NEW YORK CITY — JLL Project and Development Services has completed construction of Iona College’s new LaPenta School of Business, a 68,000-square-foot building in New Rochelle, a northern suburb of New York City. Development costs were approximately $38 million. The project included a complete renovation of the college’s existing four-story business school and the ground-up construction of a 35,000-square-foot addition. Peter Rader led the JLL project management team. Gensler served as the project architect, and Pavarini North East Construction Co. was the general contractor.
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Topgolf Entertainment Group will open its second Topgolf venue in Charlotte by the end of the year. The new location will be dubbed Topgolf North Charlotte and will be situated at the intersection of Interstate 85 and University City, near University of North Carolina-Charlotte, Charlotte Motor Speedway and Northlake Mall. Topgolf North Charlotte will sit on 14 acres and is expected to create 500 jobs. Topgolf opened its first Charlotte venue two years ago at 8024 Savoy Corporate Drive in the southwestern part of the city.
EL CAMPO, TEXAS — Atlanta-based Stonemont Financial Group has launched Phase I of Southwest International Gateway Business Park, a 540-acre industrial development in El Campo, located about 70 miles southwest of Houston. The rail-served development has the capacity to house up to 8 million square feet of industrial space. Phase I, construction of which is scheduled to begin this quarter, will include a 125,000-square-foot distribution center that is preleased to Vitro Chemicals and a 200,000-square-foot speculative warehouse. Atlanta-based developer Ridgeline Property Group is partnering with Stonemont on the project, and NAI Partners will handle leasing of the property.
PITTSBURGH — Fe Equus Development LLC, a Wisconsin-based developer, is underway on BLD 2563, a 20,000-square-foot Class A office building in Pittsburgh. Situated at 2563 Brandt School Road, the property will offer amenities including a full kitchen, billiards and game room and a fitness room with Peloton bikes. Software company SRS Computing is the building’s first signed tenant, with 6,400 square feet on the top floor. Construction is slated for completion by the third quarter of this year. Tim Goetz and Darin Shriver of Cushman & Wakefield are leading the leasing initiative.
SAN DIEGO — Sea Breeze Properties has broken ground for MERGE 56, a 40-acre mixed-use development located in the Torrey Highlands submarket of San Diego. Adjacent to State Route 56 at Camino Del Sur, MERGE 56 will feature a 450,000-square-foot, Class A office and retail space; a boutique hotel; and 242 residential units, including single-family homes, townhomes and affordable apartments. The land was originally approved in 2004 as a big-box retail center before Sea Breeze Properties acquired the land in 2013 and redesigned it into a pedestrian-centric, mixed-use environment. CBRE’s Chris Pascale, Mike Hoeck and Ellycia Halden will handle leasing for the office space, while Steve Avoyer of Flocke & Avoyer will handle leasing for the retail component.
ORLANDO, FLA. — DIX Developments LLC has unveiled plans to develop Vive on Eola, a 12-story residential building that will feature 120 micro units averaging 400 square feet. The development, estimated at $32 million, will welcome its first residents in early 2022. Vive on Eola’s floor plans will be similar to a studio apartment and monthly rental rates are projected to start at $1,250. The tower will have a ground-level signature restaurant, coffee shop, three floors of parking and as much as 13,500 square feet of coworking space. The site is at the corner of South Eola Drive and Church Street, which currently has a 9,000-square-foot office building that will be operational with month-to-month and other short-term leasing while DIX Developments awaits a demolition permit and other governmental approvals. Once the existing building is taken down, construction of Vive on Eola is expected to take eight to 12 months.
Crescent Communities Developing 339-Unit Novel Midtown Apartment High-Rise in Atlanta
by Alex Patton
ATLANTA — Crescent Communities, a North Carolina-based developer, has started construction of Novel Midtown, a 339-unit multifamily high-rise building in the Midtown neighborhood of Atlanta. The 14-story, 360,000-square-foot tower will feature studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units with private balconies. Amenities include 814 parking spaces, a fitness center, pet spa, coffee bar, saltwater pool and sky deck. The ground floor will offer 15,000 square feet of retail space. Completion is slated for spring 2022. Greenstone Properties is developing a 310,000-square-foot office tower with street-level retail space adjacent to the Novel Midtown site. The location is also near a 70,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market, the Woodruff Arts Center, High Museum of Art and Museum of Design Atlanta. “We are excited about the opportunity that this amazing location provides for us to create an upscale living experience,” says Kyle Brock, managing director for the Georgia region of Crescent Communities’ multifamily business. “Midtown is a sought-after destination to live, work and play.” Niles Bolton Associates is the project architect for Novel Midtown. Ironwood Design Group is the landscape architect and Vignette Interior Design is the interior architect. Balfour Beatty is the general contractor. The Carlyle Group and Santander Bank are financing the project, though …
CHICAGO — Skender has begun interior construction of the new 536,000-square-foot Bank of America Tower at 110 N. Wacker Drive in Chicago. Bank of America will relocate approximately half of its employees, roughly 2,000 people, from its current office at 135 S. LaSalle St. upon completion of the new building. The Charlotte, N.C.-based bank will occupy 17 floors of the 56-story office tower. Bank of America’s space will include private offices, open workstation areas, conference rooms, work cafes, support space and other workplace amenities. Unique features will include a trading floor, barista bar and market café with two outdoor terraces. The interior will also feature an internal staircase that will connect a two-floor conference center and executive suite. Serving as general contractor, Skender is collaborating with Interior Architects and JLL on the project. Completion is slated for the fourth quarter of this year. Howard Hughes Corp. and Riverside Investment & Development are the developers of the nearly $800 million project. Several law firms, including King & Spalding, as well as investment bank Lincoln International and coworking space provider No18 have signed leases at the property, according to the Chicago Tribune.
NEW YORK CITY — Private education institution The Whittle School & Studios will open a 620,000-square-foot campus at The Wheeler, a 10-story tower in Brooklyn. Tishman Speyer recently completed construction of the tower, which is situated on top of a renovated Macy’s department store. The developer is finalizing construction of 11 Hoyt, an adjacent 48-unit condominium tower on the site of the former Macy’s parking garage. Shimoda Design Group was the architect of the project. The Whittle School will open its early learning program later this year, followed by its full Kindergarten through 12th grade program in September 2021. The Wall Street Journal reports that the project is expected to cost $300 million. Mark Aloia, Gary Rosenberg and Arielle Frost of Rosenberg & Estis P.C. represented Whittle in the lease negotiations.
Equus Breaks Ground on 373,100 SF Spec Industrial Building Near Inland Port Dillon in South Carolina
by Alex Tostado
DILLON COUNTY, S.C. — Equus Capital Partners Ltd. has broken ground on 95 Inland Port Logistics Center, a speculative 373,100-square-foot industrial building in Dillon County along Interstate 95. The property is situated less than a mile from Inland Port Dillon and about five miles from the North Carolina-South Carolina border. The facility will be constructed using precast concrete panels and feature 32-foot clear heights, energy-efficient LED interior lighting, 7-inch concrete floors, 50- by 50-foot column spacing and an ESFR sprinkler system. 95 Inland Port Logistics Center will be a 410-foot deep, single-side loaded building with a 180-foot deep truck court that will include excess trailer parking separate from the loading docks. The Philadelphia-based developer expects to deliver the warehouse in October. Bob Barrineau and Brendan Redeyoff of CBRE along with Drew Chaplin of Palmetto Commercial Real Estate will handle leasing efforts and target both single- and multi-tenant users. BPG Development Co. LP, Equus’ development operating arm, will oversee development and construction.