902 LLC has purchased a 32,715-square-foot building on 3.9 acres at 810 Bluecrab Road in Newport News for $1.9 million from Eagle Leasing Inc. Glenn Gibson of Norfolk-based Harvey Lindsay Commercial Real Estate represented the buyer in the transaction.
In another deal for Harvey Lindsay, Renfrow Investments bought a 21,112-square-foot building on 2.3 acres at 1429 Crossways Blvd. in Chesapeake for $2.3 million. The seller was Frederick Reames. Gibson and Clark Baldwin handled this transaction.
Kettler, a real estate development and property management company based in McLean, has named Stephanie Polyzois vice president of debt finance.
With more than 30 years of experience primarily in the multifamily housing market, Polyzois will lead all debt-financing activities of Kettler’s real estate portfolio. Her responsibilities include originating, negotiating, underwriting and documenting credit facilities, including secured and unsecured lines of credit, bridge facilities, construction loans and acquisition loans.
According to Kettler, Polyzois has experience originating and underwriting multifamily debt through broker and banker networks.
She comes to Kettler from PNC bank and has previous experience with Alliant Capital, Wachovia Multifamily Capital, Johnson Capital, and Green Park Financial. Throughout her career, Polyzois has worked for major national banks and finance and investment companies originating multifamily, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, FHA and balance sheet loans.
Kettler owns and manages residential and mixed-use projects throughout the mid-Atlantic and select locations in the south. In the Washington, D.C., region, it recently opened Highgate at the Mile, an apartment community in Tysons.
ACA International LLC, which recently announced the relocation of its corporate headquarters to Virginia Beach, has announced a partnership with South Atlantic Express International Ltd. (SAEx) to land the third high-speed subsea cable in Virginia Beach.
ACA said Tuesday that it would be the landing party and neutral co-location service provider for the main trunk of the SAEx cable.
According to Virginia Beach city officials, the 72 terabit-per-second bandwidth SAEx cable will be the only system connecting South Africa directly to the U.S. It will combine with a partner system from Fortaleza, Brazil, to offer a diverse transatlantic network, with a planned second phase from South Africa to Asia.
“This is the third high-speed cable agreement to be finalized in Virginia Beach,” Virginia Beach Economic Development Director Warren D. Harris, said in a statement. “This new connection from South Africa is a significant addition to our global connectivity infrastructure and strengthens the city's position as a Tier One digital community.”
The world's fastest subsea data cables installed by Microsoft, Facebook and Telxius connect Virginia Beach to Europe and South America. Globalinx Data Centers also is building a 150,000-square-foot, three-phased data center campus close to the Telxius Cable Landing Station in Virginia Beach.
Rosalind Thomas, managing director of SAEx International, said in a statement that extending SAEx to the U.S. “will boost access to the worldwide infrastructure and open up traffic diversity to increase access and service reliability, as demand from consumers and businesses grows rapidly. We are pleased to be collaborating with ACA International in the expansion of services and applications that are enabled by high-bandwidth networks, which are a catalyst for economic and social progress.”
SAEx, based in Mauritius with a subsidiary company in South Africa, is building the third cable to connect Mtunzini on KwaZulu-Natal's north coast to Yzerfontein north of Cape Town, with branching units in East London and Port Elizabeth. The cable will cross the South Atlantic to Fortaleza in Brazil to link to a partner system, with a direct link to Virginia Beach.
ACA International previously announced plans to buy a 10.2-acre site in Corporate Landing Business Park for a 130,000-square-foot facility that will house its new corporate headquarters offices, a tier III data center providing neutral co-location services and also serve as the cable landing station.
Ben Davenport, a Virginia Beach City Council member, noted that the third cable would bring local benefits as well. “… Virginia Beach has a robust broadband infrastructure that is being upgraded to support the next generation of telecommunication systems,” Davenport said in a statement. “A 126-linear mile municipal fiber network provides connectivity throughout the region ensuring municipal, educational and commercial facilities have access to the best digital technology available. The digital infrastructure is also available to help private carriers provide high quality.”
Virginia Beach-based CCP Commercial Real Estate has acquired a five-building office/flex portfolio in Nashville, Tenn., for an undisclosed price.
The company said the five-building, 413,000-square-foot portfolio in the Airport North and Metro-Center submarkets is 97 percent leased to multiple tenants. CCP acquired the property on May 4.
According to the company, CCP now owns about 1 million square feet of institutional grade commercial real estate in the Nashville market.
“We are very pleased with our continued expansion into one of the best secondary markets in the United States,” Jeremy R. McLendon, CCP’s president said in a statement.
“The Nashville office and industrial markets have experienced some of the highest rent growth in the country over the last few years, creating the opportunity for attractive net operation income (NOI) growth,” he said. “We were able to purchase the property at an attractive discount to replacement cost.”
CCP Commercial Real Estate owns and operates more than 3 million square feet of commercial property.
The Branch Group Inc. in Roanoke, one of Virginia’s largest construction companies, said Monday that it has acquired the assets of L. A. Lacy Inc. in Charlottesvile for an undisclosed price.
L. A. Lacy, a plumbing, HVAC and mechanical contracting company, will continue to operate under its current name. The company was founded in 1922. Jeff Lewis, who joined L.A. Lacy, in 2016, has been retained as president of the company.
J. William Karbach, CEO of The Branch Group, Inc. said in a statement that the acquisition “is a sign that we are doubling-down on our mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) operations and supports our long-range strategic growth plans by significantly improving our go-to-market capabilities, scalability, and economy of scale, throughout the mid-Atlantic and Southeast United States.”
Karbach added that what he described as this “modest transaction is what we hope is the first of many future, more aggressive expansions into other MEP markets, positioning us for a 20-year market trajectory and beyond.”
The Branch Group, along with its subsidiaries, touches all aspects of the built environment through G.J. Hopkins, Inc. (another MEP business), Branch Civil Inc., and Branch and Associates, Inc.
The Engineering News-Record ranks The Branch Group as No. 209 among the top 400 largest construction companies in the U. S.
In 2017, Branch Group, a privately held company, said it had total revenues of nearly $400 million and a workforce of more than 800 employees. It operates as an employee stock ownership Plan (ESOP), which gives employees a vested interest in its growth.
Grubb Properties, based in Charlotte, N.C., has acquired a 275,000-square-foot office building in Fairfax for $38.8 million, or about $141 per square foot. The acquisition marks the company’s first investment in Northern Virginia.
The property, known as Argon Plaza, is located in the Fair Lakes master-planned community, which offers visibility and access to I-66. It’s within walking distance to numerous amenities including a Whole Foods store, a Starbucks cafe and Hyatt Regency hotel.
Grubb Properties said it purchased the property from C-III Asset Management in a transaction handled by HFF and NAIGlobal. Grubb Properties plans to make capital improvements to the building to upgrade its tenant amenities, and it will conduct a leasing program for the property.
The building's anchor tenant, a defense contractor specializing in military technology and intelligence, occupies more than 50 percent of the building. It recently signed a five-year lease renewal.
“With its amenity-rich … location and strong anchor tenant, Argon Plaza is a perfect addition to our growing office portfolio,” Todd Williams, chief investment officer at Grubb Properties, said in a statement.
Grubbs previously invested in the state’s multifamily market, including Link Apartments in Manchester and Sterling Beaufont Apartments, both in Richmond.
Food Lion says it will invest $168 million to remodel 105 stores in the Hampton Roads region, including some in eastern North Carolina. According to the Salisbury, N.C.-based grocer, the capital investment will go towards remodeling the stores, lowering prices, expanding the assortment of products, hiring about 5,000 new employees and promoting current employees.
Additionally, the company plans additional community partnerships through Food Lion's hunger-relief initiative Food Lion Feeds.
The company’s list of stores on the remodel list include 22 in Virginia Beach, 12 in Chesapeake, eight each in Hampton, Newport News and Norfolk and five stores each in Portsmouth, and Suffolk. Stores in Nags Head, Corolla and Kitty Hawk located on the Outer Banks of North Carolina also are on the list.
The remodeling comes at the time when the grocery market is in flux and Food Lion, Hampton Roads’ dominate grocer, may be trying to protect its turf.
Supervalu announced in March that it was selling 21 of its 38 Farm Fresh Food & Pharmacy Stores in Hampton Roads to Kroger and Food Lion for $43 million cash.
Of the 21 stores, 10 will be sold to Kroger’s Harris Teeter brand, eight will be sold to Kroger’s Mid-Atlantic Division, and three will be sold to Food Lion. With the sale, each of the three brands indicated that some of the stores would close for rebranding and renovations. The deals are expected to close this month.
Food Lion said all of the 105 stores will remain open with normal operating hours during the remodeling. Once complete, the company said, these locations will be designed for easier navigation, so customers can get in and out quickly. Additionally, they will offer an expanded variety of products, such as more local, natural, organic and gluten-free items, Food Lion said.
Twelve of the 105 stores will feature walk-in garden coolers designed to keep produce fresher longer. Six stores will include expanded deli departments with handmade artisan pizza, a wing bar and a coffee and soda station.
Food Lion said it has remodeled 544 of its more than 1,000 stores across its 10-state operating area in the last four years.
The grocer has more than 1,000 stores in 10 Southeastern and mid-Atlantic states and employs more than 63,000 associates. It is a company of Ahold Delhaize USA, the U.S. division of Zaandam-based Royal Ahold Delhaize Group.
World Distribution Services has renewed its lease for 167,077 square feet of industrial space at 6969 Tidewater Drive in Norfolk. Stephanie Sanker of S. L. Nusbaum Realty Co. represented the landlord.
In other Hampton Roads transactions for S. L. Nusbaum:
Food Lion modified its lease on 35,994 square feet of retail space at Kempsville Plaza in Virginia Beach. Murray Rosenbach represented the landlord.
TJ Maxx exercised its option on 29,750 square feet of retail space at Monticello Marketplace in Williamsburg. Tyler Jacobson represented the landlord.
East Pearl W Mercury Holding LLC has purchased the Greenwood Shopping Center, a 17,008-square-foot retail building at 2501-2525 W. Mercury Blvd. in Hampton from Gerry Wilkins LLC for $1.6 million. Mike Zarpas and Joseph Mersel represented the seller.
The Regent of Virginia Beach LLC purchased a 15,478-square-foot office building at 1851 Old Donation Parkway in Virginia Beach from Voogt Rehabilitation Center L.L.C. for $1.2 million. Ashley Bussey, Bill Overman, and John Wessling represented the seller, and Stephanie Sanker represented the buyer.
Three companies with projects in Virginia have been named recipients of Trade & Industry Development’s 13th annual CiCi (corporate investment and community impact) awards.
The magazine dedicated to corporate site selectors recognized American Merchant (Bristol) and Navy Federal Credit Union (Frederick County) in the Community Impact category. Facebook, which plans to build a massive new data center in Henrico County, was recognized in the Corporate Investment category.
According to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP), which announced the winners Thursday, 30 companies were selected out of several hundred projects submitted, based on their announced plans for economic development in 2017.
Navy Federal Credit Union, the world’s largest credit union, is investing $100 million to expand its Winchester operations.
Last October, Facebook announced more than $1 billion of new investment in Virginia. The social media giant plans to directly invest $750 million to establish a 970,000-square-foot data center in Henrico County. In addition, due to a new renewable energy tariff designed by Dominion Energy Virginia and Facebook, hundreds of millions of additional dollars will be invested in the construction of multiple solar facilities in the Commonwealth to service Facebook’s Henrico center with 100 percent renewable energy. The project is expected to bring thousands of construction jobs to the region and more than 100 full-time operational jobs.
American Merchant, Inc., a subsidiary of Merchant House International Ltd., a Hong Kong-based designer and manufacturer of home textiles, seasonal décor products and leather shoes, said in December that it would invest $19.9 million to establish its first U.S. manufacturing operation in Bristol, creating 405 jobs.
A 26,290-square-foot, office building in Henrico County has been sold to SWAG Partners LLC, an entity affiliated with Boost Promotional Branding, for $2.9 million, or about $109 per square foot.
The single-story building at 8090 Villa Park Drive will serve as the new headquarters for Boost Promotional Branding. The woman-owned business is one of the largest promotional products distributors in the U.S., with more than 5,000 customers nationwide from the health-care, sports, technology and education industries.
Will Bradley and Matt Anderson of CBRE|Richmond represented the seller, DAAR LLC, in the transaction along with Andrew Gibb of 7 Hills Advisors.
Previously the building housed Draper Aden Associates.
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