A Marriott-branded hotel next to the Mall of Georgia is part of the final buy in a $60M fund raised by an Atlanta investor that targeted the hospitality industry.

Atlanta-based Woodvale purchased the Fairfield Inn & Suites Atlanta Buford/Mall of Georgia for $11M from Atlanta Equity Investors, according to Gwinnett County records. The 96-room hotel was part of a portfolio of four Marriott hotels in the Southeast purchased by Woodvale from three buyers for an undisclosed sum. The other properties were a Fairfield Inn in Montgomery, Alabama, and a Residence Inn and a Courtyard, both in Southaven, Mississippi.

The four hotels were the closing purchase in a $60M fund Woodvale began to raise in 2023 to buy distressed hotels and other commercial properties, its managing partner, Rahim Charania, told Bisnow. With debt markets shying away from CRE lending this past year, Woodvale Vice President Bashir Mansour said the firm found a lot of opportunities with owners struggling to refinance properties or find buyers.

“Our strategy of purchasing assets all-cash proved to be instrumental, as sellers prioritized certainty of closing,” Mansour said in a release. “By staying well-capitalized and maintaining an aggressive acquisition approach, we secured favorable pricing while providing sellers with the confidence they needed, a strategy that proved highly effective in this unique market environment.”

Woodvale plans to spruce up the recently acquired hotels, which Charania said were purchased at higher-than-average cap rates.

Woodvale is also launching its next $60M fund, which will continue to focus on distressed commercial properties, including possible apartment opportunities, he said.

SALES

VP Hospitality purchased the Fairfield Inn & Suites Atlanta Vinings/Galleria hotel from an LLC called HIT Portfolio | 8PK Atlanta Owner for $8.8M, according to Cobb County property records. The 142-room hotel is 2 miles south of The Battery Atlanta and near Home Depot’s corporate headquarters.

Hunter Hotel Advisors’ Mayank Patel brokered the sale.

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San Diego-based Fairfield Residential purchased Chroma Park Apartments in Cobb County for $63.4M from Federal Capital Partners, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported. Federal purchased the 365-unit apartment complex in two transactions in 2019 for a total of $47.2M.

Fairfield’s Bill Revers told the ABC the company bought Chroma Park at a significant discount on its replacement cost.

LEASING

Fitness club chain Carbon Performance is leasing its debut gym in Atlanta. Carbon is taking 34K SF at the adaptive reuse project Westside Paper on Atlanta’s Westside. The former paper mill at 950 W. Marietta St. was redeveloped by FCP and Westbridge and secured 113K SF in leases last year, including a 50K SF showroom for Construction Resources and the 25K SF Padel Haus.

Bridger Properties’ Shelbi Bodner represented the landlords.

DEVELOPMENT

Highpoint Development completed work on The Lacy at South Main, a 318-unit apartment complex in Downtown Kennesaw. The project, on 19 acres, is part of a mixed-use development that includes 44 townhouses, retail and park space.

McShane Construction Co. was the general contractor.

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Atlanta-based Euphoric Development is looking to prep a site at 3625 Southside Industrial Parkway for a 101K SF warehouse development, according to a land development application filed with the city of Atlanta. The project would also include a truck court.

PERSONNEL

Athens-based Landmark Properties named Nikko Politis as its senior director, tasked with spearheading the firm’s traditional apartment acquisitions. Landmark, which previously focused on student housing, is expanding its focus to buy value-add and stabilized multifamily properties.

Politis previously was senior acquisition partner at The Calida Group and has transacted more than $9B in real estate since 2010.

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Domingos Garcia has been appointed regional director of architecture with Ryan Cos., tasked with overseeing projects coming out of Ryan’s Tampa and Atlanta offices. The more than two-decade architectural veteran previously worked for Oculus VR and Foster + Partners and worked on more than 177M SF of projects globally.

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Former Cushman & Wakefield executives John Ferguson and Ryan Curry have launched their own investment firm, C/F Capital Partners, focused on office investments in the Southeast. The firm is shopping for “undervalued properties with the most potential for improvement” in markets where office demand is returning, according to a press release.

The duo completed more than $3.5B in transactions globally in their career.

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T. Dallas Smith & Co. tapped Matthew Wersel as vice president, tasked with establishing and managing corporate relationships globally. The 22-year industry veteran previously worked with Mohr Partners and is the first non-African American tapped for a leadership role in T. Dallas Smith’s 18 years of existence, according to a release.

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Matt Frey was promoted to general manager and executive vice president at Skanska, overseeing the contractor’s operations in the Georgia region. Frey previously served as vice president for Skanska’s Georgia region.

Frey succeeds Scott Canon, who was promoted to regional executive officer for the Southeast.