Top Stories

Lawrence Group Breaks Ground on $340M City Foundry Saint Louis Development

by Christina Cannon August 26, 2016

ST. LOUIS — Lawrence Group has started construction of City Foundry Saint Louis at Cortex, a $340 million mixed-use redevelopment. The building was the former site of the Federal Mogul Foundry in St. Louis, and environmental remediation work on the property is underway. The first phase of the project will include 48,000 square feet of restaurant and food hall space with approximately 20 food stalls and up to four full-service restaurants; 124,000 square feet of creative office space; 133,000 square feet of retail space accommodating up to 45 retailers; a 511-car parking garage in addition to surface spaces; a connector trail to the Great Rivers Greenway Trail System; and amenities such as public plaza spaces, bike sharing, electric recharging stations and a dedicated ride sharing drop-off. The Cortex District is a 200-acre section of Midtown St. Louis centered around several research and technology buildings. A nonprofit joint venture between Washington University in St. Louis, BJC Healthcare, University of Missouri – St. Louis, St. Louis University, and the Missouri Botanical Garden operates the district. “The City Foundry Saint Louis redevelopment represents another example of the continued investment and expansion of the Cortex brand. This will be a tremendous amenity to the …

August 26, 2016

Features Top Stories

How To Ensure Brick and Mortar Stores Stay Relevant

by Katie Sloan August 26, 2016

With increasing pressure from online retailing, traditional retail environments must strive to remain at the forefront of innovation and reinvention. While some may feel brick and mortar retailing is facing extinction, the data say otherwise. Petrie Richardson Ventures (PRV), founded in 2000 by Chairman Walt Petrie, recently commissioned a large-scale survey that examined the influence of evolving social, lifestyle, entertainment and technology developments on shopping habits across the US. The more than 75 question online survey of a demographic representative of 1,018 shoppers 18 years of age and older was conducted by ORC International, one of the American Marketing Association’s Top 50 Research Firms. It’s all about the experience The critical takeaway from our results is that Americans — especially millennials — place a high value on the total shopping experience. Specifically, the survey showed that what shoppers value most about retail experiences at malls and shopping centers versus online shopping is the physical experience of the actual brick and mortar retail environment — with 85 percent of respondents reporting that holding products or trying on clothing is key to their shopping experience. It’s simple: experiential retail environments are what online retailers simply cannot offer. Online retailing may seem to be …

August 26, 2016

District of Columbia Mixed-Use Southeast Top Stories

Balfour Beatty to Build $196M North Block Phase of D.C.’s Capitol Crossing Development

by Christina Cannon August 25, 2016

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Balfour Beatty has been awarded a $196 million contract to build the North Block phase of Property Group Partners’ Capitol Crossing development in Washington, D.C. The North Block phase will include the construction of two 12-story, mixed-use office buildings totaling 960,000 square feet that will be connected by a glass connector bridge. Capitol Crossing is a 2.2 million-square-foot project that will span three blocks and seven acres once complete. The project will include 70,000 square feet of retail space, garden promenades, 1,100 parking spaces, a fitness center and 440 bicycle spaces. The average floor plate at Capitol Crossing will be 30,000 square feet. “Property Group Partners has a strong belief in reimagining cityscapes and revitalizing neighborhoods through sustainable building and innovative engineering,” says Leon Blondin, president of Balfour Beatty’s Mid-Atlantic division. “We’re honored to be their construction partner in building this truly historic development in the downtown core that will reconnect long-divided Capitol Hill to the East End. Having already managed the preconstruction, utility relocation and platform construction phases, it’s very gratifying to continue our work to take this project vertical and deliver its first two mixed-use buildings.” Work is scheduled to first begin on the building …

August 25, 2016

New York Northeast Office Retail Top Stories

Qatar Investment Authority Buys 10% Stake in Empire State Realty Trust for $622M

by Haisten Willis August 24, 2016

NEW YORK CITY — An affiliate of Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has acquired a 9.9 percent interest in New York-based office/retail REIT Empire State Realty Trust (NYSE: ESRT) for $622 million. QIA purchased 29.6 million newly issued Class A common shares of ESRT at $21 per share. The interest was acquired on a fully diluted basis, which is currently 19.4 percent ownership of Class A shares. Darcy Stacom of CBRE Group introduced QIA to ESRT. Goldman Sachs and Eastdil Secured acted as financial advisors. Goodwin Procter, Proskauer Rose and Clifford Chance U.S. acted as counsel. White & Case acted as QIA’s legal counsel. Empire State Realty Trust owns, manages, operates, acquires and repositions office and retail properties across New York City, including the Empire State Building. The company’s office and retail portfolio covers 10.1 million rentable square feet, consisting of 9.4 million rentable square feet in 14 office properties and 720,000 rentable square feet of retail. ESRT’s stock price closed at $20.52 per share on Tuesday, Aug. 23, up from $16.41 one year ago. The State of Qatar founded Qatar Investment Authority in 2005 to strengthen the country’s economy by diversifying into new asset classes. QIA is headquartered in Doha …

August 24, 2016

Hospitality Louisiana Southeast Top Stories

Laguna Development Corp., Eagle Holdings to Acquire Isle of Capri Casino Hotel Lake Charles in Louisiana for $134.5M

by Katie Sloan August 23, 2016

WESTLAKE, LA. — Kicks Entertainment LLC, a newly formed entity owned by Albuquerque, N.M.-based Laguna Development Corp. and Eagle Holdings LLLP, has agreed to acquire Isle of Capri Casino Hotel Lake Charles in Westlake for $134.5 million. The casino is located in Southwest Louisiana, approximately midway between New Orleans and Houston, Texas. The property — to be acquired from Isle of Capri Casinos Inc. (NASDAQ: ISLE) — includes a 50,000-square-foot riverboat casino, a 493-room hotel, a variety of dining and beverage outlets and covered parking, according to reports by Albuquerque Business First. Isle of Capri Casinos has owned and operated the Lake Charles location for over 20 years. The sale is expected to close in late 2017 or early 2018. Isle of Capri Casino Hotel Lake Charles features 1,150 slot machines, 35 table games, 13 poker tables, two hotels totaling 490 rooms, three restaurants, 14,000 square feet of meeting/banquet space, an RV park and a concert venue. Laguna Development Corp. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Pueblo of Laguna. The Native American Pueblo also owns Dancing Eagle Casino, Route 66 Casino and Casino Xpress in New Mexico. Isle of Capri Casinos Inc. owns or operates a portfolio of 14 casinos …

August 23, 2016

Features Top Stories

Why Multifamily Owners and Operators Should Care About Online Shopping

by Katie Sloan August 23, 2016

The e-commerce revolution has changed consumers’ shopping patterns and generated downstream repercussions that business leaders like Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffett were out in front of early on. These e-commerce icons, of course, are early adopters of new technology who made fortunes by anticipating the opportunities associated with e-commerce. Back in 1996, Steve Jobs said, “The heart of the web will be commerce.” Warren Buffett sees online retailing as a massive growth opportunity, as evidenced by Berkshire’s recent acquisition of online retailer, Oriental Trading. Jeff Bezos, a founding father of e-commerce said this: “Your margin is my opportunity,” meaning his goals are to flood the marketplace with as many online purchases as possible (increasing package deliveries as a ripple effect). Is it working? In the United States, of all e-commerce growth in 2014 and 2015, Amazon accounted for 60 percent. The explosion of online purchases seems easily predictable in hindsight. This year, consumers and businesses will make more purchases online than in brick and mortar stores. However, many businesses and consumers are bumping into a bothersome bottleneck that occurs at the back end: package delivery and acceptance. Naturally enough, with their embrace of online purchasing, consumers have grown …

August 23, 2016

Multifamily Southeast Top Stories Virginia

22 Capital Partners Launches 2.5 MSF, $500M Gramercy District Mixed-Use Project Near Washington, D.C.

by Nellie Day August 22, 2016

CHANTILLY, VA. — 22 Capital Partners has announced plans to build the $500 million Gramercy District, a “smart city” mixed-use project in Chantilly, just outside of Washington, D.C. The 2.5-million-square-foot development will include apartments, retail, hotels, offices, outdoor plazas and public spaces. Phase I of Gramercy District will include a 268-unit apartment building, 25,800 square feet of ground-floor retail space and 25,000 square feet of open plaza space for pop-up retail stores. The project will eventually include a 250-room hotel and two office buildings. Trinity Group Construction and the Tishman Construction unit of AECOM will build the project, which DVA Architects will design. Greystar will provide pre-construction consulting and property management services. The four firms join existing development partners, including Bowman Consulting Group, McGuire Woods, Benton Potter & Murdock, Microsoft, the Center for Innovative Technology and the George Washington University. This announcement follows the formation of 22 CityLink, a technology company developing the “smart city” platform that will be used for the development of Gramercy District. — Nellie Day

August 22, 2016

California Top Stories Western

Joint Venture Acquires Landing at Oyster Point in South San Francisco for $171M, Plans $1B Redevelopment

by Christina Cannon August 19, 2016

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. — A joint venture between Greenland USA and equity partners Ping An Trust, Agile Group and Poly Sino Capital Limited has acquired The Landing at Oyster Point in South San Francisco for $171 million. A partnership between Shorenstein Properties and SKS Partners sold the 42-acre waterfront property, which will be transformed into an office, research and development complex that will support the life sciences industry. The joint venture plans to invest over $1 billion in the project. “The San Francisco Bay Area is known globally for its leadership in innovation, and we’re proud to bring Greenland’s expertise and vision for transformative properties to the area,” says Yuliang Zhang, chairman of China-based Greenland Group, parent company of Greenland USA. “The United States continues to play a critical role in our overseas expansion, and we look forward to what will be a landmark property.” The property will be renamed Oyster Point and will total approximately 2.2 million square feet, including public space and recreational areas. Development of Oyster Point will be completed in phases, and construction on the 500,000-square-foot Phase I is expected to begin by mid-2018, following infrastructure improvements by the city of South San Francisco, including …

August 19, 2016

Georgia Mixed-Use Southeast Top Stories

Georgia State University Finalizes Purchase of Turner Field, Announces Redevelopment Plan

by John Nelson August 18, 2016

ATLANTA — The Georgia State University Foundation has finalized its purchase of Turner Field and the surrounding 67 acres from the Atlanta-Fulton County Recreation Authority. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and Georgia State University president Mark Becker held a press conference this morning at Turner Field, current home of the Atlanta Braves and former site of the track and field events at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games. Oakwood Development and Atlanta-based Carter & Associates were also participants in the purchase and sale agreement. The terms of the sale were not disclosed, but the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports the sales price as $30 million. Georgia State and Carter are expected to invest up to $300 million over a five-year period for the redevelopment project. The Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority passed a resolution in December naming Georgia State and development partners as the preferred bidders for the project. The university has been working with Carter since 2014 following the Atlanta Braves announcement in late 2013 to develop SunTrust Park, the team’s new ballpark set to open in April 2017 in Cobb County. The Braves will not renew its 20-year lease at Turner Field following the 2016 season. “The acquisition of the Turner …

August 18, 2016

Features Industrial Top Stories

Cushman & Wakefield: Goods Distribution Industry in a State of Disruption

by John Nelson August 18, 2016

ROSEMONT, ILL. – The goods distribution industry is in a state of controlled disruption, according to a mid-year update on North American ports and transportation published by Cushman & Wakefield’s ports/intermodal practice group. The report, titled Ship – Shore – To Your Front Door, outlines that sector’s ongoing transition and the resulting opportunities. Challenges and shifts, such as marine terminal closures, driver shortages, new ocean carrier alliances, Panama Canal issues and others have created an increasingly complex environment. Yet according to Cushman & Wakefield’s Kevin Turner, who leads the ports/intermodal practice group, across the supply chain there is light at the end of the tunnel. “Times are changing,” said Turner. “Stakeholders are charting a new way forward with automation, supply chain transparency, new port labor contracts, technological advances, congressional support and stabilizing fuel costs. Occupiers and landlords are positioning with logistics partners to increase delivery metrics, alleviating supply chain bottlenecks with scalable real estate solutions.” Inland Ports Inland ports are steaming ahead across the country. These logistics hubs combine containerized rail intermodal and trucking interchange with warehousing and distribution activity, offering virtually everything found at a seaport except for ships and salt water. The intermodal rail ramps — facilities to …

August 18, 2016

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