MARKET OUTLOOK,REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT
Northwood Investors | November 23, 2022
Global real estate investment firm Northwood Investors LLC announced today its acquisition of Fifth + Broadway, a newly developed 6.2-acre mixed-use, open-air center. The property was developed and operated by Brookfield Properties, which completed construction in 2021. Northwood has purchased the property in its entirety, including its retail district, 501 Commerce office tower and The Place residences, from a subsidiary of Brookfield.
As Northwood expands its footprint in Nashville with this prized entertainment complex, it looks forward to furthering Brookfield's vision for the center. Northwood is well-positioned to take the reins in managing the project with its vertically integrated platforms and experience with retail and mixed-use assets. Most of Fifth + Broadway's management team have transitioned to Northwood and will continue in their existing roles, bringing their strong local experience and knowledge to the property.
Northwood is already deeply involved in the Nashville market; this latest acquisition marks the fifth asset the firm has invested in within the city. Other properties include The Conrad hotel, Capital View apartments, the McEwen Northside mixed-use center and Franklin Park office towers.
"We feel that Fifth + Broadway's energy and integration in the heart of downtown is unparalleled, As a mixed-use asset, all its elements work together cohesively, and Brookfield has done a phenomenal job with its development. Our Northwood management team is excited to carry on the torch, engage with the city, and partner with tenants like The National Museum of African American Music, AllianceBernstein, The Twelve Thirty Club, Assembly Food Hall and more."
-Managing Director of Northwood Investors Erin Cannata
Centrally located within Nashville's vibrant urban core, Fifth + Broadway is one of the largest single-phase mixed-use developments in the history of the city and the state of Tennessee. The revolutionary downtown project, which replaced the 6.2-acre Nashville Convention Center site, delivers 250,000 square feet of strategically selected retail and entertainment, the 56,000-square-foot National Museum for African American Music, 367,000 square feet of Class-A office space at 501 Commerce, 381 residential units at The Place at Fifth + Broadway and more than 2,000 parking spaces. The project, which sees nearly five million annual visitors, was built for a post-COVID-19 world with outdoor space, accessibility, safety and parking in mind.
We feel Nashville is a high-growth market, and one that we have been watching since 2011, It's an 'it' city for business and entertainment and Fifth + Broadway epitomizes Nashville – a world-class, generational asset that draws locals and tourists alike. We believe the attention to detail, aesthetics and connectivity are unmatched, making it a transformative catalyst for the fabric of lower Broadway,said President of Northwood Retail Ward Kampf.
Northwood is committed to the city of Nashville, which it values for its diversified economy, one-of-a-kind cultural authenticity, attractive cost of living, and premier talent base, which has transformed the city into a 24/7 destination. The firm looks forward to collaborating with the city, its retail and office tenants, and the National Museum for African American Music as it evolves this asset, which is seamlessly integrated into the streetscape and cultural heart of Downtown Nashville.
Fifth + Broadway is a thriving mixed-use complex, and we are very proud of its development and success as a major destination in and economic driver for Nashville, While Brookfield has successfully recapitalized the asset in line with its overall investment strategy, we remain very interested in Nashville and excited about its future,said Burgin Dossett, vice president of development for Brookfield Properties.
About Fifth + Broadway
Owned and operated by Northwood Investors, Fifth + Broadway is one of the largest single-phase mixed-use developments in the history of Nashville and the state of Tennessee. The transformative downtown project, which replaced the 6.2-acre Nashville Convention Center site, delivers 250,000 square feet of strategically important retail and entertainment, the 56,000-square-foot National Museum for African American Music, 367,000 square feet of Class-A office space at 501 Commerce (headquarters of AllianceBernstein), 381 residential units at The Place at Fifth + Broadway, and more than 2,000 parking spaces.
About Northwood Investors
Northwood Investors LLC is a privately held real estate private equity firm that owns and operates real estate across the U.S. and Europe. The firm currently manages a portfolio aggregating approximately $20 billion in total gross asset value. Northwood's flagship fund seeks to opportunistically acquire well-located real estate with a plan to create value through hands-on asset management. Northwood is vertically integrated with in-house operating teams across the office, multifamily, retail, hospitality, and urban logistics sectors.
About Northwood Retail
Northwood Retail LLC was established by Northwood Investors, a privately held, global real estate investment and management firm. The platform currently leases, manages, and markets a portfolio of community and mixed-use properties across the United States with a concentration in Texas, Colorado, North Carolina, Tennessee, and California. Built upon strong, fundamental real estate principles, Northwood Retail is focused on creating value at each project through a disciplined approach to leasing, development, property management, and marketing.
About Pacific Life
For more than 150 years, Pacific Life has helped millions of individuals and families with their financial needs through a wide range of life insurance products, annuities, and mutual funds, and offers a variety of investment products and services to individuals, businesses, and pension plans. Whether your goal is to protect loved ones or grow your assets for retirement, Pacific Life offers innovative products and services that provide value and financial security for current and future generations. Pacific Life counts more than half of the 100 largest U.S. companies as its clients and has been named one of the 2022 World's Most Ethical Companies® by the Ethisphere Institute.
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REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT
CIP Real Estate LLC | November 17, 2022
CIP Real Estate has acquired Kennesaw Mountain Business Park, an industrial property in the north Atlanta metro area, for $22.6 million. The 10-acre parcel features two buildings totaling 144,130 square feet.
The business park comprises 18 shallow bay industrial units ranging in size from 3,920 to 18,000 square feet, and the majority of the suites are between 6,000 and 12,000 square feet. The project is currently over 96% occupied.
Due to strong demand and limited supply of small and mid-bay industrial units in the upscale Marietta area, a suburb of Atlanta, CIP expects significant rental increases in the next five years, which will be supported by upgrades to the facility, including improvements to the parking lot and landscaping, along with painting and HVAC upgrades.
“We’re seeing unprecedented industrial demand in the Atlanta metro area, driving low inventory and supporting higher rental rates, Kennesaw Mountain Business Park is a strategic addition to our Atlanta metro portfolio, in a highly desirable location with premier accessibility and demographics.”
-Eric Smyth, CEO of CIP
The Kennesaw project is the newest acquisition in CIP’s growing Atlanta metro portfolio. Just 17 miles away, in Alpharetta, is Mansell Commons, a 223,000-square-foot industrial and flex project. CIP invested nearly $750,000 in capital improvements on Mansell Commons this year. To the east, additional CIP assets include Gwinnett Commons, Brook Hollow Center, Pleasantdale Industrial Park and Perimeter Place Business Park.
CIP’s purchase of Kennesaw Mountain Business Park was funded with $14.69 million in takeback financing from the seller.
About CIP Real Estate LLC
CIP Real Estate LLC is a full-service real estate investment company focused on the acquisition, repositioning, re-branding, and management of industrial assets throughout West Coast, Southeast, and Texas markets. Founded in 1995 and based in Irvine, CA, the company owns and manages approximately 9.5 million square feet of quality properties, with offices in Ontario (CA), Riverside (CA), Hayward (CA), Las Vegas, Charlotte, Atlanta and Dallas.
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REAL ESTATE TECHNOLOGY
Blueground and Tabas | November 18, 2022
Blueground, a PropTech scaleup offering a turnkey, flexible housing solution for renters globally, announces today it entered into agreement to acquire Brazilian PropTech startup, Tabas. Marking the first acquisition in Blueground’s nearly 10-year history, the company will soon acquire Tabas after leading Tabas’ $14 million Series A funding round earlier this year. Tabas is the largest operator of designer-quality furnished apartments for 30 days or more in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Brazilia. The acquisition, which is expected to close in early Q1 2023, enables Blueground to enter the Latin American market, and fuel the increased demand for furnished, flexible rentals in the region. Together Blueground and Tabas will launch Mexico City in early 2023.
During the period between now and close, the two companies will continue to operate independently and will gradually integrate over the next year. The combined organization will have a presence in 29 cities across 16 countries, employing over 1,000 people. Based on current financial projections, the joint entity is projected to generate ~650M in 2023.
Blueground is the largest turnkey property rental company in the 30+ day sector. It has a network of 9,500 move-in-ready, expertly-designed homes enabling people to flexibly live wherever they choose. The company was co-founded by CEO Alex Chatzieleftheriou in 2013, who, after many years as a business consultant, had experienced first-hand the pain points of living out of hotels for work for months at a time. He aspired to create a seamless way for people to freely move between neighborhoods, cities, and countries around the world.
Blueground currently works with over 4,700 landlords globally, guaranteeing them rental income while providing expert property management and maintenance services at scale. The acquisition of Tabas will allow Blueground to grow its network faster, supporting its goals of 40,000 apartments across 50 cities by 2025, and add more location options for its client base.
“We’ve had our sights set on Latin America for quite some time, as we see huge market potential for furnished and flexible rentals, Since our first investment in Tabas last year, we’ve developed immense respect for the Tabas team and what they’ve built in Brazil. With our best-in-class technology and our expertise in scaling the business, we'll continue to expand and offer the option for a flexible lifestyle in more markets globally.”
-Alex Chatzieleftheriou, CEO and Co-founder, Blueground
Founded in May 2020, Tabas was born out of the founders’ frustration with the lack of flexible, fully furnished rentals for mid- to long-term stays. Tabas now has over 1,000 apartments in three cities in Brazil - São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Brazilia, raising over $20 million in funding prior to the acquisition. As the first project post-acquisition, Tabas will offer its knowledge and understanding of the market to support the launch of Blueground in Mexico City in early 2023, marking Blueground’s 30th city, and 11th in the last 12 months.
Tabas and Blueground’s visions are fully aligned and together we can create even more value for our guests, our landlords and the Tabas team, This acquisition is yet another success story for Brazilian proptech companies. We're proud of the work we’ve done to get us this far; now it’s time to take it to the next level and continue bringing the turn-key, flexible rental living concept across Latin America,said Leonardo Morgatto, Co-founder and CEO, Tabas.
The pandemic gave rise to new work environments, enabling people to explore the world and forgo traditional long-term leases for flexible rentals. To keep up with the growing demand, Blueground has doubled its supply of apartments in the last year.
The acquisition is subject to standard closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.
About Blueground
Blueground is a global PropTech company that operates a curated network of thousands of quality, turnkey homes in sought-after neighborhoods around the globe, making them available for stays of a month or longer. Blueground’s tech-enabled platform provides a fully digitized experience; from viewing and booking available apartments within minutes to managing the entire stay through the Blueground Guest App. Blueground is headquartered in New York City, with a portfolio of thousands of apartments in 26 cities worldwide including in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C., Denver, Seattle, Austin, Miami, Dubai, Istanbul, Paris, London, Vienna, Zurich, Berlin, Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, Basel, Luxembourg, Copenhagen, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Athens. Blueground plans to expand to 50 cities by 2025.
About Tabas
Tabas is a Brazilian real estate technology startup providing beautifully-designed fully-furnished apartments for flexible stay. Founded in early 2020, it already has more than 1,000 apartments in its portfolio, in the cities of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasília, all located in upscale neighborhoods, equipped and decorated with sophistication. With unprecedented flexibility for the Brazilian market regarding rental contracts, the company works with terms starting from 30 days of rent, guaranteeing the property maintenance to the owners and uncomplicated and well assisted reservations to the tenants.
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