COLUMBUS, OHIO — EFL Expo Freight has signed a 70,955-square-foot industrial lease at Creekside Industrial Center in Columbus. The company will occupy the space in the 155,866-square-foot CreekSide XVI building, one of two speculative facilities nearing completion at the center. The building features 32-foot clear heights. Mike Spencer of Lee & Associates represented EFL Expo Freight in the lease transaction. Phil Rasey of The Pizzuti Cos. represented ownership, a partnership between Pizzuti and USAA Real Estate.
DOWNERS GROVE, ILL. — NEC Display Solutions of America has signed a 47,714-square-foot office lease in Downers Grove, a western suburb of Chicago. The property is located at 3250 Lacey Road. Included in the new headquarters will be a 6,000-square-foot technology showcase and demo facility for client engagement, as well as a 5,000-square-foot research and development lab. The designer and provider of LCD displays is moving from a 40,000-square-foot office in Itasca, Ill. Chad Freese, Paul Diederich, Matthew Frazee and Jon Springer of CBRE represented NEC in the lease transaction. Phil Sheridan of CBRE represented the owner, Hamilton Partners.
SCHAUMBURG, ILL. — Baum Realty Group LLC has arranged the sale of a 4.8-acre property net leased to a Hyundai car dealership in Schaumburg for $6.3 million. The property is located at 1020 E. Golf Road near Woodfield Mall. Patrick Forkin represented the seller, a local investor who had owned the property for over 30 years.
MINNEAPOLIS — Westmount Realty Capital has acquired a five-building, 845,622-square-foot industrial portfolio in Minneapolis. The purchase price was not disclosed. Located near the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, the portfolio is fully occupied. With this acquisition, Westmount now maintains more than 8 million square feet of industrial space in the Midwest region. Colliers International brokered the transaction. The seller was not disclosed.
CHICAGO — Peapod has unveiled plans to move its headquarters from suburban Skokie to 300 South Riverside Plaza in Chicago. Founded in 1989, Peapod is an online grocery delivery store that operates out of 23 markets. All 220 employees will move to the 53,000-square-foot office by April 2018. Currently occupying a 33,000-square-foot space, Peapod is moving to downtown in order to access a deeper talent pool of data analytics and tech employees. Owned by Third Millennium Group, 300 South Riverside Plaza is a 23-story Class A office tower in Chicago’s West Loop. Matt Pistorio and Joy Jordan of The Telos Group represented ownership in the lease transaction. David Burden and Tom Berarducci of Colliers International represented Peapod.
ALSIP, ILL. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of Orchard Estates in Alsip, a southern suburb of Chicago, for $11.1 million. The 156-unit apartment property is located at 4600 W. 122nd St. Built in 1973, the property comprises six three-story buildings on a 6.2-acre lot. The 72 one-bedroom units and 84 two-bedroom units were 96 percent occupied at the time of sale. Ryan Engle of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller and procured the buyer. Both were undisclosed.
ST. CLOUD, MINN. — Cohen Financial has arranged a $6.5 million loan for the acquisition of a 71,000-square-foot retail property in St. Cloud in central Minnesota. Cash Wise Foods anchors the property. Dan Rosenberg and Matt Terpstra of Cohen Financial arranged the fixed-rate loan with Goldman Sachs Commercial Mortgage Capital. Midland Atlantic Properties was the borrower.
MACOMB TOWNSHIP, MICH. — Kennedy Funding Financial has provided a $1.2 million loan for the development of an industrial park in Macomb Township, a northern suburb of Detroit. The 55-acre property is located at 17300 23 Mile Road. The borrower, Elite Sport Ventures LLC, acquired the property in December 2014 with plans to develop it into smaller parcels. A 2.5-acre portion of the site located near 23 Mile Road will be sold and developed into a hotel.
DEERFIELD, ILL. — Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (NASDAQ: WBA), a global pharmacy-led enterprise comprising brands such as Walgreens and Duane Reade, plans to shutter 600 of its stores as part of its $4.38 billion purchase of rival Rite Aid Corp. During a conference call on Wednesday, Oct. 25, Walgreens spokesman Michael Polzin said the 600 shuttered stores will mostly be Rite Aid locations within close proximity to existing Walgreens stores as the company looks to optimize its retail store footprint. On Sept. 19, Walgreens announced it had secured regulatory clearance for its acquisition of 1,932 stores, three distribution centers and related inventory from Rite Aid. According to Walgreens’ earnings report released yesterday, the first few Rite Aid stores were acquired in the past week. Walgreens plans to transfer ownership of the remaining stores in phases as it aims to complete the store transfers by spring 2018. Walgreens has reviewed its combined U.S. store portfolio to determine the affected stores. The company expects to start closings between spring 2018 and mid-2019. As a result of the store closures, Walgreens expects to realize $300 million in annual savings through Aug. 31, 2020. The savings will be derived primarily from procurement, cost savings …
The Columbus industrial market continues to thrive as a hot center for logistics, warehousing and manufacturing. Its strategic location within a one-day truck drive of 50 percent of the U.S. population and one-third of the Canadian population is an important part of this success. Other contributing factors to this success include a strong Midwestern work ethic, low cost of real estate, low taxes, low wages and minimal union activity. With a total population of about 2 million in metro Columbus, central Ohio has 86,000 employees in the manufacturing industry and 80,000 employees in logistics at 4,100 logistics companies. Positive vital signs Central Ohio’s 273-million-square-foot industrial real estate market continues to expand with nearly 5.7 million square feet of new construction in 2017. Year to date, there has been 1.3 million square feet of positive net absorption and vacancy is 4.6 percent, down from 5.1 percent as of year-end 2016. Net absorption totaled 9 million square feet in 2016. Effective rental rates in central Ohio range from $2 to $3.75 per square foot net for larger warehouse and manufacturing spaces. Operating expenses run from 35 cents to $1.25 per square foot. Sales prices will range from $10 to $45 per square …