The automotive retail chain has completed the purchase of Hennessy Automobile Cos. stores in Metro Atlanta, including three major dealerships in the suburbs for more than $20M each.
Group 1 Automotive agreed in July to buy 10 Hennessy dealerships and one collision center for around $1.3B. The acquisitions include Hennessy’s Porsche North Atlanta at 990 Mansell Road in Roswell, Porsche Atlanta Northwest in Marietta, Lexus of Gwinnett and Jaguar Land Rover in Buckhead, according to a sale agreement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Group 1 said it completed the acquisition on Monday, according to a new SEC filing.
Sales tax records filed with the Georgia Supreme Court Employees Cooperative Authority database reveal the individual prices of the three dealers in the portfolio. Group 1 paid $25.7M for Hennesy Ford Lincoln Atlanta at 5676 Peachtree Blvd. in DeKalb County, $23.1M for Hennessy Lexus Atlanta just down the street from the Ford Lincoln dealership and $23.3M for the Porsche Atlanta Northwest dealership off Windy Hill Road.
According to Group 1, the purchase of Hennessy was financed through a private placement consisting of $625M in senior notes at 6.25%, due in 2032, and another $625M in senior notes at 6.625%, due in 2035.
The purchase makes Atlanta the second-largest U.S. market for Group 1, CEO Daryl Kenningham said during a July earnings call. Hennessy stores each average $170M in revenue, more than twice the national norm, and the company expects the chain to pull in about $1.7B in revenue, he said.
“This is a premium brand. This is a premium store,” Kenningham said during the phone call. “We’re very happy with what we paid for the store, especially compared to other deals we’ve offered or learned about. So we’re very happy with the value and what we paid.”
SALES
LLC tied to Taurus Investment Holdings purchased 200 Tradeport Blvd. — an 83K SF flex industrial property on Interstate 75 near Porsche North American headquarters — for $21.6M from an LLC linked to Brookfield Properties, according to sales tax records in the Georgia Supreme Court Employee Cooperative Authority database.
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Brookfield, for its part, bought two parcels of land in DeKalb County from homebuilder Toll Brothers for $25.4M, according to sales tax records in the Georgia Superior Court Clerks’ Cooperative Authority database. The transaction includes 7 acres at 1570 La France St. and another 2 acres at 1577 La France St., according to DeKalb records.
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Elmington Residential, in a joint venture with American South Capital Partners, purchased The Asher at Sugarloaf, a 260-unit apartment complex in Lawrenceville, from Federal Capital Partners for $55M, Multifamily Dive reported.
The workforce housing complex was developed in 2008.
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Chicago-based Pine Tree, an open-air shopping center investor, bought the Towne Center Prado from Center Site for an undisclosed amount. The 327K SF shopping center – anchored by Barnes & Noble, Ross Dress for Less and Publix Super Markets – is part of a larger 10-property transaction acquired by Pine Tree for $644M, totaling 3.5M SF and including shopping centers in Arizona, North Carolina and New York. Towne Center, located at 50 Ernest Barrett Parkway in Marietta, is the only center in Metro Atlanta.
Site bought the property in 2009 for $45.9M, according to Cobb County property records.
TASK
The Sandy Springs City Council approved a resolution granting Trammell Crow Co. The site comprises 5.5 acres in the heart of suburban Atlanta, with Trammell Crow as the master developer. Third and Urban, DSM Real Estate Partners and Hedgewood Homes are also involved in the project.
The developer is looking to add more retailers and restaurants, a boutique hotel, additional green space, and single-family and multifamily housing, according to a press release.
PERSONNEL
Teddy Driscoll has joined Colliers in Atlanta as vice president of industrial capital markets, where he will focus on industrial sales and dispositions. Driscoll previously worked with Atlantic Capital Partners as an associate.
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Atlanta retail brokerage giant TSCG promoted Susan Ahlheit as chief operating officer and David Huntley as chief financial officer, effective January 1, reporting to co-CEO Sam Latone. The duo replace Bob Wordes, who retired at the end of the year after two decades with the company.
LEASES
Atlanta legal giant Alston & Bird LLP signed a 295K SF renewal at One Atlantic Center, a 1.1M SF tower in Midtown, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reports. The deal means Alston & Bird — with 400 attorneys and 750 full-time employees — is shrinking from its current 340K SF footprint.
Savills represented the law firm in the deal, according to ABC. Starwood, which bought the tower in 2016 from Hines, plans to make a “significant capital investment” in the 50-story tower to ensure “that One Atlantic Center continues to set the standard for design, service and best-in-class experience,” a spokesperson told ABC.