WASHINGTON, D.C. — Fannie Mae has appointed David Benson as president and promoted Celeste Brown to executive vice president and chief financial officer (CFO). Both appointments are effective August 6. In conjunction with the promotions, the agency also announced that its CEO, Timothy Mayopoulos, will step down by the end of the year. Benson joined Fannie Mae in 2002 and for the past five years served as executive vice president and CFO. As president, Benson will report to the CEO and manage the day-to-day business and operations of the agency. Prior to joining Fannie Mae, he held leadership positions at Merrill Lynch. “Dave is a natural choice for the president position,” said Egbert L.J. Perry, chairman of Fannie Mae’s board of directors. “He is an excellent leader who has held a variety of senior positions in his 16 years at Fannie Mae. He has deep expertise in the company’s business, the mortgage market and operations.” Brown joined Fannie Mae one year ago as senior vice president and deputy chief financial officer, following an 18-year career at Morgan Stanley. “I am pleased with the depth of our bench as demonstrated by Celeste Brown’s promotion,” said Perry. “Celeste has made great contributions to …
MIAMI — Stambul, a Miami-based full-service construction and development firm, has acquired the Historic Walgreens Building in downtown Miami for $19.8 million. Located at 200 E. Flagler St., the building most recently housed La Epoca, a department store that closed in 2016. Habitat Development Corp., an entity owned by the Alonso family, sold the asset. Mika Mattingly and Gerard Yetming of Colliers International arranged the transaction on behalf of both parties. Stambul, which also restored the nearby Langford Hotel, plans to redevelop the building with high-end retail, dining and entertainment options. A construction timeline for the project was not disclosed. Built in 1936, the Art Deco-style building was the first Walgreens in Florida and the pharmacy chain’s third location outside of Chicago. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has also earned a historical designation from the City of Miami. Daniel Peña, a principal of Stambul, is also leading the restoration of the Old United States Post Office and Courthouse in downtown Miami. The redeveloped building will house Biscayne Brewing Co.
ROYAL PALM BEACH, FLA. — Aztec Group Inc. has arranged a series of five loans totaling $14.7 million for the acquisition of approximately 100 acres located in Royal Palm Beach. Howard Taft and Charles Penan of Aztec Group arranged the loans through Lion Financial on behalf of the borrower, Tuttle Land Development. The acquisition completes the land assemblage necessary for the development of Tuttle Royale, a 200-acre mixed-use community that will be located at the intersection of Southern Boulevard and State Road 441. Prior to the acquisition, Tuttle owned 150 acres of land, which it acquired over the past two years. The proposed community would feature 1,100 multifamily units, medical offices, a 1,500-student charter school, village park, 400,000-square-foot lifestyle and activity center with high-end restaurants, a 100-room hotel, preschool, fitness center and retail space. A construction timeline for the project was not disclosed.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. AND FORT MILL, S.C. — HFF has brokered the $70.5 million sale of a two-building industrial portfolio in the greater Charlotte area. Chris Norvell and Patrick Nally of HFF arranged the transaction on behalf of the seller, The Keith Corp., which also developed the buildings. The name of the buyer was not disclosed. The portfolio includes a 599,018-square-foot building at 3725 Westinghouse Blvd. in Charlotte and a 165,382-square-foot building at 2901 Lakemont Blvd. in Fort Mill, roughly 18 miles south of Charlotte in South Carolina. The Keith Corp. completed construction on the Westinghouse Boulevard building in the second quarter. The cross-dock facility is triple-net-leased to Staples for its e-commerce operations, and features 36-foot clear heights and 15,600 square feet of office space. Completed in 2015, the building on Lakemont Boulevard is triple-net-leased to Broad River Retail, Ashley HomeStore’s largest independent licensee. The building, which serves as the corporate headquarters for the company, features 32-foot clear heights and two stories of office space totaling 23,083 square feet.
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — Lee & Associates has brokered the $69 million sale of Aviation Business Park, a 342,042-square-foot business park located along Interstate 29 in North Charleston. The property includes seven buildings and is situated on 29 acres. Bob Nuttall and Reid Davis of Lee & Associates arranged the transaction on behalf of the buyer, Greenville Corporate LLC. The seller, Rushmark Properties, was represented internally. Aviation Business Park was developed in 2001 and is home to tenants including DHL, HITT Contracting, Samet Corp., Secure Missions, Centurum and Nolan Transportation.
DURHAM, N.C. — Federal Capital Partners (FCP) has sold Venable Center, a three-building office campus located at the intersection of South Roxboro and Pettigrew streets in downtown Durham. The News & Observer reports the former tobacco mill property sold for $27.3 million. Scot Humphrey, Ryan Clutter, Chris Lingerfelt and Zack Drozda of HFF represented FCP in the transaction. A joint venture between Wheelock Street Capital, SLI Capital and Trinity Capital Advisors acquired the buildings. FCP originally purchased Venable Center in 2016 for $18 million and completed several building and site improvements. Biotechnology company Precision Biosciences is headquartered at Venable Center and is the property’s largest tenant. The property was originally constructed in 1905 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
GULF SHORES, ALA. — Transcontinental Realty Investors Inc., along with its wholly owned subsidiary, Abode Properties, has acquired the Villas at Bon Secour, a 200-unit apartment community in Gulf Shores, a city on Alabama’s Gulf Coast. The Dallas-based real estate investment firm secured a Freddie Mac loan for the acquisition. The name of the seller and sales price were not disclosed. The community includes a mix of one- and two-bedroom units ranging from 648 to 990 square feet. Community amenities include a business center, dog park, clothes care center, fitness center and a resort-style pool. The Villas at Bon Secour is located less than five miles from the beach and within one mile of The University of South Alabama’s Gulf Coast campus.
ATLANTA — CBRE has negotiated the $12.3 million sale of Shops at Cascade & Fairburn, a 45,279-square-foot shopping center located at 3752 Cascade Road and 1195 Fairburn Road in Atlanta. Chris Decouflé, Craig Taylor, Kevin Reavey and Kevin Hurley of CBRE represented the seller, GDC Cascade LLC, in the transaction. The buyer was 1195 Fairburn Road LLC. A freestanding Walgreens anchors the Shops at Cascade & Fairburn, which was constructed in 2004. The center was 91.2 percent leased at the time of sale to tenants including Workout Anytime, Great Expressions Dental, Metro PCS and Domino’s Pizza.
NASHVILLE, TENN. — Highwoods Properties Inc. (NYSE: HIW) plans to build a new $285 million headquarters campus in Nashville’s central business district (CBD) for Asurion, a privately held tech solutions firm. The Nashville-based company specializes in providing insurance and warranty plans covering mobile devices and other consumer electronics. Asurion will consolidate four of its existing local offices into the new campus, as well as create 400 new information technology jobs, according to local media reports. Highwoods, a Raleigh-based REIT that now has a development pipeline exceeding $700 million, recently executed the 551,000-square-foot build-to-suit office lease with Asurion. The tech firm will occupy 98.3 percent of the campus under a long-term lease. Nashville has been a haven for employment gains since the downturn. In the past decade, the Middle Tennessee metro has experienced 25 percent job growth, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Nashville MSA’s unemployment rate was 2.3 percent in May 2018. The Asurion campus will be built on a 4.2-acre site located at Church Street and 11th Avenue North along the Gulch Greenway, a seven-mile urban trail. The development will include two buildings rising eight and nine stories built atop a six-level parking podium. The planned parking …
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Atlanta-based Gateway Development has broken ground on 22 WestEdge, a 156,000-square-foot office building located within the $300 million WestEdge mixed-use district in Charleston. The 3 million-square-foot development is situated along the Ashley River, between The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and The Citadel. 22 WestEdge is the third building within the project. At 125 feet, the eight-story building will be the tallest multi-tenant office building on the peninsula and in Charleston’s metropolitan area when it opens in November 2019. The building is 48 percent preleased to MUSC, The South Carolina Research Authority, The City of Charleston, WestEdge Foundation Inc. and Heritage Trust Credit Union. In addition to office space, 22 WestEdge will include 15,000 square feet of street-front retail space. The building will feature restaurants, fitness facilities, conference and event facilities and a rooftop terrace overlooking the Ashley River. Recently completed projects at WestEdge include The Caroline, a 237-unit apartment complex with 20,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. Gateway has also topped out construction on 10 WestEdge, a 350-unit apartment community that will house a Publix, Woodhouse Spa and additional retail and restaurant space. Trident Construction is the general contractor for the project, Perkins + Will …