at the north end of the High Line trail and houses office, healthcare and retail locations for tenants including HSBC, New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Pfizer, among others. AllianceBernstein’s new office features open floor plans, advanced technology, collaborative meeting and events spaces and outdoor terraces on every level. “This transition marks a special moment for our firm,” says Onur Erzan, head of AB Global Client Group and Bernstein Private Wealth Management. “Our brand-new, state-of-the-art space in the heart of New York City presents significant opportunities to our clients and colleagues.” AllianceBernstein struck the 20-year lease agreement with Tishman Speyer in 2019. The firm’s previous New York headquarters was located at the AllianceBernstein Building at 1345 Avenue of the Americas. The New York …
NEW YORK CITY — Global alternative investment firm Investcorp has acquired three national industrial portfolios that collectively total 1.5 million square feet across 41 buildings. The sales price was approximately $300 million. The seller(s) was not disclosed. The details of the three portfolios are as follows: Following this transaction, which comes on the heels of the firm buying a five-building, 435,000-square-foot industrial portfolio on Long Island, Investcorp now owns 640 industrial buildings totaling roughly 42 million square feet across the country. “We remain confident in the industrial asset class, which now represents nearly 60 percent of our real estate assets under management in the United States,” says Herb Myers, co-head of real estate, North America at Investcorp. “While the overall sector has shown signs of normalizing from pandemic-era highs, a lot of this stabilization is concentrated among newly built speculative properties, and we continue to see strong performance and compelling investment opportunities for existing infill assets in high-growth markets.” “As reshoring and nearshoring have reshaped the industrial and manufacturing landscapes, well-located, multi-tenanted industrial assets have continued to attract robust interest from tenants and investors,” adds Michael Moriarty, managing director and head of commercial acquisitions at Investcorp. “The properties comprising these …
DETROIT — Henry Ford Health has broken ground on a 1.2 million square-foot expansion to Henry Ford Hospital, an 877-bed tertiary care hospital in the New Center residential district of Detroit. The $2.2 billion development will be anchored by a new hospital facility situated directly across the street from the legacy campus, which will remain in operation. The new facility will include a 20-story patient tower that will offer 432 individual patient rooms and 28 new operating rooms. Each room will feature touch-screen TVs and voice activation technology for both patients and care teams, as well as dedicated space for visitors. Five floors of the patient tower will be dedicated to specialized ICU rooms, which will provide cardiovascular, neurological and other forms of care. Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, a physical medicine and rehabilitation research hospital formerly known as Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, has partnered with Henry Ford Health and will occupy three of the top floors of the patient tower. The partnership was made possible through a $130 million investment by the Gilbert Family Foundation, according to Henry Ford Health. The Gilbert Family Foundation, a Detroit-based private nonprofit foundation founded by Dan and Jennifer Gilbert, also created a $10 million fund to support …
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. — BurgerFi International (NASDAQ: BFI) has filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Fort Lauderdale-based company operates under two brands: BurgerFi and Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza & Wings. The two entities have a total of 144 locations open across the United States, Puerto Rico and Saudi Arabia. The filing pertains to 67 corporately owned locations operating under both the BurgerFi and Anthony’s banners. The remaining 77 franchisee-owned locations are excluded from the filing, with the company’s total portfolio expected to remain open and continue normal operations. BurgerFi cited a drastic decline in post-pandemic consumer spending, sustained inflation and increasing food and labor costs as the key drivers in the decision to file for bankruptcy. The company joins a number of restaurants that have recently filed for bankruptcy protection, including Mediterranean fast-casual chain Roti, Italian dining chain Buca de Beppo and seafood chain Red Lobster. “We need to stabilize the business in a structured process,” says Jeremy Rosenthal, who has been named chief restructuring officer for the company. “We are confident that this process will allow us to protect and grow our brands and to continue the operational turnaround started less than 12 months ago and secure additional capital.” The company’s board …
MIAMI — A joint venture doing business as Whale & Star Wynwood Owner LLC has announced plans for a new, eight-story mixed-use project in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami. Spanning half a city block at 2215 N.W. 1st Place, the development will feature a 214-room hotel, as well as 87 residential condominiums. The City of Miami’s Wynwood Design Review Committee recently approved the joint venture’s development plans. The Cloud One Hotels, the lifestyle brand of Munich-based hotelier Motel One Operating Group, will operate the hotel component, which will occupy levels two through five of the property. Residences will occupy levels six through eight and will feature studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom layouts. Residential units at the development will also be serviced by The Cloud One Hotels. The rooftop will feature a bar and restaurant, and the property will also include ground-floor retail space. The Whale & Star Wynwood Owner LLC joint venture comprises Motel One; Ralf Büschl, founder and chairman of the BÜSCHL Group of Cos.; and Sebastian Lüdke, founder of ALP.X Group. New York-based HWKN and Miami-based ODP Architects are co-designing the development to National Green Building Standards (NGBS). Fortis Design + Build of Miami is the local development …
ANN ARBOR, MICH. — A joint venture between Hines and Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG) has broken ground on a mixed-use development at Briarwood Mall, a regional mall in Ann Arbor. Owned by Simon, Briarwood Mall opened its doors in October 1973. The new mixed-use component of the property, which sits about 2.5 miles south of the University of Michigan, will include a four-story luxury apartment building, Harvest Market grocery store and additional retail space surrounding an activated outdoor plaza. The partnership has broken ground on the multifamily component of the project. The community will offer 370 units in studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom configurations with in-unit washers and dryers, quartz countertops and smart home technology. Shared amenities for residents will include two open-air courtyards with seating and grilling stations, a private dog run and pet spa, fitness center, golf simulator, club room, lounge, coworking spaces and a 325-stall parking structure. The development, which is targeting LEED certification, was partially funded through Hines U.S. Direct Investments (HUSDI). Northwestern Mutual provided a loan to facilitate the construction of the project, which is expected to take approximately two years to complete. “It’s an exciting time for Ann Arbor as we break ground …
COLUMBUS, OHIO — Big Lots (NYSE: BIG) has filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and has entered into a sale agreement with Los Angeles-based private equity firm Nexus Capital Management, a deal that would take the Ohio-based discount retailer private. Under the terms of the agreement, Nexus will serve as the “stalking horse bidder” (the approved investor that sets the low-end bar for a bankrupt company) in a court-supervised auction to acquire “substantially all” of Big Lots’ physical assets and ongoing business operations. Big Lots expects to keep the majority of its stores and online platform open and operational during the reorganization process as well as to be able to pay its employees and “certain critical vendors in the ordinary course of business.” The sale is expected to close during the fourth quarter, assuming Nexus is the winning bidder. In connection with this court-supervised process, Big Lots has secured commitments for $707.5 million in debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing, including $35 million in new financing from certain current lenders. Coupled with cash from ongoing operations, the financing is expected to provide sufficient liquidity for the sale process. The announcement comes after multiple reports of an imminent bankruptcy filing for Big Lots, …
CHICAGO — Core Spaces has completed six student housing communities totaling 4,549 beds across the United States. All six communities have opened to residents ahead of the 2024-2025 school year. The communities are all located near the campuses of major universities, including UC Berkeley, University of Cincinnati, Penn State, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Clemson University. The six new properties include: The communities feature a variety of high-end, student-focused amenities. For example, ōLiv Madison boasts a spa, sauna, fitness center, coworking spaces, private study rooms and a sprawling rooftop sundeck with pool and hot tub. Each property offers a diverse mix of floor plans and unit types to appeal to a range of resident needs and price points. “After years of work to bring a project to life, welcoming new residents home is one of the best parts of what we do,” said Marc Lifshin, CEO of Core Spaces. Core Spaces is a residential developer, owner and operator headquartered in Chicago. The company currently owns or manages more than 38,600 beds. The developer currently has a pipeline of approximately 43,000 beds. The pipeline includes an 800-bed project in Knoxville, Tennessee; three developments in Madison totaling 4,000 beds; a 665-unit, 2,195-bed project in …