NEWS & NOTABLES

ATLANTA—Coro Realty Advisors announced a key role transitions within its executive team. After 20 years serving as president of Coro, John W. Lundeen III will shift into his new role as managing partner. Robert P. Fransen will become president, after serving as CIO of the company since 2010. As part of the transition, Patti L. Pearlberg has added COO to her role, while maintaining her position as executive vice president of Coro. According to Fransen, Coro begins the year with over 50 properties under ownership and management with a focus on growing its portfolio by drawing on its historic successes and strong client relationships.

DEAL TRACKER

MOBILE, AL—Cushman & Wakefield has arranged the $5.75 million sale of Plantation, a 120-unit multifamily community located in Mobile. Josh Jacobs and Andrew Brown of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller in the transaction. Engineering Partners LLC acquired the property. “Plantation was highly sought-after by investors, as its Interstate 10 location will make it a direct beneficiary of the upcoming Walmart and Amazon industrial projects,” Jacobs says. “These companies will bring more than 1,500 new jobs to the area, and the next investor plans to capitalize the recent activity within the submarket and initiate a value add campaign.” Plantation, built in 1977, is located in the Tillman's Corner submarket of Mobile, just off Interstate 10, which gives residents access to the Mobile Aeroplex and upcoming Walmart/Amazon industrial hubs.

ATLANTA—FCA Partners announced an Atlanta favorite along with a new-to-market concept are joining the curated tenant line-up at The Exchange, one of Buckhead's longest-standing retail centers in Atlanta's premier shopping district. The full line women's specialty store Tootsies is relocating from its current location across from Simon's Lenox Square and the medical aesthetics company OVME Aesthetics is opening a high-touch medspa at the 44,500-square foot center on Peachtree Road at Grandview Avenue. Stephanie McCall, partner and leasing associate of The Shopping Center Group, represented FCA in the lease transactions that were finalized this month and in December. An additional 5,000 square feet of shop space is still available with immediate access to Peachtree Road.

MEMPHIS—Jernigan Capital acquired the membership interests of its developer partners in three self-storage facilities located in Fleming Island, FL, Alpharetta, GA and Marietta, GA, respectively. All acquisitions were privately negotiated with the development partner without any marketing of the project. Following these acquisitions, the company now has 100% ownership of four of its initial 10 on-balance sheet development investments made during the first six months of the company's existence, demonstrating its ability to execute on its strategy of becoming a long-term owner of the self-storage development projects that it has financed during this development cycle.

JONESBORO, GA—Napali Capital acquired Canterbury Townhomes in Jonesboro. The property is a 160-door multifamily property comprised of three-bedroom units. This acquisition is the third property in the Atlanta area. Canterbury Townhomes is located just 30 minutes south of Downtown Atlanta. It is easily accessible via interstate or rail and is near several of the area's largest employers including Prime Healthcare, Southlake Mall, Clayton State University, Atlas Logistics Group and FedEx Ground. It also is proximal to distribution centers for Kroger, Fresh Express and the state's largest employer, Hartsfield-Jackson Airport.

ATLANTA—The Reserve at Gwinnett, a 370-unit apartment property located in Norcross, GA, has traded hands. The sale price: $51 million. Mike Kemether, Josh Goldfarb and Travis Presnell of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, Duck Pond Realty Management LLC. Broadtree Residential acquired the multifamily property. “Gwinnett County has really come a long way in terms of its standing in the multifamily investment world,” Kemether tells GlobeSt.com. “While North Fulton still gets the nod as the market where other suburban markets are measured, Gwinnett now garners the same cache that Cobb County receives over on the northwest side of town.”

ATLANTA—HFF arranged $16.2 million in financing for Ellsworth Lofts, a three-building, adaptive-reuse creative office and retail complex. The complex totals 90,817 square feet in Atlanta's West Midtown submarket. The HFF team worked on behalf of the borrower, Origin Investments, to secure the five-year, floating-rate loan through Wells Fargo Bank. Loan proceeds were used to acquire the property. HFF managing director Gregg Shapiro arranged the loan. “Ellsworth Lofts is ideally located in West Midtown, along the Beltline, which has seen tremendous growth in demand for creative office spaces that boast open floorplans that foster a collaborative environment,” Shapiro tells GlobeSt.com. “Ellsworth also benefits significantly due to its proximity to Georgia Tech, which is a premier recruitment center for start-ups and tech companies.”

ATLANTA—A retail portfolio of three Publix-anchored shopping centers and one Planet Fitness-anchored shopping center totaling 307,500 square feet in metro Atlanta, has traded hands. The sale price: $35 million. Avison Young's Atlanta office closed on the sale of the retail portfolio, which includes the 69,300-square-foot Dacula Village in Dacula, GA; the 79,000-square-foot Publix at Mount Zion in Morrow, GA; and the 78,600-square-foot Stockbridge Lakes in Stockbridge, GA. The 80,700-square-foot Planet Fitness-anchored property, McDonough West is located in McDonough, GA. Theresa Johnson, David Krasnoff and Grant Linderman of Avison Young represented the seller, Ginsburg Development Companies, in the transaction. Avison Young worked with Harbour Retail Partners, a Georgia-based real estate fund.

BUILDING BLOCKS

ALPHARETTA, GA—Alpharetta's first luxury hotel and large event destination—The Hotel at Avalon and Alpharetta Conference Center—has opened at Avalon, completing the mixed-use community's final phase and marking the culmination of one of the most successful mixed-use projects in the country. “As the anchor of North Fulton County, Alpharetta has long needed a luxurious full service hotel and meeting facility to supplement the large supply of existing hotels,” says Jim Stormont, president of Stormont Hospitality Group, managing partner. “The Hotel at Avalon exists because of the magical Avalon community, which created a unique and experiential destination unto itself. I venture to say there is no better meeting destination in the Southeast than the new Hotel at Avalon and Alpharetta Conference Center, located at the pinnacle of Avalon Boulevard.”