Developers Kick-Start $38M Transit-Oriented Apartment Community in Orlando

By Georgiana Mihaila, Associate Editor

A new community is set to rise in downtown Orlando, as developers Wood Partners and The Ustler Group have joined forces and started working together on a 248-unit urban apartment community called The Ivy – Residences at Health Village.

Set on 3.4 acres acquired by the developers in Florida Hospital’s Health Village in November 2012, the $38 million apartment community will stand amid the hospital’s 172-acre Health Village—a mixed-use, transit-oriented, master planned urban development. Centered around health and wellness, Health Village features a variety of uses including medical, research, medical office, commercial, hotel and multifamily.

The Ivy—Residences at Health Village will consist of two mid-rise buildings and an integrated parking garage, and it will offer 248 one-, two- and three-bedroom units averaging 941 square feet, with a total living area of 233,368 square feet. The first units at The Ivy are scheduled for completion in late 2013 or early 2014 with full project completion and availability of all units set for mid-2014.

Baker Barrios serves as design architect, with Charlan Brock & Associates as the architect-of-record and Wood Florida Builders as the general contractor. GAI Consultants has been chosen as the civil engineer for the project, while Libra Design Group will be the landscape architect. Wood Partners and Ustler have a marketing relationship with Florida Hospital to provide their employees with the first opportunity to lease apartments at The Ivy.

The Ivy could be the first true transit-oriented development project to start vertical construction in Orlando since the formal announcement of SunRail. A SunRail station is part of Health Village and will be operational as of 2014. The Ivy will be just one SunRail stop away from the premier dining and shopping offerings of Winter Park’s Park Avenue, and two stops from the main downtown Orlando stop at Church Street Station in the Central Business District, which is in proximity to the newly completed Amway Center and the under-construction Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.

Image courtesy of Wood Partners

Winter Park’s University Plaza Shopping Center Gets $10.5M Financing

By Georgiana Mihaila, Associate Editor

Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, working exclusively on behalf of borrower North American Development Group, has recently arranged $10.5 million in financing for the grocery-anchored University Plaza shopping center in Winter Park.

HFF director Chris Drew, senior managing directors Paul Stasaitis and Danny Finkle, and senior real estate analyst Jose Carrazana led the HFF team representing North American Development Group; they have successfully secured the 15-year, fixed-rate loan through Prudential Mortgage Capital Company.

“NADG is a sophisticated borrower that is taking advantage of historically low interest rates to lock in highly accretive long-term, fixed-rate financing for a core asset in their portfolio,” said Drew. “We continue to see incredible demand from top-tier life insurance companies for fixed-rate loans on grocery-anchored retail throughout the state.”

Located at 4000 North Goldenrod Road at the intersection of University Boulevard in Winter Park, the 77,918-square-foot University Plaza shopping center is currently 95 percent leased, with Publix as the anchor tenant. Set approximately 10 miles northeast of downtown Orlando, the building was redeveloped in 2011.

Marcus & Millichap estimates that the Orlando retail market will most likely strengthen in 2013, given the upcoming employment gains, population growth and increased tourism. Retailers are already responding to market improvements, several having already made public their expansion plans. The gas station/convenience store segment is especially active with RaceTrac, 7-Eleven and Wawa all adding multiple sites this year. Other retailers with new stores under way include Dollar General, Family Dollar and Walmart.

Image via Loopnet

Chart Courtesy of Marcus & Millichap

Wood Partners Delivers First Units of Luxury $32.7M Alta at Lake Eve

By Georgiana Mihaila, Associate Editor

Wood Partners is making headlines for the second time this month; after having recently broken ground on its 200-unit Rialto apartment complex in southwest Orlando, the company is now announcing the official opening of its newest multifamily community, the $32.7-million Alta at Lake Eve.

Currently, 60 apartment homes are ready for move-in, and the remaining units are available for pre-lease, with the official completion date set for April 2013.

The 264-unit luxury apartment community consists of four four-story mid-rise buildings and a couple of two-story carriage home buildings. Featuring the latest in resort-style amenities, from a private movie theater and state-of-the-art fitness center to high-efficiency washer-dryer units in every residence, Alta at Lake Eve residents will also benefit from a luxurious two-story clubroom that also includes a conference room, executive business center, coffee lounge, reading room, billiards room and game room.

The controlled-access development boasts one of the area’s best locations, at 12515 Lake Square Circle, two miles from Walt Disney World and about five miles from Universal Studio, Sea World and the Orange County Convention Center. Residents are just steps from the I-Ride trolley that facilitates access to the Orlando Premier Outlet Mall, as well as hundreds of restaurants and night spots.

“Location is a major selling point, but this development is unique and has a WOW factor from the moment you walk in the door,” said Joe Garibay, Southeast Regional Property Manager for Wood Residential Services. “Alta at Lake Eve is a very modern mid-rise with wood-plank flooring, espresso cabinets, elevators and high-end outdoor features.”

The 264 units include executive suites; 656-square-foot one-bedroom models; 1,132- to 1,200-square-foot two-bedroom, two-bath models; and 1,476-square-foot three-bedroom, two-bath models. Patios, balconies, sun rooms and garages are also available.

The 9.69-acre community is Wood Partners’ 11th project in Orlando. Since 1998, the company has developed 27 projects with a total valuation of $1.1 billion in Florida. Wood Florida Builders, LLC—Wood Partners’ Florida construction branch—served as builder for the project, while Charlan Brock & Associates was the architect.

Image Courtesy of Wood Partners

HFF Secures $50M Refinancing for Three Central Florida Office Properties

By Georgiana Mihaila, Associate Editor

Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, working on behalf of the borrower—a joint venture between The Praedium Group and Tower Realty Partners, Inc.—has secured $50 million in refinancing for three Central Florida office properties.

The three properties, totaling more than 780,000 square feet of office space, include Quorum Center and Oakridge Office Park in Orlando and 850 Trafalgar in Maitland.

The loans were secured in two separate transactions; the 10-year, fixed-rate loans for Quorum Center and 850 Trafalgar were placed with UBS Real Estate Finance Group, while a 10-year, fixed-rate loan for Oakridge Office Park was placed with Morgan Stanley. According to HFF, all three non-recourse, securitized loans were priced in the mid four percent range.

The HFF team representing the borrower was led by Michael Weinberg, a director in HFF’s Orlando office, along with directors Elliott Throne and Chris Drew and senior real estate analyst Jorge Portela from HFF’s Miami office.

According to CBRE, the Orlando office market ended a five quarter run of positive absorption with negative absorption of more than 225,000 square feet in the fourth quarter of 2012. The local market is still trying to regain its footprint following the deterioration of market fundamentals in mid-2008. Improving market fundamentals in strong submarkets have been mostly negated due to weakness in other submarkets. Landlords have been tightening up on free rent and other concessions and rents have made no substantial improvements overall. As the vacancy rate for Class A product continues to inch downward, developers’ confidence will improve and formerly stalled projects may be revived. However, inconsistency throughout the Orlando area makes it difficult to predict where the market is headed.

Chart courtesy of CBRE

Image: Quorum Center via Tower Realty Partners

Rida Development’s $200M Transit-Oriented Project Gets Preliminary Approval

By Georgiana Mihaila, Associate Editor

RIDA Development’s master plan for a $200 million, multi-phased mixed-use development won the approval of Orlando’s Municipal Planning Board on Tuesday, and must now go before the City Council.

The ambitious project was first announced in 2011, when Mayor Buddy Dyer included RIDA’s idea in his State of Downtown speech.

The mixed-use Central Station project will spread over a 5.6-acre parcel adjacent to the Lynx Central Station and across Orange Avenue from the Orange County Courthouse. The location facilitates a direct connection to SunRail, the 61-mile commuter train system scheduled to launch in 2014, making the Central Station the first example of transit-oriented development tied to the SunRail. According to a plan previously released by the developer, a spine running through the center of the complex would link Orange Avenue with downtown’s main SunRail platform at the Lynx center.

The 5.6-acre tract, considered to be the largest undeveloped parcel downtown, was purchased by RIDA Development for $15.1 million in 2008 from Palm Beach Land Trust—that also had plans for a $250 million mixed-use project tied into the commuter-rail system. Previous to Palm Beach Land Trust, the property was owned by Ron Pizzuti, who proposed Orlando City Center—a tower topped by a large open cube—but the project was shut down by the Federal Aviation Administration as its height would have endangered the Orlando Executive Airport air traffic.

The development consists of three phases, with the first estimated at approximately $100 million. The first phase of the development will add a126-room hotel, a 275-unit apartment building with a 411-space parking garage, and a 97-space parking lot accompanied by ground-floor shops and restaurants.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, if the master plan gets the final approval from the City Council, construction could start this year on the residential component—where Crescent Resources will serve as RIDA Development’s multifamily partner.

Image: Orlando, Lake Eola aerial