ANN ARBOR, MICH. — Gerdom Realty & Investment has arranged the lease of a 2,600-square-foot space in Ann Arbor. Coralville, Iowa-based Pancheros Mexican Grill will occupy space within Pittsfield Place, a new shopping center located at Ann Arbor-Saline Road. Versa Cos. developed the property. Tjader Gerdom and Larry Siedell of Gerdom Realty & Investment represented Pancheros in the transaction. This will be the second Pancheros in Ann Arbor. The new location is expected to open in the first quarter of 2015.
COMMERCE TOWNSHIP, MICH. — Colliers International has arranged the sale of a 63,511-square-foot former Kroger grocery store in Commerce Township. Commerce Woods Shopping Center LLC purchased the property, located at 4788 Union Lake Road, for an undisclosed sales price. Brian Whitfield and Matthew Seeley of Colliers International represented the buyer. Planet Fitness will occupy 27,000 square feet of the building and will open for business before the end of the year. Whitfield and Seeley will handle leasing for the remaining 36,400 square feet of space.
FARMINGTON HILLS, MICH. — Agree Realty Corp. has acquired four net lease retail properties with an aggregate purchase price of approximately $16.4 million. The properties include a Firestone Auto Care store in Columbus, Ohio; a 24 Hour Fitness gym in Littleton, Colo.; a Golden Corral restaurant in Rockford, Ill.; and a Giant Gas station in Limerick, Penn. Agree Realty Corp. funded the acquisition and development activity with cash on hand, draws on its revolving credit facility and the assumption of a $5.7 million mortgage note due September 2023 that is secured by the 24 Hour Fitness property. The properties were acquired at a weighted-average cap rate of 8.14 percent and have a weighted-average remaining lease term of approximately 15.9 years.
The outlook for the West Michigan industrial real estate market remains optimistic due to consistent levels of sales and leasing activity, according to Colliers International. The industrial market has recorded six successive quarters of positive absorption despite the market seeing a major shortage of high-quality inventory. Some 522,717 square feet was absorbed during the fourth quarter alone, lowering the vacancy rate to 6.57 percent. With options for space becoming more limited every day, new construction is an important consideration for many companies. That option, however, requires vacant land on which to build. Consequently, vacant land sales have emerged as the focus of many industrial real estate transactions. Construction of industrial space has reached its highest level in eight years — 419,000 square feet completed in 2013 and 792,000 square feet underway and projected for 2014. We’ve experienced more land sales in the last six months than we’ve seen in the last six years. Our industrial team has recently closed or put under contract more than 150 acres of vacant land, and much of that acreage is slated for new construction. Ambitious Plans Several projects have already begun, including the 110,000-square-foot expansion that Undercar Products Group began occupying in November 2013, …
Slowly but surely, the missing pieces of the puzzle critical to the long-term vitality of the city of Detroit are starting to fill in, say real estate experts and business leaders. While the city is working through a painful bankruptcy to get its financial house in order, the public and private sector are moving forward with a sense of urgency to make sure that revitalization efforts in Downtown and Midtown don’t lose momentum. The success stories in the office, retail and apartment sector often come in fits and starts, but collectively they show measurable progress. A planned 3.3-mile streetcar line, known as the M-1 Rail project, is the infrastructure piece of the puzzle. Utility relocation work is underway on Woodward Avenue, the first step toward full-fledged construction of the planned light rail line that will connect 11 stops between Larned Street in Detroit’s central business district up to West Grand Boulevard in the New Center area at the north end. Funding for the $140 million streetcar project, which is expected to be complete in 2016, has come from a variety of sources including corporations, foundations, nonprofit agencies and government sources. “We’ll have more of a pedestrian connection between Downtown, Midtown …
Considering the city’s recent negative press, as well as the government loans that General Motors and Chrysler both required in order to manage their way through structured bankruptcies nearly five years ago, it is understandable why one would question the economic vibrancy of Detroit and the surrounding region. However, the much-maligned Motor City is actually a lot healthier than the view projected by the city’s high-profile bankruptcy status. The Michigan jobless rate is hovering near 9 percent. While still high compared to other states, the unemployment rate is the lowest it has been since mid-2008. Since March 2012, the state has gained more than 18,000 manufacturing jobs and over 20,000 jobs in other sectors. The U.S. energy boom is making it more cost effective for factories to operate, and Michigan’s manufacturing base is directly benefitting from lower energy costs. In addition to the automotive sector, Michigan industries that thrive include advanced manufacturing, defense, information technology, water technology, medical devices, food processing and logistics and supply-chain management. The rebound in manufacturing has cut metro Detroit’s overall industrial vacancy rate by 400 basis points since the peak of the recession, falling from approximately 14 percent in mid-2010 to 10 percent at the …
Considering the city’s recent negative press, as well as the government loans that General Motors and Chrysler both required in order to manage their way through structured bankruptcies nearly five years ago, it is understandable why one would question the economic vibrancy of Detroit and the surrounding region. However, the much-maligned Motor City is actually a lot healthier than the view projected by the city’s high-profile bankruptcy status. The Michigan jobless rate is hovering near 9 percent. While still high compared to other states, the unemployment rate is the lowest it has been since mid-2008. Since March 2012, the state has gained more than 18,000 manufacturing jobs and over 20,000 jobs in other sectors. The U.S. energy boom is making it more cost effective for factories to operate, and Michigan’s manufacturing base is directly benefitting from lower energy costs. In addition to the automotive sector, Michigan industries that thrive include advanced manufacturing, defense, information technology, water technology, medical devices, food processing and logistics and supply-chain management. The rebound in manufacturing has cut metro Detroit’s overall industrial vacancy rate by 400 basis points since the peak of the recession, falling from approximately 14 percent in mid-2010 to 10 percent at the …
Revitalization efforts in Detroit are underway and drawing residents and businesses back to the city. These measures aim to improve downtown Detroit’s streets and parks, enhance outdoor activities to increase foot traffic and attract new retailers, jobs and residents. In addition, construction will begin later this year on 3.3 miles of the M-1 light rail line, which will run mainly down Detroit’s Woodward Avenue between downtown and the New Center neighborhood, attracting redevelopment along the route. These efforts, coupled with a growing desire of many young professionals and downsizing baby boomers to live in an urban setting, have led to tightening vacancy rates in the downtown core. Although there is no hard data collected on apartment vacancies in the downtown market, developers claim vacancy in some pockets is below 4 percent. The vacancy rate across the metro area currently stands at 4.4 percent. As a result, some vacant buildings such as the former Broderick Tower, Detroit Savings Bank and the David Whitney office building are being put to new use as apartments. Older apartments are also being renovated, some of which are being converted to luxury units, such as the Griswold Apartments. As renters in these properties are relocated, occupancy …
Strong and steady is an apt description of the current course of the commercial real estate market in the greater Grand Traverse Area of Northwest Lower Michigan. Traverse City’s unemployment rate registered 7.5 percent in June, virtually unchanged from a year ago but down dramatically from 14.3 percent in March 2010. In 2012, the commercial real estate market rebounded with a total of 400,000 square feet sold, up from approximately 300,000 square feet in 2011. Last year’s rebound was fueled largely by increased investment in the industrial warehouse and light manufacturing market. More than half of the square footage absorbed last year was in this particular sector. Only 139,000 square feet of commercial real estate space has been absorbed year-to-date through July. This is considerably less than the 300,000 square feet absorbed during the first seven months of 2012. The reduction in absorption activity is due to a shortage in the available inventory of quality light manufacturing and industrial warehouse buildings. To put that statement into context, consider that a total of 22 industrial and manufacturing buildings ranging in all sizes traded hands in 2012. Currently, we have only six buildings 20,000 square feet or larger on the market for …
When Clint Eastwood’s “Halftime in America” ad aired during the 2012 Super Bowl, the much-discussed spot displayed a kind of gritty optimism about Detroit’s economic prospects. Lines like the “Motor City is fighting again” and “Detroit’s showing us it can be done” resonated not just with Southeast Michigan residents, but a nation hungry for optimism in the wake of an extended recessionary cycle. Despite the recent announcement that Detroit has become the largest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy, a closer look at the broader trends within the Detroit retail market reveals a development landscape that is generally moving in a positive direction. While the bankruptcy filing will affect certain aspects of Detroit’s immediate recovery, the overall theme is one of renewal and revitalization. Motown Momentum Across the Detroit marketplace, retailers are reviewing their existing inventory as leases mature, with a general focus on infill or relocations. There seems to be a widespread understanding that Southeast Michigan has historically been a solid retail market, and that the region’s economic turnaround is opening up new opportunities. The list of positive developments across metro Detroit continues to grow. As Wayne State University continues to transition from a commuter campus to a more …