ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — DSW Inc., a leading branded footwear and accessories retailer, plans to open 21 new stores nationwide this fall, including four out West. The Western-based stores will be situated in Albuquerque, N.M.; Silverdale, Wash.; and Salinas and Chino, Calif. The 21 new stores will open in August through October.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Jimmy’s Egg Franchise Systems has signed six area development agreements for 52 new restaurants to be built in Kansas, Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico, Nebraska and Iowa. This development activity will bring Jimmy’s Egg into three new states: Arkansas, New Mexico and Iowa. Jimmy’s Egg was founded by Loc Le and opened in Oklahoma City in 1980. The chain currently includes 51 locations, prior to this new expansion.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Signet Development, in partnership with the University of New Mexico (UNM), has broken ground on Lobo Rainforest, a $35 million, 160,000-square-foot living-learning community located within the planned Innovate ABQ district in downtown Albuquerque. The six-story property will house over 300 UNM students studying in entrepreneurial education programs. Signet will own and develop the property through a lease arrangement with UNM, which will manage and operate the facility. The property will also be home to UNM’s Innovation Academy, meeting and collaboration rooms, and several business startup organizations including Innovate New Mexico and STC.UNM’s Joseph L. Cecchi VentureLab business incubator. Other tenants will include the Air Force Research Laboratory and various retail outlets. Dekker/Perich/Sabatini is the architect for the project, and Jaynes Cos. is the construction group. The property is scheduled for completion in August 2017.
SANTA FE, N.M. — UJAS Santa Fe LLC has purchased a 130-room DoubleTree by Hilton in Santa Fe for an undisclosed sum. The hotel is located at 4048 Cerrillos Road. It was built in 1986 and renovated in 2012. The DoubleTree also features 4,500 square feet of meeting space, on-site dining, a business center, gift shop and indoor/outdoor pool. Mike Kelly and Brandon Miller of Ten-X and Daniel MacDonnell and Eric Melendez-Lluch of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, an affiliate of the Hotel Group, in this transaction.
ALBUQUERQUE — The Community Development Trust, an affordable housing REIT, and YES Housing Inc., an affordable housing operator, have formed a joint venture to recapitalize three YES-operated properties in New Mexico. CDT will invest $4.5 million to preserve 262 units of affordable Section 8 seniors housing in Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Roswell. The money will fund improvements and preserve affordability at the properties, which are reserved for seniors earning below 60 percent of the area median income. The first property to receive improvements will be the 60-unit Wildewood Apartments in Roswell. CDT and YES acquired the property earlier this month using Freddie Mac financing through Hunt Mortgage Group. The JV plans to make $300,000 in capital improvements to the asset, which was built in 1978 and renovated in 2000. The other two properties were not disclosed, as the acquisitions are still pending.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Cain Brothers has arranged $40 million in taxable bank direct-purchase bonds for The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society, a nonprofit operator of seniors housing based in Sioux Falls. Founded in 1922, the society operates skilled nursing facilities, senior apartments, home health services and affordable housing in over 230 locations in the United States. Proceeds from the financing were used to pay down a line of credit that was initially drawn upon to fund the purchase of a home health agency that provides services in New Mexico and Arizona. The acquisition more than doubled the society’s existing home health business. Cain Brothers arranged the financing through an undisclosed bank.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Houlihan-Parnes has arranged a $9.1 million refinancing for Ladera Shopping Center, a 128,712-square-foot shopping center located in Albuquerque. Ed Graf of Houlihan-Parnes secured the five-year loan. The center is currently 95 percent occupied by 23 tenants including John Brooks Supermarket, Dollar Tree, Taco Cabana, Bank of Albuquerque, Planet Fitness, the UPS Store, Supercuts, H&R Block and T-Mobile. Burger King occupies a pad site.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Q10 Realty Mortgage & Investment Co. has arranged $2.5 million in financing for Alameda Retail Center, a 16,391-square-foot shopping center located in Albuquerque. Michael Kelly and Michael Stordahl of Q10 secured the 15-year, fixed-rate loan through a life insurance company.
Multifamily housing is coming of age in New Mexico, and the Millennial generation is spurring the growth. The old adage of “location, location, location” is ever present as the placement of a property in relation to cultural, educational, entertainment and natural amenities becomes a major factor in the value of the property. The ability to walk and bike to social amenities like restaurants, theaters and schools is, and will continue to be, very high on the list of importance for members of this generation in New Mexico. There is not only a distinguishable difference in occupancy rates for units scoring high on Millennial’s wish lists, but the income for these units is between 20 percent and 24 percent higher than those with lower scores. While newly constructed and refurbished multi-housing units often appeal to Millennials, all of New Mexico is experiencing high occupancy rates throughout the multifamily market. This push on availability is fueling an environment that will continue to encourage increasing rents and new construction. Though the sale of multifamily properties was deeply affected by the recession, a market shift in 2013 has allowed the multifamily market to regain its footing with a two- to three-times increase in sales …
The industrial market had a notable year in 2014. Vacancy declined 270 basis points from the first quarter of 2014 where nearly 1 million square feet of space was absorbed. It has been more than seven years since absorption has registered similar figures. The primary factor driving last year’s success was a handful of large deals with more than 50,000 square feet. The supply of larger, quality spaces was steadily leased up throughout the year. These accounted for 54 percent, or 522,000 square feet, of absorbed space. Market velocity slowed down during the fourth quarter, driven by a lack of quality inventory. Absorption registered a positive 103,000 square feet, and was the lowest quarterly level of 2014. The centrally located North I-25 submarket outshined all other submarkets. In the biggest deal of the quarter, Flagship Foods occupied nearly 79,000 square feet of space in the North I-25 submarket. There were also nine other spaces occupied in this submarket that contributed another 60,000 square feet of absorption. A developing concern for 2015 is the significant amount of new available space being brought to market. Although still occupied, a total of 244,000 square feet of new space was added to the inventory …
