A pair of century-old Midtown Manhattan office buildings are trading at a steep discount as lenders look to cut their losses, Bloomberg News reported. Empire Capital Holdings agreed to buy the properties at 229 W. 36th St. and 256 W. 38th St. for less than $50 million, or at least 68% below the roughly $157 million the buildings last sold for in 2017. 

The deal was a short sale for lender Investcorp, according to Bloomberg. Short sales have become more common as office values have plummeted, often below loan amounts. Last year, Empire Capital and a partner purchased a West 44th Street office building in a short sale.

Bloomberg reported that CBRE’s Doug Middleton and Jack Stillwagon are handling the sale. The buyer is considering either keeping the sites as offices or turning them into storage properties for now, a source told Bloomberg. Both properties also sit within a rezoning district.

Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors arranged the sale of three new-construction, single-tenant properties occupied by a 950-square-foot Dutch Bros Coffee drive-thru format to three different private buyers in 30 days. The properties, which sold for a combined $8.08 million, each have a new 15-year initial absolute triple-net lease term. 

In the first transaction, Hanley EVPs Bill Asher and Jeff Lefko represented the seller and developer, Evergreen Development, in the sale of a new Dutch Bros ground lease at 14521 Ramona Blvd. in Baldwin Park for $3.32 million. The buyer, a San Gabriel Valley-based private investor, was represented by Brian Melkesian, an SVP with Lee & Associates in Ontario.

In the second transaction, Asher and Lefko represented the seller and developer, Evergreen Development, in the sale of a new Dutch Bros ground lease at 23140 Hemlock Ave. in Moreno Valley for $2.61 million. The buyer, a Los Angeles-based private investor, was represented by Ashley Berglund, of Granite Capital Group in Santa Barbara.

In the third transaction, Asher and Lefko represented the seller and developer, a local private investment firm, in the sale of a new Dutch Bros ground lease at 526 Nestles Rd. in Soledad for $2.15 million. The buyer, a private investor based in Northern Los Angeles County, was represented by Maxi Case with Century 21 Doug Anderson in Lancaster.

CBRE arranged a $171.4 million loan to refinance the “Southeast Grocery-Anchored Portfolio” (Portfolio), which includes eight properties located throughout Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia and Florida. The portfolio totals nearly 1.2 million square feet of retail space and was 96.6% leased at the time of the transaction.

The CBRE team, consisting of Richard Henry, Mike Ryan, Brian Linnihan, and Taylor Crowder, represented Branch Properties and Corebridge Real Estate Investors, the owners of the Portfolio. PGIM provided the loan.

The Southeast Grocery-Anchored Portfolio is a highly diversified portfolio totaling eight properties and 194 tenants, with grocery anchors including Publix, Kroger and Whole Foods, across high-growth southeastern markets, including Bradenton, FL; Sarasota, FL; Melbourne, FL; Palm Coast, FL; Atlanta, GA; Gainesville, GA; Lexington, KY; Memphis, TN; and Knoxville, TN. 

JWB and DLP Capital have started work on Pearl Square in Jacksonville. Pearl Square is a mixed-use development that will deliver more than 1,250 new residential units; approximately 200,000 square feet of retail space; new public spaces, including widened and shaded sidewalks; public park spaces; and a signature curbless festival street with abundant outdoor dining possibilities. The development will include retail tenants like a full-service grocer, a fitness club, grab-and-go bodegas, restaurants and other daily service providers like salons and shops.

The project designer is SK+I Architecture. FaverGray is the general contractor. Leasing of the project’s retail spaces will be led by Colliers’ Urban Division.

This project represents the first phase of a broad-scale development vision. The development team has acquired holdings that span 28 city blocks in Downtown Jacksonville. At full build-out, the redevelopment is expected to create approximately 2,700 permanent jobs and spur more than $750 million in annual economic impact. The group received an incentive package of nearly $100 million.

Walker & Dunlop has arranged $72.7 million in construction loan proceeds for Vintage Lake Powell, a 289-unit, Class A, mixed-use apartment complex in Panama City Beach, Florida. TDK Construction and Oldacre McDonald are developing the project at 24000 Panama City Beach Parkway.

The W&D FHA Finance team, led by Keith Melton and David Strange, helped secure the financing and arranged the loan proceeds by utilizing HUD’s Section 221(d)(4) mortgage insurance program.  

Vintage Lake Powell will feature six apartment buildings of varying heights (two-, four-, and five-story) and complex amenities, including a 6,700 sq ft clubhouse and leasing center, fitness facility, package/storage center, a pool and sundeck, arbor with outdoor seating and grilling station, pickleball and bocce ball court, playground, dog park and lakefront amenity area on Lake Powell. The nearly-20,000 square foot retail space will be located on the ground floors of Buildings 100 and 200 with frontage along Panama City Beach Parkway.

A joint venture between Childress Klein and Cameron Management obtained a $48.5 million loan for refinancing the Element Barclay Station, a 286-unit apartment complex in Wilmington, North Carolina. The 12-year fixed-rate loan was secured through a life company.  

Located at 1841 Dusty Miller Ln, Element Barclay Station is a nine-building, 286-unit garden-style apartment complex that was delivered in 2023. The complex includes one- to three-bedroom units that range in size from 746 square feet to 1,582 square feet. Community amenities include a pool, fitness center, game room, and dog park. Element Barclay Station represents the third phase of Childress Klein’s Element Barclay master-planned community, which began with the delivery of 258 apartment units in 2018 and continued with 147 more units delivered in 2019. 

Nate Sittema, Kristen Reilley, and Ben Hardee with CBRE Capital Markets’ Debt and Structured Finance in Charlotte represented the borrower.

TA Realty and EdgeConneX are working together on a 324 MW hyperscale data center near Atlanta. Construction is set to start later this year, and the first phase is expected to come online by 2026. The campus is slated for Union City, southwest of Atlanta.

Microsoft is reported to be the end user for the future campus. The development will eventually measure about 2.1 million square feet and cost roughly $1.8 billion.

In addition to the first 612,000-square-foot building to be delivered in Phase 1, two more facilities of the same size are to be constructed in three phases, with the entire project set for completion by 2029.

Last month, the Development Authority of Fulton County approved $75 million in incentives over a 10-year period for EdgeConneX. The project is expected to create about 50 full-time jobs and 400 to 600 temporary construction jobs. The 10-year economic impact is estimated to be approximately $2.9 billion with about $200 million in tax revenues over the same period.

The former Duke Energy building in downtown Charlotte is going down. It needs to be demolished so Asana Partners and MRP Realty can move forward on their $250 million redevelopment plan. The Charlotte Business Journal reports the building at 526 S. Church St. won’t be demolished until the fall, and construction should start soon after. Full delivery is slated for the fourth quarter of 2026. The project team includes SK&I Architecture, LandDesign, Morris Adjmi Architects and Balfour Beatty.

The plan includes converting the 1970s-era office tower into 448 luxury apartments with 25,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space and demolishing the front lobby and atrium. That would reduce the total square footage by about 230,000 and make way for a three-story, 30,000-square-foot retail building.

Asana Partners and MRP paid $35 million for the site in December 2022.

Duke Energy Plaza is moving into a new 40-story tower at 525 S. Tryon St.

A joint venture between Songy Highroads and the Hyatt Corporation has obtained a $54 million loan from Deutsche Bank for the 218-room Hyatt Centric Buckhead Atlanta. Commercial Edge reports that the refinancing takes over for a $48 million Citizens Bank loan set to mature within the year.

The 18-story hotel, which opened in 2021, includes a restaurant and rooftop bar. It is just behind Simon Property Group’s Lenox Square, which was built in 1959 and still ranks as one of Atlanta’s top retail centers.

JLL Capital Markets represented Songy Highroads and the Hyatt in securing the new loan.

Songy Highroads LLC (SHR) says it’s a commercial real estate firm that acquires, renovates, develops, and manages institutional quality real estate projects primarily throughout the Southeastern United States. SHR targets particular emphasis in the residential, office, hotel, and mixed-use sectors. The SHR business model is to strategically acquire or manage income properties in select viable markets that require enhanced operating performance or physical upgrades.