New Life for Loray Mill: The Deal Sheet
The famed Loray Mill in Gastonia, long in disuse, recently received the green light for redevelopment into a mixed-use property by two Atlanta entities--Loray Mill Redevelopment LLC, in conjunction with Loray Mill Manager LLC.
The redevelopment will transform the site into 190 market-rate loft apartments, 79k SF of commercial space and 34k SF of amenities and self-storage for residents. Billy Hughes, a member of the LLCs, tells us the property will also feature memorial space containing artifacts from the mill's history, and a specially made movie about that history on continuous loop. When completed in 1902 by Northern industrialists, the mill established Gaston County as a textile center. In 1929, it was the site of the bitter Loray Mill Strike, which drew national and international attention to wretched textile industry working conditions. A later owner, Firestone, shuttered the mill in 1992 and donated it to Preservation NC in 1998. Financing of the redevelopment includes Historic Tax Credits, both federal and state, along with a HUD guaranteed loan, and took nearly seven years to complete.
CONSTRUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
Publix Super Markets broke ground on a store in the Ballantyne Town Center, which will be its third location in metro Charlotte but its first ever in North Carolina, with the others in Tega Cay and Indian Land, SC. The store is expected to open in 2014, and the Florida-based chain says it will open another location in the South End neighborhood later this year.
Window and door manufacturer Jeld-Wen has completed its 23k SF HQ buildout in the Ally Center. The company leased the space at Ally Center early this year, and tasked Trinity Partners Construction Services Group to do the job. Separately, Trinity is also working on Ally Centers newest restaurant, Just Fresh Restaurant, which will open later this month.
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XPO Logistics, which provides freight management, expedited transportation and freight forwarding services, is expanding its national operations center in Mecklenburg County. The company plans to invest $688k into its 13777 Ballantyne Corporate Pl location. XPO Logistics won a grant for this purpose from the state Job Development Investment Grant program. Under the terms of the award, XPO Logistics is eligible to receive up to nine annual grants equal to 60% of the state personal income tax withholdings from the eligible new jobs created since the initial award.
Tides and Times Group USA, an exporter of hardwood lumber to Asia, is expanding its HQ on Sardis Rd N in Charlotte by an unspecified number of square feet, though enough to hire 30 more employees for the location, which currently houses five. The Chinese-owned company operates hardwood sawmills and lumber-drying facilities in the US. Since 2009, it has bought, reopened, and improved seven such facilities in the Carolinas and Virginia.
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Charlotte real estate firm Crescent Resources, an active developer of multifamily properties, recently changed its name to Crescent Communities. According to a statement by the company, the change will reflect its commitment to community building in all of its multifamily, residential, commercial and land management activities.
LEASING
New Boston Fund inked three new leases and renewed two others, for a total of 74.1k SF of office space at Harris Corners Corporate Park. The leases bring the property to 90% occupancy. Monumental Life, North American Transmission Forum, Wood Forest National Bank, and THR Property Management will all be moving into Harris Corners this spring. Also, Bank of America renewed its lease for three years, and Polymer Group renewed its lease and expanded by an additional 10k SF.
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The Kbler Group, a privately held German manufacturer, has opened of its first US subsidiary, Kuebler Inc, in Charlotte at 5245-3 Old Dowd Rd. Kbler specializes in making position and motion sensors, counting and process technology, and transmission technology. The new Charlotte facility positions the company to service the US market from one central location, starting with three employees and hiring more by the end of this year.
FINANCE
CBRE sourced senior financing for the EpiCentre at 210 E Trade St, a 306k SF mixed-use center in Uptown. Hal Kempson and Compie Newman of CBRE Charlotte, and Jeff Ackemann of CBRE Atlanta, arranged $50M in bridge debt for Vision Ventures and Mount Vernon Asset Management. Financing was provided by Capital Source.
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UC Funding funded a $12.1M bridge loan to purchase and renovate an unspecified 330-unit, Class-B apartment complex in Charlotte. UC Funding provided 98% of the acquisition cost to the borrower and did the deal in 15 days. This is the fifth deal between the borrower and UC Funding in the last 12 months.
EXECS IN MOTION
Cushman & Wakefield-Thalhimer tapped Bill Simerville to head its investment-sales group in Charlotte, focusing on office and industrial sales in the Carolinas. Previously, he was an SVP with Cassidy Turleys land services group.
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Trinity Partners hired Sam Shumate and Willie Morris to start a land services division, based in Charlotte. Sam was previously a VP in the land services group at Cassidy Turley, and will be Trinitys director of land services, while Willie, who worked with Sam at Cassidy Turley, will be a broker in the new division.
Send ideas and suggestions to dees.stribling@bisnow.com before you settle in to watch the Final Four.
