As real estate becomes more operational, a trend has emerged of major investors migrating away from big metros into secondary and tertiary markets. Occasionally, those markets move out of the shadows of their larger neighbors and acquire their own identity. Enter Columbia, Maryland, which initially attained national attention and acclaim as one of the first master-planned communities in the United States. Columbia is now in the midst of a major transformation. Built from the ground up in then-bucolic Howard County, Columbia was founded by developer James Rouse in 1967. Strategically located between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., the now 53-year-old community is blossoming with its own talent creators, talent attractors and 14 million square feet of new live-work-play development in a downtown transformed by The Howard Hughes Corp., a successor to The Rouse Co. The beginnings of Downtown Columbia’s emergence include the Merriweather District, which opens this spring. The first of three neighborhoods planned for downtown Columbia, the Merriweather District is being developed as a regional hub of culture and commerce. Talent creators The Howard County market is already home to cybersecurity incubators and cyber-focused venture capitalists like DataTribe and AllegisCyber. These companies consistently house and fund entrepreneurs developing innovative approaches …
RALEIGH, N.C. — JLL has arranged the $80 million sale of two office buildings spanning 175,444 square feet on the Centennial Campus of North Carolina State University (NC State) in north Raleigh. The portfolio comprises The Center for Technology & Innovation, which is located at 1010 Main Campus Drive, and Keystone Science Center, located at 1791 Varsity Drive. Keystone Science Center was delivered in 2010 and totals 70,446 square feet. The Center for Technology & Innovation was built in 2016 and comprises 104,998 square feet. Both buildings were fully leased at the time of sale to tenants including the State of North Carolina, Bandwidth Inc. and Cengage. The seller, Keystone Corp., developed both buildings on behalf of NC State. The undisclosed buyer has retained Keystone to manage the properties. Ryan Clutter, Scot Humphrey, Chris Lingerfelt and Zack Drozda of JLL represented the seller in the transaction.
PROSPECT, KY. — Civitas Senior Living has opened the doors at The Grand Senior Living in Prospect, a suburb of Louisville. The property totals 191,832 square feet near Norton Commons, a massive mixed-use development with restaurants, retail services, annual festivals and single-family homes. The development was completed approximately 10 years ago on 600 acres of vacant farmland. The Grand features 91 independent living, 62 personal care and 24 memory care residences. Guttman Properties, based in nearby Cincinnati, developed The Grand, which Civitas is operating.
LAKELAND, FLA. — Summit Consulting LLC will develop its planned 135,000-square-foot office headquarters in downtown Lakeland. The company closed on the land sale at 117 Massachusetts Ave. on Tuesday, March 3 and plans to begin construction later this month. Summit expects to deliver the new building in fall 2021. The property backs up to the shore of Lake Mirror. Summit, which was founded in Lakeland in the late 1970s, has approximately 750 employees, nearly 500 of whom will be located in the new facility. The company specializes in providing workers’ compensation insurance coverage in the Southeast.
TAMPA, FLA. — Atlanta-based Carter has sold Nine15 Apartments, a 23-story, 362-unit community in downtown Tampa. The property offers studio, one- and two-bedroom floor plans. Communal amenities include a 3,500-square-foot fitness center, sky lounge, pool, business center, clubhouse, car charging stations and 9,000 square feet of street-level retail space. Nine15 is situated on one acre within the Arts and Entertainment District, two blocks from the Tampa Riverwalk. Carter delivered the community in 2017. Walker & Dunlop represented the seller in the transaction. Charleston-based Blaze Partners LLC acquired the asset for an undisclosed price.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. economy added 273,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in February, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had forecast an increase of 175,000 jobs. The unemployment rate remained unchanged from January at 3.5 percent. The BLS revised both January and December 2019 job totals up by a combined 85,000 jobs. The BLS now reports December added 37,000 jobs for a total of 184,000. January’s total stood at 273,000 jobs, up 48,000 from the original report. After revisions, job gains have averaged 243,000 per month over the past three months. Food services and drinking places added 53,000 jobs in February. Employment in the industry has increased by 252,000 over the past seven months, following a lull in job growth in the sector in the first half of 2019. The leisure and hospitality sector added 51,000 jobs, though it is worth noting that the BLS expects disruptions caused by the coronavirus to be reflected in the March jobs report. The healthcare sector added 32,000 jobs in February. Retail trade lost 7,000 jobs. Transportation and warehousing lost 4,000 for a net loss of 16,000 jobs in the early part of 2020. In February, average …
Many of today’s headlines about multifamily housing have focused on the market’s two extremes: homelessness and high-end penthouses. Meanwhile, a crisis has been growing in the “missing middle;” there is a shortage of affordable rental housing for middle-class workers like teachers, firefighters and police officers. In recent years, middle-income families have been struggling with flat wages and rising childcare, education and healthcare costs. Not only are families being priced out of homeownership, but they’re finding fewer rental units in their price range. Indeed, rents have been rising, particularly in cities with booming economies. Nationwide, only 37 percent of all available units rent out at or below $1,200 per month, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) Out of Reach report and the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. Yet only in 13 states do workers earn an average of at least $22.96 per hour, the amount required to comfortably afford a $1,200/month apartment. Charlotte is short 34,000 affordable housing units and Salt Lake City lacks 54,000. In total, there is a need for hundreds of thousands more affordable rental units. The problem is a matter of supply as well as demand. Formidable obstacles currently impede the …
MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. — A joint venture between Middle Street Partners LLC and Trei Real Estate has broken ground on Atlantic Beach House, a 224-unit multifamily community in Mt. Pleasant. Communal amenities will include a clubhouse, saltwater pool, fitness center, coffee lounge, dog park, golf cart charging stations, storage units, outdoor kitchens and covered bike parking. Unit interiors will feature 42-inch cabinetry, kitchen islands, tile backsplashes, stainless steel appliances, walk-in closets and private balconies. The property is situated on eight acres near Sullivan’s Island and Charleston Harbor. Mt. Pleasant is located nine miles north of downtown Charleston. Dallas-based Humphreys & Partners Architects designed the community, and Jacksonville-based Live Oak Contracting is the general contractor. Patterson Real Estate Group arranged construction financing on behalf of the joint venture through Northwestern Life Insurance Co. A timeline for completion was not disclosed.
MEMPHIS, TENN. — Continental Realty Group and MLG Capital have sold The Park at Forest Hill, a 601-unit apartment community in Memphis, for $64 million. The property was built in two phases in 2002 and 2007 at 8285 Irene Blvd., in Memphis’ Germantown submarket. The community offers one- and two-bedroom floor plans with rents ranging from $715 to $1,075 per month. Communal amenities include a pool, dog park, clubhouse, playground, fitness center and picnic tables. Continental Realty and MLG purchased the property in 2016 for $39.1 million. The partnership implemented $3.1 million worth of upgrades, which included upgrading select units with items such as new vinyl plank flooring, stainless steel appliances, kitchen and bathroom cabinet fronts and all new unit hardware. The buyer was not disclosed.
MACON, GA. — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the $21 million sale of a 296-unit apartment portfolio in Macon. Both the buyer and seller were undisclosed limited liability companies. The first property is Anthos at Hidden Lake, a 144-unit property located at 180 Hidden Lake Court. The community offers one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans, as well as amenities including a fitness center, pool and a playground. The second property is Anthos at Shadowood West, a 152-unit property also offering one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans. Communal amenities include a pool, fitness center, playground and a volleyball court. Anthos at Shadowood West is situated at 4334 W. Highland Drive. Mason Taylor, Cole Carros and Nate McDaniel of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller in the transaction. The team also procured the buyer.