ATLANTA—In a move to strengthen its Southeast retail capital markets presence, NGKF Capital Markets added Drew Fleming and Mark Joines as senior managing directors in its Atlanta office. The duo brings nearly 25 years of combined experience in capital markets, investment sales and retail services. Both Fleming and Joines come to NGKF Capital Markets from Cushman & Wakefield, where they served as senior directors. In their roles, Fleming and Joines lead a senior team specializing in retail center sales, particularly grocery-anchored, neighborhood and community shopping center assets as well as big-box, power centers, high-street and multi-tenant properties.

DEAL TRACKER

MURFREESBORO, TN—CBRE brokered the sale of Bell Murfreesboro, a 320-unit, value-add opportunity in thriving Murfreesboro. An affiliate of Baltimore's Continental Realty Corporation purchased the property from an affiliate of Bell Partners. At the time of the sale, the asset was 95% occupied with average rents of approximately $1,050 per month. The CBRE team of Russ Oldham, Brett Kingman and Steve Massey represented the seller. “We continue to see exceptional demand from investors looking for assets like Bell Murfreesboro that offer any level of value-add, especially in high quality submarkets like Murfreesboro,” says Oldham. “With the cost of construction continuing to rise and great sites becoming more difficult to source and entitle, the suburbs of Nashville are a great place to invest.”

PERRY, GA—Avison Young's Atlanta office arranged the sale of Perry Marketplace, a 179,973—square-foot grocery-anchored retail community center in Perry. Theresa Johnson of Avison Young represented Brixmor Property Group, a real estate investment trust, in the transaction. Perry Marketplace, located 29 miles outside of Macon, Georgia, was developed in 1992 and is located directly off Interstate 75. The retail hub is within close proximity to Downtown, Georgia National Fairgrounds & Agricenter and Perry Hospital. The retail center is anchored by Kroger and has other strong national retailers such as Bealls Outlet, Ace Hardware and more.

ATLANTA—FourPoint Student Housing Investments brokered the sale of Westmar Student Lofts in Atlanta. The 2005-vintage property was developed to serve the students at Georgia State University, Georgia Tech University and other area Atlanta colleges and universities. The 370-unit and 1,218-bed student housing community features fully furnished units with upgraded stainless steel appliances, countertops and polished concrete floors. Community amenities include a resort-style pool, state-of-the-art fitness center and a running track. Co-founders Chris Epp and Chris Bancroft lead the sales efforts along with the assistance of director Meredith Wolff. The student housing asset was sold to an undisclosed private buyer.

LEBANON, TN—HSA Commercial Real Estate executed a 372,181-square-foot lease with GEODIS Logistics LLC at the newly built Commerce Farms V industrial building in Lebanon, a suburb of Nashville. GEODIS, a global leader in supply chain operations, will utilize the facility as a regional distribution center. Located on 41 acres at the junction of State Route 840 and Highway 109, the 652,000-square-foot Commerce Farms V industrial building was developed on a speculative basis by HSA Estate in partnership with Washington Capital Management, on behalf of its client, on the last available development site at the Commerce Farms Business Center. Randy Wolcott, Chad Tuck and Joe DeLemos of NorthStar Real Estate Advisors represented ownership in the lease transaction.

BUILDING BLOCKS

GRAMERCY, LA—Noranda Bauxite & Alumina is investing $35 million to expand and upgrade its alumina refinery in Saint James Parish. The company also plans to establish its company headquarters at the Gramercy complex. The project will create 65 new direct jobs, including 15 corporate headquarters jobs, at an average annual salary of $90,000, plus benefits. The plant, built by Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical, has operated in Saint James Parish since 1958. It is located on the east bank of the Mississippi River, less than a mile downriver from the Veterans Memorial Bridge.

Early this week in the Southeast, retail real estate news abounds. And smaller submarkets are getting in on the industrial action.

BY THE NUMBERS

In Atlanta, retailers have been scouring the market for quality space to meet consumer demands and vacancy has plummeted for five consecutive years to a cycle low in the first quarter. As vacancy tightened, asking rents registered a modest increase in the year ending in March but remain 15% below the previous peak, highlighting room for further improvement.

NEWS & NOTABLES

ATLANTA—In a move to strengthen its Southeast retail capital markets presence, NGKF Capital Markets added Drew Fleming and Mark Joines as senior managing directors in its Atlanta office. The duo brings nearly 25 years of combined experience in capital markets, investment sales and retail services. Both Fleming and Joines come to NGKF Capital Markets from Cushman & Wakefield, where they served as senior directors. In their roles, Fleming and Joines lead a senior team specializing in retail center sales, particularly grocery-anchored, neighborhood and community shopping center assets as well as big-box, power centers, high-street and multi-tenant properties.

DEAL TRACKER

MURFREESBORO, TN—CBRE brokered the sale of Bell Murfreesboro, a 320-unit, value-add opportunity in thriving Murfreesboro. An affiliate of Baltimore's Continental Realty Corporation purchased the property from an affiliate of Bell Partners. At the time of the sale, the asset was 95% occupied with average rents of approximately $1,050 per month. The CBRE team of Russ Oldham, Brett Kingman and Steve Massey represented the seller. “We continue to see exceptional demand from investors looking for assets like Bell Murfreesboro that offer any level of value-add, especially in high quality submarkets like Murfreesboro,” says Oldham. “With the cost of construction continuing to rise and great sites becoming more difficult to source and entitle, the suburbs of Nashville are a great place to invest.”

PERRY, GA—Avison Young's Atlanta office arranged the sale of Perry Marketplace, a 179,973—square-foot grocery-anchored retail community center in Perry. Theresa Johnson of Avison Young represented Brixmor Property Group, a real estate investment trust, in the transaction. Perry Marketplace, located 29 miles outside of Macon, Georgia, was developed in 1992 and is located directly off Interstate 75. The retail hub is within close proximity to Downtown, Georgia National Fairgrounds & Agricenter and Perry Hospital. The retail center is anchored by Kroger and has other strong national retailers such as Bealls Outlet, Ace Hardware and more.

ATLANTA—FourPoint Student Housing Investments brokered the sale of Westmar Student Lofts in Atlanta. The 2005-vintage property was developed to serve the students at Georgia State University, Georgia Tech University and other area Atlanta colleges and universities. The 370-unit and 1,218-bed student housing community features fully furnished units with upgraded stainless steel appliances, countertops and polished concrete floors. Community amenities include a resort-style pool, state-of-the-art fitness center and a running track. Co-founders Chris Epp and Chris Bancroft lead the sales efforts along with the assistance of director Meredith Wolff. The student housing asset was sold to an undisclosed private buyer.

LEBANON, TN—HSA Commercial Real Estate executed a 372,181-square-foot lease with GEODIS Logistics LLC at the newly built Commerce Farms V industrial building in Lebanon, a suburb of Nashville. GEODIS, a global leader in supply chain operations, will utilize the facility as a regional distribution center. Located on 41 acres at the junction of State Route 840 and Highway 109, the 652,000-square-foot Commerce Farms V industrial building was developed on a speculative basis by HSA Estate in partnership with Washington Capital Management, on behalf of its client, on the last available development site at the Commerce Farms Business Center. Randy Wolcott, Chad Tuck and Joe DeLemos of NorthStar Real Estate Advisors represented ownership in the lease transaction.

BUILDING BLOCKS

GRAMERCY, LA—Noranda Bauxite & Alumina is investing $35 million to expand and upgrade its alumina refinery in Saint James Parish. The company also plans to establish its company headquarters at the Gramercy complex. The project will create 65 new direct jobs, including 15 corporate headquarters jobs, at an average annual salary of $90,000, plus benefits. The plant, built by Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical, has operated in Saint James Parish since 1958. It is located on the east bank of the Mississippi River, less than a mile downriver from the Veterans Memorial Bridge.