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Ardent UK Strengthens Team With Appointment Of New Finance Director

The Ardent Companies (“Ardent”), the US-based real estate investment and asset management firm, has bolstered its team with the appointment of Suzie Cooper as its UK Finance Director. Suzie brings a wealth of experience in Real Estate finance, joining from London-based investment firm, Henley Investment Management, where she led the corporate finance function and designed the financial control environment to enable further growth. Preceding her role at Henley, Suzie worked for Grosvenor Estate for over 17 years.
In her new role, Suzie will work alongside the UK co-Managing Directors Andrew Hilston and Richard Benson to raise UK capital as well as support the investment and performance analysis of Ardent’s acquisitions, leasing and disposals. With Suzie’s added expertise, Ardent will be able to accelerate its UK growth by adding to its diverse portfolio of opportunity-led investments which span multiple sectors across the entire UK.
Richard Benson, Managing Director, Ardent, commented: “We are impressed by Suzie’s extensive track record as a senior finance professional, with experience across private equity, investment and asset management firms. Suzie’s experience of designing and implementing streamlined processes to drive efficiency will prove invaluable as we look to grow our UK portfolio and expand into new cities and sectors in the coming months.
Suzie Cooper commented: “Ardent’s incredible ambition and rapid growth in the UK market was a major attraction of the role. I’m looking forward to sharing my experience with the team as we continue to expand Ardent’s impressive portfolio.”

Switchyards To Open Buckhead Outpost At Piedmont Center

The first Buckhead location of Switchyards is headed for the Piedmont Center.

The Atlanta-based work club will occupy just over 5,000 square feet at the 14-building office campus, marking the first slate of collaborative, coworking-style spaces to open at the Piedmont Center.

The announcement of the Switchyards opening is the next step forward for The Ardent Cos.’s multiyear revitalization of the 45-acre Buckhead campus, which includes 2.2 million square feet of commercial office space. It follows the addition of spec suites to the Piedmont Center in an effort to expand flexible office options for future and existing tenants.

Founded in 2016, Switchyards is a members-only workspace operating in four neighborhoods throughout Atlanta: Cabbagetown, the Westside, downtown and Decatur. They’re open, communal spaces anchored by coffee shops and quiet “heads down library” areas. For $50 a month, members have access to all four locations.

The Piedmont Center space, which spans the ground floor of Building 3, is the first of Switchyards locations to open directly in an office campus. It’s also the first to have an expansive courtyard — existing locations have outdoor tables, but the Buckhead location opens out into a “football field of a front yard,” said Switchyards founder Michael Tavani — and a wealth of accessible parking. It’s a setting conducive “to the way people work today,” said Ardent Managing Director Mike Guynn — where outdoor spaces have quickly become value-added amenities.

“I’ve always wanted a big landlord to utilize Switchyards in this way, which is putting Switchyards in the middle of a big development where we become this third place, this hotel lobby of a big development,” Tavani said.

The Buckhead location is the next to follow Switchyards’ December launch in Decatur. At a higher membership price of $100, it was the first location to implement Switchyards’ new 24-hour silent library model.

The location will open on February 22.

he Ardent Companies (“Ardent”), the US-based real estate investment and asset management firm, has added to its growing UK logistics portfolio with two new mid-box acquisitions in Peterlee, County Durham and Pickering, North Yorkshire. The properties were acquired in a single 285,000 sq ft transaction from Alliance Property Group for approximately £11m, representing a net initial yield of 7%.
Ardent’s logistics portfolio now totals 1.7m sq ft across 14 different strategic locations across the UK, and the team continues to seek out value-add opportunities in multiple sectors including industrial and retail.
The assets in Peterlee and Pickering are fully let to specialist automotive manufacturers and offer a weighted average unexpired lease term of approximately 12.5 years.
PETERLEE
The 50,124 sq ft facility in Peterlee, strategically located on the town’s North Industrial Estate close to the major A19, with Newcastle-upon-Tyne to the north and Leeds to the south. The main building is fully occupied by the global technology company ZF International UK LTD, which has been the main tenant for over 19 years. ZF is focused on the transformation of mobility, supplying systems for passenger cars, commercial vehicles and industrial technology – enabling the next generation of mobility, allowing vehicles to see, think and act.
PICKERING
The 234,685 sq ft facility in Pickering, North Yorkshire, consists of three detached buildings across a large industrial scheme which vary in size and age. The tenant Xandor Automotive, alongside its client Jaguar Land Rover, has recently injected significant investment into plant and machinery at the facility.
Richard Benson, Managing Director of Ardent, said; “These acquisitions perfect align with our strategy to assemble a diverse portfolio of opportunity-led investments. Both assets benefit from offering bespoke, high-specification facilities that serve the needs of cutting-edge automotive operators. These two new deals in the portfolio underline our appetite to grow Ardent’s industrial platform in the UK, particularly opportunity-led investments.
In accordance with Ardent’s structure of maximizing alignment of interests within its portfolio and with its partners, it will introduce M7 as asset manager to continue to drive the value of the wider portfolio.
Ardent was represented by CBRE, while the vendor, Alliance Property Group, was advised by Avison Young

Lower Broadway building sells for $24.5M

Lower Broadway’s so-called Cotton-Eyed Joe Building has sold for $24.5 million.

A release does not include the buyer of the five-story building, located at 200 Broadway, and the Post has been unable to determine. However, the new owner seemingly is eyeing a rooftop deck and other updates (read here).

The seller was TAC 200 Broadway LLC — which includes Atlanta-based The Ardent Companies and entertainer and singer John Rich. That entity paid $18.5 million for the property in April 2019 (read here) and then listed the building for sale for $27 million in November of that year — the equivalent of almost $1,400 per foot. The sellers saw a roughly 32 percent return on their investment, the release notes.

Seth Harlan, a broker with locally based Robin Realty, represented the LLC in the sale of the property. The deal is the equivalent of almost $1,260 per square foot. The offering was the equivalent of about $1,385 per foot.

Since the beginning of 2018, buildings located in The District have commanded a range of per-foot prices spanning approximately $850 to $1,050.

Cotton-Eyed Joe, which has been closed for some time, offered clothing, records and souvenir.

Nashville-based Scott Sales Co. previously owned the building, having acquired it in 1993 for $1.25 million, according to Metro records. The company (known, in part, for distributing souvenirs) has its headquarters in Rutledge Hill.

Constructed in 1900 and sitting on 0.09 acres, the primarily brick building ranks among the larger structures in The District. It spans about 19,500 square feet and is located catty-corner from the building home to Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery.

The addition the past few years of country music-themed restaurants and bars — including, but not limited to, Ole Red and Luke Bryan’s 32 Bridge — have placed an increased spotlight on The District. Rich, who owns Lower Broadway theme bar Redneck Riviera, said the area’s bars and restaurants can record gross revenue of between $18 million and $23 million per year.

“America gives us the right to pursue our dreams and I have and will continue to do that right here in Nashville,” Rich said in the release. “As this great city continues to evolve, we welcome our new neighbors here on Lower Broad as they set forth on fulfilling their goals.”

TAG Heuer Leads Raft Of New Signings At Touchwood, Solihull

he Ardent Companies (Ardent), the US-based real estate investment and asset management firm, has secured five new lettings at Touchwood Shopping Centre in Solihull, watch boutique, TAG Heuer, Xcelerate Gym, eateries including Dirty Wild Wings and Alioli, and skin care and cosmetics clinic chain, Laser Clinics, amounting to a total of over 15,400 sq ft. The new lettings quickly follow Ardent’s acquisition of Touchwood Shopping centre in July this year, including the appointment of a new asset management team to drive proactive improvements to the shopping environment in collaboration with new and existing retailers.
TAG Heuer, the Swiss luxury watchmaker, will take a store on the ground floor within Touchwood’s Crescent Arcade, adjacent to fellow premium jewellery brands, Goldsmiths and Ernest Jones. It will be the only standalone TAG Heuer store within Solihull, serving the town’s affluent catchment and is operated by the Watches of Switzerland Group â€“ who also own Goldsmiths.
Gym operator, Xcelerate, will open only its second site in the UK at Touchwood, taking a 7,819 sq ft unit located off Solihull high street. Laser Clinics, Alioli, the independent tapas bar concept, and Dirty Wild Wings, the fried chicken eatery, will all open stores within the Mill Lane section of the shopping centre, taking 1,931 sq ft, 3,790 sq ft, and 272 sq ft respectively.
Andrew Hilston, Managing Director, Ardent, commented: â€œTAG Heuer, Xcelerate, Laser Clinics, Alioli, and Dirty Wild Wings all bring a fresh offering to Touchwood’s tenant line-up at an exciting time for the centre. Solihull is a key visitor location within the region with a strong lifestyle offer, as well as a central destination within the UK that is set to be a major beneficiary of HS2. Touchwood is positioned to play a key role within Solihull Council’s bold ambition for growth in the coming years, particularly in the run up to the 2022 Commonwealth games, which will be a major driver of footfall and retail spend in the town centre.
Craig Bolton, Executive Director, Watches of Switzerland Group, which owns TAG Heuer, commented: “We are delighted to announce another beautiful contemporary TAG Heuer boutique to our portfolio with Touchwood and excited to see our partnership with TAG Heuer grow from strength to strength.”
The raft of new lettings mark Ardent’s intent to strengthen Touchwood’s position as a prime retail pitch in the West Midlands through a new asset management strategy focussed on enhancing the centre’s tenant mix across retail, leisure, F&B and services.
Joint agents representing Ardent and Touchwood are Cushman & Wakefield and Knight Frank.

Ardent Acquires Shopping Centre in Second UK Investment

07/02/21

Ardent Cos. has lined up a $421.8 million mortgage from Morgan Stanley to finance a large office complex in Atlanta’s Buckhead business district that it now owns completely. The floating-rate loan on all 14 buildings at the 2.2 million sf Piedmont Center closed June 25, in conjunction with Ardent’s purchase of the four buildings at the office park that it didn’t own.

Ardent recently moved its headquarters to the complex’s Building One, which is among 10 buildings — totaling 1.7 million sf — that the investment manager acquired via several transactions over the last five years. The firm paid an undisclosed amount last week to buy Buildings Five through Eight, totaling 516,000 sf. The seller was Granite Properties of Plano, Texas. JLL brokered the loan from Morgan Stanley, as part of a recapitalization that enabled Ardent to pay off an unknown amount of maturing debt on the 10 previously owned buildings. It isn’t clear whether Morgan Stanley plans to securitize the debt, syndicate it or keep the entire loan on its balance sheet.

The new mortgage has an initial term of two years, plus three one-year extension options. The loan-to-value ratio is just over 65%, placing Piedmont Center’s value around $650 million. The debt came with a significant amount of future-funding commitments, which the borrower can draw down over time to cover tenant improvements, leasing expenses and upgrades at the business park that are planned or ongoing. They include work on the building facades, common areas and mechanical systems. Ardent also may add some retail space at the complex.

Ardent has owned Buildings 9 through 12, also known as the Fountains, since 2016. It acquired the Commons (Buildings 1 through 4) and a structure dubbed Tower 15 the following year, then bought Tower 14 in 2019. Piedmont Center was developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s on roughly 50 acres along Piedmont Road NE. The Class- A office park is just off state Route 9, 7 miles north of downtown Atlanta.

Ardent was founded in 2012 by Matt Shulman, its chief executive and managing partner. It has $1.5 billion of assets under management, including a $725.5 million portfolio of commercial real estate totaling 5.5 million sf. Its Ardent Financial fund unit also originates bridge loans and invests in distressed properties.

By Commercial Mortgage Alert

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Buckhead Industrial Building Eyed For Church Project

Christ Covenant Buckhead Corporation has submitted plans to turn an almost 50,000-square-foot industrial building in the Armour Yards area into a new church, according to a special administrative permit application filed with the city of Atlanta last month.

The existing property, which is at 221 Armour Dr., is under contract to be purchased by Christ Covenant, a growing Atlanta church, according to Bradley Fulkerson, a senior managing director with Transwestern, the brokerage and development consultant for the project. The warehouse property was acquired by TAC Armour Ottley LLC, a company registered to asset management firm The Ardent Companies, for about $6.16 million in 2019, according to Fulton County property records.

Plans call for revamped building to serve as a new permanent church location for Christ Covenant, which launched in 2017 and currently meets at the Stave Room in Buckhead Atlanta’s Armour Yards commercial district. The church expects to need $15 million in financing for the project, including $9.4 million to purchase the building and about $5 million to renovate it, according to its website. It is looking to raise $4 to $6 million in cash and pledges.

“From the beginning, we’ve been blessed with rental spaces all over our city and we’ve had many of them,” Christ Covenant Senior Pastor Jason Dees said in a video about the church’s plans.

“This has been a discussion of Christ Covenant for some time, but the leadership of our church has made a unified decision that now is the time for our church to purchase a stable ministry space for our worship, for our ministries, so that disciple-making can go forward and that we can continue to impact Atlanta and the world for Christ.”

Project plans call for a renovation of the building’s front facade and entrance area, replacing a loading dock and service area with a front porch, handicapped ramping, and a vehicular drop-off area, according to the applicant’s SAP documents. Streetscape improvements to match the adaptive reuse project are also planned.

The new church building would hold an 880-seat auditorium, lounge space, and space for The Collective, a part of the church that offers coworking space, among other features, plans show.

Transwestern’s Atlanta Tenant Advisory Team has been representing Christ Covenant in its search for a permanent home, while the project architect is Cooper Carry.

The adaptive reuse project is one of several in Buckhead’s Armour Yards commercial district.

“Christ Covenant Church is delighted to be joining the current tenants and property owners in the Armour Yards submarket,” Fulkerson emailed What Now Atlanta. “Armour Yards offers a unique urban environment with a variety of uses and amenities from office and retail to warehouse.”

Construction at 221 Armour Drive is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of this year for occupancy in the second quarter of next year, according to Fulkerson.

Ardent Acquires Shopping Centre in Second UK Investment

05/21/21

The Ardent Companies, the US-based real estate investment firm, has made its second investment in the UK, acquiring a shopping centre from Lendlease.

The Touchwood mall in Solihull was sold by the Lendlease Retail Partnership fund to Ardent’s Strategic Fund I.

The acquisition of the 650,000sqft asset comes less than three months after Ardent announced it had launched a UK business and raised $230m (€188m) for the UK-focused Strategic Fund I.

In March, it made its debut investment, acquiring 1.4m sqft of industrial space from M7 Real Estate.

In line with its strategy in the US, Ardent plans to acquire and reposition a range of real estate assets, including also offices and build-to-rent housing.

Ardent said Touchwood, which includes retail, restaurant, leisure space and John Lewis store and Cineworld cinema, is set to benefit from the creation of the HS2 high-speed train line that will connect it to London within 38 minutes.

Matt Shulman, CEO at Ardent, said: “Touchwood is in a particularly strong location and already has an impressive retail and leisure line-up.

“The opportunity to work closely with top brands, Solihull Council and the community at an exciting time for the wider area was an important part of our decision to invest.”

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The Ardent Companies Completes $76+ Million UK Acquisition

04/01/21

The Ardent Companies, the US-based real estate investment and asset management firm, has completed its inaugural UK investment to acquire two national logistics portfolios plus two other off-market assets, revealing its plan to establish a geographically balanced logistics portfolio.

The deal was completed from the pan-European investor and asset manager M7 Real Estate for approximately $76 million (£55.18 million) and M7 will continue as asset management partners for the portfolio. The cash deal includes the acquisition of more than 1.4 million square feet across Scotland and England.

With the significant geographic spread of the assets, this investment marks a major first step for Ardent as it plans to build a real estate investment platform of high-performing assets in strategic locations across the UK with the long-term strategy of doubling the size of the portfolio and actively managing it to enhance performance.

The acquisition is consistent with the asset strategies and opportunities which Ardent targets in the US and is backed by Ardent’s new Strategic Fund I. In addition to seeking to grow the Industrial Portfolio, Ardent UK is also actively exploring opportunities in the BTR and office sectors as well as repositioning and redevelopment opportunities in the retail sector.

In accordance with Ardent’s structure of maximizing alignment of interests with its partners, it has maintained M7 as asset manager, combining Ardent’s extensive and diverse understanding of real estate, corporate finance, and capital markets with M7’s knowledge and experience within the logistics and industrial markets to continue to drive the value of the portfolio.

Richard Benson, Managing Director at Ardent UK commented – “We are pleased to complete our first UK acquisition and to begin building a formidable portfolio of assets for the Fund. The multiple locations and scale of the various assets combined gives us initial critical mass for our UK investment platform which we are actively seeking to grow.

Our structure and backing meant we were able to move quickly to bring these assets together within a single fund, against stringent deadlines, giving Ardent significant geographical, operational and management opportunities. We welcome the continued relationship with M7 as the team have an excellent understanding of the nuances of the local markets.”

Scott Werbel, Managing Director at Ardent commented – “We are delighted with the UK team’s first acquisition. Similar to our asset class diversification strategy in the US, we are continuing to expand our UK platform by pursuing industrial (Sheds), retail, office and hotel opportunities across the UK and EU.”

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Investor & Asset Manager Ardent Launches New $530 Million UK Real Estate Investment Business

03/03/21

The Ardent Companies LLC (Ardent), the Atlanta-based real estate investment and asset management firm with $1.3 billion AUM, is launching a new UK business with a major $230 million USD (£165m GBP) strategic acquisition fund – Ardent Strategic Fund I – as well as a $300 million USD (£215m GBP) debt fund.

The UK business, called The Ardent Companies UK Ltd (Ardent UK), will be led by Richard Benson and Andrew Hilston who, until recently, both held senior roles at Battersea Power Station in London.

Ardent UK will continue Ardent’s strategy of being opportunity-driven and sector-agnostic by sourcing opportunities across the UK market. Particular focus will be given to opportunities within established asset classes where Ardent UK can apply value-add initiatives to derive returns that are consistent with the level of Ardent’s performance to date.

In addition to the direct acquisition of real estate assets through the Ardent Strategic Fund I, Ardent will also provide debt to the UK market and is currently raising its fourth debt fund – Ardent Financial Fund IV – with the intention of providing structured and mezzanine level debt to both the US and UK real estate markets.

The main Ardent business, led by CEO, Matt Shulman, has an established track record in the US market for generating compelling returns through substantial capital investment, including direct real estate purchases, high-yield bridge loans and the acquisition of commercial loans secured by real estate.

Backed by The Ardent Companies’ highly experienced leadership team, with an average of 20 years of experience in real estate and investment, Ardent UK, operating out of London, is actively seeking opportunities to invest at least 30% of the new Strategic Fund in projects across all asset classes with immediate scale and value-add opportunities in the UK market.

Richard Benson and Andrew Hilston will both operate as Managing Directors of the UK team, bringing in excess of 35 years of combined real estate experience and complimentary expertise across legal, origination, deal structuring, development, and planning. This includes over six years of experience working together at Battersea Power Station, where the pair jointly sought, landed, and executed the award-winning deal for the 500,000 sq ft HQ office pre-let to Apple.

Richard Benson commented: “We have the capital and confidence from the US team to hit the ground running with our UK origination strategy, focussing on opportunities to invest in high performing asset classes at a good entry rate, where we can scale up quickly and generate quality returns.”

Andrew Hilston also commented: “Richard and I have a longstanding professional and successful relationship. We understand the UK market intimately and bring different skillsets to the table, in addition to our combined experience in deal origination, and are looking forward to working with each other and the US team in the months and years ahead.”

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