186-Unit Apartment Community Trades in Metro Nashville

By Eliza Theiss, Associate Editor

Greensboro, NC-based Bell Partners Inc., the seventh largest apartment operator in the United States, has announced the acquisition of Grove Franklin Apartments, a 186-unit apartment community in Nashville’s suburb of Franklin, TN.

The property, aptly renamed Bell Franklin Gateway, is located at 1116 Davenport Blvd, at the intersection of Franklin Road and Moores Lane, at the gateway between Brentwood and Franklin, two of the most prosperous suburbs of Nashville. The 186-unit property is comprised of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. The fully leased community features amenities such as a 24-hour fitness center, resort-style swimming pool, designated picnic area complete with fire pit and grills, clubroom with complimentary Wi-Fi, business center and internet café, executive conference room, expansive lawn areas as well as storage space and garages. All units feature finishes such as granite countertops, tiled backsplash, stainless steel and black appliances, washer and dryer, a patio or balcony.  The townhomes of Bell Franklin Gateway also feature a two-car attached garage and hardwood floors, with some units boasting walk-in showers, Juliet balconies and garden tubs. Units range in size from 672 to 1,619 square feet. The community is within walking distance of Gateway Village, the prestigious Brentwood High School and Middle School, and the Franklin/Cool Springs employment hub.

The Nashville Business Journal reported a $35 million sale price for the property (or about $188,000 per unit), which Bell purchased from SWH Residential, LLC.

To date Bell Partners has invested over $112 million in apartment properties, including its most recent acquisition of Bell Franklin Gateway. The company recently completed the $200 million final close of Bell Apartments Fund IV. The company now owns or operates 248 apartment assets, totaling upwards of 69,000 units.

Photo courtesy of Bell Partners

Chart courtesy of CBRE

Franklin Shopping Center Bought for $37.5M

By Eliza Theiss, Associate Editor

Indianapolis-based real estate investment trust Kite Realty Group has announced the acquisition of Cool Springs Market in Franklin, Tennessee. The full service REIT purchased the 224,000-square-foot shopping center for $37.5 million—this figure, however, does not include closing costs.

Cool Springs Market, located at the intersection of I-65 and Cool Springs Blvd, draws its customer base from a five-mile trade area with a population of 85,200 boasting average household incomes of $124,000 which is in compliance with the buyer’s declared focus on the development, construction, acquisition, ownership and operation of high quality neighborhood and community shopping centers in selected US growth markets. “Nashville is a new market for us that we are very excited to be entering as it aligns directly with our geographic strategy of growth cities in the Southeast, Midwest, and Texas,” said Kite Realty Group Trust Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John A. Kite.

According to a recent Nashville Market Outlook 2013 report released by CBRE, Music City’s retail market will continue its upward climb throughout 2013 due to the city’s multifaceted and resilient economy. Coupled with its investment rates proving more agreeable than those of first tier markets, Nashville’s retail market is poised to see pricing pick up throughout the year, especially in the case of well performing grocery-anchored properties, as well as attractively located power and community centers. Cool Springs Market’s appealing location, as well as the presence of a non-owned Kroger at the site, makes the acquisition one that guarantees healthy returns. CBRE’s evaluation of the market shows cap rates for Class A grocery-anchored properties moving between 7-7.5 percent with an expect tilt below the seven percent mark.

Cool Springs Market’s 5 percent vacancy rate is also above metro Nashville’s 7.8 percent year-end vacancy rate. Tenants include Dick’s Sporting Goods, Marshall’s, Staples and JoAnn Fabrics.

Its $39.5 million purchase price would also place it in the top three purchases of 2012.

Image courtesy of Dwight Burdette via Wikimedia Commons

Chart courtesy of CBRE

Ashford Secures 30-Year Lease for Existing Convention Center

By Eliza Theiss, Associate Editor

Self-administrated real estate investment trust Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. announced that it has entered, along with its joint venture partner, a series of agreements with the City of Nashville and Davidson County regarding its ownership of the Renaissance Nashville Hotel and the existing Nashville Convention Center.

According to a press statement, Ashford Hospitality has secured a 30-year lease agreement for 80,000 square feet of meeting and pre-function space at the existing Nashville Convention Center. The existing Convention Center is adjacent to the 673-key Renaissance Nashville Hotel. Ashford has a 71.74 percent ownership interest in the hotel, which with the new lease agreement will be able to offer upwards of 110,000 square feet of self-contained meeting and pre-function space. Before the freshly signed agreement the hotel had access to the Convention Center’s space on an “as available” basis and with additional payment.

Ashford and its joint venture partner also changed their leasehold interest in the hotel, set to expire in 2087, to fee simple ownership, and they extended the lease on some adjacent facilities to 2112. The Renaissance Nashville Hotel is currently undergoing a $20 million value-add renovation. It will also engage in a value-add renovation of the newly leased asset. The latter will be funded from existing capital reserves.

Located at 611 Commerce Street, the existing convention center’s anchor hotel offers amenities such as staffed business center, a 24-hour health club, indoor pool, whirlpool, spa/salon, full service restaurant, two lounges and circa 110,000 square feet of meeting and pre-function space, including two grand ballrooms. The hotel was completed in 1987 and is an AAA 4 Diamond Award winning property.

Image courtesy of Jice99 via Wikimedia Commons

Compass Completes LEED Gold Datacenter in Record Time

By Eliza Theiss, Associate Editor

Standalone data center developer Compass Datacenters has announced completing its first facility in suburban Nashville. Located 20 miles from Music City’s downtown, in Franklin, Tennessee, the 21,000-square-foot data center has finished construction, as well as commissioning. The 1.2 MW standalone data center is leased to a sole tenant, expected to take control of the facility by the end of the month.

The Franklin facility is a record breaking one due to Compass’ patent-pending Truly Modular Architecture ^TM construction and structuring methodology. The usual one or two years it takes to develop such a facility has been reduced to a much smaller six-month time frame from groundbreaking to custumer handover. The company’s data centers are also geographically independent and as such can be located wherever a customer has the need of them.

At the core of the Compass design and construction approach is its CompassPod ^TM, a patent-pending design innovation that offers 10,000 square feet of columness 36-inch raised floor space supported by 1.2 MW of electrical power with 2N power distribution and delivering a power usage effectiveness (PUE) of 1.2 -1.5 or less at lower loads. The pods themselves are the basic building blocks with which Compass creates its facilities—if the need arises, then another 10,000-square-foot pod can be added at any time. The pods are protected by, and located within, the hardened, secure and energy-efficient CompassStructure ^TM. Facilities are built to withstand Class 4 Hurricanes and have the 1.5 seismic importance factor applied by structures such as hospitals.

In addition to the 10,000-square-foot data center pod, the Franklin facility also features a 1,000-square-foot CompassSupport module comprising office space, security center, lobby, loading dock and break area to meet the needs of data center logistics and operational staff. The Tier III-certified modular facility is LEED Gold certified for energy efficiency, using such techniques as free air cooling by synchronizing rooftop air handlers.

The Franklin facility will be taken over by communications and technology services provider and adviser Windstream Communications, a company working with four out of five Fortune 500 companies.

Image courtesy of Compass Datacenters’ Facebook page

Baptist Hospital Opens Specialized Medical Center; Meharry Medical Expands Educational and Housing Facilities

By Eliza Theiss, Associate Editor

Another member of Saint Thomas Health, Middle Tennessee’s not-for-profit, faith-based health system, has announced an important expansion. Following last week’s buzz around Saint Thomas Hospital breaking ground on a $110 million expansion, came the news of Baptist Hospital opening its brand new onsite wound care facility.

The Craig Center for Advanced Wound Healing, located on the Baptist Hospital campus, on the corner of Murphy and 20^thAvenue, provides 20,000 square feet of expanded clinical space and improved accessibility. The state-of-the-art facility now also houses Baptist Hospital’s Diabetes Center.

The project, which broke ground in late February 2012, was designed by Gresham Smith and Partners with Harvest Construction as main contractor. The facility was initially slated to open in November 2012.

The Craig Center for Advanced Wound Healing was named after former President and Chief Executive Officer of National Life and Accident Insurance Company C. A. “Neil” Craig, II, an active philanthropist in the local healthcare community. A donation of $5 million from The Deborah and C.A. Craig, II Family Foundation was decisive in helping the facility be built.

Saint Thomas Health isn’t the only player in the Nashville medical scene that is looking towards the future. NewsChannel5.com recently reported on the expansions at Meharry Medical College. Among them is the biggest build since the seventies: the $25 million Turner Family Center on 21^st Avenue North. The 80,000-square-foot facility broke ground in 2012 and is expected to open in July 2014. The three-story building will contain administrative offices, classroom space, an auditorium and a banquet hall as well as a food court. And while the new educational facility is under construction, the college is gearing up for a new project set to break ground in May. Meharry Medical College will demolish an outdated apartment community on Morena Street and replace it with 100 new student housing units. Meharry is also renovating Lyttle Hall, another student housing property, before an expected increase in college enrollment.