DEKALB, ILL. — Facebook parent company Meta has unveiled plans to expand its data center that is currently under construction in DeKalb, more than doubling the square footage from two buildings to five. With the increased footprint, the project now represents a total investment of more than $1 billion. Meta previously announced that it was building its 12th U.S. data center in DeKalb in June 2020. Development costs were estimated at $800 million at that time. Crain’s Chicago Business reports that the five-building campus will be the largest data center in the state of Illinois. Meta says it selected DeKalb, which is located about 65 miles west of Chicago, for its access to renewable energy, talent pool and community partners. Meta is collaborating with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on a pilot program with the goal of developing a more sustainable concrete mix to help reduce the carbon footprint. Meta has also invested in two new wind energy projects in the Illinois counties of Morgan and DeWitt.
Development
CHICAGO — Skender has completed construction of 609 W. Randolph, a 15-story boutique office building in Chicago’s West Loop. Developed by Vista Property, the building spans more than 100,000 square feet and includes a tenant lounge, rooftop terrace, executive conference room, wellness studio and meeting spaces. The property has received WELL and LEED certifications and features high-performance air filters, motion-sensor restroom fixtures and touchless, automatic doors. CBRE is the leasing agent. Antunovich Associates designed the base of the building, while Partners by Design handled the design of the spec office suites.
SEATTLE — Hudson Pacific Properties Inc. (NYSE: HPP) has completed its purchase of Washington 1000, a fully entitled office development site in Seattle, for $85.6 million. The Los Angeles-based REIT will break ground immediately on a 546,000-square-foot office tower at the site. The total project costs, including the purchase price of the land, is anticipated to range from $340 million to $360 million. Washington 1000 is located at 1000 Olive Way within Seattle’s Amazon-anchored Denny Triangle submarket. The project will sit directly adjacent to the $1.9 billion Washington State Convention Center Addition project, which is adding numerous retail amenities and streetscape improvements to the neighborhood. Project architects LMN and Callison RKTL are designing Washington 1000 to achieve LEED Gold and Fitwel certifications. The design will appeal to post-pandemic office needs with enhanced HVAC filtration units and antimicrobial finishes at key touchpoints. The design will also allow for flexibility with 36,500-square-foot, column-free floorplates, as well as maximum natural light with high ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows. The project will feature more than 22,000 square feet of amenity-rich outdoor space, including an indoor-outdoor rooftop lounge and two 5,000-square-foot terraces off the second-floor main lobby. The property will also have an end-of-trip facility that …
SAN FRANCISCO — SHVO and architects Foster + Partners have unveiled plans for Three Transamerica at 545 Sansome St. in San Francisco, including the expansion and upgrade of the building to a contemporary, high-design office building. Built in the 1930s, the historic Art Deco structure was originally designed for the California Ink Co. The building’s new design emphasizes sustainability while revitalizing the historic structure. The building’s interior will be completely modernized and brought up to date with current building codes while preserving the integrity of the historic structure. Its two Art Deco façades will be restored, and the building floor plates extended toward Washington Street and Redwood Park creating double-height office spaces. Additionally, new office space will be created above the existing building, set back from the historic Sansome Street façade, creating an additional 50,000 square feet of office space. Estimated development costs were not disclosed. The 10-story building is part of Transamerica Pyramid Center, which also includes an iconic, 48-story, pyramid-shaped anchor building built in 1972. SHVO bought the two buildings and the small, urban park between them in October.
ALEXANDRIA, VA. — St. Louis-based Twain Financial Partners has plans to redevelop Hotel Heron, an approximately 90,000-square-foot hotel redevelopment in Alexandria. Construction on the $76.5 million adaptive reuse project is set to begin in June and wrap by November 2023. Twain Financial provided $59.2 million in financing through a mixture of sale-leaseback financing and both federal and state historic tax credit equity on behalf of the developers, May Riegler Properties and Potomac Investment Properties. The Hotel Heron project will restore the original George Mason Hotel building, which was constructed in 1925. The hotel will contain 134 rooms and 30,000 square feet of amenities, meeting space, restaurant space and ground-floor retail. Aparium Hotel Group will manage the hotel and restaurant upon completion. The property is currently being used as an office building and parking garage.
MCKINNEY, TEXAS — South Carolina-based development and management firm Greystar has broken ground on Phase I of McKinney Airport Trade Center, a 70-acre industrial project located north of Dallas. Phase I will consist of three buildings spanning 320,000 square feet. Phase II will feature two buildings totaling 434,000 square feet. Completion of Phase I is slated for the end of the year. NAI Robert Lynn and Carey Cox Co., which jointly represented Greystar in its acquisition of the land, have also been retained to market and lease the property.
LAKE GROVE, N.Y. —Wegmans will open a 100,000-square-foot store in Lake Grove, the regional grocer’s first on Long Island. Wegmans has entered into an agreement to purchase 8.5 acres of the 28-acre DSW Plaza, which is owned by Prestige Properties & Development. A timeline for construction and opening has not yet been determined. Founded in 1916, Wegmans operates 106 stores in seven states, with new stores planned to open in Virginia, Delaware and Manhattan within the next two years.
PHOENIX — Thompson Thrift has purchased a 30-acre development site at the southwest corner of Dove Valley and 29th Avenue in Phoenix. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The company plans to develop a mixed-use property on 16 acres of the site. The remaining acreage will be left as outdoor space that is part of Skunk Creek Wash natural preserve, and will feature pedestrian amenities and running paths. Upon completion, the development will feature apartments and 35,000 square feet of retail. Oregano’s, a local pizza chain, and Twisted Sugar, a gourmet cookie shop, have pre-leased space at the development.
Clearwater Living Nears Completion of 117-Unit Seniors Housing Community in Glendora, California
by Amy Works
GLENDORA, CALIF. — Clearwater Living has opened the sales office at Clearwater at Glendora, a 117-unit assisted living and memory support community in Glendora, approximately 25 miles east of Los Angeles. Construction on Clearwater at Glendora began in spring of 2021. The two-story, 117,000-square-foot property is being built on nearly three acres. When it is completed later this year, the community will feature 88 assisted living and 29 memory care apartments with studio, companion, one-bedroom and two-bedroom layouts.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Chicago-based Brennan Investment Group has broken ground on a Class A industrial building on the former RJ Reynolds Headquarters campus in Winston-Salem known as Whitaker Park. Landmark Construction is the general contractor on the project. The construction timeline was not disclosed. The tilt-wall, speculative building will span 110,000 square feet and is designed to be divisible from one to four tenants. Bob Lewis, Chris Lowe and Jamie Newell of NAI Piedmont Triad are handling leasing on behalf of Brennan Investment Group. The Whitaker Park sits in a strategic last-mile, infill location near downtown Winston-Salem, Wake Forest University and five nearby interstates.