BROOKLYN, OHIO — American Greetings has sold its world headquarters, a 1.6 million-square-foot facility in Brooklyn, a suburb of Cleveland, for $15.5 million. Industrial Realty Group, an Ohio-based commercial and industrial property owner, purchased the property, which is situated on more than 150 acres north of Tiedeman Road. Allegro Realty Advisors, a commercial real estate brokerage and consulting firm, facilitated the transaction. The sale involved a complex set of lease agreements, a diverse set of land uses, including office, industrial and vacant land, as well as third-party tenants. American Greetings initially retained Allegro in the fall of 2011 to provide strategic corporate real estate advisory services to determine the most appropriate reuse of the property and the best approach to its disposition strategy, according to Michael Cantor, a managing director and principal at Allegro. Industrial Realty Group will reposition and re-tenant the property. American Greetings will remain as a tenant at the property until it is ready to relocate to its new world headquarters. According to Crain’s Cleveland Business, American Greetings will begin construction on a new $350 million headquarters at Crocker Park in Westlake in September.
Midwest
NORTHLAKE, ILL. — Chicago-based Bridge Development Partners LLC has purchased a 55-acre business park in Northlake, a suburb of Chicago. According to Crain’s Chicago Business, Bridge Development Partners paid more than $40 million for the property located at 555 Northwest Ave. The facility formerly served as a distribution campus for the Dominick’s Finer Foods grocery chain. Safeway Inc. closed 72 Dominick’s stores in the Chicago area in December 2013. Bridge is marketing the park as Bridge Point Northlake. The firm plans to retain two existing buildings in the park: a 162,000-square-foot cooler facility and a 135,000-square-foot freezer facility that will be expanded by 104,120 square feet. Each property features 32-foot clear heights and each is available for lease with immediate occupancy. Additionally, Bridge will raze obsolete buildings to make way for a new state-of-the-art, 588,284-square-foot distribution center featuring 36-foot heights; a power feed of 4,000 amps; an ESFR sprinkler system; 85 dock positions (expandable to 170); 200 parking spaces, also expandable; and 112 trailer stalls. The new building will be delivered in the third quarter of 2015. John Suerth and Jason Lev of CBRE represented Safeway in the sale of the park and have been retained for the marketing of …
EAGAN, MINN. — Dougherty Mortgage LLC has arranged an $11.7 million HUD 223(f) loan to refinance Cedar Villas Townhomes, a 104-unit, mixed-income townhouse property located in Eagan, Minn. Dougherty’s Minneapolis office arranged the 35-year, fully amortizing loan for the borrower, Cedar Villas LP. Built in 2004, the property consists of 18 residential buildings with 60 two-bedroom units and 44 three-bedroom units. The Section 8 project requires that at least 20 percent of the units accommodate residents whose income does not exceed 50 percent of the area median income. The townhomes include attached garages and feature washers and dryers, fireplaces, patios or balconies, vaulted ceilings, dishwashers and more. Amenities include an outdoor pool, a playground, community room and a fitness center.
LEE’S SUMMIT, MO. — American Healthcare Investors and Griffin Capital Corp., co-sponsors of Griffin-American Healthcare REIT III Inc., have entered into a purchase agreement to acquire Lee’s Summit Medical Office Building, a 39,000-square-foot property in Lee’s Summit, an affluent suburb of Kansas City. The purchase price was $6.75 million, plus closing costs, according to an SEC filing. Grand Street Co. LLC was the seller. Located at 301 Northeast Mulberry St., Lee’s Summit Medical Office Building is 89 percent leased to multiple tenants, including Diagnostic Imaging Centers, Saint Luke’s East Hospital and Ostetrix Medical Group. Built in 2007, the Class A building is a few miles from the 141-bed Saint Luke’s East Hospital and within 10 miles of three other area hospitals.
GALLIPOLIS, OHIO — New York-based Time Equities Inc. (TEI) has acquired Ohio River Plaza, an 87,373-square-foot shopping center located at 1-61 State Route 7 in Gallipolis in southeast Ohio for $4.9 million in an all-cash transaction. Peebles and Dollar Tree anchor the property, which is 80 percent occupied. Renovated in 2007, the retail property features ample parking space and visibility from highly trafficked roadways. The center is home to 15 tenants including Hallmark, Rent-A-Center, GNC, Papa John's and Citi Financial. This acquisition marks TEI’s first shopping center in Ohio. Since January, TEI has acquired three retail shopping centers across the country, adding roughly 500,000 square feet to the firm’s national retail portfolio. To date, TEI’s portfolio is comprised of more than 3 million square feet of retail space. Al Taf of Marcus & Millichap facilitated the transaction for both parties. Colliers International will manage the property.
Three staggering announcements highlighted downtown Chicago’s office sector during the second and early third quarter as investors jockeyed to get a piece of a market that has been the beneficiary of the tech boom. The CBD office vacancy rate is now at its lowest level in five years — 14.1 percent — aided by downtown net absorption of 592,328 square feet during the second quarter, the most in nearly seven years, according to CBRE Group. Asking rents in the city have risen 3.9 percent over the past year. There have been seven sales of more than $300 million since October 2013, including the deal that will come to define downtown Chicago for a long time to come — the disposition of 300 N. LaSalle St. to Newport Beach, Calif.-based The Irvine Company for $850 million in May. The purchase price equals $654 per square foot for the 60-story trophy tower. To put that figure into context, consider that KBS Realty Advisors LLC paid a then-record $503 per square foot for the building in 2010 to Hines Interests LP. So why did 300 N. LaSalle fetch a record price? There are a few reasons. First, the tower is 97 percent leased …
INDIANAPOLIS — Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corp. has acquired a 327,822-square-foot industrial building in Indianapolis for $23.5 million from an undisclosed buyer. The property is located at 8951 Mirabel Road and is net-leased for 10 years to FedEx SmartPost Inc., a Delaware corporation. The building is situated on approximately 37 acres. The new Class A built-to-suit distribution center for FedEx SmartPost is at the Indianapolis International Airport. With this transaction, Monmouth has acquired six properties totaling approximately 1.45 million square feet thus far in fiscal 2014. Founded in 1968, Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corp., one of the oldest public equity REITs in the U.S., specializes in net-leased industrial properties. The company’s portfolio consists of 82 properties located in 28 states, containing a total of approximately 11.1 million rentable square feet. In addition, the company owns a portfolio of REIT securities.
ST. LOUIS — Holland Construction Services recently completed construction on Cortona at Forest Park, a new 5-story, all wood apartment community in St. Louis. Cortona is located within Balke Brown Transwestern’s 26-acre, The Highlands at Forest Park mixed-use development just off I-64/40. The complex consists of one- and two-bedroom luxury apartment units ranging in size from 575 square feet to 1299 square feet. Apartment units feature gourmet kitchens with full-size appliances, large windows, walk-in closets and nine to 10-foot ceilings. Amenities include private, reserved parking and a gated entrance, an interior courtyard with a three-tiered swimming pool (lap pool, tanning ledge, hot tub), multiple lounging areas and cabanas, grills and an outdoor kitchen. Residents also have access to a community clubhouse, which includes a fitness room, coffee bar, business center and gaming area. This is the second project Holland has worked on with Balke Brown Transwestern.
NAPERVILLE, ILL. — NAI Hiffman will manage and lease space at Naperville Woods Office Center, a Class A office asset in Naperville consisting of two, four-story buildings totaling more than 486,000 square feet of space. The property located at 1000-1100 E. Warrenville Road is currently 98.7 percent occupied. Agellan Capital Partners Inc. awarded NAI Hiffman with the management and leasing of the property. NAI Hiffman’s leasing team consisting of Dan O’Neill and Jim Adler will market the property to potential tenants. The assignment adds to NAI Hiffman’s existing leasing and management portfolio including 56.6 million square feet of office, industrial and retail space in the Chicagoland market. Naperville Woods Office Center was built in 1988 and in 2007 underwent complete renovations of the lobbies, restrooms, building systems, façade and landscaping. The property features atrium lobbies, a cafeteria, fitness center, and ample parking. Agellan REIT U.S. L.P. purchased the property in 2013.
ROMULUS, MICH. — Bernard Financial Group has arranged a $1.4 million loan to refinance three individual industrial buildings located in Romulus, approximately 24 miles southwest of Detroit. The properties are located at 30100, 30300 and 30735 Cypress Road. Kevin Kovachevich of Bernard Financial Group originated the loan for the borrower, LNA Investments LLC, with Symetra Life Insurance Co.