AUSTIN, TEXAS — The Austin City Council has voted in favor of removing a restrictive covenant on the historic Dabney-Horne home on the University of Texas West Campus. The property will be moved one-half mile from its current location at 507 W. 23rd St. to make room for a new student housing development. The proposed 175-foot tall project will provide 670 beds for students, of which 10 percent will be offered as affordable housing at 60 percent area median family income. Austin City Realty founder David Kanne owns the Dabney-Horne house, which was zoned historic in 1992, and uses it as his company’s headquarters. The home will be relocated to nearby 901 Shoal Cliff Court. Kanne plans to sell the site on 23rd Street to Johnson Trube & Associates, an Austin-based developer that plans to build the student housing property.
NOVI, MICH. — Novi-based The Kroger Co. of Michigan will invest $180 million in Michigan’s grocery sector during 2016 by adding three Kroger Marketplaces stores and six new fuel centers. The grocer will also increase its ClickList online shopping service to 22 locations and remodel 11 existing stores. The new stores will be located at 12 Mile Road and Stephenson Highway in Royal Oak, M-59 and Elizabeth Lake Road in White Lake Township and at 26 Mile Road and Van Dyke Avenue in Shelby Township. The Kroger Co. of Michigan includes 129 Kroger stores, 69 fuel centers and 103 pharmacies. Kroger Marketplace stores average 110,000 square feet and are multi-department stores that offer full-service grocery, pharmacy, outdoor living products, electronics, home goods and toys.
MANSFIELD, TEXAS — Silver Arch Capital Partners has provided a $12.6 million loan secured by an 81-acre development site in Mansfield. The borrower, Dallas-based development group Geyer Morris Co., was under contract to acquire the site and the two-year interest-only funding was utilized to complete the acquisition. The vacant site is situated along US 287 and Broad Street and is entitled for the development of a 500,000-square-foot retail center, slated for completion in the spring of 2018.
ENID, OKLA. — GBT Realty Corp. has acquired an 11.3-acre retail site in Enid for the development of a 100,000-square-foot retail center. Situated across from Oakwood Mall, the site was formerly home to Walmart and a distribution center for the regional home and garden retailer Atwoods Ranch and Home. GBT acquired the site from Atwood’s Distribution LLC for $3.9 million. Construction is underway with the demolition of the existing distribution center.
RICHARDSON, TEXAS — Alliance Architects Inc. has been awarded shell and interior design services for the expansion of DataBank’s facility in Richardson. The building is located within Digital Realty’s Dallas Data Center Park campus. In addition to 11,000 square feet of data hall dedicated to customer hardware, the 16,000-square-foot expansion will also feature technical areas, offices and customizable storage space.
ELK GROVE, CALIF. — NRC Manufacturing is expanding its presence in Elk Grove by building a 230,000-square-foot manufacturing facility. This will be the electronic components prototype manufacturer’s second facility within the Sacramento submarket. The facility will eventually employ up to 2,500 manufacturing and management personnel for the Fremont-based company. Phase I is slated for completion by the end of 2017. NRC partnered with the Kamilos Cos. on this project. It will be the first major employer within the City of Elk Grove’s Southeast Policy Area, a 1,200-acre, master-planned area that includes more than 400 acres of fully entitled, development-ready corporate office and manufacturing land.
KATY, TEXAS — Dallas-based Front Burner Restaurants will break ground on a Whiskey Cake Kitchen & Bar location in Katy at the 120-acre Verde Parc. The 8,500-square-foot restaurant will open this fall and will be situated on a 2.5-acre tract fronting I-10. Whiskey Cake Kitchen & Bar offers entrées like mesquite grilled steak and fish and smoked duck, as well as appetizers like green tomatoes and deviled eggs. The bar is stocked with 24 craft beers, 100 small batch bourbons, whiskeys and scotch and 30 varieties of wine. Whiskey Cake currently operates locations in northwest San Antonio, Plano and northwest Oklahoma City. Parkside NEC Grand Parkway/I-10 Ltd. was the seller. Hugh Ruggles of NewQuest Properties was the deal’s sole broker. Parkside Capital bought the Verde Parc land in January 2014 from Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group.
NEW YORK CITY — Equity Office is executing a $25 million capital improvement program at Park Avenue Tower, a 300,000-square-foot office tower in Midtown. The renovations include a reinvented lobby by Gonzalez Architects; new transom windows on every floor; and The Club, a 20,000-square-foot amenity space for all tenants. The new space will include a state-of-the-art fitness center with executive locker room facility, a business and recreation lounge, conference center, a curated grab-and-go food service and innovative building technology. Additional renovations include a building within a building design concept; an outdoor plaza with bar/café designed by Moed De Armas & Shannon; 12-foot 9-inch ceiling heights; three-story office penthouse with 360-degree views; and iVisitor lobby technology, including iPad-carrying security guards to greet guests. The renovations are slated for completion by fourth quarter 2016.
FAIRBURN, GA. — South City Partners has selected McShane Construction Co. to build The Oakley Apartments in Fairburn, roughly 13 miles from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The 308-unit property will feature units with granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, vinyl plank and ceramic tile flooring and washers and dryers. Community amenities will include a fitness center, on-site leasing and management building, beach entry swimming pool, fire pits, outdoor grills and pavilions, bocce ball court, sand volleyball court, dog park and walking paths. McShane Construction plans to complete the project in August 2017. Dallas-based Womack + Hampton Architects LLC is providing architectural services for the development.
NEW YORK CITY — Madison Realty Capital has provided $60 million in construction financing for the development of a mixed-use property located at 1399 Park Ave. in Manhattan. Being developed by Heritage Real Estate Partners, the 100,000-square-foot building will feature 72 condominiums on the upper floors and 19,000 square feet of community facility space on the lower floors. The residential units will be a mix of studio, one-, two-, three-, and four-bedroom layouts, and on-site amenities will include a fitness center, lounge, children’s playroom and communal rooftop terrace.