On May 8, Southeast Real Estate Business and Shopping Center Business magazines hosted “Atlanta Retail Reboot,” a webinar where experts from the Atlanta investment, retail and brokerage communities were invited to discuss what they are seeing in the retail market, the impact of the coronavirus on existing properties and on new developments, as well as what retail and restaurants will look like in the near and long term. Many retailers have been closed for weeks due to COVID-19, and the retail industry is facing a tough comeback. Listen to learn what leaders in the metro Atlanta retail real estate community are expecting for the rest of 2020. Shopping Center Business editor Randall Shearin moderates a candid discussion on what to look forward to in terms of recovery for the Atlanta’s retail owners and tenants. Webinar sponsor: Retail Specialists, a full-service, retail-centric real estate company with a focus on the Southeast and beyond. Their services include leasing and brokerage, retailer representation, property management and development. Panelists: Emil Gullia, Retail Specialists Kyle Stonis, SRS Tom McCarty, Jim ‘N Nick’s Jeff Garrison, S.J. Collins Enterprises Bill Brown of Halpern Enterprises Click here to access the complimentary webinar recording. Hear what experts in the …
As many as 150,000 to 200,000 restaurants nationwide may never fully reopen again after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, according to estimates from the National Restaurant Association. This represents 15 to 20 percent of all U.S. restaurants. Though the metro Atlanta area’s restaurants have been allowed to reopen their dining rooms for a full two weeks following Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s directives in late April, early indications are that a large swath of operators are choosing to keep them closed and focus on takeout, delivery and catering. Others are making the hard choice to close their eateries permanently. As a result, there will be a wave of second-generation restaurant space that will need to be absorbed before new restaurants are built en masse in metro Atlanta, said Tom McCarty of barbecue restaurant chain Jim ’N Nick’s during a webinar hosted by France Media’s Shopping Center Business and sponsored by Retail Specialists. “From our standpoint, our developments are on hold for now,” said McCarty about the chain, which opened a location in metro Atlanta’s East Cobb district late last year. “The focus of the company is on getting our existing restaurants back up and running profitably. Once that happens, then we’ll start …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. economy lost 20.5 million jobs in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), as the COVID-19 outbreak continued to wreak havoc. The leisure and hospitality sector was particularly hard hit, losing 47 percent of its workforce in April. The BLS also reports the unemployment rate jumped from 4.4 percent in March to 14.7 percent in April, the highest since February 2011. The total number of jobs lost is the highest since records began in 1939. The leisure and hospitality sector lost 7.7 million jobs in April compared with a loss of 2.5 million jobs for the education and health services sector, the next hardest hit segment. Retail trade lost 2.1 million jobs with the heaviest losses coming in the clothing and clothing accessories stores (minus 740,000). Similarly, the professional and business services segment lost 2.1 million jobs. The BLS also noted that the number of people out of work but seeking employment in April was 9.9 million, nearly double the prior month. As alarming as the labor numbers were for April, they were better than expected. Economists from the Wall Street Journal had collectively forecast a loss of 22 million jobs. The BLS …
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) has arranged a $43 million refinancing loan for Arlo Apartment Homes, a 286-unit community in Charlotte. The property, which was built in 2018, offers studio through three-bedroom floor plans. Communal amenities include a pool, outdoor kitchen, rooftop lounge, fitness center, club room with a gaming lounge, courtyard, pet spa and grooming lounge and a bike storage and repair station. The community is situated at 1331 W. Morehead St., two miles west of downtown Charlotte. Chris Caison and Josh Davis of NKF arranged the loan through an undisclosed insurance company on behalf of the borrower, Bluerock Residential Growth REIT Inc.
PHOENIX — Sprouts Farmers Market has expanded its grocery pick-up service to 46 stores in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee as the grocer faces heightened demand amid the COVID-19 outbreak. The service allows customers to plan grocery pick-up for the same day or to schedule several days in advance. Their personal shopper will bring the groceries to a designated pickup parking spot when the customer arrives and checks in. A list of specific stores offering the service was not disclosed. The Phoenix-based grocer recently expanded this service to 30 of its stores across Texas. Sprouts also partners with Instacart for same-day delivery services.
ORLANDO, FLA. — Berkadia has provided a $37.3 million Freddie Mac refinancing loan for Advenir at Polos East Apartments, a 308-unit multifamily community in Orlando. The seven-year loan offers a fixed interest rate with interest-only payments for the full term at a 70 percent loan-to-value ratio. The property offers one- through three-bedroom floor plans averaging 877 square feet. Communal amenities include a pool; 24-hour fitness center; sauna; basketball, volleyball, tennis and racquetball courts; internet café; and a game room. Advenir at Polos East is situated at 1700 Woodbury Road, 13 miles east of downtown Orlando. Charles Foschini and Christopher Apone of Berkadia originated the loan on behalf of the borrower, Aventura, Fla.-based Advenir Real Estate.
RICHMOND, VA. — Colliers International has negotiated a 38,400-square-foot office lease for the City of Richmond to relocate its Office of the General Registrar. The property is situated at 2134 W. Laburnum Ave., five miles northwest from downtown Richmond. The office is adjacent to where Interstates 195 and 64 merge. The previous office is located at 900 E. Broad St. in downtown Richmond. Harrison Hall and Will Bradley of Colliers represented the landlord, DAR Enterprises LLC, in the transaction.
First-Time Unemployment Claims Continue to Rise as 33M Americans File for Assistance Since Mid-March
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the U.S. economy, nearly 3.2 million Americans filed first-time unemployment claims in the week ending May 2, the Department of Labor reports. Since mid-March, 33 million citizens have filed for first-time unemployment. The Department of Labor also reports that, despite the overall rise in claims, the week-to-week numbers have declined for five consecutive weeks. The most recent figure shows 677,000 fewer claims than the week ending April 25. The four-week moving average was nearly 4.2 million, a decrease of 861,500 from the previous week’s revised average. As of this writing, there were 73,431 deaths and more than 1.2 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) has arranged the $49 million sale of Brassfield Park, a 336-unit multifamily community in Greensboro. The community comprises 326,828 square feet and was built in 1997. The property offers one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans. Communal amenities include a fitness center, pool with gazebo area, outdoor grill and kitchen area, 24-hour package receiving lockers, pet care stations, dog park, tennis court and a playground. Brassfield Park is situated at 1921 New Garden Road, seven miles northwest of downtown Greensboro. Sean Wood, John Heimburger, Dean Smith, Alex Okulski, John Munroe and Jason Kon of NKF represented the seller, Raleigh, N.C.-based Chaucer Creek Capital, in the transaction. Josh Davis and Chris Caison of NKF originated a $39.1 million Freddie Mac acquisition loan on behalf of the buyer, Viola, N.Y.-based White Eagle Property Group.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Retail Federation’s (NRF) chief economist Jack Kleinhenz says that as some states begin reopening stores and other businesses, the national economy’s recovery will likely be a gradual process and vary by location. “Getting back to work or shopping in a pre-virus manner is difficult to predict at this time, with households likely to tiptoe back in rather than making an immediate return to the lives they experienced before,” Kleinhenz said in the May issue of NRF’s Monthly Economic Review. “My overall impression is that the recovery will have fits and starts among states, regions and cities depending on the severity of the pandemic in their localities.” The NRF reports that retail sales saw their worst month-over-month drop on record in March, falling 8.7 percent from February. Consumer spending fell an annualized 7.6 percent during the first quarter, the largest drop since the second quarter of 1980. Consumer confidence hit 86.9 percent in April, the lowest since 2014, according to the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index. Even through the decreasing confidence, Kleinhenz says most people expect to see a rapid recovery. “The gap between opinions on current and future conditions indicates that consumers expect a V-shaped …