HOUSTON — Lee & Associates has brokered the $56.8 million sale of a 383,750-square-foot industrial building located at 8017 Breen Drive in northwest Houston. The sales price equates to approximately $148 per square foot. The building is fully leased to locally based oilfield services firm National Oilwell Varco (NOV) on a triple-net basis. John Berger and Mauricio Olaiz of Lee & Associates represented the buyer in the deal. Colliers International represented the seller.
The situation is a familiar one from the past year: 2020 changed a banner year full of promise into a difficult scenario full of fear and challenges. Jeffrey Rinkov, CEO and chairman of the board at Lee & Associates reflects on how his company took an emphasis on technology and communications infrastructure and used the past year as a time for reflection and a period to promote growth and client engagement. He also discussed trends he’s seeing for the future, the lessons he’s learned from a most unusual year and why he’s feeling optimistic for 2021. Focusing on Clients from the Start It’s hard to believe that less than one year ago, Rinkov’s team was experiencing an industry-wide high of momentum with massive pipelines and robust capital. What happened when the unthinkable came to pass? Rinkov explains that the executive leadership team at Lee & Associates took a moment in the early chaos to pause and evaluate what was critical, “Employee and agent safety, client connectivity and how we could deploy resources throughout our platform in a completely different way to support our agents and their client pursuits and interactions.” Tech savvy, hours of leadership phone calls and ingrained communication …
BURLINGTON, N.J. — Lee & Associates has brokered the $110.5 million sale of a 116.8-acre industrial redevelopment site in the Southern New Jersey city of Burlington. The property currently houses a 1 million-square-foot warehouse that was previously occupied by the U.S. General Services Administration and will be decommissioned. The new ownership, a partnership between New York-based Clarion Partners and MRP Industrial, plans to build two Class A distribution centers on the site on a speculative basis. Bob Yoshimura, Joe Hill, Eric Mattson and Joe Hill Jr. of Lee & Associates represented the seller, Boston-based STAG Industrial, in the deal.
WILMINGTON, ILL. — Lee & Associates has negotiated a 500,000-square-foot, full-building industrial lease at 30260 Graaskamp Blvd. in Wilmington, about 60 miles southwest of Chicago. The new building is part of the Elion Logistics Park 55 in Will County. Walter Murhpy of Lee & Associates represented the tenant, Dynamic 3PL. Jeffrey Kapcheck and Jason Lev of CBRE represented the owner and developer, Elion Logistics Partners.
MILLS RIVER, N.C. — Collett Industrial has broken ground on a 90,720-square-foot logistics facility in Mills River. The property is being built on a build-to-suit basis for an undisclosed Fortune 500 retailer. ABC 13 News reports the site is located on School House Road, five miles from Interstate 26 and six miles from Asheville Regional Airport. Randall Bentley and Jordan Skellie of Lee & Associates secured the lease on behalf of the developer. Vannoy Construction is the general contractor for the asset, which is expected to deliver in summer 2021.
The ability to find debt and equity financing for acquisitions and new development has been deeply affected by the coronavirus. Heading into 2020, there was plenty of inexpensive capital available to real estate investors and developers. The once wide field of potential lenders has shrunk significantly over the past nine months. And as for equity availability, it will be important in the coming months to be patient and diligent. REBusinessOnline recently spoke with Gary Sopko, senior vice president – structured finance/investment sales of Lee & Associates and principal at Baden Advisors (an affiliate of Lee & Associates) via video conference about his company’s approach to investment sales, debt financing and equity placement for commercial real estate clients in the midst of an unprecedented year. Sopko interprets what the lower loan volume across the board means for the commercial real estate industry, trends he’s seeing and his role in educating borrowers/clients on how to navigate this challenging time. Changing Lender Pools At the start of the pandemic, a variety of lenders were still ready, willing and able to lend; however, as the pandemic continued and shutdowns spread, the lender pool shrunk. Many private debt funds had to suspend lending for a …
ORANGE, N.J. — Lee & Associates has arranged a $12.5 million construction loan for The Legacy, a 51-unit multifamily project that will be located in the Newark suburb of Orange. The property will offer one- and two-bedroom units and a fitness center and rooftop deck. Gary Sopko and Jerry Joseph of Lee & Associates arranged the loan on behalf of the private developer, former NFL player Kimble Wright. Construction is scheduled to begin this month and to be complete in spring 2022. Parkview Financial provided the loan.
VISTA, CALIF. — Lee & Associates – North San Diego County has brokered the sale a two-building medical office complex located at 1830-1840 West Drive in Vista. Turner Healthcare Facilities Acquisition LLC acquired the property from 1830-1840 West LLC for $3.8 million. The property offers a total of 24,147 square feet of medical office space. Jeff Abramson of Lee & Associates – North San Diego County represented the buyer, while Dave Dean of Commercial Property Advisors represented the seller in the deal.
MESQUITE, TEXAS — Lee & Associates has negotiated a 442,035-square-foot industrial lease in the eastern Dallas suburb of Mesquite for Best Choice Products, an e-commerce firm that provides home furniture and other consumer goods. The company’s new fulfillment and distribution center will be located at 5151 Samuell Blvd., which is located near Interstate 30 and includes 7,600 square feet of office space. Reed Parker of Lee & Associates represented Best Choice Products in the lease negotiations. Nick Thomas represented the landlord, Prologis, on an internal basis. Nathan Orbin, Kurt Griffin and Ann Jaggers of Cushman & Wakefield marketed the property on behalf of Prologis. Best Choice Products has already hired 30 employees as part of the effort to make the facility operational in time for the holiday shopping season. The Tustin, Calif.-based firm expects to hire another 50 workers on a temporary, seasonal basis.
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Lee & Associates has brokered the $8.1 million sale of a 92,450-square-foot industrial building in Fort Worth that is leased to FedEx. The property was constructed on 10.4 acres in 1998 as a build-to-suit, and FedEx has occupied the entirety of the building since that time. Ryan Barr and Ryan Bennett of Lee & Associates represented the locally based seller in the transaction. Cushman & Wakefield represented the buyer, California-based MH Sherman Co., which acquired the asset via a 1031 exchange.