VIRGINIA BEACH, VA. — Weatherly Investment Associates has opened the 144-room Holiday Inn Express & Suites Virginia Beach Oceanfront after an extensive renovation and rebranding. The property, formerly the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Surfside, is located at 2607 Atlantic Ave. in Virginia Beach. Amenities include an on-site market, a heated swimming pool and a business center.
Southeast
ORLANDO, FLA. — Kalson’s Hospitality has completed the 130-unit Homewood Suites by Hilton – Lake Buena Vista-Orlando, located at 11428 Marbella Palm Court in Orlando. The property features a business center, a 24-hour pantry and a swimming pool. Homewood Suites by Hilton – Lake Buena Vista-Orlando is an Eco-Green Hotel project.
ST. CLOUD, FLA. — Palo Alto, Calif.-based Sovereign Investment Co. has sold a 10,723-square-foot restaurant to Sooner Investment of Melbourne, Fla., for $1 million. The property, located at 4551 13th St. in St. Cloud, is a former Whistle Junction location. Paul Partyka of NAI Realvest represented the seller.
As with the rest of the nation, Central Florida is adapting to drastic changes to our financial system. The local retail market has been adversely affected by the severe downturn in construction and housing-related industries — those segments were large components the local economy. Although the area currently ranks eighth nationally for foreclosures and the median home price has stabilized at the 2002 level of $130,000, residential sales volume increased 51 percent year over year. Unemployment for the region peaked in March at 10.1 percent, but is now down to 9.7 percent. Fortunately, Central Florida continues to make progress in diversifying its workforce with significant growth in the defense, high-tech and medical fields. Burnham Institute, University of Central Florida Medical School, Nemours Hospital and Florida Hospital are all growing. Additionally, government-funded projects in infrastructure and community venues in Orlando should build momentum in the recovery. As it is occurring nationally, we are witnessing a stratification of retailers locally as well – a separation between the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The Good retailers are focusing on marketing, remerchandising, remodeling, expanding, recruiting and taking advantage of deflated costs and weakened competition. Some are seeing increases in sales of 25 percent. …
HOWARD COUNTY, MD. — Timonium, Md.-based Bavar Properties Group and Murn Development will break ground on the 164-unit Enclave at Emerson luxury multifamily complex early next year in General Growth Properties’ Emerson community. The master-planned project is located at the interchange of Route 216 and Interstate 95 in Howard County. The Enclave will encompass 129 apartments, 35 townhomes and a 5,000-square-foot clubhouse. The developers are currently in the design phase and expect to select a contractor this fall.
BIRMINGHAM, ALA. — Dallas-based BMC Capital has secured a $7 million loan to refinance the 160-unit Hickory Knoll Apartments. The property is located at 200 Hickory Knoll Blvd. in Birmingham. The 10-year loan features a 30-year amortization and a 65 percent loan-to-value rate.
CLEARWATER, FLA. — Automobile Boulevard LLC has leased a 40,000-square-foot warehouse to a private investor for use as an indoor amateur car racing venue. The property is located at 12350 Automobile Blvd. in Clearwater. John Jenkins and Brooke Pillinger of CB Richard Ellis’ Tampa, Fla., office represented the landlord, and Jon Slater of Studley’s Tampa office represented the tenant.
RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Court of Appeals has signed a lease extension with an undisclosed landlord for 34,449 square feet. The office is located at 227 Fayetteville St. in Raleigh. Jake Jones of Grubb & Ellis|Thomas Linderman Graham’s Raleigh office represented the landlord.
MIAMI BEACH, FLA. — SIKON Construction Corp. of Deerfield Beach, Fla., will build a 28,000-square-foot Fresh Market store at 1800 West Ave. in Miami Beach. A two-level parking lot is planned to sit atop the store, which was designed by the architecture firm api(+). Completion is slated for January.
ALPHARETTA, GA. — Coyote Logistics has signed a lease with The Alter Group for the 36,556-square-foot Brookside/800 in the Brookside Concourse office park. The 550,000-square-foot business center is located on Old Milton Parkway in Alpharetta. The property include day care facilities, restaurants, health clubs and a Georgia State University campus. Todd Yates and Gregg Metcalf served as in-house representation for the landlord.