SPRINGFIELD, ILL. — Bluffstone Student Housing has opened The Villas Downtown Springfield, a 79-unit student housing development located near the University of Illinois at Springfield campus in Springfield. The development features 4,000 square feet of retail space. The residential portion of the community offers studio, one- and two-bedroom units with bed-to-bath parity. Common amenities at The Villas include a 24-hour recreational area, laundry facilities, community meeting areas, responsive concierge and a TV lounge. Town and Country Bank financed the $8.8 million development, which opened for occupancy on August 13.
CHICAGO — Mid-America Real Estate Corp. has brokered the $150 million sale of a five-property retail portfolio in Chicago known as the Smithfield Chicago Urban Portfolio. Chicago-based Acadia Realty Trust purchased the properties from Chicago-based Smithfield Properties. The assets included State & Washington Shops, with a tenant roster that includes Nordstrom Rack and H&M; 151 N. State St., a flagship Walgreens store at the corner of State and Randolph streets; North & Kingsbury Center, which is leased to Old Navy, Pier 1, Blick Art Materials and Modani Furniture; California & Armitage Shops, leased to PNC Bank, 7-Eleven, The UPS Store, Sally Beauty Supplies and Athletico; and Milwaukee & Concord Shops, leased to 7-Eleven, The UPS Store and Kriser’s. Joe Girardi and Stan Nitzberg of Mid-America Real Estate represented Smithfield Properties in the transaction.
DETROIT — Shinola, a wristwatch and bicycle manufacturer, has teamed up with Bedrock Real Estate Services LLC to develop the Shinola Hotel, a 130-room hotel located at 1400 Woodward Ave. in downtown Detroit. The new hotel is set to open in the fall of 2018. Detroit-based Kraemer Design Group is the architect of record for the Shinola Hotel, and New York-based NoHo Hospitality Group will handle the hotel’s food and beverage program. The hotel will feature Detroit-inspired design from Gachot Studios. Detroit-based Bedrock is a full-service commercial real estate firm owned by Dan Gilbert, founder of Quicken Loans and owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Bedrock owns over 90 properties totaling more than 15 million square feet.
HUBER HEIGHTS, OHIO — Miller-Valentine Group plans to develop WaterStone at Carriage Trails, a 192-unit apartment community at the intersection of I-70 and Route 201 within the Carriage Trails master-planned development in Huber Heights, about nine miles outside of Dayton. The apartment community will feature one-, two- and three-bedroom residences with rents starting from $911 for a one-bedroom unit, $1,100 for a two-bedroom unit and $1,165 for a three-bedroom unit. Unit interiors will feature wood-style flooring, private balconies and patios, kitchen islands, in-unit washers and dryers, quartz countertops, walk-in closets and stainless steel appliances. Community amenities will include a resort-style pool, 4,500-square-foot clubhouse, cyber café, coffee bar, billiards room, TV lounge, fitness center with yoga room, private dog park and rentable entertainment areas. The development team includes architect CR Architecture + Design, landscape architect POD Design, interior designer Mitsch Design, civil engineer American StructurePoint and general contractor Miller-Valentine Residential Construction.
JOHNSTON, IOWA — NorthMarq Capital has arranged the $12.4 million refinancing of Providence Pointe East, a 141-unit apartment community located at 10310 Providence Drive in Johnston. Jason Kinnison of NorthMarq Capital’s Omaha, Neb., office arranged the Freddie Mac loan on behalf of the undisclosed borrower.
CRYSTAL LAKE, ILL. — Podolsky|Circle CORFAC International has brokered the $3.2 million sale of a single-tenant, net-leased medical office building in Crystal Lake. Known as Centegra Milestone Therapy Center, the 11,909-square-foot medical office building is located at 394 Federal Drive. The building was originally developed by the private owners of a physical therapy center, who then sold their practice to Centegra Health System. Kapadia and Sons Ltd. sold the asset to a Chicago-based private investment group. Alissa Adler, John Homsher and Paul Tesdal of Podolsky|Circle CORFAC represented Kapadia and Sons in the transaction.
Look no further than Kansas City for one of the most burgeoning apartment rental hotspots in the Heartland. Ever since apartment deliveries reached a trough of 233 units in 2011, developers have ramped up construction activity year after year to meet healthy rental demand, though often still trailing robust leasing activity. This trend continued in the first half of 2016, with 2,170 newly occupied apartments exceeding 1,650 multifamily units added to the metro area inventory. What’s contributing to this demand? And will rapid market growth and expansion continue? Job growth, tech boom Employment gains are a big reason rental market demand continues to outweigh supply. For the last six years, greater Kansas City has experienced annual average employment gains of 1.5 percent to support sustained rental demand. After steady, though moderate gains in the last half of 2015, employers accelerated hiring with 10,500 additions from January to June, a 1 percent expansion over the previous six months. The six-month hires capped an annual increase of 1.5 percent since mid-2015 with 15,900 new personnel. To no surprise, the rise in employment has coincided with the rise in renters, as they’ve been attracted to new inventory around employment hubs. The Downtown/East Kansas …
HOFFMAN ESTATES, ILL. — McShane Construction Co. has broken ground on a 56,300-square-foot office and showroom property for TRUMPF, a German manufacturer of fabricating equipment and industrial lasers. The asset will be located on a five-acre site within the Huntington 90 business park in Hoffman Estates, a suburb of Chicago. Berlin-based architect Barkow Leibinger designed the asset, which will feature 30,250 square feet of office space, a 26,050-square-foot open showroom, central courtyard and parking for 50 vehicles. McShane Construction plans to deliver the building in the summer of 2017. Heitman Architects Inc. is serving as the architect of record for the project.
LOMBARD, ILL. — Brennan Investment Group LLC has purchased the Woodlake Corporate Park located at 900 Parkview Blvd. in Lombard, roughly 21 miles west of Chicago. The seven-building, 262,697-square-foot is situated within Chicago’s East-West Tollway submarket. The 35-acre business park is in close proximity to I-355 and O’Hare International Airport. The sales price and seller were undisclosed.
LAKE GENEVA, WIS. — Marcus Hotels & Resorts, a division of The Marcus Corp., plans to add 29 all-season villas to the Grand Geneva Resort & Spa in Lake Geneva. The resort features 355 guest rooms, as well as 225 suites at Timber Ridge Lodge & Waterpark. Villa guests will have access to all the amenities of the resort in addition to their own outdoor swimming pool during the summer and six fire pits. The villas will feature studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans with a kitchen, fireplace, flat screen TV and a washer and dryer. Half of the villas will be available beginning in March 2017, and the remaining units will be open by June 2017. The 1,300-acre Grand Geneva Resort features two championship golf courses, The Mountain Top ski and snowboard facility, horseback riding, three restaurants and 62,000 square feet of meeting and convention space.