KNOXVILLE, TENN. — Los Angeles-based NatKnox has acquired the 37,210-square-foot former Keebler Cookie Distribution Center in Knoxville. Located at 427 Park Village Road, the property offers desirable ceiling heights, multiple loading docks and modern efficient office space. The buyer plans to use the property for warehousing, distribution, and commercial and office requirements along with its existing property at Cedar Bluff Road and Interstate 40/75. Bob Thornton of Baker Realty Co. brokered the sale. The acquisition price was not released.
Southeast
ARLINGTON, VA. — Mesa West Capital has funded a $16 million loan for the refinancing of Hotel Palomar in Arlington. The 154-room hotel is part of Waterview, a mixed-use project that offers 650,000-square-foot of office space and 133 residential condominium units. The hotel is owned by a partnership between The JBG Companies, CIM Group and Brookfield Properties, and is managed by Kimpton Hotels. Joe Donato and Matt Williams of CB Richard Ellis arranged the financing. Mesa West Capital provided the financing through its $614.5 million Mesa West Real Estate Income Fund II, which closed in June.
WINTER PARK, FLA. — CB Richard Ellis has brokered the sale of Sun Key, a multifamily property located in Winter Park. Built in 1987, the 596-unit property sold for $44.15 million. Shelton Granade and Luke Wickham of CB Richard Ellis represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction. The buyer was not undisclosed.
HARFORD COUNTY, MD. — St. John's Properties has broken ground for the development of three Class A office properties at The Government and Technology Enterprise (The GATE), a 416-acre state-of-the-art office and technology business park located within Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County. The project includes 6200 and 6210 Guardian Gateway Drive, two three-story, 75,000-square-foot office buildings, and 6180 Guardian Gateway Drive, a 29,400-square-foot building. Additionally, St. John Properties is currently constructing five other office buildings at The GATE. Scheduled for completion in mid-2011, the buildings are seeking LEED Silver certification by utilizing high-efficiency HVAC systems, high performance windows, water conserving lavatory fixtures, a white thermoplastic polyolefin roofing system and drought-tolerant landscaping. St. John's Properties has the capacity to develop more than 2 million square feet of Class A office, R&D and flex/office space at The GATE.
MARIANNA, FLA. — An Arizona-based company has purchased Oak Station, a retail property in Marianna. Built in 1989, the 171,509-square-foot is located at 4700 Highway 90. Dorothy Jackman and Ron Schultz of Marcus & Millichap's Tampa, Florida, office represented the Florida-based seller. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Arbor Commercial Funding, a wholly owned subsidiary of Arbor Commercial Mortgage, has funded a $18 million loan under the Fannie Mae DUS product line for a multifamily property in Winston-Salem. Alaris Village offers 284 apartment units. The 10-year loan carries 30-year amortization schedule. John Edwards in Arbor's Boston office originated the loan.
The national economic downturn hasn’t impacted the greater New Orleans retail market nearly as much as the glacial pace of decision-making on behalf of retailers and investors who have pledged to enter, or re-enter, this still underserved market. As we close in on the 5-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, retail properties in Jefferson Parish and other more affluent parishes have rebounded, while large swaths of Orleans Parish, home to the city of New Orleans, remain retail starved. Many residents of New Orleans East, for example, must still travel 20 to 25 minutes to find affordable basic staples. Exacerbating this problem are relatively high barriers to entry in New Orleans, which is landlocked and has restrictive big-box ordinances. There’s still not a single Target store, Best Buy, Bed Bath & Beyond, PetSmart or Staples in the city and just one Walmart. Making things even more difficult, Orleans Parish continues to lose tax dollars to other parishes. However, New Orleans is slowly regaining its momentum, with roughly 350,000-plus people back in residence, compared to a pre-Katrina population of about 450,000. Most New Orleans neighborhoods that were not flooded have returned to nearly 100 percent of their July 2005 populations. Retail real estate …
MEMPHIS, TENN. — US Industrial REIT III, an affiliate of USAA Real Estate Company, has acquired two Class A bulk industrial facilities in southeast Memphis. The 1.37 million-square-foot portfolio includes the 829,464-square-foot 6100 East Holmes Road facility, which is occupied by Flextronics Logistics USA and MVP Group International, and the 540,000-square-foot 6000 Freeport Avenue building, which is occupied by Memphis-based Creative Co-Op Inc. Located within Chickasaw Distribution Center, the facilities feature ESFR sprinklers and retrofitted T-5 lighting. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A private investor has purchased a 48,0750-square-foot industrial building, which is located at 161 Windhill Dr. within the Ponderosa Industrial Park in Columbia. The property sold for $2.45 million. Current tenants include Safelite Auto Glass, Sherwin Williams and Parts Plus. Chuck Salley, Dave Mathews and JP Scurry of Colliers International brokered the transaction. The seller was not released.
DORAL, FLA. — The Miami office of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler (HFF) has arranged a $19.9 million loan for a newly constructed Class A office property in Doral. Located in downtown Doral, the property offers 150,000 square feet of office space and is adjacent to the Doral Resort. Currently, the property is 29 percent leased. The borrower is a joint venture between Codina Partners and institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management. The 2-year, floating rate loan was financed through Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Paul Stasaitis, Manny de Zárraga and Ignacio Portuondo of HFF represented the borrower in the transaction.