DETROIT — Lear Corp. has acquired a historic six-story, 35,000-square-foot building located at 119 State St. in Detroit from Bedrock Real Estate Services for an undisclosed price. Lear Corp. has plans to turn the building in Capitol Park into an innovation and design center described as a “think tank.” The building was constructed in 1887 and originally housed Brown Brothers Cigar Manufacturers. Construction will begin soon, and the project is slated for completion in 2016.
MOUNT PLEASANT, MICH. — A $10.8 million renovation and expansion of Grawn Hall at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant is in the preliminary stages. Exterior preparations for a two-story addition and renovation of the college’s business administration building began this past summer. The building was built in 1915 and is the oldest facility on campus. Recent renovation work included relocating an electrical transformer and adding a receiving space and dumpster enclosure. In summer 2016, work will start on the 6,600-square-foot, two-story addition. A new main entry and multifunctional space will be added. The renovation of 16,200 square feet of existing space will include updated corridors, the addition of a fire suppression system, window replacements as well as new student service and collaboration spaces. The project is slated for completion in 2017.
MOUNT PLEASANT, MICH. — Construction is underway on a $95 million biosciences building at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant. Clark Construction Co. began working on the four-story, 169,000-square-foot building in July with a projected completion date of September 2016. The first academic classes are scheduled to begin in the new building in January 2017. The facility is the largest capital project ever in CMU’s 120-plus year history. The building will provide classrooms, laboratories and faculty offices. The research facilities will include equipment storage, prep areas, a laboratory to research infectious diseases, an isotope laboratory, imaging center, herbarium and vivarium to replicate aquatic conditions for research.
GIBRALTAR, MICH. — Brown Gibbons Lang (BGL) Real Estate Advisors has arranged a $22.3 million financing for an industrial property for Ferragon Corp. The multi-phased financing will support improvements to create a continuous annealing toll processing operation in Gibraltar, which is approximately 30 miles south of Detroit. The processing center will become operational in late 2016. Once complete, the project will bring a largely vacant 550,000 square foot industrial complex back into EPA compliant condition. The $22.3 million financing consisted of a $10 million building improvement loan, an $8.2 million Brownfield Tax Increment Financing (TIF) and job creation grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, and $4.1 million for building and property acquisition. BGL was the exclusive real estate advisor for the borrower, Ferragon in the transaction. BGL Real Estate Advisors provides comprehensive real estate investment banking services to the middle market, which includes real estate advisory, debt and equity placements, financial restructuring, and asset acquisition and disposition. Ferragon Corporation is a provider of comprehensive toll processing services for hot rolled and cold rolled steel that operates four other facilities in the Midwest and Southern regions.
DETROIT — Bernard Financial Group has arranged a $70 million loan to refinance the First National Building in downtown Detroit. The office building, located at 660 Woodward Ave., is 25 stories and over 800,000 square feet. The borrowing entity is 660 Woodward Associates LLC, an affiliate of Bedrock Real Estate Services. Dennis Bernard and Kevin Kovachevich originated the loan and arranged it through a national commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) lender. The First National Building was constructed in 1922. The property includes an internal 10-story parking garage with 477 spaces. Bernard Financial Group is a Detroit-based mortgage banking firm. Bernard Financial will provide full servicing for the loan. Detroit-based Bedrock Real Estate Services is a full-service real estate firm specializing in acquiring, leasing, financing, developing and managing commercial and residential space.
ROCHESTER HILLS, MICH. — Landmark Investment Sales has brokered the sale of a 13-acre former Kmart. The property is 121,000 square feet and sold for $6.8 million. The space is located at the intersection of Rochester Road and Avon Road in Rochester Hills, which is approximately 30 miles from Detroit.
ROMULUS, MICH. — Developer Chris Semarjian of Industrial Commercial Properties (ICP) and Stuart Lichter of Industrial Realty Group (IRG) have purchased the Northline Industrial Center in the greater Detroit area. The property is located at 38481 Huron River Drive and has over 1 million square feet of warehouse facilities situated on 164 acres. Anchor tenants include Home Depot, W.F. Whelan Company and Renaissance Global Logistics. Gary Glotzhober of Colliers International brokered the acquisition of the property from Soave Enterprises. The Northline property was originally designed and built for a government jet engine manufacturing facility. It was sold to Ford Motor Company and ultimately was owned and occupied by Kelsey-Hayes as a wheel manufacturing facility. This property is Semarjian and Lichter’s fourth major acquisition in metro Detroit. Developers Chris Semarjian (ICP) and Stuart Lichter (IRG) partner on national and regional projects and specialize in the acquisition, development and management of commercial and industrial real estate.
HASLETT, MICH. — Love Funding recently provided three loans totaling $8.5 million to refinance the debt on a group of age-restricted, Section 8 apartments in Haslett targeting persons age 62 and above. Located about nine miles east of Lansing, the three communities serve low-income residents and are all part of the same development, Grange Acres, a 363-unit complex that was built from 1972 to 1982. Grange Acres Non-Profit Housing Corporation owns the properties. Love Funding Midwest Regional Director Bruce Gerhart secured the loans through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 223(f) loan insurance program. Part of the loan proceeds will be used to pay for needed repairs and to fund replacement reserves.
NORTHVILLE, MICH. — Commercial Property Advisors (CPA) has arranged the sale of Northridge Meadow Apartments, a 112-unit multifamily community in Northville, for $7.8 million to Northridge Ventures LLC. The property, located at 19439 Northridge Drive, totals 92,120 square feet. Cary Belovicz of CPA represented the seller, Northridge Apartments.
OAK PARK, MICH. — Commercial Property Advisors has brokered the sale of Providence Green Apartments located at 25500 Greenfield Road in Oak Park. Loop on Greenfield LLC bought the 717-unit apartment complex located north of Detroit from Wood Stone Providence Green LLC for $15.2 million. The 526,693-square-foot property was 33 percent occupied at closing and will be renamed The Loop on Greenfield.