The multifamily real estate landscape is booming across the Baltimore metro with exciting new development popping up throughout this burgeoning market. Luxury apartment developers have focused their attention on Baltimore City’s urban waterfront neighborhoods by creating a distinct live-work-play environment. At the same time, suburban developers have focused their efforts along the Interstate 95 corridor, drawn to affluent neighborhoods supported by top ranked school districts. While an increase in development has led to a rise in urban vacancy rates, the influx of tech startups, coupled with the city’s employment drivers — medical and educational institutions — has helped to stabilize these rates. TIF investment has also helped paint a bright future in Baltimore for mixed-use ventures like the East Baltimore Development project around Perkins Homes and the 250-acre Port Covington development in south Baltimore. Both projects are anticipated to support new multifamily housing in these areas. Development boom Vacancy rates have increased following a nearly 20,000-unit spike in new construction from 2014 to 2018. More than 3,900 new units were completed in 2018 alone, and another 6,400 units were underway at the start of 2019. The boom is expected to taper off in 2020 and has already caused a decrease …
LAFAYETTE, LA. — Rise: A Real Estate Co. has completed The Heritage, a 589-bed student housing community located on the University of Louisiana at Lafayette campus. The development features five residential buildings geared toward upperclassmen. Shared amenities include ground-floor retail, a fitness center, swimming pool, resident lounge, game room, a business center, sand volleyball court, outdoor grill stations and fire pits. The development also houses an office suite for the university’s Housing and Residential Life staff.
BROOKSVILLE, FLA. — Housing Trust Group has delivered Phase II of Freedom Gardens, an affordable housing complex in Brooksville. Phase II comprises 94 units, bringing Freedom Gardens to a total of 190 units. A majority of the units are reserved for residents earning 60 percent of the area median income (AMI), while 10 units are reserved for those making 40 percent of the AMI. The community offers one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans, with monthly rents ranging from $503 to $1,045 per month. Freedom Gardens is located at 932 Freedom Way, about 50 miles north of downtown Tampa. Phase II was financed with an $8.4 million construction loan from CitiBank backed with a Multifamily Mortgage Revenue Note from Florida Housing Finance Corp., permanent financing from CitiBank of up to $5.2 million, $5.9 million of 4 percent low income housing tax credit (LIHTC) equity through Raymond James, a $5.5 million State Apartment Incentive Loan (SAIL) and a $493,400 Extremely Low Income (ELI) loan, both through Florida Housing Finance Corp.
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Cushman & Wakefield has arranged the $47.6 million sale of The Vinings at Market Common, a 288-unit multifamily community in Myrtle Beach. The property is located at 2501 Hammock St., six miles southwest of downtown Myrtle Beach. The Vinings offers one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans. Communal amenities include a swimming pool, 24-hour fitness center, car care center and multiple grilling stations. Alex Brown, Tai Cohen and Marc Robinson of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, Standard Capital Partners, in the transaction. Sillman Enterprises acquired the property.
BOCA RATON, FLA. — The Kroger Co. has signed a 35,000-square-foot lease to relocate to Boca Raton Innovation Campus (BRiC). The space within 4700 Exchange Court is roughly the same size as Kroger’s previous space across the street, but was designed to be more efficient, such as having it in one contiguous space rather than broken up. The space serves as Kroger’s national headquarters supporting its digital businesses, including vitacost.com, which Kroger acquired in 2017. Mitchell Millowitz of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented Kroger in the lease transaction. Danielle Vennett of Crocker Partners and Jeff Kelley of CBRE represented the landlord.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 130,000 in August, and the unemployment rate held steady at 3.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday morning. The job gains fell short of Wall Street’s expectations of 150,000. A closer look at the data shows the private sector added 96,000 jobs, while government added 34,000 jobs, including 28,000 at the federal level and 6,000 at the state level. The growth in federal government jobs largely reflected the hiring of temporary workers for the 2020 U.S. Census. In the private sector, notable job gains occurred in professional and business services (+37,000), healthcare (+24,000) and financial activities (+15,000). Retail trade employment declined by 11,000 in August, while mining employment fell by 6,000. Employment gains in June and July were 20,000 fewer than previously reported as a result of revisions to the data, according to the BLS. In August, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 11 cents to $28.11, following 9-cent gains in both June and July. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.2 percent.
ATLANTA — The Ardent Cos. has acquired three industrial buildings totaling 112,935 square feet within the Armour Yards district in Atlanta. The buyer plans to reposition the space into office loft space. The three buildings are 279 Ottley Drive (49,500 square feet), 221 Armour Drive (47,775 square feet) and 219 Armour Drive (15,660 square feet). The properties are located off Interstates 75 and 85, between Buckhead and Midtown near Sweetwater Brewery. A timeline for the renovations was not disclosed. Michael Anderson of Cresa Global Inc. represented the buyer in the transaction. The seller was DH Pace, parent company of Overhead Door Co. According to Atlanta Business Chronicle, Ardent cquired the buildings for $14.7 million and Overhead Door will vacate the buildings in the fourth quarter of 2019.
SARASOTA, FLA. — JLL has arranged the $45.2 million sale of Gateway Professional Center, a four-building, 246,941-square-foot office complex in Sarasota. The property is located at 301, 401, 501 and 551 N. Cattlemen Road, five miles east of downtown Sarasota. The complex was 95 percent leased at the time of sale to a mix of tenants including accounting, insurance, engineering and technology companies. Amenities at Gateway Professional Center include a fitness center, conference center and parking for more than 1,150 vehicles. Ike Ojala, Hermen Rodriguez and Matthew McCormack of JLL represented the seller, TerraCap Management LLC, in the transaction. The buyer was Taurus Investment Holdings, a global private equity firm based in Boston.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — CBRE has negotiated the sale of South Park One Center, a 147,141-square-foot office building in Charlotte’s SouthPark submarket. The building is located at 6060 Piedmont Row Drive S., seven miles south of downtown Charlotte. The property was 97 percent leased at the time of sale, and more than half of the tenants are in the medical industry. Patrick Gildea, Matt Smith, Lee Asher, Chris Bodnar and Grayson Hawkins of CBRE represented the seller, Virginia-based CCP Commercial Real Estate, in the transaction. Chicago-based MBRE Healthcare acquired the building.
SEMINOLE, FLA. — Maddox Cos. has sold Twin Oaks Shopping Center, a 53,456-square-foot retail center in Seminole. The property is located at the corner of U.S. Highway 19-A and Fla. Highway 694, 24 miles southwest of downtown Tampa. Twin Oaks was fully leased at the time of sale to tenants including Crunch Fitness, Davita Dialysis, Optimart, Carepoint Pharmacy and First American Title Co. Maddox Cos. redeveloped the property between 2016 and 2018. John Hotchkiss of Vantix Realty represented the buyer, Japanese Gardens Mobile Estates LLC, in the transaction. The sales price was not disclosed.