NEWS & NOTABLES

LIZELLA, GA—Approximately 175 acres of land including a scenic 25-acre lake in Lizella, GA will sell at auction Nov. 9. John Dixon & Associates is conducting the auction. The land will be sold as part of a major bank auction of approximately 60 properties in Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida. “This land in Bibb County is adjacent to the Tobee Creek subdivision and is well positioned for a developer to turn into high-value lake lots,” says John Dixon, president of the auction company. The auction will also include 13.96 acres of land on Osigian Boulevard in Warner Robins, as well as 14 residential lots in the Whitney Ranch subdivision in Warner Robins.

ATLANTA—Leading mortgage bankers from Georgia traveled to Denver recently to participate in the 2017 Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Annual Convention and Expo where attendees and guest speakers, including Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson and Director of Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Mel Watt, discussed housing finance reform. “After nearly 10 years in conservatorship it is imperative that Congress take action to lock in reforms to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which will protect taxpayers,” says Fowler Williams, MBA State Ambassador and president and CEO ofCrescent Mortgage Company.

DEAL TRACKER

MORROW, GA—Franklin Street's retail tenant services' division represented and secured a lease for a 3,200-square-foot space for Florida-based My Eyelab, an optical retail store. My Eyelab is located in the South Point Shopping Center at 6735 Jonesboro Road in Morrow, GA. “The execution of this lease signals a strong desire from landlords to continue recruiting medical tenants to occupy street-level retail centers,” says Bob Kane, director of retail tenant representation for Franklin Street's Atlanta office. “We had to compete heavily with another interested tenant, but in the end, our team was effective in showing the landlord how essential My Eyelab was to the success of the overall center. Medical tenants are sought after because they are typically recession-proof, and buildout and parking needs are simpler. We're excited to be a part of this brand's first foray into the metro Atlanta market.”

NORCROSS, GA—Commercial real estate investment banking firm George Smith Partners, Inc. secured $58 million in financing for the acquisition and repositioning of two 1970's-1980's vintage work-force housing apartment buildings consisting of 680 units in the Norcross submarket of the Atlanta metro area on behalf of a private investor. The financing, comprised of $45 million in non-recourse acquisition debt and $13 million of joint venture equity, was arranged by Gary E. Mozer, along with Michael Anderson-Mitterling, Katie Rodd, Kyle Howerton, and Nick Rogers.

ATLANTA—Carroll Organization completed the first closing of its latest investment vehicle, Carroll Multifamily Real Estate Fund V, L.P., for $40 million. The fund focuses on generating attractive risk-adjusted returns by acquiring cash-flowing properties with value-add upside by taking advantage of Carroll's relationships, platform and resources. Carroll Multifamily Real Estate Fund V represents a milestone for Carroll as it is the first time the firm has raised institutional capital in a fund format. Carroll has always partnered with many of the country's largest institutional investors on a deal-by-deal and programmatic basis in joint ventures.

ATLANTA—Crescent Real Estate LLC purchased the Westin Atlanta Perimeter North, a 372-room hotel in Atlanta. The hotel sits on 6.25 acres in north Atlanta's Central Perimeter submarket. The Westin Atlanta Perimeter North is the only hotel next to 63-acre Concourse Corporate center, a 2.2 million-square-foot class A office complex that includes the instantly recognizable “King and Queen” office towers. The Westin Atlanta Perimeter North is within minutes of Atlanta's largest concentration of hospital beds, Georgia's largest office submarket, and second most visited mall, the Perimeter Mall.

BUFORD, GA—NAI Brannen Goddard will lease Prologis Buford Business Park, a 245,700-square-foot speculative warehouse, currently under construction in Buford, GA at Buford Highway and Sherwin Parkway. The property is located 1.4 miles off Interstate 985 at Exit 8 in the Northeast I-85 Industrial submarket. NAI Brannen Goddard's Nathan Anderson and Darren Butler are responsible for overseeing the leasing of the property on behalf of Prologis. Prologis Buford Business Park is a Class A industrial project that is scheduled to deliver in the fourth quarter of 2018.

NORCROSS—Cushman & Wakefield's Southeast Multifamily Advisory Group arranged the $55.35 million sale of Sienna Heights and Hickory Grove, two apartment communities located in Norcross. Tyler Averitt and Robbie O'Bryan represented the seller, Schorr Investments, in the transaction. Comunidad Realty Partners acquired the properties. “Sienna Heights and Hickory Grove are two great, value-add assets in the ever-growing I-85 corridor,” says O'Bryan. This was Comunidad's first acquisition in Atlanta, so their ability to gain immediate scale and efficiencies in one submarket was important. In addition, they can continue capitalizing on the renovation program that has already been proven by the seller.”

ATLANTA—Atlanta's West Midtown renaissance got major economic boost as some 200 marketing professionals from three sister agencies move into an innovative new space at 944 Brady Ave. Fitzgerald & Co. and Weber Shandwick. Together, they now represent one of West Midtown's largest employers. Their new space, originally constructed in 1925 as the Atlanta Butcher's Abbatoir, was a former slaughterhouse in the midst of the historic Miller Union Stockyards. The office was designed and renovated to preserve the building's history and incorporate the original wood, brick facade and interiors, and even some of the original light fixtures and a nearly century-old vault, reconditioned as a meeting room.

BUILDING BLOCKS

GULF SHORES, AL—With the successful completion of Phase I of its $15 million public beach revitalization, the City of Gulf Shores has begun Phase II of Gulf Place. Master planned and designed by Atlanta-based TSW, Gulf Place will be linked by over 6,000 linear feet of new multi-use bike and walking paths with gateways highlighting beach access and Gulf views when completed.