YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO — The Opus Group has broken ground on a Gander Mountain retail store in Youngstown, approximately 70 miles southeast of Cleveland. Completion of the property is slated for February 2016. The 61,000-square-foot store is being built at the site of Gander Mountain’s former retail store that has been demolished. Opus Design Build LLC is the general contractor for both projects.
DUBLIN, OHIO — Crawford Hoying has started Phase I for the mixed-use Bridge Park development in Dublin, a suburb of Columbus. Hoying is the Ohio-based developer spearheading the $350 million project. The first of the three-phase development spans 30 acres and will include 269,000 square feet of restaurant, office, retail and personal services space, two 850-space parking garages, as well as 382 luxury apartment units and 42 condominiums. Phase I will also include more than $155 million in public improvements, of which the City of Dublin will contribute $43.1 million. Slated for a fall 2016 completion, Crawford Hoying is expected to release its first tenants for Phase I in the coming weeks. This fall, Phase II of the project is slated to break ground, with tenants and development anticipated to be coming online in early 2017. Plans for Phase II include a 150-key hotel, a 500-person event center, as well as significant additions of office, retail, and for-sale and rental residential units. Upon completion, the entire Bridge Park project will include more than 1.1 million square feet of residential space, 220,000 square feet of Class A Office, 120,000 square feet of service retail and 92,000 square feet of restaurants.
GARFIELD HEIGHTS, OHIO — Lancaster Pollard has provided a $17 million FHA refinance for The Village at Marymount, a nonprofit continuing care retirement community (CCRC) affiliated with the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis. The community is located in Garfield Heights, a suburb of Cleveland. The CCRC consists of Villa St. Joseph (a 102-bed skilled nursing and 12-bed memory care facility), Marymount Place (a 104-unit assisted living facility) and Clare Hall (a long-term care facility that includes a newly renovated 10-bed inpatient hospital unit). The loan carries a 35-year term, is nonrecourse, has no financial covenants, and provides for approximately $171,000 in annual debt service savings as well as nearly $75,000 for repairs and improvements. Kass Matt led the transaction for Lancaster Pollard.
CINCINNATI, CLEVELAND AND COLUMBUS — CBRE Group Inc. has arranged the sale and financing of a five-building industrial portfolio for Cintas Corp. Diamond Properties bought the portfolio for $26.5 million. The five properties, which are located in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, total 569,225 square feet. The buildings are 100 percent leased. The properties were previously occupied by Cintas’ document storage and imaging business, which Cintas sold in November 2014. CBRE’s investment properties team and global workplace solutions team represented Cintas in the transaction. They also sourced the buyer. CBRE’s Midwest debt and structured finance team secured the financing on behalf of the buyer. Based in Cincinnati, Cintas is best known for designing and manufacturing corporate uniforms.
SPRINGDALE, OHIO — Susan Branscome of NorthMarq Capital has arranged acquisition financing of $1.4 million for POWER Engineers. The industrial property 20 miles north of Cincinnati is 32,270 square feet and is located at 11733 Chesterdale Road in Springdale. NorthMarq arranged financing for the borrower, Al. Neyer LLC. The seven-year loan includes 17-year amortization schedule.
CLEVELAND, OHIO — HREC Investment Advisors has arranged the sale of the 242-room Sheraton Cleveland Airport Hotel at 5300 Riverside Drive for an undisclosed price. Ted Anka, vice president in HREC Investment Advisors’ Chicago and Miami offices, advised the buyer, Lakshmi Narayan Hospitality Group LLC. Anka also advised the seller, Hopkins Partners. The property contains over 16,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space.
Cleveland will host the Republican National Convention in July 2016. In response, hospitality firms have steadily expanded payrolls with the addition of 9,200 workers, the biggest relative gain among all employment sectors. The overall labor force will expand 1.6 percent this year, or by 16,500 new workers. Thousands of these newly employed workers are seeking rental housing, particularly in the urban core where housing prices are much higher than the metro average. In addition, the urban core’s transformation to a 24-hour city has created its own momentum. Demand Exceeds Supply High net absorption outpaced construction during the past four quarters, putting downward pressure on vacancy. Last year, average vacancy dropped 160 basis points as tenants absorbed more than 3,400 units. In the last 12-month period ending in June, nearly every Cleveland submarket posted a drop in vacancy. Net absorption is expected to end the year more than 40 percent higher, with vacancy projected to slide 50 basis points to 3.4 percent, one of the lowest levels in the country. Builders have responded by expanding the project pipeline. More than 1,700 rental units have already come on line during the past year. However, compared with almost any other major metro in the country, this is just a drop in the bucket. …
MEDINA, OHIO — The Cooper Commercial Investment Group has brokered the sale of Stonegate Center, a retail center located at 3735 Stonegate Drive in Medina. The 15,300-square-foot center sold for $1.3 million. Built in 2000, the property is shadow anchored by Walmart Supercenter, Kohl’s and Hobby Lobby. Bob Havasi and Dan Cooper of Cooper Group represented the seller, an Ohio-based private investor. The Ohio-based buyer acquired the property for 95 percent of the list price representing a 7.5 percent capitalization rate.
INDEPENDENCE, OHIO — The City of Independence has approved a series of area development plans and selected Cleveland, Ohio-based Fairmount Properties LLC as a development partner. The city, located about 12 miles south of Cleveland, plans to develop and redevelop various city-owned property in downtown Independence, including the former Independence Middle School, and a 33-acre site in the Northwest Quadrant of Rockside Road. The overall plan focuses on bringing much-needed residential, commercial and public amenities to the community, while the initial scope of the development planning will concentrate on adding new for-sale residential choices to the downtown market. Additionally, a complementary neighborhood retail component is included in the initial planning, which will expand housing options for young professionals, empty nesters and downsizers. The vision for the 33-acre, city-owned property is a mixed-use district with a corporate focus that also incorporates ancillary retail, restaurant, entertainment and residential uses within a compact and walkable street pattern. The city and Fairmount will immediately begin the pre-development process for the projects. The anticipated completion for the initial phases of development is scheduled for 2017.
VALLEY VIEW, OHIO — A partnership has acquired a 17,500-square-foot mixed-use property located at 5345 Canal Road in Valley View, a suburb of Cleveland. A financial institution sold the asset for $610,000. At the time of closing, the property was more than 90 percent occupied. James McHale of Marcus & Millichap’s Cleveland office represented both parties in the transaction.