February 4, 2012

You are here: Home / Archives for cool springs real estate

Cool Springs Auction Fails

October 8, 2009 By 1 Comment
In Cool Springs real estate news today, Jim Stevens Realty & Auction attempted unsuccessfully to auction a 1.094 Acre commercial parcel located at 9035 Carothers Parkway in Franklin TN.  I counted a total of 28 people in attendance that did not work for Jim Stevens.  All Jim Stevens employees have bright reds shirts, it was easy.  That total number includes the sellers of the property in the crowd.  This was not an absolute auction, which generally draws alot more people since they know it will sell no matter what the price. 

Franklin Mayor John Schroer attended the auction.  Schroer’s company Southland Management & Development Company, owns most of the retail centers that line the opposite side of Carothers Parkway.  Mayor John Schroer stayed the entire length of this Cool Springs real estate auction but did not appear to be bidding.
 

Cool Springs Real Estate Auction

Cool Springs Real Estate Auction

 

The property offered was 1.094 acres (47,654 square feet) that fronted Carothers Parkway and near Bakers Bridge Avenue.  Although it is a great location in the heart of Cool Springs, the property is set down and so visibility from the road is less than surrounding buildings enjoy.  

It has been approved for a 6,600 square foot building by the city of Franklin and the Jim Stevens Realty & Auction flyer claims a larger buildings can be built if you go back through approvals.  Easier said than done. 

 The property has common area parking with the adjoining Community First Financial Plaza bank and shopping center.  The parking ratio will be an issue if anyone plans on increasing the size of the building.  The property was advertised as being ideal for “medical, office or retail.  I see an owner-occupant with a low need for parking being the only real buyer for this land.
Cool Springs Auction Part 1:

Cool Springs Auction Part 2

 

The high bid for this Carothers Parkway outparcel was $610,000.  The bid was not accepted and therefore the auction was declared a no sale for this prime real estate in Cool Springs.  This is the first commercial property that I have seen Jim Stevens Realty & Auction attempt to sell in Cool Springs.

Filed Under: Blog, News, Real Estate Tagged With: , , , ,

Cool Springs Real Estate CEO Arrested

August 1, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Stewart Heath, CEO of Equity Real estate, was arrested in connection to an incident where he reportedly pulled a gun on  someone at his office in Cool Springs TN.  Comments below the story offer several versions of what may have happened.  One comment mentioned Equity Real Estate being in the property management business.  The author of the comment speculated that Mr. Heath had kept the weapon at work because of dealing with evictions and unruly tenants, a result of their property management business.

Here is the story as reported by the Tennessean July 31, 2009:

 

“ Arrest made in Cool Springs gun incident

FRANKLIN— A real estate CEO has been charged with aggravated assault after pulling a gun on an employee during a dispute, according to police.

Stewart Heath, 45 of Franklin, was arrested after Franklin Police were called to Equity Real Estate, 3333 Aspen Grove Drive, just after 10:30 this morning.

An Equity Real Estate employee called the police after fleeing the building following a dispute with Heath, the company’s CEO, in which Heath brandished a gun.

Upon arrival, police evacuated the Aspen Grove building and surrounding buildings.

Heath surrendered without incident, and both parties were questioned by detectives. Heath is being held in the Williamson County Jail on a $2,500 bond.”

 

Here is the story with much better information as reported by E. Thomas Wood July 31, 2009 in the Nashville Post:

 

“A Cool Springs office building was evacuated today after an accountant and real estate investor reportedly pulled a pistol on someone who had come to his office. Mindy Tate of the Williamson Herald has the details:

Stewart Heath, whose Equity Real Estate office at 3333 Aspen Grove Drive in Franklin’s Cool Springs area was surrounded by police earlier today, surrendered to authorities after pulling a gun on another individual who came into the office, according to Franklin Police Sgt. Charles Warner, communications spokesperson.

Earlier this week, Civic Bank in Nashville won a $1.1 million judgment against Heath, who had reportedly told employees earlier this month today would be their last day at work.

CB&T’s complaint against Heath is available here, courtesy of a nemesis blog set up by residents of condo development The Village at Grassmere. They seem to have issues with Heath.

A peek at the C-A’s database of handgun carry permit holders reveals that Heath has a license to pack heat. Gentle readers, you may now proceed to yell at each other all weekend about the fact just mentioned.”

Filed Under: Blog, News, Real Estate Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Developer Crescent Resources Files For Bankruptcy

June 11, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Cool Springs developer Crescent Resources has just filed for bankruptcy.  Crescent Resources is a commercial real estate company who developed the majority of Class A office space that is located on the East side of I-65, close to the Cool Springs Marriott, Embassy Suites and Nissan North America Headquarters.  Here is the story reported by Susan Stabley with the Charlotte Business Journal:

Real estate company Crescent Resources, a Duke Energy joint venture that developed a couple of large Triangle communities, and 120 of its subsidiaries have filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Crescent announced Wednesday.

Crescent and its subsidiaries were saddled with more than $1 billion in liabilities, according to bankruptcy filings.

The Charlotte-based development firm’s chief executive, Arthur Fields, has retired and will work with Crescent in an advisory capacity, the company says.

Andrew Hede, Crescent’s chief restructuring officer, has been named CEO.

“We have been in active discussions with our lenders and other stakeholders as we work towards an agreement that will bring our capital structure in line with the current economic environment,” Hede says.

Crescent has more than 5,000 creditors, according to its filing. Its assets are estimated at more than $1 billion.

Crescent says it intends to operate its continuing businesses without any significant interruption during the restructuring process. The company says that’s possible because of a recently obtained debtor-in-possession financing facility of $110 million from a group of its existing lenders.

As part of the Chapter 11 filing, Crescent says it seeks court approval “to make certain payments and to maintain key agreements with employees, customers, vendors and partners of continuing operations to ensure the company can maintain its commitment to delivering a high level of amenities and services.”

Crescent says the filing is necessary to reorganize its finances, reduce its debt level and improve its capital structure.

“We intend to reach an agreement on our new capital structure and emerge from bankruptcy quickly,” Hede says.

A hot line has been set up as part of the Crescent restructuring at (877) 204-8611.

The Chapter 11 petitions were filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Western District of Texas, Austin division. The company has 120 days from the filing date to submit a reorganization plan.

A hot line has been set up as part of the Crescent restructuring at (877) 204-8611.

Attorney Eric Taube of Hohmann, Taube & Summers LLP in Austin, Texas, will represent Crescent in the proceedings.

The company — jointly owned by Duke Energy Corp. and Morgan Stanley — is best known in the Charlotte area for high-end real estate communities such as The Peninsula and Ballantyne Country Club. In the Raleigh-Durham area, Crescent developed the 588-acre Hidden Lake gated community in Youngsville and the 400-acre The Parks at Meadowview community in Pittsboro.

Before the Chapter 11 filing, Crescent faced payments on its debt of $50 million by the end of this year, $75 million in 2010 and $100 million in 2011.

LARGE LOSSES

Duke (NYSE:DUK) formed Crescent in 1969 to develop property it acquired through its core utility business that it didn’t need for power generation.

In September 2006, Duke entered into a joint venture with Morgan Stanley Real Estate. Morgan paid Duke $415 million in cash and assumed $656 million in debt for its stake in the company, then worth $2.1 billion. As part of the transaction Crescent borrowed $1.2 billion and distributed the proceeds to Duke to transfer the debt off Duke’s balance sheet.

Duke and Morgan Stanley each have a 49 percent stake in Crescent. The remaining 2 percent interest in Crescent — which would have been worth $42 million when the deal closed ­— was issued to former CEO Fields. The disposition of that interest will be determined through the reorganization proceedings, according to a spokesman for Crescent.

Duke no longer reports Crescent’s financial results, but its own filings, and those from Morgan Stanley, shed light on Crescent’s financial troubles.

For 2008, Crescent lost about $470 million, of which Duke suffered about $230 million in losses, according to filings.

In the first quarter of this year, Crescent cost Duke and Morgan Stanley about $150 million in direct losses and loan guarantees. The energy company has guaranteed about $100 million in surety bonds for Crescent, for which it has paid out at least $33 million. Duke pegs its total exposure at about $40 million for the year.

The company is active in commercial and residential real estate development and land management across the Southeast and Southwest and has created mixed-use developments, business and industrial parks, country-club communities, single-family neighborhoods and apartment and condo complexes.

The company has 38 residential communities under development in the Carolinas, Georgia, Texas, Florida and Arizona, and is currently building 1,200 apartment units.

It also owns 75,000 acres of land. Crescent has 264 employees.

Filed Under: Blog, News, Real Estate Tagged With: , ,

Cool Springs Auto Dealerships in Court

March 13, 2009 By Leave a Comment

A prime chunk of real estate and a handful of auto dealerships in Cool Springs TN including Nissan of Cool Springs, Mazda of Cool Springs, Infiniti of Nashville, Subaru of Cool Springs and Car Universe Pre-Owned Superstore, are in receivership because the owner Dan Schmidt has defaulted on almost $30 million in loans.

Here is the story as reported by Turner Hutchens with the Nashville Business Journal with Kevin Kemper from American City Business Journals contributing:

“An Ohio businessman’s financial troubles have tossed the future of five Cool Springs auto dealerships into uncertainty.

The dealerships — Mazda of Cool Springs, Nissan of Cool Springs, Subaru of Cool Springs, Infiniti of Nashville and Car Universe Pre-Owned Superstore, all located in a cluster near the intersection of Bakers Bridge Road and Carothers Parkway — were voluntarily put into receivership in January by their owner Dan Schmidt. Brentwood businessman Michael Creque also owns a minority share in the dealerships.

In turn, Ohio-based KeyBank, which financed the five Tennessee dealerships and another in Denver, sued Schmidt in the same Columbus court on Feb. 18 to foreclose on the properties, arguing he had defaulted on almost $30 million in loans. A judge granted immediate foreclosure the same day.

“This is all collateral damage from the credit crisis,” Schmidt says.

Despite the legal wrangling, the dealerships remain open.

“I don’t foresee the stores closing down,” says Vince Caccese, manager of all five Middle Tennessee dealerships.

Schmidt says his automotive businesses are suffering because of the recession and declines in auto sales.

February vehicle sales fell to 9.1 million units nationwide, down from 9.5 million units in January and more than 40 percent below the year-ago pace, according to research by Autodata Corp.

Schmidt’s attorney, Stanley Shayne with the Columbus law firm Shayne Nichols LLC, says Schmidt placed the dealerships into receivership so they could remain open while an exit strategy was put in place.

“(Schmidt’s) goal was to save those jobs and the families that depend on those jobs,” Shayne says.

Schmidt says he employs about 250 people through his companies.

KeyBank, however, claims in court filings that Schmidt threatened to destroy the value of the dealerships by ending their franchise agreements with their respective automakers.

The bank accused Schmidt of attempting to extract a $1 million “broker’s fee” for Schmidt’s brother, who Schmidt claims had found a buyer for the dealerships. Schmidt was also trying to secure $700,000 in fees from the sale transaction for his attorney and possible business partners, according to the bank.

Shayne called the allegations erroneous. He says Schmidt intends to dispute the court’s foreclosure ruling so the receiver, Martin Management Services Inc., can complete its work.

Fred Standish, spokesman for Nissan and Infiniti, says that while in receivership, the dealerships will remain open for business. He says he cannot speculate on whether the dealerships might close temporarily if they change hands.

Infiniti Nashville is the brand’s only certified dealer in Middle Tennessee.

Other dealerships and businesses that Schmidt owns are not in litigation because they were not financed by KeyBank, Schmidt says.

A businessman with diverse interests, Schmidt has developed residential projects in Ohio and Florida, and owns car dealerships in several other states.

Schmidt also is dealing with legal challenges to his Cabana Cay luxury condominium project in the Florida panhandle. KeyBank and Charter One financed the $75 million, 613-unit development. The two banks filed a foreclosure lawsuit against Schmidt, his business partners and Cabana Cay Investments LLC in the 4th Judicial Circuit Court in Florida on Oct. 1.

The lawsuit alleged that Schmidt and his partners agreed to make two loan payments last year of $15 million and $40 million, but failed to do so. The lawsuit said Cabana Cay Investments owed $74.57 million, plus interest, as of September.”

Filed Under: Blog, News, Real Estate Tagged With: , , , , ,

Cool Springs Commercial Real Estate Q & A

January 28, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Here is a commercial real estate Q & A with a few local Cool Springs real estate agents as reported by The Nashville Business Journal:

“QUESTION: Geographically, which areas in your specialty are performing best?

Matt Harris

Partner | Waller Lansden Dortch and Davis | 615-850-8906
Industrial market

The Clarksville market is currently in the best shape. Once Hemlock Semiconductor Corp. gets up and running, bulk space in Clarksville will be hard to come by and will probably create speculative and build-to-suit opportunities along Interstate 24 between Nashville and Clarksville.

The I-24/La Vergne corridor is somewhat mature, and the characteristics that contribute to its sustainability — proximity both to Metro Nashville and to I-24 — allow it to maintain solid, if not record-breaking, occupancy.

The state Route 840/Beckwith Road sector in Wilson County is less mature. Vi-Jon’s lease at Rockdale helped, but more than 2 million square feet of speculative space vacancy remains in that submarket.

Jay Turner
Managing director | MarketStreet Enterprises | 615-846-4910
Retail market

We have been very encouraged by the continued activity in the Gulch, especially with regard to the unique new restaurants and retailers that are moving full steam ahead with planned developments.

Urban Flats Flatbread & Wine Co. is nearing completion, Cantina Laredo’s restaurant buildout is underway, and Casablanca Coffee will start construction shortly. The Urban Outfitters retail construction is really coming along, right on schedule.

Even in a challenging economy, quality tenants like these are attracted to the Gulch for its energy, which is unique to Nashville — an urban mixed-use neighborhood where people can live, work, shop and be

entertained.

Patrick Emery

Senior vice president | Crescent Resources LLC | 615-771-0440
Cool Springs market

The Class A office market in Cool Springs is not only holding up during this tough economy, it is expanding. Because we offer what is not readily available elsewhere.

When Crescent Resources started developing in Cool Springs in 1995, there was no Class A office market. (Cool Springs) remains the leading provider today by far.

Cool Springs’ expansion is being fueled by existing growth companies in Williamson County, as well as relocations from Nashville, Brentwood and out of state.

With nearly 7.5 million square feet, businesses have numerous options from existing space or second-generation space ranging in size from 12,000 square feet to a full 200,000-square-foot building.

Richard Fleming Sr.

Principal, office building specialist | Nashville Commercial Real Estate Services LLC | 615-400-0349
Nashville-area office market

In the office arena, Cool Springs continues to dominate in 2008 with 850,000 square feet of new office space being, not only delivered, but 100 percent leased. This accounted for almost 85 percent of all leasing activity city-wide.

In the recent past, Cool Springs has been the submarket of choice for large corporate users due to the supply of modern office buildings, the proximity to executive housing and the best public schools.

This trend may shift in 2009 due to tenants downsizing and desire to reduce occupancy costs. Sublease space will become the new source of supply for the next few years.”

Filed Under: Blog, News, Real Estate Tagged With: , ,

Cool Springs Owners Get to Grips with Space Glut

December 29, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Crescent Resources’ One Greenway Centre will open soon and add to the oversupply in the once-hot Cool Springs market.  Here is the story reported by Matthew Williams with the The City Paper:

“Since the early ’90s, Cool Springs has produced a continuous stream of office and retail developments clamoring to serve some of the country’s wealthiest ZIP codes. But today, even Nashville’s high-end suburban haven is showing signs of stress.

On the office front, businesses aren’t as eager and able for a Cool Springs address as they once were, despite an abundant supply of space. According to figures from Grubb & Ellis|Centennial, more than 650,000 square feet sat vacant in the Cool Springs office market at the end of the third quarter, with an additional 682,002 square feet under construction.

Both Highwoods Properties and Boyle Investments have recently brought buildings to market and more inventory is on the way in the spring. Crescent Resources plans to soon open the 164,000-square-foot One Greenway Centre and Southern Land is nearing the completion of its 173,000-square-foot McEwen Building. The question then is whether or not tenants will be willing to sign on.

“There will be a jump in vacancy, simply because they have so much product coming online and they got caught at the wrong time,” said Lee Paradise, a broker at NAI Nashville. “The Cool Springs market will continue to be strong. It’s just going to take some time to absorb that.”

Until companies’ confidence returns, some plush corporate space — built when materials prices were at their highest in years — might sit empty. Prospective tenants are timid to move in a down economy, instead favoring shorter-term leases in their existing locations when it’s time to re-sign.

Crescent has secured no pre-leasing yet for One Greenway Centre, said Patrick Emery, a senior vice president at the firm. “We’ve got prospects we’re working on right now, but we’ve had to put some on hold,” he said.

At nearby Cool Springs IV, Highwoods has landed tenants for around 10 percent of the space, said Brian Reames, the firm’s senior vice president.

“We’re concerned, but we’re not worried,” he said. “We budgeted a healthy lease-up period after the building opened, but we’re not hitting those targets. It’s just going to be a timing issue.”

An undercurrent of subleasing also has frustrated owners’ efforts to fill up new property. Instead of making the expensive jump to Cool Springs, some companies have opted to take on space other companies are looking to get rid of. The Maryland Farms/Brentwood area has seen a particular surge in subleasing.

“In the last 12 weeks or so, there’s been 15 or 20 [subleasing offers] that have come out,” said NAI’s Paradise. “Eight or 10 months ago, if you wanted to sublease a 2,000- or 3,000-square-foot space, you had only one space to look at.”

If Cool Springs building owners struggle to snare tenants for a lot of their available space, they will likely be forced to open their wallets for companies that once considered the submarket out of their range — although it’s not likely to mean lower rents.

“In the near term, prices will only slightly be affected. However, I would expect concessions to become more plentiful in the way of free rent and build-out dollars,” said Tim Stowell, president of tenant representation firm Corporate Real Estate Advisors. “The longer the recession lingers, the more likely there will be downward pressure on rental rates.”

Filed Under: Blog, News, Real Estate Tagged With: , , , ,

Apartment Market on the Upswing

August 11, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Here is the story as reported by Jenny Burns with the Nashville Business Journal:

” The number of apartment units under construction in greater Nashville has nearly doubled since last year, topping 4,500 units.

“That’s significant,” says Brad Cather, president of the Greater Nashville Apartment Association, which tracks apartment construction. “It remains to be seen whether all the units come on board. Right now, it appears the market is going to sustain this.”

Apartment developers say certain pockets could be getting too much inventory, but overall they say tough mortgage standards and foreclosures should continue to send people back to renting or force them to continue renting.

The Hendersonville/Gallatin area has 974 units in the pipeline, Murfreesboro has 824 units under construction and Franklin has 696 units being built.

Apartment developer Kevin Geddes, president of Geddes & Co., says he looked at Gallatin for his new project, but decided there was too much inventory coming online there, and chose Spring Hill.

“Gallatin and Murfreesboro are good markets, but I would be cautious about adding new inventory,” Geddes says. “I think Nashville’s gotten so much interest lately (for apartment investment), that people are coming from all over the area to build here.”

Nashville was ranked fourth in the nation in February for apartment investment by M/PF YieldStar, a Dallas-area rental research firm.

Last year, Nashville set a market record for the number of apartment deals. That pace has dropped off, with four fewer deals so far this year.

The national apartment spotlight being turned on Nashville has increased interest here, says Michael McNally, senior project manager for mixed-use development at Southern Land Co.

McNally says Southern Land’s new apartment community, Dwell at McEwen, will be the first new apartments in Franklin in 10 years.

Crescent Resources‘ Franklin Crest will be next on the way with 438 apartments near Carothers Parkway and McEwen Drive.

“Supply and demand has been out of whack given that there has been no new supply in Franklin,” McNally says.

Dwell is part of the developer’s 1 million-square-foot McEwen retail and office project that aims to bring an urban feel to Cool Springs. Rents range from $950 to $2,000 a month and leasing starts in September.

Geddes is building his new apartment community in Spring Hill, called Port Royal. No new apartment complexes are under construction in Spring Hill, but several are planned.

Geddes says it’s a good market because it’s hard to get apartment projects passed there, especially after the city removed apartment uses from one of its zonings.

The different look of his project will help it stand out too, he says. Port Royal is built in a townhome style, so renters don’t have neighbors above or below them.

“We’ve taken more leases than we even have units available for. The tenants who’ve come here have said (they) didn’t know there was anything like this coming,” Geddes says.

Condominium projects that may become apartments have added to the construction totals. About 273 units at the Lenox Village town center may be apartments or condos.

Developer David McGowan says market conditions will dictate the outcome once the units are finished by the end of the year. He intends to sell them eventually but may rent them out for a few years.

McGowan says removal of downpayment assistance in recent federal legislation will eliminate 33 percent of the market’s first time buyers from being able to buy. As a builder, he says that could hurt business, but that it will help drive apartment rentals.

Projects such as Bristol Development‘s Vista Germantown were also originally planned as condos but changed to apartments because of the market.

Apartment occupancy has fallen slightly to 93.2 percent from 94.1 percent last year. The average rent has increased 2.6 percent, to $755 from $736.

In Mount Juliet, apartment developer John Rochford says rents are up and concessions are down. He’s building the 294-unit Deerfield at Providence. Barriers to entry in that market, like in Franklin, have left little land zoned for multi-family.

MLP Investments built the Aventura at Providence, and are replicating it at Indian Lake Village in Hendersonville.

Despite the high number of units coming to the area, Bryan Aston, vice president of development at MLP Investments, says the appeal of walking to the shops and eateries at Indian Lake will help drive demand. Their calling the new project the Aventura at Indian Lake Village.”

Filed Under: Blog, McEwen, Restaurants Tagged With: , , , , ,

$70M Camden Commons Breaks Ground

May 15, 2008 By Leave a Comment

The Cool Springs real estate market continues to stay red hot with a large upscale mixed use development including lofts, retail and office that has broken ground here in Franklin TN.  The project is called Camden Commons and is located in Gateway Village.  Here is the story reported by the Nashville Business Journal:

” Coda breaks ground on $70M Camden Commons

Coda Development has broke ground on the mixed-use portion of Camden Commons at the $70 million Gateway Village in Franklin.

The development, located at the corner of Moore’s Lane and Franklin Road, is a lifestyle center with more than 130,000 square feet of retail shopping, restaurants and office space, as well as 190 residential units.

The first phase includes one single story retail building and a three story building with retail on the first floor and lofts above. The lofts are one bedroom units from 910 to 980 square feet and two bedroom units from 1080 to 1365 square feet.

The complete development with its townhomes and condominiums already built in the residential section gives the entire development more than 440 residential units.

Developers hope to attract upscale boutiques, restaurants and medical offices.

The development is close to the Cool Springs shopping district. Retail space from 500 to 10,000 square feet is available.

The entire project will take three years to complete.”

Filed Under: Blog, News, Real Estate Tagged With: , , ,