Houston Investor Scores Apartment Tower in One of Atlanta's Top Deals This Year

05 Buckhead Becomes Lionstone Investments' Only Apartment Property in Atlanta

Original story featured on CoStar News - December 15, 2021

Houston-based Lionstone Investments bought 05 Buckhead for $69 million. (CoStar)

One of the first luxury apartment towers built in Atlanta’s Buckhead fetched one of the highest prices this year for an apartment sale to further burnish the metropolitan area’s reputation for attracting investors.

Houston-based Lionstone Investments bought the 155-unit 05 Buckhead from Coro Realty for $69 million, or $442,308 per unit, according to Fulton County property records. The per unit price is the second highest this year in the Atlanta area, according to CoStar data.

“What we are seeing in the multifamily investment sales market, and particularly in the Southeast, caused us to pursue a sale,” Sam Wilmoth, vice president at Atlanta-based Coro Realty, said in a statement.

Atlanta, in particular, has seen record apartment investment sales so far this year, hitting $14 billion through mid-December, according to a recent CoStar report by David Kahn, CoStar's director of market analytics for the Southeast. It has beaten the previous record of $8.5 billion in 2019 and is second behind the Dallas area in deal volume this year.

Lionstone didn’t respond to a request for comment. On its website, however, Andy Lusk, Lionstone’s chief investment officer, outlines the firm’s strategy in a video, saying that it is “focused on housing assets where fundamentals are proving more durable than in other sectors” and is targeting “hockey stick markets” where the firm believe the economic recovery is strongest. Those markets run from the Northwest into Texas and up through the Southeast to the Northeast.

The latest deal is the only apartment property Lionstone owns in the Atlanta area. It owns an office tower in Atlantic Station in Midtown and is partners with North American Properties in Colony Square, a mixed-used redevelopment that also is in Midtown. Lionstone recently sold an office building it developed in Dallas in a deal that set a per-square-foot record for Dallas-Fort Worth.

Coro Realty opened the 20-story 05 Buckhead in 2009 as the previous recession was raging. The towers are one residential piece of Buckhead Place, a development that now includes Marshall’s and LA Fitness. Atlanta-based Wood Partners has plans to build a 290-unit, eight-story apartment building next year.

Coro Realty’s 05 Buckhead was the first in Buckhead to have a rooftop deck and 24-hour concierge service seven days a week.

“The service levels and amenities of the luxury hotels in Buckhead inspired us to build 05 Buckhead,” John W. Lundeen III, Coro Realty's managing partner, said in the same statement.

SOURCE: CoStar News by Richard Lawson

After 12 years, Atlanta's first deluxe rental tower trades hands

Original story featured on Ubanize Atlanta - December 15, 2021

Coro Realty’s 05 Buckhead building described as a pioneering apartment project

When it comes to upscale Atlanta apartment buildings today, aspects such as two-story penthouses, rooftop amenity decks, and hotel-grade concierge services around the clock are commonplace, if not requisites for viability.

But when 05 Buckhead debuted in 2009, all of those facets were considered pioneering for any new Atlanta tower that wasn’t comprised of for-sale condos.

Coro Realty officials looked back on that experience this week after completing the sale of 05 Buckhead, which was considered the 24-year-old, Atlanta-based company’s trophy asset.

Standing 20 stories, 05 Buckhead delivered 12 years ago as the first residential component of Buckhead Place, a mixed-use district spanning about 12 acres where Peachtree and Piedmont roads meet. At the time, it was considered Atlanta’s first “ultra-luxury apartment high-rise,” and possibly the first across the Southeast, as a Coro Realty rep tells Urbanize Atlanta.

05 Buckhead's centralized location near the intersection of Peachtree and Piedmont roads.

Situated midway between Buckhead Village and Lenox Square, 05 Buckhead’s goal was to attract discerning, affluent renters who valued service, privacy, and an upscale environment that “at the time was unlike anything else in the Southeast,” John W. Lundeen III, Coro’s managing partner, said in a prepared statement this week. “The service levels and amenities of the luxury hotels in Buckhead inspired us to build [it].” 

The building’s buyer and sales price weren’t disclosed; we’ve asked for clarification and will update this story should that information come. [UPDATE: An affiliate of Lionstone Investment out of Houston bought the Buckhead building, according to a project rep.] Coro officials said conditions of the hot multifamily investment sales market—particularly in the Southeast—convinced them the time was right to offload 05 Buckhead.

Alongside his late business partner Joachim Herz, Lundeen began assembling properties that eventually became Buckhead Place in the 1980s.

Beyond the apartment tower, the mixed-use hub today includes two hotels, a six-story parking garage, and 135,000 square feet of retail anchored by LA Fitness and Marshall’s, with other tenants that include recently opened Amalfi Pizza and Red Phone Booth.

National multifamily developer Wood Partners plans to break ground on a second residential component at Buckhead Place next year, officials said this week.

The 20-story luxury apartment building at 3242 Peachtree Road NW. (Courtesy of Coro Realty)

The 05 Buckhead building counts 155 units ranging from studios to three-bedrooms, each with ceilings of nearly 10 feet and glass-rail balconies. A club room on the 20th floor has an outdoor theater, a bar, an outdoor pool with sun deck, and a terrace that was built to feature Atlanta skyline views.

Coro officials say proceeds from the tower’s sale will be fed into “multiple smaller investments” that will allow the company “to continue opportunistic acquisition and development strategies.”

SOURCE: Urbanize Atlanta by Josh Green

Edens continues to add to Atlanta portfolio, buys shopping center near Perimeter Mall

Original story featured on Atlanta Business Chronicle - December 10, 2021

The Park Place Shopping Center was owned by Coro Realty for 12 years prior to it being sold to Edens.

An Atlanta-based retail real estate company added to their metro Atlanta portfolio with the purchase of a Central Perimeter shopping center near public transportation and a popular shopping mall.

Edens purchased the Park Place Shopping Center, a 13.5-acre property in Dunwoody, for an undisclosed sum. The seller is Coro Realty, which owned the property since 2009. The deal closed Dec. 9. CBRE (NYSE: CBRE) brokered the deal on behalf of the seller.

Why it matters: This deal is part of nearly $175 million of sales Coro Realty made during the fourth quarter of 2021. The sale fits the company's "long-term investment strategy," according to Coro Realty Managing Partner John Lundeen. "Coro will use its proceeds to continue the diversification of our portfolio," he said.

Among the tenants at Park Place, which is 92% occupied and consists of six buildings, is Cafe Intermezzo, Prime Health MD, Jared Galleria Jewelers, online travel agency Expedia, financial services company Fidelity Investments and Alon's Bakery & Market -- which occupies the largest suite on the property at 11,120 square feet.

They said it: "The Central Perimeter is one of the most dynamic submarkets in the southeast and Park Place is a strong asset," said Edens Senior Vice President and Regional Leader Herbert Ames.

What's next: Edens now owns nearly 2 million square feet of retail space in metro Atlanta. In October the company purchased North Dekalb Mall for $43 million with plans to revitalize it. The company also owns retail properties in Andrews Square, Toco Hills, Buckhead Market Place, Merchants Walk and Moores Mill.

Coro Realty plans to sell between $125-$150 million during the first quarter of 2022, according to a source close to the deal.

The basics: The 82,097 square foot shopping center was built in 1978 and is located at 4505 Ashford Dunwoody Road. The property is near the Perimeter Center and Sandy Springs MARTA stations.

SOURCE: ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICILE by Donnell Suggs, Development Reporter

CBRE Brokers Sale of 17,199-Square-Foot Retail Property in Metro Atlanta

Original story featured on SHOPPING CENTER BUSINESS November 30, 2021

The Shoppes at Arabelle Perimeter has tenants including Grub Burger Bar, Just Love Coffee, Rush Bowls and Local Wood Fired Grill

Sandy Springs, Ga. — CBRE has brokered the sale of The Shoppes at Arabelle Perimeter, a 17,199-square-foot street-front retail condominium in Sandy Springs, about 17 miles north of downtown Atlanta. Located at 1110 Hammond Drive, the property occupies the ground floor of a 384-unit multifamily building called Arabelle Perimeter situated at the corner of Hammond Drive and Peachtree Dunwoody Road. Developed in 2017, the retail condominium is home to tenants including Grub Burger Bar, Just Love Coffee, Rush Bowls and Local Wood Fired Grill. A real estate fund advised by Crow Holdings Capital purchased the property for an undisclosed amount. CBRE represented the sellers, Coro Realty Advisors and Ackerman & Co.

Source: SHOPPING CENTER BUSINESS

Joint Venture Sells Arbor Square Shopping Center in Douglasville, Georgia for $18.4M

Original story featured on REBUSINESS ONLINE December 1, 2021

Developed by Connolly in 1977, Arbor Square was fully renovated in 2018 and was 97 percent occupied at the time of sale to tenants such as Burlington, HomeGoods, Skechers, Starbucks, Five Guys and Del Taco.

DOUGLASVILLE, GA. — A joint venture between Connolly and Coro Realty has sold Arbor Square, a 127,195-square-foot shopping center in Douglasville. ALTO Real Estate Funds, which has offices in Dallas and Denver, purchased the property for approximately $18.4 million. Mark Joines and Drew Fleming of Newmark arranged the sale.

Developed by Connolly in 1977, Arbor Square was fully renovated in 2018 and was 97 percent occupied at the time of sale to tenants such as Burlington, HomeGoods, Skechers, Starbucks, Five Guys and Del Taco.

The center is situated just off Interstate 20 at the intersection of Georgia State Route 5 and Douglas Boulevard. The property is within a half-mile from Arbor Place Mall, a shopping mall with tenants such as Hot Topic, Ulta Beauty, H&M and Verizon Wireless, as well as a food court and a movie theater. Additionally, Arbor Square is located 23.9 miles from downtown Atlanta and 28.1 miles from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Connolly is an Atlanta-based real estate developer and investor. The firm has completed more than 40 retail, office and mixed-use projects in the Southeast with a value of nearly $500 million. Coro Realty, an Atlanta-based real estate development and investment firm, oversees approximately 50 properties valued at $1 billion.

Source: REBUSINESS ONLINE by Julia Sanders in Acquisitions, Georgia, Retail, Southeast

Atlanta’s old Masquerade is redone, repaired, and… ready to rock again?

Beloved, rowdy former music park in Old Fourth Ward is now The Mill

Original story featured on Urbanize Atlanta September 16, 2021

What was once Atlanta’s DuPre Excelsior Mill and beloved Masquerade music venue is now the city’s latest adaptive-reuse, creative offices hoping to capitalize on the BeltLine’s allure.

The Old Fourth Ward complex, originally built in the 1890s to manufacture excelsior packing materials, endured three decades as the iconic, gritty, multi-room music park, where the old floors were known to tremble during rowdy shows.

Before closing in 2016 and moving downtown, the Masquerade hosted scores of future music-industry legends. Nirvana, OutKast, Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Green Day, Bjork, Foo Fighters, Dave Matthews Band, Ice Cube, Nick Cave, Nine Inch Nails, Jane’s Addiction—they all graced Masquerade stages.  

Now called The Mill, a partnership between Coro Realty and Southeastern Capital Companies, the project has created about 30,000 square feet of office space, spread across two levels in two buildings, plus a lobby.

Next door, the North & Line apartment building’s deck will provide 108 spaces for office workers—when working from offices en masse resumes.

The mill once used materials transported by railroad to the site on what's now the Atlanta BeltLine.

Photography by Dorian Shy, Framework Photographic; courtesy of Smith Dalia Architects

Designed by Smith Dalia Architects, The Mill’s office core and shell aimed to marry new constructing with rustic stone walls and no shortage of industrial relics. The scale, neighboring the apartments’ retail spaces and Ponce City Market across the street, is designed to feel like a village.  

Following a partial building collapse during construction in December 2019, a century-old wall was pieced back together in a way project reps say is historically fitting.

he formerly collapsed wall, as seen today, was rebuilt in a historically accurate way, per Smith Dalia Architects. A seam designates where the repaired section meets the original stone façade.

Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Earlier this summer, Coro Realty bought another recognizable property near the BeltLine’s Eastside Trail—the CVS at Midtown Place Shopping Center, across the street from Ponce City Market—for $13.5 million. As the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported, the purchase means Coro Realty owns that entire shopping center, with the exception of Home Depot.

We’ve checked with development reps for updates on The Mill’s leasing, and we’ll post any additional information that comes. UPDATE: A Colliers International representative says The Mill is fully leased; we're working to identify the future tenant.

For now, head to the gallery for a look at how this Atlanta landmark’s latest conversion turned out.

Source: Atlanta’s old Masquerade is redone, repaired, and… ready to rock again? | Urbanize Atlanta

Retail landlords see Atlanta market 'turning the corner,' Coro Realty president says

Original story featured on Atlanta Business Chronicle August 10, 2021

Shops at Spire, A Coro Realty property, is located at the intersection of 7th and Peachtree Streets

The retail market is turning the corner with rising leasing activity and rent growth, Coro Realty President and Managing Partner Robert Fransen told Atlanta Business Chronicle.

Rental rates are returning to near pre-pandemic levels, he said.

"The market is hot," Fransen said. "Most of our tenants' sales are up significantly."

Sales volume for the company's retail tenants have not reached pre-Covid levels, but Fransen said, "it's much better than it was six months ago.''

Georgia, unlike other states, did not go through a retail shutdown. Plus, at Coro's properties within the urban core, where vaccination rates were the highest in the state, people have generally continued to shop and frequent restaurants, Fransen said.

Retail landlords have posted three consecutive quarters of positive net absorption since the fourth quarter of last year, according to CoStar. Metro Atlanta has 2.2 million square feet of retail space under construction, with nearly 70% pre-leased.

In Buckhead, retailers such as The Yard Milkshake Bar , plan to opens a location on the ground floor of the Modera Prominence Apartment, a 318-unit, 5-story project. At Phipps Plaza, Le Macaron, a Florida-based French pastry chain, will move into a 1,600 square-foot space.

Coro Realty has 60% of its portfolio invested in retail and owns prominent properties near the Eastside Trail including Midtown Place shopping center. During the worst of the pandemic, it allowed tenants to make partial payments and offered rent deferrals, Fransen said.

"They realize it wasn't our fault, and it wasn't their fault," he said. "Let's figure out a way to get through this."

Concerns remain about the Delta variant possibly affecting a rebound for stores and restaurants. Some federal safety nets for retailers have disappeared. The nation's Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ended May 31. "I don't want to say we've fully turned the corner," Fransen said, "but the vast majority of our portfolio is back to paying rent the way they should."

Source: https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2021/08/10/coro-realty-retail-atlanta-pandemic-covid.html?cx_testId=40&cx_testVariant=cx_3&cx_artPos=1#cxrecs_s

Coro Realty pays $13.5M for property by Ponce City Market, Eastside Trail

Original story featured on Atlanta Business Chronicle June 23, 2021

Whole Foods Market at the Midtown Place shopping center

A CVS location across the street from one of Midtown’s most popular eating and shopping destinations has been purchased by a major Atlanta commercial realty company.

Atlanta-based Coro Realty Advisors purchased the CVS across the street from Ponce City Market for $13.5 million, according to Fulton County property deeds. Coro paid $240 per land square foot, according to Atlanta property transaction firm Databank Inc. It was the most expensive transaction on a land per square foot basis since Cousins Properties Inc. paid $245 per land square foot for a site in Tech Square that became the headquarters of Norfolk Southern. S&R Investments was the seller of the CVS. Fulton County values the property at $2.1 million. The deal closed on June 16.

The basics: The 1.2-acre property is located at 680 Ponce de Leon Avenue. Coro Realty’s vast Atlanta portfolio of 58 office, industrial, residential and retail properties includes the adjoining Midtown Place Shopping Center at 650 Ponce de Leon Avenue.

They said it: “Coro Realty constantly seeks opportunities," said the firm's president and managing partner Robert Fransen. "The property at 680 Ponce de Leon is adjacent to our Whole Foods-anchored Midtown Place Shopping Center. This is a long term investment that brings additional value to an already successful center and is consistent with our strategy of acquiring well-located, high quality real estate.”  

What this means: The Midtown Place Shopping Center is anchored by a Whole Foods and includes Pet Smart, The Home Depot, and Staples. The Home Depot store, though a tenant in the shopping center, is not owned by Coro. Commercial real estate experts consider grocery-anchored retail will continue being attractive and aggressively pursued by investors. A year into a global pandemic grocery-anchored retail remains resilient and essential. Midtown Place Shopping Center is also surrounded by residential properties near the Eastside Trail.

What's next: Coro Realty's purchase gives the firm frontage on Ponce de Leon. A source familiar with the deal told the Atlanta Business Chronicle the purchase "just makes sense." That said, its location by the Eastside Trail would put Midtown Place at the top of any developer's list and attract potential investors seeking well located grocery-anchored retail. Coro now owning the entire shopping center also gives it more flexibility to sell the property or possibly develop it in the long term. According to sources close to the deal, though, Coro has no plans to redevelop right now.

Source: https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2021/06/23/coro-realty-purchases-cvs-near-eastside-trail.html

Developers hope 60-parcel Hapeville deal will boost city's growing village

Original story featured on Urbanize Atlanta February 17, 2021

16 acres are down the street from Porsche's headquarters, Atlanta airport

In the growing, artsy south ITP city of Hapeville, two veteran Atlanta developers have high hopes for finally building a mixed-use district that’s been two decades in the making.  

Real estate investment company Coro Realty and builder Miller Lowry Developers have partnered to buy about 60 different parcels within blocks of Hapeville’s historic core, which has been packing on new townhouses and single-family homes, restaurants, and a popular brewery while pushing an arts district identity. The purchase price wasn’t disclosed.

The 16 acres span roughly from 3602 South Fulton Avenue to 3558 Elm Street, between Hapeville’s de facto main street, North Central Avenue, and the Atlanta airport, as Coro Realty’s Robert Fransen, a managing partner, tells Urbanize Atlanta.

It’s “a lot of addresses,” wrote Fransen in an email.

Significant developer interest in this side of Hapeville dates back 20 years. With plans to build a new urbanist hub called “Asbury Park,” Main Street Partners once assembled about 80 parcels in the area, but the Great Recession felled those aspirations.

In the years since, Hapeville has scored major buzz as Porsche North America continues to build out its U.S. headquarters (alongside its tourist attraction Porsche Experience Driving Center, neighbored by a Kimpton hotel) within city limits.

The opening of craft beer brewery Arches and more eclectic eateries, a theater renovation, an expanded Corner Tavern, various art initiatives, and the addition of Atlanta Hawks G-league affiliate Skyhawks in nearby College Park have helped draw young professionals to Hapeville, the developers noted in a recent press release, echoing city officials.

The recent purchase marks Coro Realty and Miller Lowry’s third joint-venture in Hapeville. 

It’s too early for renderings or any other specifics. The development team described long-term plans as converting the properties “into a dynamic mixed-use community, featuring residential, commercial, and hospitality uses on the doorstep of Hapeville’s historic downtown.”

Miller Lowry, the development company’s president, has experience building residential and mixed-use components that aim to jibe with existing, older city centers in places like Roswell. The firm is also finishing a Hapeville townhome venture called The Clyde a few blocks away.

“The community and city support for this [60-parcel] project in Hapeville has been awesome,” Lowry noted in a prepared statement. “This is a great opportunity to build on the momentum the city has created.”

Legendary Masquerade building has rebounded after structural collapse

Original story featured on Urbanize Atlanta February 9, 2021

As if Atlantans didn't know this place was durable

Since the 1890s, the Old Fourth Ward complex once known as DuPre Excelsior Mill has endured gritty industrial uses and three decades as iconic music venue The Masquerade, where lewd activities and raucous, wall-rattling, floor-trembling concerts were cherished pastimes.  

But a new level of structural challenges for the Atlanta landmark came just after Christmas in 2019, when a century-old wall that had been part of the Purgatory music room suddenly crumbled during the building’s conversion into offices.

Now, that disconcerting event—thought to have been caused by excavations near exterior walls, much to the chagrin of local historic preservationists—is but another chapter in the former excelsior mill’s colorful history.

Officials with developer Coro Realty Advisors say repair work has made significant progress recently, and the Masquerade’s conversion to the Mill, a hub of loft offices, is nearly tenant-ready.

“Interestingly, they left a distinct seam so you can see where the original wall was and where the repairs are, just for that historic context,” a Coro Realty rep wrote in an email to Urbanize Atlanta. “We were able to use a lot of the existing materials in the repairs. If you’ve driven past it recently, you know they’re still working on it."

Whenever “you have a historic renovation on a building like the Mill, there’s always more work to do than meets the eye,” the rep continued. “It’s getting there, but they have a ways to go.”

Between its opening in 1988 and swansong blowout in the summer of 2016, the Masquerade became famous as a lovably scabby launchpad for future music-industry legends. Nirvana, OutKast, Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Green Day, Bjork, Foo Fighters, Dave Matthews Band, Ice Cube, Nick Cave, Nine Inch Nails—they all graced stages here.  

Coro Realty’s plans call for about 30,000 square feet of office space, spread across two levels in two buildings, plus a lobby.

Next door, the North & Line apartment building’s deck will provide 108 spaces for office workers—when working from offices en masse resumes.

The project, a partnership between Coro Realty and Southeastern Capital Companies, isn't the only intown office venture materializing in the era of COVID-19.   

Atlanta developers with property fronting the BeltLine—including Ackerman and Company in West End and New City Properties in Old Fourth Ward—are aggressively moving forward with investments in new office projects, despite the pandemic and a national workforce that’s largely been homebound for almost a year.

Have a look at the gallery above for recent exterior photos. And this short video shared last week by Robert Paul Fransen, Coro Realty’s president and managing partner, provides an interior glimpse of where things stand now. 

Maybe you’ll spot a place inside where you did something you’ll never tell the grandkids about.