The Sonesta Extended Stay Hotel in southwest Charlotte was sold to a New York-based nonprofit on Feb. 12 and is reportedly earmarked to become housing for veterans.

Marcus & Millichap announced it had brokered the sale, representing the private seller. The announcement declined to name the buyer, but Mecklenburg County records lists the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation as the owner.

The 75K SF property sits on 3.39 acres at 7925 Forest Pine Drive off Interstate 77.

WSOC-TV reported last October that the Staten Island-based Tunnel to Towers Foundation was looking to purchase and renovate the hotel site into 117 apartment units for veterans.

The foundation states it offers several programs to assist military veterans and former first responders, including constructing smart homes for those who have been injured, providing mortgage-free homes to families with young children who have lost a parent in the line of duty, and working to end homelessness among the veteran community.

The foundation pulled in revenue of $559M in 2024 with expenses at $381M, according to the organization’s 2024 IRS 990 form, published by ProPublica. Its total assets were $653M at the end of that year.

In mid-2024, the foundation was tied to a post-bankruptcy filing of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani’s lawyers disclosed that he was receiving just over $16K a month in income from his internet show and that the money was coming “mainly” from the nonprofit, according to a New York Times report.

Creditors sought subpoenas to further understand the nature of the financial agreement between the politician and the charity, Law & Crime reported.

The foundation did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story. 

CBRE closed the $5.2-million sale of a prime retail property located at 65-35 Woodhaven Blvd. in the Woodhaven neighborhood of Queens. Innovative Resources for Independence (IRI), a New York-based nonprofit that supports people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, acquired the 9,227-square-foot property previously housing a Rite-Aid/Walgreens. 

CBRE’s Andrew Jaworski acted as lead agent and worked in collaboration with colleagues Dean Rosensweig, Chris Betting and Jojo Lewis of the firm’s Manhattan office in spearheading the marketing campaign for the property and represented the seller in negotiations. Jaworski was assisted by Stuart Strougo, the property’s managing agent.

“We are thrilled with the competitive process, which resulted in a number of offers,” said Jaworski. “IRI is an incredible nonprofit that provides much needed services to adults with disabilities and the property will be ideally used by the organization to meet the needs of the local community.”

Strategic Facility Partners has acquired The Henry, a 23-story student housing apartment building at 100 E. Tyler Street in downtown Tampa, for $128.1 million. The seller was Development Ventures Group.

Completed in 2021, The Henry offers 181 residences (537 beds) within walking of the University of Tampa.  The fully furnished one-, two- and four-bedroom apartments range in size from 499 to 1,350 square feet. Community amenities include a rooftop pool with TVs, a rooftop deck with grills and an outdoor game area, a fitness center, a 24/7 grab-and-go market, a clubroom with gaming stations and billiards, private and group study rooms on each floor, garage parking and bicycle storage, free shuttle to and from campus.

Strategic Facility Partners (“SFP”) is a 501(c)(3) organization. Projects are typically funded through tax-exempt bonds, and all excess cash flow is returned to the institutions on an annual basis through scholarships, contributions to the general fund, or investments in residential facilities. 

Nonprofit senior living provider Buckner Retirement Services completed the acquisition of The Stayton at Museum Way, a Fort Worth senior living community, for $81 million. They purchased the property from Lifespace Communities Inc. Renamed “The Stayton at Museum Way by Buckner,” it becomes Buckner’s seventh senior living community in Texas.

The Stayton will remain a class one continuing care retirement community, offering different levels of living and care as residents’ needs change. It includes a rehabilitation center, 188 independent living units, 42 assisted living units, 20 memory care units, and 46 nursing units. It is an 11-story Life Care senior living community located at the center of Fort Worth’s West 7th Cultural District.

Buckner Retirement Services is part of the nonprofit Buckner International. Founded in 1879 in Dallas, today Buckner seeks to protect children, strengthen families, transform generations, and serve senior adults through a variety of ministries.

A mental health treatment program has bought a 111-key Hampton Inn & Suites along North Druid Hills Road for $17 million, to expand its services. Skyline Trail has also purchased an adjacent restaurant property along Buford Highway late last year.

Brookhaven-based Skyland Trail began offering residential mental health treatment services for adults in 1989. In 2019, it expanded to offer residential treatment for young people ages 14 to 17.

The organization has five campuses in metro Atlanta: the main adult campus in Brookhaven, the South Campus in Decatur, the North Transitional Living Campus in Brookhaven and the J. Rex Fuqua Campus in Chamblee.

Hunter Hotel Advisors represented the buyer and seller in the recent hotel transaction.

Ziegler, a specialty investment bank based in Chicago, was the exclusive financial advisor in the sale of a skilled nursing facility with more than 100 beds in a northern neighborhood of Chicago.

Acting as the advisor to a non-profit Illinois-based seller, Ziegler facilitated the transaction, which
saw the facility being acquired by a prominent local operator effective March 1, 2024. Nick
Glaisner, Managing Director in Ziegler’s Senior Housing and Care Practice, led this transaction
with the support of Melanie Shaffer.

Late last year, Ziegler also acted as the advisor to Marquee Capital (formerly, Berengaria Development) on the sale of BrightStar Senior Living Fort Wayne, a 41-unit assisted living and memory care center located in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Ziegler Senior Housing & Care Finance is focused on delivering best-in-class advisory and financing solutions for companies and organizations across the healthcare industry.

Industry leaders and power players are connecting at Connect Phoenix Multifamily & Single-Family Build-to-Rent on April 18 at the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa. Don’t miss the expert’s take on where the market is headed, and what changes are on the horizon. Register Now!

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A program funded by the construction industry is taking aim at its longstanding, pandemic-exacerbated labor shortage.

BuildStrong Academy, a workforce development nonprofit funded by the construction industry, has rolled out plans to expand nationally, with a goal of training 1 million new trade workers over the next 15 years.

The Denver-based organization opened a training facility in Orlando, Florida, in September and plans to open another one in greater New Orleans in April. In 2024, it expects to open new chapters in Charlotte, North Carolina, Phoenix and Houston, and ultimately plans to have a presence in 20 U.S. cities by 2037.

The new chapters will be funded by private donors, local builders and other nonprofits. They will offer, at no charge to students, an initial course focused on safety, construction basics and workplace skills. After students are placed in entry-level construction jobs, they will take more specialized courses or enter apprenticeship programs.

The initiative will draw on the work of the Colorado Homebuilding Academy, BuildStrong’s flagship chapter, which has graduated more than 1,200 students since opening in 2017, according to the nonprofit.

BuildStrong’s growth comes amid mounting labor shortages for the U.S. construction and homebuilding industry. The National Association of Homebuilders estimates that the residential construction sector alone will need to add 740,000 workers a year just to keep pace with the demand for houses.

The worker shortage stands to have a serious impact on the ability to build more affordable housing, said Pat Hamill, CEO of Colorado-based Oakwood Homes and founder of BuildStrong Academy.

“Over the last decade, the country’s shortage of affordable housing has reached a crisis point,” Hamill said in a statement. “We need to build millions of new homes, and we simply don’t have the workers to do it.”