Hines JV Obtains $191M Refi for Research Triangle Development

Hines, Affinius Capital and Columbia Development have secured a $191 million senior mortgage for Fenton, a mixed-use development in Cary, N.C.

JLL Capital Markets worked on behalf of the borrowers to arrange the loan from New York Life Real Estate Investors. Managing Director Chip Sykes and Vice President Kelsey Bawcombe led JLL’s debt advisory team.

“The region is consistently ranked as one of the top places in the nation to live, work, raise a family or start a business,” Sykes told Commercial Property Executive.

“Cary’s advantageous location near one of the fastest-growing metro areas in the nation and several premier research universities has propelled the city’s economic and population growth. This dynamic growth in the region has led Cary to become a preferred residential corridor in the Raleigh MSA.”

Fenton, created in 2021, includes 246,000 square feet of retail space, 357 multifamily units as part of The Allison and 183,000 square feet of office space, creating a vibrant live-work-play environment.

Near Cary Town Boulevard, Fenton provides easy access to the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area and I-40. It is 15 minutes from downtown Raleigh and has robust employment hubs, such as the Research Triangle Park. The region has a population of 2 million.

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This region has become a hotspot for the health-care, technology and biotech industries. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University and Duke University are nearby.

The trendy retail section welcomes chef-driven restaurant concepts and nearly all merchandising categories and their national brands.

Rising demand for mixed-use developments

“The macroeconomic success of the Research Triangle, particularly in Cary, has been a driving force behind the region’s mixed-use development performance,” Marcus Jackson, principal with Avison Young’s Capital Markets team, told CPE.

“For many years, Cary was considered a traditional single-family suburban market. Still, following the pandemic-induced population boom, which attracted younger residents used to the ‘live-work-play’ lifestyle, mixed-use development increased to meet the evolving demands of the city’s population,” he said.

Cary’s retail sales and multifamily occupancy benefit from remote workers who retained their high-paying salaries in major gateway cities, as well as the Research Triangle’s highly educated workforce in the health-care, technology and biotech industries.

In October, the debt for another mixed-use property, Smoky Hollow, in nearby Raleigh, was refinanced through a $134 million loan provided by Barings. Kane Realty Corp., Williams Realty & Building Co. and Lionstone Investments are the project’s developers.

In June, Hines completed North Loop Green, a 1 million-square-foot mixed-use development in Minneapolis. The developer teamed up with AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust and Marquee Development to deliver the property, which comprises 10,000 square feet of retail space, a 1-acre public park, 350 residential units, 100 short-term rental residences and 350,000 square feet of office space.