CHAPEL HILL, NC—A joint venture of ATCO Properties & Management, a New York City-based commercial real estate owner and operator and Durham, NC-based real estate investment firm Zapolski Real Estate LLC has acquired 137 East Franklin St. here.

The joint venture acquired the 100,000-square-foot building and a private parking garage on nearby private parking garage on Rosemary Street through ATCO's City Center Retail Estate (ACCRE) joint venture program. No purchase price was announced. The building, located adjacent to the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill campus, is 96% occupied and is anchored by a 17,000-square-foot CVS Pharmacy on the ground floor and basement and approximately 65,000 square feet of office space comprising floors two through seven that is primarily leased by UNC for administrative and research offices.

“We continue identify opportunities to create value for our partners in the central business districts of the best of U.S. secondary markets,” says Damon Hemmerdinger, co-president of ATCO Property & Management. He adds that the company also recently acquired a retail condominium in Indianapolis' warehouse district's entertainment zone through the ACCRE program.

Todd C. Zapolski, principal and founder of Zapolski Real Estate, adds, “Since my years in college and those of my early career in real estate I have known the property now called CVS Plaza as being a 100% location on East Franklin Street. It is the fourth largest commercial building in Orange County and one that dominates downtown Chapel Hill. After 37 years of ownership by the same party we are excited to join our partners to bring a fresh approach to how the property can contribute to positive change for East Franklin and Rosemary Streets.”