VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA (July 26, 2019) – During the first half of 2019, Divaris Real Estate’s offices reported the completion of 208 transactions, including 134 new leases, 56 lease renewals, and 18 property sales. The total amount of commercial square feet was 1,088,229 with a total transaction value of $116,111,157.46. Of that, 65 percent was for retail space and 32 percent was for office space with the remaining 3 percent made up of land, industrial and mixed-uses.
Agents in Divaris’ offices (Virginia Beach, Richmond, Washington, D.C. and Charlotte) represented the landlord in 73 percent of the lease negotiations and acted as tenant representative 21 percent of the time. In fourteen instances, Divaris agents represented both sides of a transaction.
Retail tenant types included perfect examples of Internet-resistant users including ten hair salons, seven financial/tax preparers, six leases each to skin care and nail service providers, and four each for fitness centers, educational facilities, sporting goods and vape shops.
The largest segment represented in the first half of 2019 was restaurants. Overall, there were 35 eateries leased, sold or renewed in the six-month period. The food service category can be further broken down into nine fast-casual Asian operators (including Domoishi, Sushi King, Crazy Sushi Asian Bistro, and Typhoon Noodles), eight full-service restaurants, three pizza parlors, two burger establishments, two sandwich shops, two seafood restaurants, two salad places and additional smoothie, ice cream and frozen yogurt stores.
Tenant representation clients that were assisted with transactions included Bishops Cuts & Colors (2), Crumbs & Whiskers, Dermalogica (4), Domoishi (5), Gelati Celesti, Got Wings & Ramen, Hand & Stone, Kohl’s, LensCrafters, Mooyah Burgers & Fries, Old Navy, PNC Bank, Ross Dress for Less, Saladworks (2), Stemtree Learning Center (2), Sushi King, and TASTE.
Individual deals of note by size include: the renewal of Kohl’s for 86,584 square feet of retail space in Parkridge Center in Manassas, Virginia. Hobby Lobby renewed for 58,000 square feet in North Hampton Market in Taylors, South Carolina. The sale of a former Sports Authority building in Virginia Beach added 41,126 square feet of retail space to the bottom line.
Office lease renewals were very lucrative in the period. One of the most notable transactions was the renewal of the 30,009-square-foot Arts Institute in Virginia Beach in Two Columbus Center where DRE agents represented the landlord. Others included the renewal of CodeRVA Regional High School in Richmond where Divaris handled the lease negotiations on behalf of the tenant, and the sale of Hilltop Medical Center in Virginia Beach for $3.15 million.
For frequency by property, Landstown Commons in Virginia Beach comes out ahead with nine new or renewed leases secured. Town Center of Virginia Beach, similarly, had eight deals close. Fairfield Shopping Center saw six tenants join the roster or renew. Fort Monroe had one tenant take four spaces and Providence Plaza in Charlotte had four tenants renew as well. Three transactions were completed in Harper Hill Commons, Todds Shopping Center, 360 West, Libbie Mill-Midtown, and Wendover Crossing.
Top marks for overall volume of transactions went to Eric Hammond in the Richmond office for completing 24 deals. Charles Neil in Charlotte is next with 23 leases and George Fox added 19 deals in Hampton Roads. Aeri Jai topped the women with 15 leases in Hampton Roads, next was Laikyn Severson with 14 in Richmond and Brett McNamee, principal of the Virginia capital office tied with Virginia Beach’s Krista Costa at 13.
By total square footage, Washington D.C. principal, Joe Farina was involved in the largest deals totaling 166,380 square feet. He was followed by the Charlotte office where Diana Teitsma completed 145,777 square feet of transactions and Charles Neil with a total of 136,486 square feet of commercial property.