COLUMBUS, OHIO — Woda Cooper Cos. Inc. has broken ground on Lockbourne Greene, a 60-unit affordable housing community in Columbus. Completion is slated for mid-2023. Woda Cooper is building the $15.8 million project with co-developer Healthy Homes, which is affiliated with Community Development for All People (CD4AP) and Nationwide Children’s Hospital. The project is the transformation of a vacant and blighted Columbus Land Bank property. The three-story building will feature 12 one-bedroom units, 40 two-bedroom units and eight three-bedroom units. All of the units will be designated for residents who earn 40 to 80 percent of the area median income. Monthly rents are expected to range from $669 to $999, depending on the income category and size of the apartment. Lockbourne Greene will feature an onsite management office, fitness center and community room. SproutFive will operate an early learning center at the property for children ages 6 months to 5 years old. Residents will also have access to supportive services coordinated by CD4AP. A new $15 million Affordable Housing Linked Deposit Pilot Program from Franklin County supports funding for Lockbourne Greene at no out-of-pocket cost to taxpayers. The program places funds into an interest-yielding investment at three private banks — …
CLEVELAND — The NRP Group, a Cleveland-based multifamily developer and operator, plans to break ground on approximately 6,000 apartment units spread across 23 construction projects in 2022. The properties will be a mix of affordable, market-rate and mixed-income communities. The total investment for the projects is estimated at $1.9 billion. The 23 communities are made up of 11 market-rate developments totaling 3,762 units; 10 affordable developments totaling 1,865 units for residents at or below 60 percent of the area median income (AMI); and two projects with 658 apartment homes in which half of the units are priced at market levels and half are priced for residents earning 80 percent of the AMI. Planned construction starts are distributed across the NRP footprint in Texas, the Washington, D.C., metro area, New York, New Jersey, Florida, North Carolina and Ohio.
CLEVELAND — An affiliate of Phoenix Investors has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Nela Park in Cleveland for an undisclosed price. Nela Park is home to GE Lighting, a Savant company. The acquisition will add more than 1 million square feet of industrial space to Phoenix’s portfolio. Built in 1913, Nela Park is considered the first industrial park in the world, according to Phoenix. The 138-acre property consists of industrial space, office space, a cafeteria, fitness center and outdoor recreation facilities. Savant acquired GE Lighting in July 2020. GE Lighting plans to maintain partial tenancy at Nela Park after Phoenix’s acquisition.
COLUMBUS, OHIO — MDH Partners has purchased Green Pointe Landing, a 100,000-square-foot warehouse in Columbus. The purchase price was undisclosed. Completed this January, the property sits on nearly nine acres at 5740 N. Green Pointe Drive. The building features 20 dock doors, 135 car parking spaces and clear heights that range from 28 to 32 feet. Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, Oakridge Development Co. Houston Hawley served as the acquisition lead for MDH, which now owns more than 680,000 square feet of industrial space in Ohio.
VERSAILLES, OHIO — Hotel Versailles is set to open this May at 22 N. Center St. in Versailles, about 45 miles north of Dayton. The 30-room boutique hotel will feature Silas Creative Kitchen + Cocktails, a restaurant from Chef Aaron Allen, and the 1819 Room, which offers meeting and event space for up to 200 guests. Local firm Kimberly O. Design served as architect. Local Ohio companies and artisans made all the furnishings and artwork adorning the property. Renaissance Corp., a subsidiary of Midmark Corp., owns the hotel. The site was most recently home to the Inn at Versailles, which closed in 2019 after experiencing a substantial fire.
MONTROSE, OHIO — Phantom Fireworks has leased a former Laser Quest facility at 80 Brookmont Road in Montrose, about 10 miles northwest of Akron. The 12,750-square-foot building has sat vacant for six months. Nichole Booker of SVN Summit Commercial Real Estate Advisors negotiated the lease. The opening date of the store will be determined shortly, according to a news release from SVN. Phantom Fireworks operates retail stores across 15 states. Its primary warehouse and corporate office is located in Youngstown, Ohio.
AKRON, OHIO — Driverge Vehicle Innovations has inked a 150,000-square-foot industrial lease at Chapel Hill Business Park, a redevelopment of the former Chapel Hill Mall in Akron. Owner Industrial Commercial Properties has redeveloped and leased 58 percent of the former regional mall. Driverge, a wholly owned subsidiary of MobilityWorks, is an upfitter for Ford, Mercedes-Benz and Dodge vehicles. Greg Hopkins represented the company on an internal basis with assistance from JLL’s Kristy Hull.
SPRINGDALE, OHIO — MarketSpace Capital and Park Harbor Capital, two private real estate investment and development firms based in Texas, have officially closed on their purchase of Tri-County Mall, an enclosed, 1.3 million-square-foot regional shopping center in the Cincinnati suburb of Springdale. The co-developers plan to transform the mostly vacant mall into a $1 billion redevelopment project housing residences, offices, restaurants, shops, a school, entertainment venues and green space. The redevelopment received unanimous approval from the Springdale City Council about 10 weeks ago. MarketSpace and Park Harbor are set to begin construction later this year on Phase I, which will include 450 apartments, 40,000 square feet of retail space and restaurants and 110,000 square feet of recreational space, including a 38,000-square-foot fitness center. Several health and wellness amenities will also feature in the initial phase, including walking and cycling trails and a park. Several local companies are involved in this project, including THP as the structural engineer and The Kleingers Group as the civil and traffic engineer. BHDP, whose founders designed the original mall in the late 1950s, will serve as the prime architect, with Human Nature serving as the landscape architect. BSB Group International will lead branding and marketing …
CLEVELAND — The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) has unveiled plans to open a new customer fulfillment center in the Cleveland area for grocery delivery services. Technology company Ocado Group will operate the facility, which will span 270,000 square feet. The facility will utilize robotics for automated production, but it also expected to create up to 400 new jobs in the area. Completion of the project is slated for 24 months after construction begins. The warehouse, which will service Northeast Ohio and Pennsylvania, marks the second customer fulfillment center in the state of Ohio for Kroger and Ocado. A specific location for the project was not released.
TOLEDO, OHIO — Welltower Inc. (NYSE: WELL), a Toledo-based healthcare REIT, has agreed to acquire 33 seniors housing communities totaling 2,787 units in Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. The purchase price is $548 million. The communities will be acquired as three separate portfolios from undisclosed sellers. The communities were available for purchase because the lease-up process was heavily damaged by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. With occupancy at only 63 percent, Welltower expects the communities will greatly improve their performance in 2023 and beyond. Welltower will install Michigan-based senior living operator StoryPoint to manage the communities under a RIDEA agreement. The acquisition is expected to be funded through the issuance of partnership units, assumed debt and cash on-hand. Simultaneously with the acquisition announcement, Welltower unveiled a development partnership with a joint venture between Related Cos. and Atria Senior Living to develop two seniors housing communities in Silicon Valley. One will be located in Santa Clara and the other in Cupertino. Welltower suggests these developments are just the first projects of many for the partnership. The Santa Clara development will consist of 191 units next to a fully entitled, 9.2 million-square-foot urban development that Related began building in 2015. The larger project, …