FARMINGTON HILLS, MICH. — GHD Services has signed a 24,480-square-foot office lease in Farmington Hills, west of Southfield. The company provides engineering, architecture, environmental and construction services for the water, energy, environment, property and transportation sectors. GHD will be located at 26850 Haggerty Road. John Fricke and Greg Hudas of Signature Associates represented the landlord, Michigan Five Office LLC, in the lease transaction. CBRE represented the tenant.
CHICAGO — Essex Realty Group Inc. has brokered the sale of an eight-unit apartment building in Chicago for $1.1 million. The building is located at 2020 N. Spaulding Ave. in Logan Square. The property is comprised of six three-bedroom units and two two-bedroom units. The undisclosed buyer plans to completely renovate the building. Jim Darrow and Jordan Gottlieb of Essex brokered the transaction.
GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. — PREIT has unveiled plans to replace the Sears set to close in Woodland Mall with a 90,000-square-foot Von Maur store. This will be the first location for Von Maur in the Grand Rapids area. The portion of the mall to be redeveloped, consisting of Von Maur and additional retail and restaurant space, will open in 2019. Sears currently occupies 313,000 square feet and will close in March. Other tenants at the mall include Apple, Lush, North Face and Pottery Barn. Woodland Mall’s proximity to the high-income communities of Ada, Cascade and East Grand Rapids drives strong retailer and shopper demand.
OVERLAND PARK, KAN. — Midas Hospitality and sister company MC Hotel Construction are building a new Home2 Suites by Hilton in Overland Park. The 123-room hotel will be located at 7121 W. 135th St., which is the former site of a Smokehouse Bar-B-Que restaurant. The 65,000-square-foot hotel will offer suites with fully equipped kitchens, a fitness center, indoor pool and outdoor living area. Construction will begin in June and be completed by May 2018. Midas Hospitality will manage the hotel. The builder is MC Hotel Construction, and the architecture firm is Gray Design. All three companies are based in St. Louis.
BELOIT, WIS. — Staples has leased 136,000 square feet of industrial space at 1 Reynolds Drive in Beloit in southern Wisconsin. The company plans to relocate its larger bulk items to the new space, freeing up much-needed space at its distribution center in the Gateway Business Park also in Beloit. Staples will join TreeHouse Foods Inc., Axium Foods and Serta Mattress Co. at the 422,700-square-foot building. Only 18,000 square feet remain vacant and available for lease. Bill Mears of Coldwell Banker Commercial McGuire Mears & Associates is the listing broker for the property. Mears represented the landlord, Todd Kaiser, in the transaction. Chase Brieman of CBRE represented Staples.
DUNDAS, MINN. — KW Commercial Midwest has arranged the sale of a former Kmart property located at 404 and 420 Schilling Drive North in Dundas, about 40 miles south of Minneapolis. The sales price was not disclosed. The one-story, 94,479-square-foot retail center was constructed in 1990 and sits on approximately 12 acres with high visibility to State Highway 3. The property consists of two adjoining buildings: the former Kmart store, vacated in April 2016, and the currently leased Sears HomeStore. The buyer, CJB II Real Estate LLC, is redeveloping the property for multiple tenants. Tom Baker and William Gorton of KW Commercial Midwest brokered the sale.
KANSAS CITY, KAN. — Capital Electric Construction Co. Inc. has signed a 50,296-square-foot industrial lease to consolidate its regional headquarters in Kansas City. The company currently operates out of the Rivergate Building at 600 Broadway as well as warehouse space on Dodge Street in the Fairfax District. The new location will house all local operations at 627 Adams St., and is expected to open in July. Bob Fagan, Matt Eckert and Joe Orscheln of CBRE represented Capital Electric Construction in the lease transaction. Paul Neal of Grindstone Properties represented the landlord, Prime Investments. Capital Electric Construction is a wholly owned subsidiary of MDU Construction Services Group Inc. in North Dakota.
Solid employment growth and the attractiveness of an urban lifestyle led to improvements in the multifamily market across metro Chicago in 2016. Although there was positive movement in the performance of key indices in both the city and the suburbs, corporate migration from the suburbs to the city brought young professionals and high-paying job opportunities, especially to the core. Millennials overwhelmingly favored renting over homeownership in 2016 and sought residence in urban centers offering walkability and a live-work-play lifestyle. In 2017, these trends are expected to continue. Job growth acts as catalyst Last year, Chicago employers hired 65,000 workers, representing a 1.4 percent workforce expansion metrowide. This healthy job growth helped boost the median household income to around $67,168 per year at the end of 2016. In 2017, job growth is expected to continue at a similar rate, and it is anticipated that Chicagoland employers will hire 70,000 new workers for a 1.5 percent employment gain over the course of this year. Employment gains last year were led by the professional and business services sectors, which expanded headcount by 2.6 percent with the creation of nearly 21,200 positions over the yearlong period that ended in September 2016. During the same …
LEAWOOD, KAN. — AMC Theatres has expanded its headquarters within Park Place Village in Leawood by 36,315 square feet to a total of over 170,000 square feet. The expansion consists of newly constructed Class A office space completed this year. The new space will help accommodate the more than 125 new jobs AMC created after recently acquiring Georgia-based Carmike Cinemas. Approximately 600 associates will work in the Theatre Support Center in Park Place. The mixed-use office and retail property is comprised of 10 buildings that were developed in phases starting in 2007 and completed in 2013. The property, located at 1150 Ash St., is currently 99 percent leased. Bob Fagan and Matt Eckert of CBRE represented the landlord, KBS, in the transaction.
BARTLETT, ILL. — Meridian Design Build has completed construction of a 67,080-square-foot industrial facility for Traffic Control & Protection in Bartlett, about 35 miles west of Chicago. The 9.5-acre site is located within Abbott Land & Investment’s Blue Heron Business Park. The new facility includes 10,000 square feet of office/employee facilities space, a 13,000-square-foot sign shop/silk screen area, a barricade shop and seven vehicle maintenance bays. Additional features include a 24,000-square-foot covered exterior dock platform and a 7.5-acre outside storage yard. Dan Flanagan of Flanagan Realty represented Traffic Control & Protection in the selection and acquisition of the site, and coordinated overall planning/approval efforts for the project. Harris Architects served as project architect and Mackie Consultants provided civil engineering services for the project.