Another positive quarter in the Cleveland industrial market has developers asking themselves, “If you build it, will they come?” Due to a frenzy of leasing activity and positive net absorption in the second quarter, Cleveland’s industrial vacancy rate fell to 8.2 percent, with sub-7 percent vacancy rates in the Class A, high-bay warehouse submarkets. The turnaround has been dramatic. Saturated with more than 1 million square feet of vacant speculative space three years ago, the Cleveland industrial real estate market today is unable to support the continued growth of companies without some new construction. Space commitments from Newell Rubbermaid (650,000 square feet), ShurTech Brands (182,000 square feet) and National Business Furniture (100,000 square feet) indicate that although Columbus continues to supply the demand for e-commerce, Cleveland will once again be home to value-add manufacturing, assembly and local distribution companies. GOJO Industries (205,000 square feet) and Glazer’s (200,000 square feet) not only expanded, but also absorbed the last available big-box space in Cuyahoga County. Summit County will be the new focus of companies looking to expand or shift into more efficient space following the recent vacancies left behind by Suarez Corp. (350,000 square feet) and Mid-America Packaging (300,000 square feet), both …
DAYTON, OHIO — UnitedHealthcare and U.S. Bank have celebrated the grand opening of Germantown Village, a new, 60-unit affordable housing community in Dayton’s Germantown-Broadway area. UnitedHealthcare invested $8.9 million in the $12.8 million affordable-housing community through a partnership with U.S. Bank subsidiary U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corp. UnitedHealthcare’s funding was secured through the use of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC), which was approved by the Ohio Housing Finance Agency. U.S. Bank also provided a construction loan for the development, bridging the LIHTC equity during construction. Additional funding was provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Ohio Housing Finance Agency and the city of Dayton. Developed by The Michaels Organization, the four-acre community includes 60 apartments in five two- and three-story buildings. Apartments include Energy Star appliances, ceramic tile and ceiling fans, among other amenities.
ALGONQUIN, ILL. — Maverick Commercial Mortgage Inc. has arranged an $11.2 million construction loan that will fund the completion of a 63-unit multifamily development in suburban Chicago. Riverside Plaza is a Class A residential and retail property located along the Fox River near the intersection of Route 31 and Route 62 in Algonquin. Riverside Plaza Development LLC, which acquired the property from the developer in 2011, will use the loan to complete exterior modification and interior build out of the apartments and ground-floor retail units. The five-story property features 9,101 square feet of retail space and 102 indoor parking spaces. An East Coast private lender funded the loan. The limited recourse loan includes a two-year term.
BROOK PARK, OHIO — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the $6.2 million sale of Brookgate Shopping Center, a 207,623-square-foot retail property in Brook Park, a southwest suburb of Cleveland. Craig Fuller, Scott Wiles and Erin Patton, investment specialists in Marcus & Millichap’s Cleveland and Columbus offices, marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a limited liability company. Fuller, Wiles and Pattan also represented the buyer, an out-of-state private investor. Brookgate Shopping Center is located at 5725 Smith Road and is anchored by Marc’s, Advance Auto Parts and Planet Fitness.
SUN PRAIRIE, WIS. — STAG Industrial Inc. has added a new tenant, which will occupy 427,000 square feet, to its warehouse and distribution property in Sun Prairie, a northern suburb of Madison. The new tenant is a major domestic catalog merchandising company and the lease has a term of more than 10 years. STAG Industrial Inc. is a full-service real estate company focused on the acquisition, ownership and management of single-tenant industrial properties throughout the United States. The company's portfolio includes 200 properties in 34 states with approximately 35.3 million rentable square feet.
BROWNSBURG, IND. — Eastern Union Funding has arranged a $20.7 million loan for the refinancing of the 250-unit Legacy Park Apartments in Brownsburg, located about 17 miles northwest of Indianapolis. Completed in 2011, the Class A apartment community is fully leased. Greystone Servicing Corp. provided the 35-year HUD loan, which features an interest rate of 4.05 percent and a loan-to-value ratio of 83.3 percent. The borrower plans to use part of the proceeds from the loan to pay off the construction loan. Shaya Ackerman, senior managing director, and Ira Zlotowitz, president of Eastern Union, arranged the loan.
CHICAGO — HREC Investment Advisors has arranged $20.3 million in financing for the 162-guestroom Hotel Blake in the Printers Row neighborhood of Chicago. The lender was a debt fund. The borrower plans to use proceeds from the loan to reposition the hotel. Hotel Blake is located at 500 S. Dearborn St. in Chicago. Amenities at the hotel include a 24-hour fitness and business center and complimentary Wi-Fi.
CHICAGO — Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc. has sold its Lakeshore Athletic Club property in downtown Chicago for $10.5 million to the owner of Lakeshore Sport & Fitness. The property is located on N. Stetson Ave. and is adjacent to the Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park Hotel. The buyer plans to reopen the facility as a health club as soon as possible. Strategic Hotels & Resorts will use the proceeds from the sale to reduce debt on its revolving credit facility.
INDEPENDENCE, MO. — Fresh Warehousing has signed a 108,926-square-foot industrial lease at 1600 N. State Route 291 in Independence, an eastern suburb of Kansas City. Woodmen of the World Life Insurance Society, based in Omaha, Neb., owns the property. Cameron Duff and Doug Hedrick of Colliers International represented Fresh Warehousing in the transaction. John Smith of LS Commercial Real Estate represented the landlord. Fresh Warehousing is a third-party logistics company that owns and operates more than 3 million square feet of warehouse space in the greater St. Louis and Indianapolis metropolitan areas.
DETROIT —Rock Ventures and its real estate arm, Bedrock Real Estate Services, have purchased two mixed-use properties in downtown Detroit totaling 84,000 square feet. The properties are located at 1505 Woodward Ave. and 1265 Griswold St. The eight-story, 48,000-square-foot building at 1505 Woodward was designed by renowned architect Albert Kahn and built in 1931. Its original tenant was the Richman Brothers clothing store. The six-story, 36,000-square-foot 1265 Griswold building was built in 1897 by architectural firm Spier & Rohns. Bedrock Real Estate Services brokered the acquisitions and will oversee renovations, management and leasing of the currently unoccupied spaces.