Barings provided the loan for the two-building property.

Barings has provided a $134 million loan to refinance the existing debt on Smoky Hollow, a mixed-use development in Raleigh, N.C. Kane Realty Corp., Williams Realty & Building Co. and Lionstone Investments delivered the project in 2020.

Smoky Hollow is situated within Raleigh’s Glenwood South neighborhood and comprises The Line, a 283-unit Class A apartment community, and 421 N. Harrington, a highly amenitized 229,000-square-foot office building. The latter features approximately 40,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, including a mix of experiential restaurants and shops.

The financing from Barings has a five-year term. JLL’s Travis Anderson, Colby Mueck and Warren Johnson advised the sponsorship on the financing.

The asset includes 778 parking spaces and four elevators. According to CommercialEdge, the market has a population density of 3,450 people per square mile and a compound population growth rate of 1.2 percent.

Raleigh’s office market is transforming

“Today’s office tenants are gravitating toward energized and activated mixed-use destinations that prioritize connectivity, entertainment and hospitality, as well as offer the long-term appeal of having a curated mix of retail and restaurants right outside the office,” Kimarie Ankenbrand, managing director at JLL, told Commercial Property Executive.

“Raleigh’s office market is entering a transformative period, driven by the elongated pause of new development breaking ground and robust tenant demand for the newer and activated product,” Ankenbrand said. “Last quarter, we saw some of the strongest levels of leasing activity in highly amenitized, Class A office buildings. Looking ahead, we expect competition for existing Class A and trophy office space to increase as the market awaits the delivery of new product.”

According to Arnold Siegmund, landlord representative principal at Avison Young, mixed-use properties with Class A office space like Smoky Hollow continue to perform extremely well overall as tenants are looking to be in the center of the action with everything at their fingertips.

“The Raleigh office market has also benefited from North Carolina’s population boom, one of the five fastest-growing states in the country, with the Raleigh-Cary population increasing by 0.7 percent over the past year,” Siegmund said.

Siegmund added that the Class A office in the Raleigh-Durham market is taking center stage as trophy assets seek 65.1 percent more in rent than Class A assets for marginally better amenities and greater product quality.

“Smoky Hollow benefits from a high-quality local landlord, direct access to various retail and entertainment options to attract workers into the office, and a desirable location near Raleigh’s urban core and extensive workforce,” Siegmund said.

The transactions highlight the strength of the economy in the Raleigh market, according to Marc DeLuca, regional president & CEO, Eastern U.S., for KBS.

“Growing companies are gravitating toward high-quality office space with active retail, restaurant and entertainment to support their efforts to attract and retain the best employees,” DeLuca told CPE.

“Well-located, top-tier commercial office properties provide growing companies with a strategic advantage when meeting the workplace needs of both new and current employees.”

A busy year for office leasing

The deal continued a busy year of office leasing in Raleigh.

In late September, KBS Realty Advisors and Kane Realty Corp. inked two leasing agreements totaling 31,659 square feet at Bank of America Tower, a Class A office building.

Intelligent asset management solutions provider Brightly Software by Siemens signed a 28,658-square-foot agreement. The company will establish its new global headquarters on an entire building floor, also home to Siemens Industry Inc.

In late July, a joint venture between Edgewater Ventures and Northridge Capital purchased Landmark at North Hills, a two-building Class A office campus totaling 166,653 square feet.

JLL Capital Markets negotiated on behalf of the seller, BGO, which worked on behalf of an institutional investor. According to CommercialEdge, the office buildings changed hands for $21.3 million. The same source shows that Sun Life Financial originated a $14.8 million acquisition loan for the buyer.

Landmark at North Hills includes two five-story office properties at 4601 Six Forks Road, connected via a sky bridge. The office properties have four passenger elevators and 830 vehicle parking spots. Initially completed in 1984, the office property underwent significant renovations in 2014 and now features recently upgraded amenities and a technology-enabled central courtyard.

Story first published in Commercial Property Executive