RIVERSIDE, MO. — Sunpro Solar has signed a 20,380-square-foot industrial lease at Belgium Business Park Building 2 in Riverside, just north of Kansas City. The Class A property spans 100,000 square feet and is fully leased. Mark Long and John Hassler of Newmark Zimmer represented the landlord, a subsidiary of Green Bay Packaging. Nick Tinnel of True North Industrial Realty LLC represented the tenant, which is a solar panel installation company.
ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Board of Aldermen has approved the $104 million project to transform the historic Jefferson Arms building in downtown St. Louis into a residential and commercial development. Construction is expected to begin in 2022 and be completed in mid-2025. Alterra Worldwide is the developer. The project has received $20 million in tax-increment financing to assist with environmental remediation and rehabilitation costs. Constructed in 1904 in anticipation of the first World’s Fair, the Jefferson Arms building is located within walking distance of the Cardinals Busch Stadium, America’s Center Convention Complex, Kiener Plaza and Arch Grounds. The building has been vacant since 2006. St. Louis-based Kwame Building Group is serving as construction manager. Merriman Anderson Architects Inc. is the project architect. When the transformation is complete, the development will feature historic elements such as exposed brick and original flooring. Amenities will include a fitness and yoga studio, business center, game room, media room, music room and art room. The project now has complete approval.
FENTON, MO. — Berkadia has negotiated the sale and financing of Turtle Creek, a 128-unit apartment community in the St. Louis suburb of Fenton. Built in 2018, the garden-style property is located at 201 Turtle Drive. Amenities include a pool, clubhouse, dog park and storage space. Ken Aston and Andrea Kendrick of Berkadia arranged the $24.9 million sale on behalf of the seller, Highgate Capital Group LLC. Mitch Sinberg and Matthew Robbins of Berkadia arranged $18.9 million in acquisition financing on behalf of the buyer, RM Communities. The Freddie Mac Green loan features a 10-year term and a fixed rate. The buyer plans to make capital improvements, including eco-friendly upgrades. RM Communities is the acquisition arm of RealtyMogul, an online real estate investing platform.
By David Zimmer, SIOR, Newmark Zimmer The industrial real estate market in the metropolitan Kansas City area ended 2020 on a high note. 2021 will pick up right where 2020 ended, with no outward or visible signs of a slowdown. New industrial construction is visible in every geographic sector of the metro area, with upwards of 2.5 million square feet of buildings under construction. Without exception, all these are high cube, modern distribution-type facilities intended to capture the ever-growing e-commerce, logistics and food and beverage sectors of the economy. With the one possible exception being the 880,000-square-foot office and distribution building for Urban Outfitters in Wyandotte County, all industrial construction underway is on a speculative basis with lease-up taking place before the buildings are placed into service. Development activity is being sponsored by both local development entities and regional and national developers who state that Kansas City’s geographical central location, coupled with a skilled workforce and extensive transportation infrastructure, are the primary reasons why Kansas City has attracted numerous companies to establish major distribution operations over the past decade. Investor appetite In addition to new development activities, the investor market for industrial properties has also reached record levels. In one …
ST. LOUIS — Midas Construction is building an AC Hotel in the Central West End of St. Louis. The seven-story, 192-room hotel is located at 215 York Ave. Construction costs total $26.4 million. Completion is slated for the fourth quarter of this year. Project developers include Concord Hospitality, Koplar Properties and Homebase Partners. The hotel is being built on a site formerly occupied by the KPLR television station, which was demolished in December 2019. Midas is optimizing its construction process by using building information modeling and fabricating some components offsite. The project team includes ENGWorks, HDA Architects, Alper Audi, DeLuca Plumbing, McClure Engineering, Eisen Group and DLR Group. This is the first hotel project in the Central West End in nearly 20 years, according to Midas.
KANSAS CITY, MO. — Logoplaste, a designer and manufacturer of plastic packaging products, has leased 160,000 square feet of industrial space in Kansas City’s Executive Park. The property is located at 6900 Stilwell St. Mark Long, David Zimmer and John Hassler of Newmark Zimmer represented the undisclosed landlord in the lease transaction. Daniel Jensen of Kessinger Hunter and Britt Casey of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant.
By Jake Corrigan, Sansone Group As we reflect on the tumultuous year of 2020 and the COVID-19 restrictions that decimated the retail real estate sector, those of us on the industrial side of the equation are breathing a sigh of relief. While there have been small pockets of industrial users and owners that have been adversely affected, the industrial market has remained strong as a sector. We anticipate this trend to continue. Statistics continue to show the conversion of the brick-and-mortar shopper to online is on the fast track. In the last 10 years, the meteoric shift to online shopping has increased from 7 percent in 2010 to just under 25 percent at the end of 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. COVID-19 has forced the otherwise reluctant online shopper to shop for goods they had never thought to have delivered to their door. As a result, online retailers have dramatically improved web-based interfacing and ease of shopping. Active development These realities have supply chain experts, third-party logistics (3PL) companies, owner/users, and of course, mega online retailers clamoring for blocks of vacant space to house their inventories. Developers active in the St. Louis metropolitan statistical area (MSA) …
ST. LOUIS — NorthMarq has arranged a $24.7 million loan for the refinancing of Spanish Cove Townhomes in St. Louis. The 784-unit rental townhome property, located at 1708 San Remo Court, was constructed in 1971. It underwent a significant renovation from 2015 to 2018. Amenities include a pool, clubhouse, fitness center, business center, recreation room, media room, playground and onsite laundry facility. Noah Juran and David Garfinkel of NorthMarq structured the 10-year loan, which features a 30-year amortization schedule. A national bank provided the fixed-rate loan. The borrower was undisclosed.
KANSAS CITY, MO. — An affiliate of Rubenstein Real Estate, together with an affiliate of Exact Architects, has acquired a 20,000-square-foot office and retail building located at the corner of Linwood and Main streets in Kansas City. At the time of sale, the building was 25 percent occupied. A new tenant will soon lease a portion of the first floor, leaving 9,418 square feet remaining available for lease. Substantial building and common area renovations are underway. The two-story building features almost 80 parking spaces. Dwight Medbery III of Rubenstein led the buyer investment group. The purchase price and seller were undisclosed.
ST. LOUIS — CIT Group Inc. has provided $42.5 million in construction financing for Terra at the Grove, a 300-unit apartment project in St. Louis. Plans call for ground-floor retail space, a 52,000-square-foot courtyard and outdoor pool, a business center, clubroom and four-level parking garage. Units will range in size from studios to two-bedroom floor plans. Each unit will feature a balcony or patio. St. Louis-based Green Street is developing the four-story project. A timeline for construction was not released.
