PROJECTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
Asheville’s Overlook Village
to be redeveloped after
$25.5M GBT Realty Corp.
acquisition Overlook Village, an Asheville
shopping center that houses
HomeGoods, T.J. Maxx and Ross
Dress, will be redeveloped after
being acquired by GBT Realty Corp.
for $25.5 million, the company said
in a news release.
The company plans to finalize re-
development plans of the site by
the spring, The Citizen Times re-
ported. The shopping center opened in
1989, with several notable tenants
including T.J. Maxx, Phar-Mor
Drugs store, Circuit City and several
smaller specialty shops.
While Overlook Village has lost
several tenants in recent years,
GBT said it is currently 80 percent
leased.” High Point sells $35 million
in taxable bonds to finance
Bluefish minor league
baseball team stadium
The Brentwood, TN-based real
estate development company, said
Overlook, located off South Tunnel
Rd. near the Asheville Mall, is its
third acquisition in the past six
months under its Capital Holdings
division. It was purchased Dec. 20
from KIMCO Realty, represented by
Berkeley Capital Advisors.
GBT said it launched its Capital
Holdings division to pursue “value-
add and core-plus” commercial op-
portunities. Scott Porter, the
division’s managing director, called
the Overlook shopping center an
“ideal acquisition opportunity,” sin-
gling out its “locational drivers, bar-
riers to entry and upside
potential with the lease-up of the
existing vacancies.”
“The vacant anchor space for-
merly occupied by HHGregg fronts
South Tunnel Road and is well-posi-
tioned due to its accessibility via
two traffic signals and its adjacency
to the Whole Foods center,” Porter
said in a news release. “The avail-
able space is a top option for ten-
ants entering the market as well as
those seeking to improve their ex-
isting storefront due to the mar-
ket’s limited inventory of traditional
junior box storefronts.”
12 — Winter 2018 — The North Carolina Construction News
High Point is furnishing itself a
new economic development gam-
bit – a stadium, Bloomberg News
reports. The furniture manufacturing
community 75 miles north of Char-
lotte is selling $35 million in taxable
bonds to finance a 5,000-seat sta-
dium for the Bluefish minor league
baseball team.
The stadium is part of the city’s
plan to revitalize its downtown with
restaurants, shops and new apart-
ments, the news service reports.
The project comes as the manu-
facturing sector in the city, which
calls itself the Home Furnishings
Capital of the World, recovers from
the recession. City manager Greg
Demko said the project will help
fight urban blight in an area where
the commercial tax base has de-
clined by an estimated $250 million
since 2008, an 11 percent drop, ac-
cording to city estimates.
“The construction of a stadium
is like an anchor for the revitaliza-
tion and development of a down-
town,” Demko was quoted as
saying. “What we’re really inter-
ested in is not necessarily the sta-
dium but the development around
it.” A private fundraising push led by
High Point University president
Nido Qubein raised $50 million to
help buy the team and to support
the creation of projects near the
stadium, such as a children’s mu-
seum and an events center, the
published report says.
Spirit AeroSystems to
spend $50 million to
expand Kinston facilities
To meet the increasing demands
of its customers, Spirit AeroSys-
tems has announced a $55.7 mil-
lion investment for the expansion
of its operations at Global
TransPark in North Kinston.
The aerospace manufacturer’s
announcement only stated that
funds will be spent over a five-year
period. The investment is expected
to improve the regional economy
by generating more job opportuni-
ties. Construction details were not
disclosed. Governor Roy Cooper expressed
his support for the project in De-
cember. “We are excited to see Spirit
AeroSystems strengthen its invest-
ment in North Carolina with this
major expansion. This sends a clear
signal that eastern North Carolina
can compete for business and is
ready for new opportunities that
bring jobs to this region,” he said.