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Big Charlotte Bet

Charlotte
Big Charlotte Bet
The Wall Street Journal called the recent purchase of the 997k SF Coliseum Centre  near the airport by CarVal Investors and Vision Equities "a risky bet in Charlotte"—$103M for an asset in an office submarket with high vacancies. Was it worth it?
 
Fred Arena, Sam Morreale
Vision Equities' Fred Arena (right), who formed NJ-based Vision Equities with Sam Morreale in 2006, says the submarket might be weak, but the asset is not. The building is just over 80% occupied now, and negotiations are under way with new tenants who might be attracted by what the  discount Coliseum Centre can offer compared wtih the CBD.
 
Reznick (Investor) MCHAR
Coliseum Centre
The buyers were also able to borrow at advantageous rates, about 3% for a $68.5M BofA mortgage. Fred says that Vision Equities now wants to be a bigger player in Charlotte and would like to own in each of the area's submarkets and has for some time—it finished second or third in bidding for other acquisitions in recent years. "We think the market in Charlotte has bottomed out," and that other opportunities will present themselves.