Abacus Capital and Big Cypress Capital, an SB360 Affiliate, Exits Core South End Creative Commercial Asset
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina – July 20, 2022 – Abacus Capital (“Abacus”) and Big Cypress Capital (“Big Cypress”), an SB360 affiliate, are pleased to announce the successful exit of The Avenues at Atherton, a 31,000 square foot adaptive reuse street retail asset strategically located in one of the most sought-after commercial nodes of Charlotte’s South End.
Affiliates of Abacus Capital and Big Cypress Capital acquired the project in December 2018 for $7.3M ($237/SF) and subsequently undertook a repositioning program to restore the asset to peak marketability reflective of the increasing dynamism of the core South End location while driving rental rate accretion.
Once the initial business plan was completed Abacus capitalized on a favorable investment sales market appetite for creative commercial assets in Charlotte’s urban core, selling the repositioned project to an alternative investment manager for $20.75M ($672/SF).
“Abacus Capital is pleased to have led the successful round-trip of this irreplaceable asset. Stewarding the reposition of this highly visible project from The Pavilion at South End to The Avenues at Atherton over the past few years was a privilege – we are especially proud that along with the physical transformation we were able to deliver a great economic outcome for our clients and partners as well,” said Wes McAdams, managing partner at Abacus Capital.
Big Cypress CEO and Co-CIO Max Mazzone said, ”This successful sale of one of our early joint venture projects with Abacus demonstrates our collective abilities and commitment to developing high quality properties within carefully targeted locations most likely to generate strong institutional interest and peak development yield alpha.” Mr. Mazzone continued, “Our longstanding and ongoing commitment to our partnership with Abacus validates our Headwaters Strategic Operator Platform’s ability to deliver superior risk-adjusted investment returns as evidenced by this investment’s outcome.”
Situated on 1.37 acres at 2041 South Boulevard, the property was built in 1957 and renovated in 2019. Tenants of the Avenues at Atherton at the time of the transaction included Snooze Eatery, Silverlake Ramen, Atrium Health, South End Dental Studio, Polished Nail Salon, Capsule and Tous Les Jours bakery.
Launched in 2018, Abacus Capital is a multi-strategy product type agnostic real estate investor that seeks out special situations or other tactical opportunities in which to deploy its capital, institutional experience, relationships and hands-on, solution-oriented approach to creating or unlocking value and driving investment outperformance on behalf of its partners and clients.
Patrick Gildea, Matt Smith, Grayson Hawkins and Mike Burkard of CBRE led the sale marketing process while Adam Williams of Legacy Real Estate Advisors leased the project on behalf of Abacus and its clients while Foundry Commercial property managed the asset on behalf of the venture. Cline Design was the architect of record, McAdams provided civil engineering services while Chip Shelton of Liberty Solutions led the execution the asset enhancement program on behalf of the venture.
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About Abacus Capital – Abacus Capital is a multi-strategy tactical real estate opportunity investor focused on the acquisition and development of differentiated commercial real estate in growth markets across the southeastern United States. Abacus’ mission is to identify investment opportunities that we believe offer our investors the most compelling risk-adjusted returns in dynamic capital markets environments. The principals of Abacus Capital have over 30 years of real estate investing experience and have acquired or developed 17.0M square feet of commercial real estate with a total capitalization in excess of $3.5B. Please visit www.abacuscapitalusa.com for more information.
About Big Cypress Capital – Based in Naples, FL, Big Cypress Capital, an SB360 affiliate, is an emerging investment management firm. Big Cypress Capital’s Headwaters Strategic Operator Platform focuses on cultivating capital partnerships with real estate operators and institutional JV partners that result in long-term value creation within their platforms. Please visit bigcypresscap.com for more information.