AKRON, OHIO — Green Harvest Capital LLC has purchased a nearly 64,000-square-foot historic warehouse in Akron with plans to convert the property into roughly 50 apartment units. The historic Akron Soap Co. building was formerly occupied by WhiteSpace Creative. Completed in 1893, the factory was built to manufacture soap and was later utilized by Pioneer Cereal Co. and Pockrandt Paint Co. The facility sat vacant for several years until White Hot Properties LLC purchased it in 2013 and converted the building into office space. Nichole Booker of SVN Summit Commercial Real Estate Advisors brokered the sale. The sales price was undisclosed.
MASON, OHIO — Senior Living Investment Brokerage (SLIB) has arranged the sale of Cedar Village, a seniors housing community in Mason, Ohio, approximately 22 miles northeast of downtown Cincinnati. Cedar Village features 105 independent living/assisted living units and 162 skilled nursing beds. The seller was a nonprofit owner based in Indiana divesting of its only community in Ohio. The buyer was a regional owner with other properties nearby. The price was not disclosed. Ryan Saul of SLIB handled the transaction.
SEVILLE, OHIO — Sheetz Inc., a gasoline station, convenience store and coffee shop chain owned by the Sheetz family, has purchased a vacant lot at 350 Center St. in Seville, about 40 miles south of Cleveland. The nearly 12-acre site sold for $1.2 million and will be custom-built for Sheetz. Jerry Fiume and Aaron Davis of SVN Summit Commercial Real Estate Advisors brokered the sale. The seller was undisclosed.
With low vacancy, positive absorption and robust leasing and investment activity, the Columbus industrial sector is positioned to experience a substantial amount of demand to continue throughout 2022 after a record-breaking year in 2021. Last year set the tone for historic construction and absorption and the market is poised to continue its strong momentum. It is easy to look at the map and see why Columbus is such a great logistics hub given its prime location within a 10-hour drive within 47 percent of the U.S. population, fairly flat topography and direct access to major freeways. There is one big piece of the pie that doesn’t always get noticed, which is the economic development powers that are putting Columbus on the map. Jobs Ohio and OneColumbus have done an incredible job attracting businesses to the state of Ohio. The biggest investment in the history of Ohio was announced this January when Intel revealed plans on building a new chip factory in New Albany. This $20 billion investment really put all eyes on the Northeast part of Columbus. As it gets tougher to get entitlements and zoning in other industrial submarkets, New Albany seems to be carrying a significant amount …
FAIRFIELD, OHIO — Brennan Investment Group has acquired 34 acres at the intersection of Seward and Symmes roads in Fairfield, a northern suburb of Cincinnati. The firm plans to build two speculative industrial buildings totaling 445,000 square feet. One building will span 282,000 square feet, while the other will total 163,000 square feet. The site is near I-75, I-275 and the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport. The seller and sales price were not released.
CINCINNATI — SRS Real Estate Partners has brokered the sale of Ridgewater Plaza in Cincinnati for $10.2 million. The 175,945-square-foot shopping center is located at 3240 Highland Ave. The property is 92 percent occupied by tenants such as American Freight and NAPA Auto Parts. Jack Cornell of SRS represented the seller, Oklahoma-based Frayer Enterprises, as well as the buyer, an Ohio-based private real estate investment firm.
BEACHWOOD, OHIO — The Cooper Commercial Investment Group has negotiated the $3.8 million sale of a single-tenant property occupied by P.F. Chang’s in Beachwood, a suburb of Cleveland. The restaurant’s lease expires in 2025. Dan Cooper of Cooper Group represented the seller, a private investment group, and procured the all-cash buyer. The transaction represents a cap rate of 4.62 percent. The property sold for $543 per square foot and at approximately 98 percent of the list price.
LYNDHURST, OHIO — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the $5.6 million sale of a Tesla dealership and service center in Lyndhurst, an eastern suburb of Cleveland. The 23,428-square-foot, net-leased property is located at 5180 Mayfield Road. Opened in 2014, the location is one of four Tesla dealerships in the state of Ohio. There are eight years remaining on the initial 10-year lease. Dominic Sulo and Andrew Antoniou of Marcus & Millichap represented the buyer, a Florida-based limited liability company. Seller information was not provided.
CINCINNATI — Baxters Food Group has signed a 15,202-square-foot office lease for the last full floor available at The Strietmann Center in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine district. The office will serve as Baxters’ new North American headquarters, but the company will still retain its location at 4700 Creek Road in Blue Ash, Ohio. The Strietmann Center, located at 231 W. 12th St., features a rooftop conference and event center. Michelle Klingenberg of JLL represented ownership, Grandin Properties. Josh Niederhelman of CURO BRKG represented Baxters. Other tenants in the building include Astronomer Inc., Contact CI, NaviStone, Gyro and Saatchi & Saatchi X.
There was a time when an investment in the Columbus, Ohio commercial real estate market had to be justified to outsiders and required a higher return to attract investors. After all, it sits squarely in “fly-over country” in the heart of the rust belt. With the exception of getting a superior return, why would an investor choose Columbus, over say, New York or Chicago? But that’s all changed. Cap rates are now as low as, or lower than, other major markets. Investors have been driven to those markets, despite having a lower cap rate, because they knew rent growth was continuous and the sales price would appreciate over time. For decades, Columbus’ sales prices had remained stagnant due to a lack of increase in lease rates. However, over the past two years, lease rates have been rapidly increasing in the industrial market, and projections expect that trend to continue. The Columbus office market hasn’t seen the same rental appreciation — yet. But projections indicate that there will be rental appreciation in office as well, mostly due to increased demand and lack of speculative development over the past two years, but also due to rising land and construction costs. Because of …