SPRINGFIELD, MO. AND SIDNEY, NEB. — Bass Pro Shops has agreed to acquire Cabela’s Inc. (NYSE: CAB) for $5.5 billion, or $65.50 per share of CAB stock. The merger brings together three of the nation’s top outdoor sporting brands: Cabela’s, which specializes in hunting; Bass Pro Shops, which specializes in fishing; and White River Marine Group, a Bass Pro Shops company that specializes in boating. The combined company will own 184 stores in the U.S. and Canada. Cabela’s Board of Directors unanimously approved the acquisition, which is expected to close in the first half of 2017. It was not immediately clear whether the deal would result in any store closures. Bass Pro Shops will also enter into a multi-year partnership agreement with Capital One, National Association, which will originate and service Cabela’s CLUB, the retailer’s co-branded credit card. The customer rewards systems for both retailers should be unaffected by the acquisition. The transaction will be completed through a cash merger and is subject to approval by Cabela’s shareholders, as well as regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. The Merchant Banking Division of Goldman Sachs and Pamplona provided partial acquisition financing for the deal. Goldman Sachs has committed $1.8 billion, …
MARYLAND HEIGHTS, MO. — McGrath & Associates has completed the expansion of the Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri (GSEM) headquarters at 2306 Ball Drive in Maryland Heights. The new Berges Family Girl Scouts Program Center houses programs focused on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers, health and money management. Oculus Inc. was the architect. Landmark Contract Management represented the owner. McGrath constructed the 6,500-square-foot facility in an existing space adjacent to the Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri headquarters. The new program center includes a robotics lab, science area, demonstration kitchen and program studio. Design features include suspended lighting, acoustical ceiling and a glass feature wall. GSEM has more than 43,000 Girl Scout members and 15,000 adult members in the St. Louis area.
SUNSET HILLS, CHESTERFIELD AND CREVE COEUR, MO. — Wiegmann Associates has started construction of three The Sheridan Assisted Living properties in the St. Louis suburbs of Sunset Hills, Chesterfield and Creve Coeur. Wiegmann is the engineer of record and installing contractor for HVAC and building automation systems, and will provide on-site project management for the design/build project. Senior Lifestyle Corp., based in Chicago, is developing the projects, which have a combined value of $65 million. The $17 million, 84-unit The Sheridan at Laumeier Park in Sunset Hills and the $17 million, 53-unit The Sheridan at Creve Coeur are scheduled for completion in early 2017. The $31 million, 91-unit The Sheridan at Chesterfield is scheduled to open next summer. Brinkmann Constructors is the general contractor. The projects are a joint venture of Bob Brinkmann, founder of Brinkmann Constructors, and Senior Lifestyle Corp., an operator of seniors housing facilities.
Retail development in the St. Louis metro area continues to gain momentum. Rental rates are strong, with triple-net asking rents averaging $12.30 per square foot, and are expected to trend upward as the retail market continues to grow. Absorption of existing product along with multiple new developments has created a positive forecast for the St. Louis retail market. In the second quarter of 2016, the St. Louis retail vacancy rate dropped to 5.9 percent from 6.1 percent the previous quarter with positive net absorption of 449,056 square feet. Leasing ramps up Contributing to the healthy retail market are several tenants moving into large blocks of space including two 41,921-square-foot Walmart Neighborhood Market stores now open in St. Peters. Among other store openings: • At Home has announced two 100,000-square-foot locations on the site of a former Walmart in Town & Country and a former K-Mart in O’Fallon, Mo. • Academy Sports will open two 62,000-square-foot locations in Manchester and O’Fallon, Ill. • Camping World will move into 34,710 square feet in Wentzville. • Stein Mart will occupy 31,000 square feet in Town & Country. • Bob’s Discount Furniture has signed a 28,035-square-foot lease in Manchester and a 30,000-square-foot lease at …
ST. LOUIS — Mid-America Real Estate Corp. has brokered the sale of the Chippewa Center in St. Louis on behalf of the seller, an investment partnership with St. Louis-based Pace Properties Inc. Springfield, Ill.-based Jared Commercial purchased the 147,920-square-foot retail center for $10.6 million. Chippewa Center is located at the northwest corner of Chippewa Street and River Des Peres Boulevard. Tenants at the center include Shop ’n Save, Value City Furniture and Dollar Tree. Ben Wineman of Mid-America Real Estate Inc., in cooperation with Mid-America Real Estate Group-Missouri LLC and Scott Seyfried of Pace Properties Inc. were the brokers in the transaction.
CHARLES, MO. — Orangetheory Fitness has opened at Streets of St. Charles in St. Charles. The 3,000-square-foot studio on Beale Street is owned and operated by St. Charles Studio LLC and is the fourth location in the St. Louis metropolitan area for the fitness franchise. Other tenants at Streets of St. Charles include Firebirds Wood Fired Grill, Think Pink Nail Salon, PF Chang’s and Sole & Blues.
Look no further than Kansas City for one of the most burgeoning apartment rental hotspots in the Heartland. Ever since apartment deliveries reached a trough of 233 units in 2011, developers have ramped up construction activity year after year to meet healthy rental demand, though often still trailing robust leasing activity. This trend continued in the first half of 2016, with 2,170 newly occupied apartments exceeding 1,650 multifamily units added to the metro area inventory. What’s contributing to this demand? And will rapid market growth and expansion continue? Job growth, tech boom Employment gains are a big reason rental market demand continues to outweigh supply. For the last six years, greater Kansas City has experienced annual average employment gains of 1.5 percent to support sustained rental demand. After steady, though moderate gains in the last half of 2015, employers accelerated hiring with 10,500 additions from January to June, a 1 percent expansion over the previous six months. The six-month hires capped an annual increase of 1.5 percent since mid-2015 with 15,900 new personnel. To no surprise, the rise in employment has coincided with the rise in renters, as they’ve been attracted to new inventory around employment hubs. The Downtown/East Kansas …
REPUBLIC, MO. — Resource Optimization & Innovation (ROi), a health care supply chain company owned by Mercy, has broken ground on its custom surgical pack manufacturing facility, located at 3000 E. Sawyer Road in Republic. Slated to open in fall 2017, the $10 million, 100,000-square-foot facility will enable the company to produce up to 1.5 million packs each year. The packs produced by ROi’s Custom Pack Solutions division contain all of the medical supplies needed to perform a range of surgical procedures. The company’s pack operation is the first and largest provider-owned, FDA-regulated custom pack manufacturing facility in the United States. The project team includes Slone Architects, Morelock-Ross and Rankin Development.
KANSAS CITY, MO. — Block & Company Realtors has brokered the sale of Wornall Plaza, a shopping center located at 7960-7970 Wornall Road in Kansas City. Solar Success acquired the property from Wornall Plaza 91 LLC for $2.1 million The 13,320-square-foot center is fully occupied by Sherwin-Williams Paints, Papa John’s Pizza, 9Round Boxing, Cricket Wireless and 5th Avenue Cleaners. Dimitri Rodopoulous of Block & Company represented the seller in the transaction.
KANSAS CITY, MO. — Cushman & Wakefield has brokered the $5.7 million sale of a 207,421-square-foot office building in downtown Kansas City. Stencil Group sold the Executive Plaza Office Building, more commonly known as The Flashcube, to Worcester Investments. HOK designed the facility, which was built in 1974. The buyer plans to convert the building into a 181-unit residential property, a project expected to cost $43 million. The property is located at 710-720 Main St., and the sale included an adjacent surface parking lot.