WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Chicago-based Brennan Investment Group has broken ground on a Class A industrial building on the former RJ Reynolds Headquarters campus in Winston-Salem known as Whitaker Park. Landmark Construction is the general contractor on the project. The construction timeline was not disclosed. The tilt-wall, speculative building will span 110,000 square feet and is designed to be divisible from one to four tenants. Bob Lewis, Chris Lowe and Jamie Newell of NAI Piedmont Triad are handling leasing on behalf of Brennan Investment Group. The Whitaker Park sits in a strategic last-mile, infill location near downtown Winston-Salem, Wake Forest University and five nearby interstates.
WAUSAU, WIS. — Radisson Hotel Group Americas has opened Jefferson Street Inn, a member of Radisson Individuals. Located in the Wausau River District, the seven-story hotel is home to 99 rooms and apartment-style suites. Guests have access to whirlpool tubs, room service, same-day dry cleaning service and complimentary breakfast, which is served by a local bakery. The hotel features Asian, Mexican and American restaurants along with live entertainment. Additional amenities include an 8,000-square-foot ballroom, indoor pool, business center, fitness center and adjacent day spa. Jefferson Street Inn is connected to the Third Street Lifestyle Center, a shopping and dining destination. Radisson Individuals offers independent hotels and local chains the opportunity to be part of Radisson Hotel Group Americas.
COLUMBIA, S.C. — New York City-based Exact Capital has plans to build the Villages at Congaree Pointe, a 240-unit affordable housing community in Columbia. Exact Capital is partnering with Charleston-based Armada Development. The construction timeline was not disclosed. The Villages at Congaree Pointe will be fully affordable and rented to households earning 60 percent or less of the area median income (AMI). The community will offer 10 three-story buildings with a unit mix of 60 one-bedroom, 144 two-bedroom and 36 three-bedroom apartments. Community amenities will include a fitness center, playground, splash pad, cabana with porch, clubhouse with a lounge, clubroom, computer room and a common laundry room. The total capitalization of the development is approximately $51 million with construction financing provided by J.P. Morgan Chase and Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) from Stratford Capital Group and Monarch Private Capital. In addition to the initial capitalization, Berkadia arranged permanent financing in the form of a Fannie Mae Municipal Tax-Exempt Bond offering. Located on a 14.9-acre site at 2701 Atlas Road, the project will be situated 5.9 miles from downtown Columbia and 5.4 miles from the University of South Carolina.
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — A partnership between Dallas-based private equity firm Velocis and Prime Healthcare Properties has acquired 8.5 acres in the Willow Park area of Fort Worth for the development of a medical office complex. The $35 million project will consist of two buildings that will be constructed on speculative bases and will total 100,000 square feet. Grace Hebert Curtis Architects is designing the project. Wier & Associates is the civil engineer, Brasfield & Gorrie is the general contractor. JLL will lease the buildings. Construction is slated to begin this year and to be complete in 2023.
ARLINGTON, VA. — Jefferson Apartment Group, with its Chilean-based partner STARS REI, has broken ground on a 98-unit apartment community at 1031 N. Vermont St. in Arlington. Construction is expected to be completed by early 2024. The new development will offer one-, two- and three-bedroom floorplans in a seven-story building. Unit features will include quartz countertops, tile backsplashes, stainless steel appliances and plank flooring. Many units will also include private terraces and balconies. Community amenities will include a resident lounge, rooftop terrace, below-grade parking totaling 120 spaces, 40 bicycle spaces and resident storage. KGD Architecture is the designer for the project and Donohoe Construction Co. is the general contractor. United Bank provided an undisclosed amount of financing.
DOWNERS GROVE, ILL. — Lifespace Communities has broken ground on an expansion project at Oak Trace, a nonprofit continuing care retirement community in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove. The expansion is Phase II of a $112 million reinvestment project at the community. The first phase, which converted some units to assisted living to complete the continuum of care, was completed in 2019. Phase II will add 145 independent living apartments, bringing the total from 232 to 377. Completion is scheduled for 2023. In addition to increasing the number of available independent living apartments, new construction will include a clubhouse featuring a fitness center, pool, salon, casual dining venue, café seating, multipurpose room, living room and new lobby. Existing common areas will also be renovated. Once the second phase of construction is completed, the health center will be connected to the existing independent living building via the new clubhouse. In addition to the independent living units, the senior living community currently features 66 assisted living apartments, 28 memory support suites and 104 skilled nursing suites.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A joint venture between Akridge, National Real Estate Advisors, Blue Coast Capital and Bridge Investment Group has broken ground on the first phase of The Stacks, a 2 million-square-foot mixed-use project in Washington, D.C. Bank OZK is providing a $367 million construction loan for the first phase of the development. William Collins, Bindi Shah, Marshall Scallan and Shaun Weinberg of Cushman & Wakefield arranged the loan. The construction timeline was not disclosed. The first phase of The Stacks will include three rental residential towers totaling more than 1,100 apartments. At full buildout, the master-planned development will offer 2,000 residential units, as well as two hotels, public parks and gathering spaces and about 80,000 square feet of retail space. The property will also feature a variety of creative working spaces, as well as below-grade parking and loading. Gensler, Morris Adjmi Architects, Eric Colber & Associates, Handel Architects, West 8 and Lee and Associates Inc. are the designers for the first phase of the project.
ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. — Charleston-based Greystar has topped off Ascent St. Pete, a 36-story mixed-use tower in St. Petersburg, about 23.8 miles from Tampa. Ascent St. Pete is scheduled to open in January 2023, with final construction completion slated for May 2023. Ascent St. Pete will offer studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom floorplans, as well as penthouse units, for a total of 357 apartments. The tower will also include a 172-room AC by Marriott hotel and a separately branded restaurant on the eighth floor with an outdoor terrace and bar. Hotel guests will have access to outdoor pool amenities at both the sixth and 36th floors. Additionally, the project will include more than 6,800 square feet of ground-level retail space along First Avenue and 2nd Street North.
BOSTON — International developer Skanska has completed a 118,000-square-foot expansion project in Boston for Brookline High School. The new building sits partially atop the MBTA’s Brookline Hills station and features lab space, classrooms for general use, dedicated event space, dining and food service areas, a library and collaboration spaces. Skanska also demolished a large portion of the existing campus to build a new, 70,000-square-foot wing with biology and chemistry labs/classrooms, collaboration and maker spaces, a culinary arts kitchen and a student restaurant/café.
MANHATTAN, KAN. — Scorpion Biological Services, a subsidiary of Heat Biologics Inc., is building a new 500,000-square-foot biomanufacturing facility in Manhattan. The $650 million project will create 500 new jobs in the area within the next seven years, according to Gov. Laura Kelly. The facility will support the development of vaccines that enable an accelerated response to global biological threats. The company also intends to provide commercial level development, manufacturing and bioanalytical testing services at every stage for biopharmaceutical products on a fee-for-service basis to the global healthcare industry. The project came together as a result of partnerships between the Kansas Department of Commerce, Kansas State University, Kansas State University Innovation Partners, the City of Manhattan, the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, Pottawatomie County, Pottawatomie County Economic Development Corp., Manhattan Area Technical College, Evergy, CRB and Realty Trust Group. A timeline for construction was not provided.