A Virginia-based developer is aiming to bring a new 400-acre data center to North Carolina in a county southwest of downtown Raleigh.

PointOne Data Centers submitted an application to the Sanford/Lee County/Broadway Technical Review Committee to build a 90-megawatt center at 4079 Lower Moncure Road in Lee County, the Triangle Business Journal reported.

The first phase of the project would entail the build-out of the 300K SF facility. Construction would begin this fall, with completion in 2028, TBJ reported.

The proposed project would be a $900M investment, according to TBJ. Texas-based CyrusOne, a global data center developer, would own and operate the site. CyrusOne has built more than 60 data centers globally, including one near Research Triangle Park in Durham that it acquired in 2017. Since then, the company has sought to expand its presence in North Carolina. The state currently houses at least 93 data centers, according to Data Center Map.

Data centers have been a controversial issue in the Carolinas over the past year, with several counties and cities imposing moratoriums on new development. Earlier this week, the city of Charlotte approved a 150-day pause on new projects following public outcry. Lee County does not have a moratorium, but in April, it amended its Unified Development Ordinance to clarify where data centers can be located and what standards they must adhere to.

Data center opponents argue that data center development requires intensive water and power usage and can cause noise pollution and neighborhood displacement. In Raleigh, many residents say water usage is critical as the area faces extreme drought conditions.

But a PointeOne executive told TBJ its data center would use very little water due to its closed-loop cooling system. The executive said it would need an initial fill of 200K gallons and that other water usage for things like restrooms would utilize 1,100 gallons per day. 

If the review committee approves the plan, the next step would be applying for a building permit.

Redfearn Capital secured financing for an eight-building Jacksonville-area portfolio totaling $48 million. Prospect Ridge provided the financing. The portfolio includes a mix of front-load, rear-load and cross-dock industrial buildings near Interstate 95, Interstate 10 and Interstate 295, with access to Jaxport and Jacksonville International Airport.

The properties range from 7,000 square feet to 70,000 square feet.

On its LinkedIn site, the company said: “strong first half of the year for Redfearn Capital– acquiring 12 new assets totaling ~580,000 square feet. RC continues to target value-add industrial deals across the Southeast!”

CBRE’s Jose Lobón, Frank Fallon, Trey Barry and Royce Rose negotiated on behalf of Somerset Properties and CenterSquare Investment Management. 

The Jacksonveille Business Journal reports Jacksonville’s network of interstate, port, rail and airport access remains a core selling point for the portfolio and for the industrial users Redfearn is targeting.

JLL Capital Markets arranged Credit Tenant Lease (CTL) financing for the development of a 200,000-square-foot, purpose-built laboratory and training facility for the Massachusetts State Police in Marlborough, MA. Senior managing director Brett Paulsrud and managing directors Andrew Gray and Michael George worked on behalf of the borrower, Greatland Realty Partners and its investment partners, to place the CTL loan directly into the private placement bond market through the co-book running efforts of JLL Securities, LLC and Mesirow Financial.

Construction of the Crime Laboratory is scheduled to begin imminently, with the opening planned for the first quarter of 2028. The new four-story facility will consolidate the current Maynard and Sudbury crime labs into a single location and is fully leased to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts through a 20-year, NNN lease.

The project is located about 30 miles west of Boston at 100 Martinangelo Drive in Marlborough, near major highways, including Interstates 90, 290 and 495. The 24-acre site was selected for its capacity to support new jobs and additional economic development the facility will bring to both the city and surrounding areas.

ABI-LAB, a bio-incubator and accelerator focused on life sciences, cut the ribbon on its third facility in Natick, MA, bringing total facility area to 112,000 square feet. As a working habitat, ABI-LAB fosters a variety of startup disciplines across stages of development. It utilizes a shared services model.

The shared services model supports technical excellence and a creative atmosphere throughout the research process, according to ABI-LAB. The facility’s build-to-suit dedicated laboratories range from 900 to 2,500 square feet. The 35,000-square-foot ABI-LAB 3 contains 10 laboratories.

“Massachusetts is the global hub of life science innovation thanks to our robust ecosystem of hospitals, research institutions, leading companies, and incubators like ABI-LAB,” said Massachusetts Economic Development Secretary Yvonne Hao, guest speaker at the ribbon-cutting. “Through the Mass Leads Act, Massachusetts is reinvesting in the tools and resources necessary to support growth in this vital industry, and we are grateful for ABI-LAB’s expansion in our state with this new facility.”

Liberty Senior Living’s high-end senior living complex is taking residents. The Triangle Business Journal reports that the 5-story complex in Raleigh rises where the Country Club Homes apartments once stood at Fairview and Oberlin roads.

Called Hayes Barton Place, residents will find a health center, pickleball court, movie theater and multiple restaurants, all geared toward seniors. Monthly fees start at $6,615 per month for 800 square feet and go up to $18,350 for the largest offerings.

The main building includes 169 terrace-style residences offering access to all the amenities, plus another 24 condo-style residences called The Flats at Bicton.

Liberty Senior Living has developed 14 properties, including The Templeton in Cary, has acquired five more and has two under development, including one in Pittsboro.

Hayes Barton Place has 86 percent of its spaces spoken for.

Duracell, the well-known battery maker, is building a new $56 million research and development headquarters in Atlanta. The plant, which will require 110 workers, will open in summer 2026 and be part of Science Square Labs. The first phase of Science Square opened last year. Georgia Tech partnered with commercial real estate firm Trammell Crow Co. on the project. When complete, Science Square will span 18 acres and include 1.8 million square feet of lab and office space, apartments and retail space. 

Duracell manufactures alkaline, lithium coin and hearing aid batteries. The company is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. 

Duracell has had a presence in Georgia since 1980. It operates a manufacturing facility in LaGrange with 400 workers and a distribution plant in Fairburn that employs 275.

Duracell was represented by Chad Koenig and Katelyn Fabian with Partners Real Estate.

Activate, an interactive gaming facility, has selected Fox River Commons in Naperville for the site of its second location in the greater Chicago area.

In partnership with Sounds Fun Entertainment, Activate currently operates more than 40 sites in the United States and Canada and signed a lease with Continental Realty Corporation (CRC) for nearly 12,000 square feet of space. Kristin Perry, Leasing Manager for Continental Realty Corporation and Brooke Spinell of Mid-America Real Estate represented the landlord and Courtney Waldon of Braden Real Estate represented the tenant in this transaction.

The group intends to open within the neighborhood shopping center located at 704 Illinois Route 59 this spring. Activate opened its first Chicago area site in 2023 and plans to open its third Illinois facility in the River North area next year. Activate consists of separate game rooms with experiential elements, including cutting-edge technology, lasers, and obstacles.

The concept joins the pickleball facility The Picklr at the 241,000-square-foot shopping center that CRC acquired in 2022. The property is now approximately 81 percent leased.

Pfizer sold its flex building at the Imperial Center in Durham to Lightstone Group for $41.1 million. The property is at 1219 Shiloh Glenn Drive, between Research Triangle Park and the Raleigh-Durham International Airport. The Class B building is 82,054 square feet and sits on 15.69 acres. It is a cGMP building with multi-product production spaces, supporting workspaces, analytical labs and fully redundant building systems.

The Triad Business Journal reports in early 2023, Pfizer began looking to offload the Durham facility as part of a shift in the company’s research and development strategy. By the end of 2023, the company confirmed plans to shut down operations at the site and another facility in Morrisville, which Pfizer does not own. The closures were part of a companywide cost-cutting effort.

Cushman & Wakefield represented Pfizer in the recent sale.

The Lightstone Group owns 33 industrial and life sciences properties totaling 1 million square feet across 27 states.  

Lincoln Property Company and joint venture partner Brasa Capital Management acquired a specialized life science facility at 10165 McKellar Ct. in San Diego for an undisclosed amount. The 79,313-square-foot property was sold by QuidelOrtho Corporation, which currently occupies the entire building and plans to vacate and relocate operations to other facilities in San Diego in 2025.

10165 McKellar Ct. is a two-story facility located in the western Sorrento Mesa submarket, a Southern California hub for life science activity. The property comprises a well-proportioned mix of purposefully built lab, warehouse and corporate office space.

“The opportunity to own a versatile asset in this market was appealing to our team and Brasa,” said Scott Moffatt, EVP of Lincoln. “Our next step will be to assess the market and the needs of current and future tenants to determine the best use-case for 10165 McKellar Court moving forward.”

Kurt Luedtke and Zac Saloff of JLL represented the seller in the negotiations.

Spanish manufacturer Cosentino bought 570 acres from the City of Jacksonville with the promise that it would build a $270 million production facility. The company which makes natural stone and architectural surfaces, also promises it will create 180 jobs. It purchased the land off Interstate 10 for $20.4 million earlier this month.

Cosentino has produced stone products in Spain for decades.

The Jacksonville Business Journal reports two years ago, the City Council approved an economic development agreement that gave Cosentino a rebate of half of its facility’s property taxes for a decade, an incentive deal that amounts to $12 million and $5.5 million in debt spending to pay for a $3 million Logistics Land Road extension at the Cecil Commerce Center and pay $2.5 million for JEA to make sewer and water infrastructure improvements at the site.

The first phase of construction includes a 408,000-square-foot production facility and 734,000 square feet of adjacent support areas.