FARMINGTON HILLS, MICH. — Encore Real Estate Investment Services has arranged the sale of a 5,000-square-foot retail property net leased to Sherwin Williams in Farmington Hills. The sales price was not disclosed. Sherwin Williams has 6.5 years left on its lease. Matt Weber, Deno Bistolarides, Brandon Hanna and Ryan Vinco of Encore represented the seller, a California-based limited liability company. A California-based private investor purchased the asset.
WINFIELD, ILL. — Conor Commercial Real Estate has broken ground on North Avenue Commerce Center, a 265,550-square-foot speculative industrial building in Winfield, about 30 miles west of Chicago. The Class A facility will be situated on 17 acres at the southwest corner of North Avenue and Morton Road. The building can be subdivided into separate spaces of 60,000 square feet. Property features include a clear height of 32 feet, an ESFR sprinkler system, 56 exterior docks, four drive-in doors, 12 trailer parking stalls, and 228 car parking spaces. McShane Construction Co. is the general contractor for the project and Ware Malcomb is the architect. Completion is slated for the fourth quarter of this year.
CHICAGO — SunTrust Banks Inc. has provided a $10.6 million bridge loan for the acquisition and deconversion of Cambridge Commons in Chicago. Built in 1970, the property was renovated in 2000. After the closing on July 23, all of the units became apartment rentals. Manny Brown and John Gordon of SunTrust originated the loan on behalf of the borrower, a private equity firm. Areas such as Chicago are seeing more condo deconversions because it is difficult to find land for new developments to meet the rising demand for multifamily properties, according to Gordon. Under the Condominium Property Act in Illinois, condo unit owners can elect to sell a condo property if 75 percent or more are in agreement.
DELAWARE COUNTY, OHIO — Blue Horseshoe Ventures has unveiled plans to build a $10 million stadium dedicated to e-sports at its Planet Oasis project in Delaware County. The 30,000-square-foot, multi-level arena will be designed to host every form of competitive gaming and will feature a competition stage; 50-foot LED video wall; VIP lounges; a broadcast center and production studio; gamer-inspired menu; e-sports exhibition show matches; and a vintage video game cocktail bar. The new facility will be one element of the $2 billion Planet Oasis project, which Blue Horseshoe first announced in July. At full build-out, Planet Oasis will span 350 acres and will feature attractions such as indoor skydiving, electric go-karts, virtual golf, bowling, laser tag, indoor waterpark, at least 15 hotels, more than 75 restaurants, a health and wellness resort and a conference center. Blue Horseshoe expects to break ground on the project in December, with a planned opening date of December 2019 for the first 45 percent of the development, according to David Glimcher, CEO and principal of Blue Horseshoe.
STICKNEY, ILL. — Wool Finance Partners has arranged a $4.5 million loan for the refinancing of Pershing Terminal in Stickney, about 10 miles southwest of Chicago. The fully leased property includes a 25,000-square-foot cross dock facility and a 13,000-square-foot maintenance facility on a 10-acre site. A West Coast-based life insurance company provided the loan. The undisclosed borrower obtained a lender environmental insurance policy, which insures the lender for any remediation costs in the event of a borrower default. The loan is fully amortized over 25 years and includes a fixed interest rate of 5.1 percent for the first seven years.
DEARBORN, MICH. — NAI Farbman has arranged the sale of a 35,800-square-foot office building in Dearborn for $1.5 million. The property, originally built in 1972 and formerly the United Airlines building, spans two stories on a 4.5-acre site at 17501 Michigan Ave. Ali Haidar of Farbman represented the buyer, 17501 Michigan Ave. Acquisitions LLC. UA Investment Group LLC was the seller. Farbman will handle management and leasing for the property, which will be rebranded as Dearborn Office Centre.
The industrial real estate market in Cleveland has a long and storied history. The region’s market powered much of the overall growth in the early 20th century and, at that time, propelled Cleveland to the nation’s sixth largest city. The market transitioned to automotive production, which reached its peak in the 1960 and 1970s. Nearly half a million people were employed in the automotive sector during these decades, in plants operated by Ford, Chrysler and Chevrolet, or at the thousands of third-party companies that supplied everything from wire harnesses to pumps and steel. Over the next half century, the market has again transitioned and while domestic automotive production is still a critical component, advances in technology coupled with a gradual but consistent decrease in the number of vehicles actually being built has resulted in considerably fewer people being employed in the auto industry. Current estimates are around 120,000 jobs. A terrific example of this transition is the former Chrysler stamping plant in the Cleveland suburb of Twinsburg. It opened in 1956 and quickly became a critical part of the auto giant’s production cycle, processing and stamping over 25,000 tons of steel annually. At its peak, the plant employed over 5,000, …
CHICAGO — McDonald’s has opened its newly designed flagship restaurant at Clark and Ontario streets in Chicago. The modern and environmentally friendly design features self-order kiosks, table service, mobile order and payment and delivery. The 19,000-square-foot restaurant includes green spaces and energy-saving features such as a vegetated rooftop, on-site solar panel array for renewable energy collection, LED lighting and more than70 trees at the ground level. Chicago-based Ross Barney Architects designed the restaurant, which is set to operate seven days a week and 24 hours a day. Sydney-based Landini Associates designed the interiors. The new restaurant replaces the previous flagship restaurant, which was a rock ‘n’ roll-themed restaurant that closed in December 2017.
CHICAGO — HFF has arranged a $30.5 million loan for the refinancing of Kinzie Hotel, a 215-room boutique hotel in Chicago’s River North. Constructed in 2003 as an Amalfi Hotel, the property was renovated and transformed into the Kinzie Hotel in 2014. The hotel, which occupies the first six floors of a 385,000-square-foot Class A office building, has its own lobby entrance and elevators on the first floor. Other hotel features include a lounge, fitness center and 2,300 square feet of meeting space. Danny Kaufman, Jeff Bucaro and Nicole Aguiar of HFF arranged the loan on behalf of the borrower, a joint venture between Bixby Bridge Capital LLC and Urbana Holdings LLC. Annaly Commercial Real Estate Group Inc. provided the three-year, floating-rate loan. Proceeds from the loan were used to refinance the existing mortgage in conjunction with installing Urbana Varro as the new hotel management company.
LITTLE CANADA, MINN. — Kraus-Anderson Construction Co. (KA) has completed Quora Education Center in Little Canada, just north of St. Paul. The $43 million special education school for Northeast Metro 916 Intermediate School District spans three stories and 157,000 square feet. The school will serve 300 students in grades 5 through 12 in both general education and special education programs. The building also includes administrative offices for more than 200 employees. The school will provide services for students who have autism spectrum disorders, developmental cognitive disabilities, emotional/behavioral disorders and other health disabilities. KA partnered with Lawal Scott Erickson Architects to design and construct Quora. The building’s layout allows for classroom, small group and individual learning environments with improved lighting, air quality and temperature control.