For the year ending in March, multifamily vacancy in the Cleveland metro area tightened to the lowest level since 2016, keeping annual rent growth climbing. Measured supply gains amid increased renter demand over the past four quarters have resulted in steady vacancy and rent improvement. These trends should continue over the next several quarters, holding vacancy below the 5 percent threshold. Favorable apartment operations are capturing investor attention. Demand for apartments is coming from an increase in employment that is allowing more people to move into rentals. Employers added roughly 14,200 positions year over year in May, nearly double the previous year’s growth. Another encouraging sign for Cleveland is that most employment sectors added jobs during this period. The heightened hiring has kept the unemployment rate below 5 percent for the past five months and the rate is down 80 basis points since May 2018. Education and health services is the most dominant employment sector, and the construction segment led employment gains during the past 12 months, staffing more than 5,300 new positions, followed by professional and business services with nearly 4,200 people. New apartment projects contribute to some of the construction jobs. Over the past four quarters, builders added …
Ohio
TOLEDO AND OREGON, OHIO — Reichle Klein Group has brokered the $29.4 million sale of an 888-unit apartment portfolio in Toledo and Oregon. The properties include Tamarack Creek, Piccadilly West and Alexor in Toledo; and Piccadilly East, located at 2750 Pickle Road in Oregon. Tony Plath and Harlan Reichle of Reichle Klein represented the local seller, R.J. Lloyd Co. Ltd. Columbus-based Urban Land Co. Ltd. purchased the portfolio.
TALLMADGE, OHIO — KeyBank Real Estate Capital has provided a $14.5 million Freddie Mac loan for the refinancing of a 101-unit seniors housing property in Tallmadge, just east of Akron. Built in 2016, Danbury Tallmadge offers independent living, assisted living and memory care. Lee Delaveris of KeyBank originated the loan. Danbury Senior Living was the borrower.
NORTH CANTON, OHIO — Stan Johnson Co. has brokered the sale of a newly constructed, 107,500-square-foot industrial building in North Canton, a suburb of Cleveland. The sales price was not disclosed. ComDoc, a subsidiary of Xerox, fully leases the property as its corporate headquarters. The build-to-suit is located at 8247 Pittsburg Ave. NW. Rob Gemerchak, Jeff Hughes and Jeff McKinney of Stan Johnson represented the seller, Industrial Commercial Properties LLC. A subsidiary of Global Net Lease, an institutional investor based in New York, purchased the building.
“The retail landscape is changing.” How many times have we, industry professionals especially, heard these words over the past several years? But the reality is, it’s true. There have been countless articles, blogs and lectures blitzing us with arguments supporting or arguing against the notion that brick-and-mortar retail is fighting a losing battle against a burgeoning e-commerce industry. As many of us in the industry know, brick-and-mortar stores still hold a 90 percent market share of retail sales. While that number is shrinking, it is shrinking at a slower pace with each passing quarter. So, rather than talking about e-commerce and its potential negative impact on physical stores, I’d prefer to focus on the categories that are thriving, and in many cases benefiting from e-commerce. The fact is that pressures of e-commerce, coupled with changing consumer preferences driven by millennials and Gen Z, have forced retailers to adapt. The Cleveland market is an excellent microcosm of this retail evolution that has swept through the U.S. Here are the most notable retail trends in Cleveland. Health and beauty Perhaps the hottest category in retail right now is health and beauty. In plain terms, Americans today, more than ever, value being healthy …
ELYRIA, OHIO — Industrial Commercial Properties LLC (ICP) has acquired a 159,000-square-foot property at Midway Mall formerly occupied by Dillard’s in Elyria, about 30 miles southwest of Cleveland. The purchase price was not disclosed. The property sits on 18 acres. Earlier this year, ICP purchased the Sears building and Sears auto center on the western edge of the mall. ICP intends to redevelop the property, but specific plans have not been disclosed. Best Buy, Dunham’s Sports and Johnny K’s Power Sports anchor the 1.1 million-square-foot regional mall.
STREETSBORO, OHIO — Curtis-Layer Design Build has broken ground on a 150,000-square-foot speculative warehouse in Streetsboro, about 30 miles southeast of Cleveland. The building will feature precast concrete and glass panels and a clear height of 32 feet. The site is located near the Frost Road interchange at I-480 and approximately a half-mile from the Ohio Turnpike. Completion is slated for first-quarter 2020. Bob Brehmer of NAI Pleasant Valley is marketing the property for lease. A private investment group is the developer and MPG Architects is the architect. Chemical Bank provided construction financing.
TOLEDO, OHIO — Dakkota Integrated Systems has signed a 66,603-square-foot industrial lease in Toledo. The supplier of Jeep parts is expanding and doubling its size at the facility, which spans 1.1 million square feet and is situated on 46 acres at 315 Matzinger Road. The lease term is for five years and five months. Ron Jurgenson of Reichle Klein Group and Rob Hughes of Newmark Knight Frank negotiated the lease. I.B.C. Inc. is the landlord.
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Welltower Shakes Up Portfolio, Commits to Nearly $2.75B in Transactions
by Alex Tostado
TOLEDO, OHIO — Welltower Inc. (NYSE: WELL) has expanded its senior living portfolio to the tune of 15 properties worth $949 million across the country. Simultaneously, the healthcare REIT giant exited its partnership with seniors housing operator Benchmark Senior Living, selling its 48-property portfolio to an undisclosed buyer for $1.8 billion. The 48 properties that Benchmark operates total 4,137 units and are located in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. As part of the recapitalization, Benchmark will invest in improvements at the properties. Benchmark will continue to manage the portfolio under a new management agreement with the new capital partner. Ted Flagg of the JLL Capital Markets team represented Welltower in the Benchmark transaction. With the new acquisitions, Welltower expanded its footprint by entering into or expanding partner agreements with senior living operators Balfour Senior Living, Sunrise Senior Living and Discovery Senior Living. The three partnerships yielded 14 properties in Maryland, Colorado, California and Texas. Welltower acquired six properties from Balfour, including Balfour’s flagship Balfour at Riverfront in Denver and the recently opened Lavender Farms, for $308 million. The other four properties are situated in the Denver and Boulder metro areas. Additionally, Welltower has the option to …
UNION TOWNSHIP, OHIO — Total Quality Logistics (TQL) has unveiled plans to construct a 120,000-square-foot, second building on its headquarters campus at Ivy Pointe Boulevard in Union Township near Cincinnati. The goal of the expansion is to accommodate nearly 600 new employees that the company anticipates hiring, primarily in sales and information technology roles, over the next five years. TQL is a freight brokerage company, offering truckload and intermodal logistics services. The company’s existing building is 100,000 square feet. TQL anticipates construction costs of $20 million for the new building, plus an additional investment to renovate its current site. TQL is still finalizing plans for the design of the building.