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byline: Paula C. Squires

Land sale paves the way for a Northern Tool & Equipment store in Richmond

S.L. Nusbaum Realty Co. announced on Wednesday the sale of two acres in the Westpark Shopping Center in Richmond for $1.2 million.

According to Nusbaum, the buyer, Hutton Build of Chattanooga, Tenn., purchased the former Home Quarters Garden Center site from Rooms to Go. The land at 9901 West Broad St. will soon be the site of a Northern Tool and Equipment store location.

S.L. Nusbaum Realty, based in Norfolk, originally developed Westpark Shopping Center in the 1990s.

Nusbaum’s Nathan Shor represented the buyer in the transaction while Fran Hunt of Hunt Properties represented the seller.

QTS Realty Trust is expanding in Northern Virginia

 

QTS Realty Trust, an international provider of data center, managed hosting and cloud services, is building another data center in Ashburn. The company announced Wednesday that it has started development on a mega data center campus, following the purchase of 52 acres for $53 million.

The site, consisting of two parcels, is located adjacent to QTS' existing Vault campus in Dulles. The company, based in Overland Park, Kansas, said that the combined land parcels will enhance its strategic options in Northern Virginia — the nation's largest data center market — where  land for development has become increasingly scarce.

QTS believes the new site can ultimately support more than 700,000 square feet of raised floor capacity and 140 megawatts of gross power.

QTS has begun construction on the first 24-acre parcel of land and expects to deliver Phase 1 of its multi-tenant development, representing about four megawatts of critical sellable capacity, by mid-2018.

To date, QTS said it has pre-leased 2.2 megawatts to a global health insurance provider.

Through the first half of 2017, the Northern Virginia data center market has accounted for about 25 percent of total wholesale capacity absorption among the top 10 data center markets in the U.S., largely driven by demand from hyperscale companies, according to a report from JLL.

“We are excited to have additional sellable capacity in a strategic QTS market to expand our ecosystem of more than 130 customers currently supported within our Northern Virginia footprint,” Chad Williams, chairman and CEO of QTS, said in a statement.

Terry Ellis named as vice president of government and regulatory affairs for Comcast

Terry Ellis has joined the Richmond office of Comcast where she will serve as vice president of government and regulatory affairs. According to Comcast, she brings more than 10 years of experience in the cable industry.  Ellis will be responsible for state government and regulatory affairs across Virginia and West Virginia. Before joining Comcast, she was vice president of government operations for the Virginia Cable Telecommunications Association where she directed the development and implementation of annual legislative and regulatory priorities. Ellis holds a Bachelor of Science in business management from East Carolina University. She and her husband reside in Sutherland.

Altec Industries to invest $30 million in fifth expansion in Botetourt County

Altec Industries said Tuesday that it plans to invest $30 million in a 65,000-square-foot expansion at its manufacturing plant in Botetourt County.

This is the fifth time the company has expanded since it began manufacturing aerial trucks for the electric utility and telecommunications industries at its plant at Botetourt Center at Greenfield in 2001.

The latest expansion is expected to create 180 new jobs.

“We are able to grow in Virginia and in Botetourt County because this is a pro-business environment with the logistics and infrastructure to help Altec succeed,” John Herrig, the company’s general manager, said in a statement.

“The continued success of Altec in Botetourt speaks volumes about the county and the Roanoke Region as a business location,” Botetourt County Administrator Gary Larrowe said in a statement.

Altec is a leading employer in Botetourt County and a member of Botetourt’s transportation manufacturing cluster, joining companies such as Dynax America, Metalsa, and Eldor Corp.

Founded in 1929 and headquartered in Birmingham, Altec is a provider of products and services to the electric utility, telecommunications, tree care, lights and signs, and contractor markets.  

In the Roanoke area, the transportation manufacturing industry typically is a higher-wage industry that creates additional indirect jobs and economic benefits.  Economic impact modeling by the Roanoke Regional Partnership indicates the expansion will have an overall annual economic impact of $143.4 million at full implementation and will spur creation of more than 295 secondary jobs.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe approved a $400,000 performance-based grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund as well as a $300,000 Virginia Investment Partnership grant.

The Virginia Jobs Investment Program will provide services to support the company’s employee training activities. Botetourt County is providing a $440,500 performance-based grant.

Retail property in Fredericksburg sells for $1.3 million

MDC Thornton LLC has purchased an 11,800-square-foot retail property in Fredericksburg from College Heights Building Association Ltd. for $1.3 million. According to Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer, the buyer purchased the property at l1300 Thornton St. as an investment.  Thalhimer's Berkley M. Mitchell and Wilson H. Greenlaw Jr. handled the sale negotiations on behalf of the seller.

 

Apple Hospitality REIT acquires Residence Inns by Marriott in Portland and Salt Lake City area

Apple Hospitality REIT Inc. announced Monday that it has acquired a 179-room Residence Inn by Marriott in downtown Portland and a 136-room Residence Inn by Marriott in the Salt Lake City area.

“We are pleased to enter the Portland, Maine, market and to strengthen our exposure to Salt Lake City through the acquisition of these hotels, further diversifying the range of corporate and leisure demand generators for our portfolio,” Nelson Knight, the company’s executive vice president and chief investment officer, said in a statement.

Apple Hospitality said it acquired the Residence Inn by Marriott Portland Downtown/Waterfront, located at 145 Fore St., for about $55.8 million, or $311,500 per room. The hotel is located on Portland’s waterfront within walking distance of Portland’s Historic Old Port District, Portland’s cruise ship terminals and a variety of restaurants, art galleries and entertainment venues. The hotel also is convenient to the University of Southern Maine, Maine Medical Center and corporate offices.

The second purchase of about $25.5 million was for the Salt Lake City Murray property, located at 171 East 5300 South in Murray, Utah. That translates into about $187,500 per room. In addition to its proximity to downtown Salt Lake City and numerous ski resorts, the hotel is located near Intermountain Medical Center and a variety of shopping and dining options.

Following these acquisitions, Apple Hospitality, a publicty traded real estate investment trust based in Richmond,  said its portfolio includes 238 hotels, with more than 30,000 guestrooms, geographically diversified throughout 34 states.

USI Insurance leases 15,211 square feet in Innsbrook Corporate Center in Henrico County

USI Insurance has leased 15,211 square feet  in Innsbrook Corporate Center at 4840 Cox Rd. in Henrico County. Brian K. Berkey of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer in Richmond handled lease negotiations on behalf of the tenant.

In other transactions for Thalhimer,  Ray Ventures LLC leased 12,152 square feet at 11293 Air Park Rd. in Hanover County. Evan M. Magrill handled the lease negotiations on behalf of the tenant.

Roof Services Corp. renewed a 1,520-square-foot lease at 2621 Cogbill Rd. in Richmond. Magrill handled the lease negotiations.

NKF awarded exclusive leasing assignment for RMR Group’s Westfields portfolio

Newmark Knight Frank (NKF)’s McLean office has been awarded the exclusive leasing assignment for The RMR Group’s Westfields Portfolio. The six-building office portfolio, which totals about 450,000 square feet, was recently sold, and will now be managed by The RMR Group, an asset management company based in Newton, Mass.

The buildings include Stoneleigh I & II, Glenview I & II and Glenbrook II & IV. Available suites range from 2,000 to 35,000 square feet. The Class-A portfolio is located between Interstate 66 and Route 50 with proximity to Washington Dulles International Airport and Washington, D.C.

Centrally located in the Westfields submarket, the property also is adjacent to The Field at Commonwealth, an 180,000-square-foot retail development anchored by a new Wegmans grocery store. The development is expected to be complete in 2018.

NKF’s Andy Klaff, Jeff Tarae and Kat Pelonero will handle leasing for the Westfields Portfolio.

Divaris adds three retail shopping centers to its Hampton Roads portfolio

 

Divaris Real Estate Inc. will lease and manage several large retail shopping centers in Hampton Roads.

The company announced that George Fox has been selected to lease three grocery-anchored neighborhood community centers. They are:

Lightfoot Marketplace, 6485 Centerville Road in Williamsburg. The 124,588 square-foot center is anchored by a Harris Teeter grocery store. Harrison Hall and Peter Vick are co-listing the center from DRE’s Richmond office,

Roosevelt Gardens, 2300 East Little Creek Road in Norfolk. The 109,185-square-foot center is anchored by Save-a-Lot,

Oyster Point Square, 11710 Jefferson Ave. in Newport News. Food Lion anchors the 87,800-square-foot center.

Altogether, Divaris reports that it picked up a total of 387,597 new square feet of properties in the Hampton Roads market, including a 57,024-square-foot industrial property at 5200 City Line Road in Hampton. It will be leased by Divaris’ Chris Bendit and managed by the Peninsula office of Divaris Property Management Corp.


In the Richmond market, DRE reports that it will be leasing or managing a total of 154,646 new square feet.

One of the largest deals there was a 63,820-square-foot lease for Warsaw Village, a shopping center, in Warsaw. The center at 4665 Richmond Road is anchored by a Food Lion.


With the new assignments in Hampton Roads and Richmond totaling more 540,000 square feet, Divaris reports that the total of all the properties leased by the company and managed by Divaris Property Management Corp. is more than 32 million square feet in the mid-Atlantic and Southeastern U.S.

Virginia is beginning to see a shortage in residential housing, realtor group says

Virginia’s residential real estate market in the third quarter reflected an insufficient supply of homes versus demand, according to the Third Quarter 2017 Home Sales Report released Monday by the Virginia Realtors Association (VRA).

The number of sales from July 1 through Sept. 30 fell year-over-year, while prices continued to rise. Meanwhile, the time from list to closing shortened. The average number of days on the market dropped from prior year benchmarks to an average of 55 days for the 2017 third quarter, 10 percent lower than last year’s third quarter average (61 days).

“The prolonged shortage of inventory in Virginia’s market is clear in third quarter indicators,” VAR’s President Claire Forcier-Rowe said in a statement.  “Buyers are willing to pay more and close faster, but there simply aren’t enough houses to satisfy their demand.”

The third quarter saw 33,432 residential transactions closed, a decrease of 0.2 percent from the 33,493 units sold in the third quarter of 2016. While sales fell, the sum value of those transactions increased 3.2 percent from 2016’s third quarter volume to a total of $11.4 billion.

The rise in volume reflects steadily increasing median prices.  The aggregate median sales price for the third quarter was $280,000, an increase of 2.9 percent from the third quarter of 2016 ($272,000).

The report noted that annualized residential sales — a rolling sum of home sales closed in the preceding twelve months — fell for the first time in three years of reporting periods. Relative to the previous quarter, sales dropped 0.1 percent (to 120,847 from 120,786).

The drop in annualized sales is a clear indicator, VRA said, that limited supply has suppressed the number of transactions. The drop in third quarter 2017 sales pace was due specifically to a year-over-year decline in September sales, as July and August marginally outperformed their prior year marks.