ST. PAUL, MINN. — Ecolab Inc., a provider of water, hygiene and energy technologies and services, has signed a purchase agreement to acquire the 17-story North Tower from Travelers in downtown St. Paul. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter. By the end of 2018, Ecolab will relocate its associates from the three buildings that comprise its world headquarters in downtown St. Paul to the North Tower. Ecolab will begin the process of relocating associates to the North Tower in the latter part of this year. Built in 1999, the North Tower includes 882,000 square feet of space, of which 484,500 square feet comprises office space, a data center and building common areas.
LYNDHURST, OHIO — Columbus-based Steiner + Associates has arranged two retail leases at Legacy Village in Lyndhurst, a suburb of Cleveland. L.L. Bean and The Capital Grille executed leases at the 610,000 square-foot mixed-use town center. The 16,000-square-foot L.L. Bean will sell active and casual apparel and footwear, outdoor gear including hiking, fly-fishing, kayaking and camping products. L.L. Bean will open in the space currently occupied by Talbots, which will be relocating to a new space within the shopping center. The Capital Grille will occupy a 9,000-square-foot space. The restaurant is known for its dry-aged steaks and fresh seafood. First Interstate Properties owns Legacy Village.
LAWRENCE, KAN., AND CONWAY, ARK. — Colliers International Student Housing Group has arranged the sales of three major student-housing communities in Kansas and Arkansas. In two of the deals, Collegium Capital Partners LLC, an affiliate of Calidus Realty LLC, acquired The Grove at Lawrence in Kansas and The Grove at Conway. The properties which were previously owned by a joint venture between Campus Crest Communities and Harrison Street Real Estate Capital LLC. The Grove at Lawrence is a 500-bed, 172-unit property located approximately five miles from the University of Kansas. The Grove at Conway is a 504-bed, 180-unit property located a few miles from the University of Central Arkansas. The third sales transaction was for a 792-bed, 216-unit student housing community. The details of the transaction were undisclosed. Dorothy Jackman and Travis Prince of Colliers International Student Housing Group represented the seller and the buyer in all three transactions.
CLEVELAND — KeyBank Real Estate Capital has secured $66 million in debt financing on behalf of Pierce Education Properties for a five-property student housing apartment portfolio. Totaling 2,788 beds, the properties are located in four states across the Midwest and Southeast. KeyBank originally funded five on-balance sheet, three-year, non-recourse loans to finance the acquisition of the five properties in 2014. KeyBank refinanced the original bank loans with 10-year, interest-only floating rate debt with a loan-to-value ratio of 55 percent. Robert Prouty and Andrew Lucca of KeyBank’s Commercial Mortgage Group arranged the financing.
CINCINNATI — Phillips Edison Grocery REIT II has acquired three properties in Ohio, Minnesota and Maryland. Glennwood Crossing in Cincinnati was purchased from Glenwood Crossing LLC for $7.1 million and includes 101,021 rentable square feet. Currently, the center is 96 percent leased to 11 tenants, with anchor grocery Kroger occupying 62,541 rentable square feet. Rosewick Crossing in La Plata, Md., was purchased from Excel Rosewick LLC, for $25 million and includes 115,972 rentable square feet. Currently the center is 82 percent leased to 12 tenants. Anchor grocery Giant occupies 61,932 rentable square feet. Waterford Park Plaza in Plymouth, Minn., was purchased from Provident/Waterford LLC for $19.5 million and contains 127,586 rentable square feet. Currently the shopping center is 96 percent leased to 24 tenants. Anchor grocery Cub Foods occupies 64,673 rentable square feet.
ST. PAUL, MINN. — Dougherty Mortgage has arranged a $9.5 million HUD 223(f) loan for the refinancing of Crosby Pointe Apartments, a 73-unit multifamily market rate apartment property located in St. Paul. The 35-year loan includes a 35-year amortization schedule. Dougherty’s Minneapolis office arranged the loan for the borrower, Crosby Pointe LLC. Real Estate Equities LLC manages Crosby Pointe Apartments. The property features an outdoor pool, fitness center and an underground parking garage. Units are currently undergoing renovations that include the addition of stainless steel appliances, granite countertops and new finishes.
CHICAGO RIDGE, ILL. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the $4.5 million sale of Ridge Terrace Apartments, a 72-unit apartment property in Chicago Ridge. Ridge Terrace Apartments is located at 7030-40 West 100th and 9940 Nottingham. The three buildings include one-bedroom and two-bedroom units ranging in sze from 715 to 860 square feet. Each building features storage spaces, off-street parking and on-site laundry facilities. Andrean Angelov and Ryan Engle of Marcus & Millichap’s Chicago Oak Brook office represented the seller, a limited liability company and the buyer, a private investor.
With the industrial real estate market in Grand Rapids nearing critical mass — where demand is strong enough to fill the entire supply of available space — a new challenge has emerged for developers. How do they create enough new, competitive product to keep up with continued market momentum? For the first time in a decade, total inventory in the industrial market must grow. The solution will likely come in the form of new construction and creative repositioning of functionally obsolete facilities. During the Great Recession and slow recovery, many companies consolidated operations. Buildings that had become vacant were repurposed, substantially modified or eliminated altogether. Now, we are beginning to see a trend of new construction. Both speculative and build-to-suit construction has become the logical solution to the lack of inventory. Noteworthy Projects An investment group led by a local building materials supplier, and marketed by the industrial team at Colliers, is developing a 45,000-square-foot light manufacturing speculative building, located at 3838 Soundtech Court in Kentwood, a southern suburb of Grand Rapids. Delivery is expected by June 1. On the city’s southeast side near Gerald R. Ford International Airport, a new industrial building is under construction at 5300 Broadmoor Ave. …
GALESBURG, ILL. — Peak Construction Corp. has begun construction on a new Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Galesburg for Janko Group. IHG is rolling out a new prototype design for the Holiday Inn Express & Suites brand and the three-story, 81-room hotel will be one of the first new prototype hotels. Design builder Peak Construction broke ground on the project in January. The new hotel is being built to replace an existing Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Galesburg. The wood-frame structure will feature a variety of room types, a fitness facility, an indoor pool, multiple meeting rooms and a lifestyle lounge and business center. Completion of the project is schedule for October. Ligthtowler Johnson Associates provided architectural services for the project. Janko Hospitality will provide hotel management services.
BEAVERCREEK, OHIO — Shopoff Realty Investments has acquired Apple Valley Office Center, a three-building, 130,440-square-foot office campus in the Dayton suburb of Beavercreek. The acquisition was partially capitalized by Shopoff Strategic Income Fund, which closed to new investors on Dec. 31, 2014. Apple Valley Office Center includes a three-story, 55,024-square-foot building, a two-story, 29,916-square-foot building and a single-story, 45,500-square-foot building. The campus was built in 1985 on approximately six acres. Shopoff Realty Investments plans to make overall improvements to the property, including transforming vacant office suites into move-in ready speculative space for future tenants. Apple Valley Office Center’s anchor tenants include Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., a global defense and technology company, and MacAulay-Brown, a company that provides advanced engineering services and product solutions. The campus, which includes more than 500 parking spaces, is accessible via I-675, I-75 and I-70, as well as State Route 35.