KANSAS CITY, MO. — Thompson Thrift has sold The Element, a 276-unit apartment complex in Kansas City. The sales price was undisclosed. Minneapolis-based Timberland Partners purchased the asset. Completed in November 2021, The Element is comprised of three garden-style buildings with units that average 958 square feet. The property is 95 percent leased. Amenities include a fitness center, pool, coffee bar, two dog parks and a pet spa. Gabe Tovar of Northmarq brokered the sale.
CLAYTON, MO. — CBRE has signed a 13,611-square-foot office lease at The Plaza in the St. Louis suburb of Clayton. The firm has occupied space on the 14th floor of The Plaza since 2012 and will now move to the sixth floor in the first quarter of 2024. The new office is part of CBRE’s Workplace360 program. The new workplace will showcase CBRE’s “Future of Work” space standards, including new technologies and a variety of collaborative spaces designed to support hybrid working. The sixth floor provides access to the renovated outdoor terrace. Building owner Franklin Partners plans to add new amenities such as a clubroom, conference center, game room, fitness center, reception area and rooftop deck. CBRE launched its Workplace360 program in 2012 and has since opened more than 100 Workplace360 offices across the globe. CBRE Design Collective will manage the workplace design. Emily Levinson of CBRE’s Americas Consulting practice is leading workplace strategy.
NORTHWOODS, MO. — Mid-America Real Estate Corp. has brokered the sale of North Oaks Plaza in Northwoods, a city in St. Louis County. The sales price was undisclosed. The 268,893-square-foot shopping center is 74 percent leased. Tenants include Save A Lot, Citi Trends, St. Louis County Career Center & Workforce Training, Fresenius and H&R Block. Emily Gadomski and Ben Wineman of Mid-America, in cooperation with Tim McFarland of Sansone Group, represented the private seller. A 1031 exchange buyer purchased the asset.
KANSAS CITY, MO. — Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City is relocating its headquarters from 2301 Main St. to 1400 Baltimore Ave. in Kansas City. The company signed a long-term lease for 260,000 square feet. Bryan Johnson, Tom Volini and Sven Sykes of Colliers Kansas City represented the tenant in the lease transaction. The landlord was undisclosed.
CLAYTON, MO. — Midas Construction has broken ground on the $50 million AC Hotel Clayton in the St. Louis suburb of Clayton. The hotel will rise 11 stories with 207 rooms. Completion is slated for early 2024. The project is revitalizing a historic, underutilized site that once housed the former headquarters of the Clayton Police, which relocated in 2011. The hotel, designed for business and leisure travelers, will feature a rooftop bar and restaurant that will be open to the public. Construction was originally scheduled to begin in March 2020 but was postponed due to the pandemic. The development team consists of Koplar Properties, HomeBase Partners and Concord Hospitality.
By Dan Thies, Sansone Group We are more than halfway through the year and the multifamily market in the St. Louis metropolitan area continues to grow. As of the first quarter, there were 5,112 multifamily units under construction in the metropolitan area. So far, the rise in interest rates and the increase in construction costs has not dampened the enthusiasm of investors and developers for constructing new units in this market. Vacancy rates continue to stay low and lease rates continue to increase. As long as these market conditions continue, developers are going to bring new units to market. The new units being built will reflect new design features, which many developers are implementing in their communities. One of the many design trends taking place across the country and in the St. Louis area addresses the rise in the older population becoming renters. Many members of the baby boomer generation are looking to sell their suburban homes to downsize into smaller, more practical spaces. Their children have moved out of the home, and they no longer need all the space or maintenance of a home. They want to pull the equity out of their home and place it in a …
NORTH KANSAS CITY, MO. — Milhaus has broken ground on a $58 million apartment development in North Kansas City. The project is the 10th in the Kansas City market for the Indianapolis-based developer. Plans call for 275 studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Amenities will include a bark park, coffee bar, fitness and yoga centers, grills and fire pits, pool, bike parking and charging ports for electric vehicles. Great Southern Bank provided a construction loan. The project team includes Rosemann & Associates as architect, BASI Collective as interior designer and Renaissance Infrastructure as civil engineer. Completion is slated for October 2024.
HAZELWOOD, MO. — CBRE has pre-leased a total of 382,105 square feet of industrial space to four tenants at Aviator Business Park in Hazelwood, a suburb of St. Louis. The pre-leased space is part of the latest expansion to the 155-acre industrial park. Three new buildings are slated to open later this month and are now 60 percent pre-leased. The new tenants include Pretium Packaging, which leased 178,128 square feet in Aviator 6; Federal Moving and Storage, which leased 97,734 square feet in Aviator 6, Community Wholesale Tire, which will occupy 76,058 square feet in Aviator 2; and Rivian, which inked a lease for 30,185 square feet in Aviator 5. Katie Haywood and John Frith of CBRE handled lease negotiations on behalf of the landlord and developer, California-based Panattoni Development Co. Inc. Kadean Construction is the general contractor. Panattoni purchased the Hazelwood Ford property in 2008 with plans to build Aviator Business Park. To date, the developer has completed six buildings that are fully occupied by tenants such as Graybar, International Foods and Weekends Only. Once the three new buildings are completed, the park will total more than 2.7 million square feet.
By Mary Lamie, Bi-State Development Modern bulk distribution buildings under construction in the St. Louis region hit a historic high earlier this year, approaching 8 million square feet. The record level of construction illustrates the industrial real estate market in the southwestern Illinois and eastern Missouri region continues to expand to meet ever-increasing demand as world and domestic markets strive to move beyond the disruption that has defined the past two years. The need for reliable freight logistics and flexible supply chains is proving more essential than ever to keep economies moving, and regions that can meet those needs while delivering the modern bulk and manufacturing space distributors and developers demand will have the greatest potential for continued growth. In mid-2022, nearly 7.4 million square feet remained under construction in the St. Louis region, a level of construction 78 percent higher than 2021 and 47 percent higher than the most recent five-year average. Also noteworthy is the fact that 100 percent of the modern bulk construction projects underway is speculative. That represents more speculative activity in the region today than in 2019, 2020 and 2021 combined, a clear indication that developers believe the St. Louis market is a solid place …
MARYLAND HEIGHTS, MO. — White Co. has acquired three multi-tenant industrial buildings totaling 133,015 square feet in Meadows Corporate Center in Maryland Heights, a western suburb of St. Louis. The purchase price was undisclosed. White Co. has negotiated two new leases for the properties, bringing the overall occupancy to 87 percent. Tom Schenk represented White Co. on an internal basis, while Will Mura of CBRE represented the undisclosed seller.