GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. — Daniel Gracie Grand Rapids, a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu academy, has leased a 3,750-square-foot space at 131 Division Ave. in Grand Rapids. The academy will offer a variety of classes for all ages. Todd Leinberger, Mary Anne Wisinski-Rosely and Jason Makowski of NAI Wisinski of West Michigan represented the tenant in the lease transaction with the undisclosed landlord. Cody Hier and Miguel Diaz, both professional MMA fighters, are the co-owners of the studio.
FARMINGTON HILLS, MICH. — L. Mason Capitani CORFAC International has arranged the sale of a 128,829-square-foot office building in Farmington Hills for an undisclosed price. Built in 2001, the Class A property is located at 37101 Corporate Drive. It is fully leased to Panasonic Automotive Systems. Mason L. Capitani represented the buyer, LREH Michigan LLC. The seller was undisclosed. Capitani’s affiliate company, Liberty Property & Asset Management, will manage the asset.
ANN ARBOR, MICH. — Beyond Juice Juicery + Eatery will open its 15th Southeast Michigan location at the new Uptown Ann Arbor project in Ann Arbor. Beztak Properties is the project developer. Beyond Juice will occupy 1,600 square feet. Billy Gershensen of the Gershenson Group represented Beyond Juice in the lease transaction. Michael Murphy, Vicki Gutowski and Larry Siedell of Gerdom Realty & Investment represented Beztak. Upon completion, Uptown will be home to 250 townhomes and luxury lofts as well as 17,220 square feet of ground-floor retail space.
SOUTHFIELD, MICH. — Automotive supplier Marelli has signed a multi-year lease to relocate its North American headquarters to Southfield. The company will occupy nearly 200,000 square feet of the property located at 26555 Northwestern Highway. The mid-century building, which has been vacant since 2015 after Federal-Mogul relocated, is situated at the corner of Lahser Road and the John C. Lodge Freeway. The three-story building, which is undergoing extensive renovations, will feature modern workspaces for nearly 500 employees. It will include 75 conference rooms, an auditorium, cafeteria, fitness room and meeting space. Approximately 100,000 square feet will be dedicated to testing and lab equipment to support R&D activities for the company’s automotive lighting, electronics, exhaust, interiors, powertrain, ride dynamics and thermal solutions business units. Marelli is leasing the property from Dembs Development, which purchased the building in 2017 from a New York-based investment company. Marelli is planning a staggered move-in to begin in late 2020 with full occupancy expected by March 2021. The company currently has two locations in Auburn Hills and one in Farmington Hills. In May 2019, Magneti Marelli and Calsonic Kansei merged to create Marelli, one of the world’s largest independent automotive suppliers.
DETROIT — Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and his Housing & Revitalization Department (HRD) have created a new partnership to preserve affordable housing in the city while also improving its quality and preventing displacement. The partnership comprises the city’s housing department along with a number of housing experts, including Enterprise Community Partners, United Community Housing Coalition, a partnership between Cinnaire and CHN Housing Partners, Data Driven Detroit, Elevate Energy and Community Investment Corp. Enterprise Community Partners will lead the team and create action plans for preserving units. A primary goal of the new partnership is to identify apartment buildings that have low rents — not because they are required to, but because of their condition — and help redevelop those buildings in a way that preserves their affordability. HRD has established a goal of preserving 10,000 existing regulated affordable housing units in the city by 2023. This is in addition to the creation of new affordable housing in any new development that receives city funding or discounted land.
WARREN, MICH. — Art Van Furniture LLC officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Sunday night after announcing Thursday that it would close all of its stores. The Warren-based retailer filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court District of Delaware. In the filing, Art Van said it operates 169 locations, including 92 furniture and mattress showrooms and 77 freestanding mattress and specialty locations. The company expects to close the stores by May 31 and lay off all of its 3,100 employees. Multiple media outlets reported that the company has between $100 million and $500 million in both assets and liabilities.
KALAMAZOO, MICH. — SRS Real Estate Partners has arranged the sale of a two-building retail property in Kalamazoo for $2.5 million. The freestanding buildings are home to Starbucks and Subway. Located on 9th Street, the Starbucks spans 2,085 square feet and the Subway totals 2,000 square feet. The two buildings were built in 2017. Michael Carter and Frank Rogers of SRS represented the seller, a Detroit-based private investor. The team also represented the buyer, a Kalamazoo-based private investor. The sales price represents a cap rate of 5.58 percent, one of the lowest ever for a two-tenant asset in the state of Michigan, according to SRS.
WARREN, MICH. — AVF Holdings Inc. has unveiled that it will cease operations and begin liquidation sales at all 141 of its company-owned stores in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Ohio. The Warren-based company operates under the brands Art Van Furniture, Art Van PureSleep and Scott Shuptrine Interiors. Levin & Wolf Furniture in Ohio and Pennsylvania will be sold to Robert Levin, pending court approval. Eight Wolf Furniture stores in Maryland and Virginia will also be liquidated. Art Van Elslander opened his first furniture store in metro Detroit in 1959. The liquidation sales will begin Friday, March 6.
TROY, MICH. — L. Mason Capitani CORFAC International has brokered the sale of the Summit Centre office building located at 575 E. Big Beaver Road in Troy. The sales price was undisclosed. California-based LREH Michigan LLC purchased the fully leased, 36,000-square-foot asset. Mason L. Capitani brokered the transaction. L. Mason Capitani will continue serving as leasing agent for the property. The company’s management arm, Liberty Property & Asset Management, will assume day-to-day operations of the property.
WATERFORD, MICH. — SunTrust Commercial Real Estate, part of Truist’s corporate and institutional group, has provided an $18.3 million Fannie Mae loan for the acquisition of Glengarry Apartments in Waterford, a northern suburb of Detroit. The 300-unit apartment complex, built in 1978, was 94.7 percent occupied at the time of closing. Evan Hom of SunTrust originated the 15-year loan with seven years of interest-only payments followed by a 30-year amortization schedule. The loan-to-value ratio was 80 percent.