WHEELING, ILL. — Meridian Design Build has completed the renovation of an 115,000-square-foot food manufacturing facility in Wheeling, approximately 30 miles northwest of Chicago. Richelieu Foods occupies the building, which features nine refrigerated loading docks, a 20,500-square-foot refrigerated warehouse, 33,500 square feet of production space and a 3,250-square-foot freezer. The building, located at 120 W. Palatine Road, is Richelieu’s fifth operating plant.
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. — MainSpring Capital Group has announced plans to develop Mainspring Flex Phase III at Pima Center. This phase will contain 150,660 square feet of spec light industrial space for warehouse, assembly and distribution uses. Flex Phase III construction will commence during the fourth quarter of this year. Completion is scheduled for mid-year 2017. The speculative development includes two buildings. The existing buildings at Pima Center are 98 percent leased. Pima Center is a 232-acre, mixed-use business park within the Salt River Pima Indian community. The park contains a variety of commercial properties ranging from the Honor Health Rehab Hospital and Rancho Solano Private 6-12 School to multi-story Class A office space, garden office and assembly/distribution/flex facilities. The business park contains more than 1 million square feet of office space and about 430,000 square feet of light industrial/flex facilities.
SMYRNA, TENN. — Hillwood plans to develop two industrial facilities totaling 924,325 square feet within Airport Business Park. Situated on 75 acres in Smyrna, a southeastern suburb of Nashville, the property has access to rail and three interstates. The project will feature 32- to 36-foot clear heights, ESFR fire protection, T5 or LED lighting, cross-dock loading and 130- and 185-foot truck courts. Kurt Nelson of Hillwood’s Memphis office is overseeing the development of the project. Hillwood has selected Brian Camp of ProVenture to lease both buildings.
MACON, GA. — Stan Johnson Co. has brokered the $3.5 million sale of a freestanding, 66,449-square-foot industrial facility leased to FedEx Ground Package System Inc. in Macon. Constructed in 2006, the build-to-suit property sits on 11.4 acres at 244 Mercer Junction. Alliance Commercial Real Estate Group purchased the asset, which FedEx uses as a package sorting and distribution facility. Britton Burdette and Mollie Alteri of Stan Johnson Co.’s Atlanta office represented the seller, 244 Mercer Junction Road LLC, and procured the buyer in the transaction.
The Connecticut industrial market has changed. The days of large corporate surplus assets littering our industrial parks, mid-teen vacancy rates and discounted lease rates are over — or at least on a hiatus. In the last few years, the market has tightened with many of the larger blocks of space absorbed by various local and national tenants. The last 20 to 25 years saw corporate consolidations, downsizing and the move to cheaper markets dominate our industrial landscape. Left behind were inefficient, large manufacturing facilities in a market losing its manufacturing base. As time went by, these idle, surplus assets were acquired by local and regional investors who eventually made these properties functional again. Over the years, steady absorption has chipped away at vacancy rates, and quality available product has become increasingly difficult to find for tenants. Traditionally, an industrial tenant needing 100,000 square feet or greater would have numerous alternatives to consider and a wide range of quality too. This gave tenants enormous leverage, allowing them to negotiate more flexible and favorable terms and conditions. The relatively recent shift in tide has allowed landlords to control the process and we’ve seen a corresponding upward tick in lease rates. The sales …
NEW YORK CITY — Rubenstein Partners has secured a $197 million first mortgage construction loan for 25 Kent Avenue, a mixed-use property in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. Serving as co-lead arrangers and co-bookrunners, Wells Fargo Bank and Natixis Real Estate Capital committed $197 million for the project. The new loan provides for all future construction costs and fully capitalizes the project. Being developed by Rubenstein Partners and Heritage Equity Partners, the eight-story building will feature 500,000 square feet of office and industrial space tailored to the creative and tech sectors.
HARLINGEN, TEXAS — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of an 82,414-square-foot industrial property located in Harlingen. Kenneth Hartmann and Joshua Murphy of Marcus & Millichap’s San Antonio office marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a private investor. Hartmann and Murphy also secured the buyer, another private investor. The building is located at 2810 N. Expressway 77.
OWENSBORO, KY. — Charleston, S.C.-based Terressentia Corp. has opened the O.Z. Tyler Distillery, the company’s bourbon distillery situated on 26 acres in Owensboro. The historic property dates back to the late 1800s and is now open following two years of renovations. The property is named after O.Z. Tyler, the co-inventor of Terressentia’s patented TerrePURE distilling process. The company plans to employ 75 staffers when fully operational. The distillery will produce more than 30,000 barrels of bourbon annually. Future plans for the property include increasing production to 75,000 barrels annually, building a visitor’s center and museum and becoming a stop on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.
DULUTH, GA. — NAI Brannen Goddard has brokered the $14 million sale of a three-building, 230,000-square-foot industrial complex situated within Northmont Business Center in Duluth, a northeastern suburb of Atlanta in Gwinnett County. Situated on 28 acres along Satellite Boulevard, the single-story complex offers both warehouse and office space and features 24-foot clear heights, 120-foot truck courts and ample parking. Exeter Property Group purchased the complex from the undisclosed seller. Jack Haden, Mike Chambers and Bradley Pope of NAI Brannen Goddard represented the seller in the transaction. Exeter Property Group has retained the NAI Brannen Goddard team to lease the project.
SAN CARLOS, CALIF. — San Carlos VI LLC has acquired San Carlos Business Park, a 154,462-square-foot office and R&D campus in the Silicon Valley submarket of San Carlos, for $61.1 million. The seven-building campus is located at 963 Industrial Road. The park contains two parcels that include a ground lease for a 27,303-square-foot office building on 1.3 acres and a larger parcel that includes six buildings totaling 127,159 square feet of R&D space on 7.6 acres of land. San Carlos Business Park is situated in the mid-peninsula market with access to Caltrain, major freeways and downtown San Carlos. CBRE’S Bob McSweeney represented the LLC, while the firm’s Seth McKinnon, Scott Prosser, Joe Moriarty, Sean Sullivan and Tyler Myerdirk represented the seller, Black Mountain Properties, in this transaction.
