CLARKFIELD, MINN. — The Skajaquoda Group has signed a lease for a 144,000-square-foot research facility in Clarkfield, a city in southwest Minnesota. The investment company is relocating its headquarters from Claymont, Del. The new location will allow Skajaquoda, which up to this point has only been an investment company, to begin its new research program that focuses on renewable energy. Skajaquoda Group Inc., quoted on the OTC (ticker symbol: SKAJ), invests according to its socially responsible investment policy.
CHICAGO — Sperry Van Ness Chicago Commercial has completed the $1.7 million sale of a loft office building in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood. The property, located at 808 W. Lake St., includes a 7,553-square-foot timber and beam loft office building with an adjacent 3,325-square-foot surface parking lot for 10 cars. One Off Hospitality Group Ltd. purchased the parcel. Scott Maesel of Sperry Van Ness LLC was the sole broker in the transaction.
INDIANAPOLIS — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the $1.2 million sale of a 4,775-square-foot retail center in Indianapolis. Preet Sabharwal, Britt Raymond and Jordan Klink of Marcus & Millichap marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a Connecticut-based developer, and represented the buyer, a New York-based private investor. GNC and T-Mobile occupy the property and have less than two years remaining on their leases. The property is located at 4557 N. Lafayette Road and is an outparcel to a Walmart Supercenter.
Strong and steady is an apt description of the current course of the commercial real estate market in the greater Grand Traverse Area of Northwest Lower Michigan. Traverse City’s unemployment rate registered 7.5 percent in June, virtually unchanged from a year ago but down dramatically from 14.3 percent in March 2010. In 2012, the commercial real estate market rebounded with a total of 400,000 square feet sold, up from approximately 300,000 square feet in 2011. Last year’s rebound was fueled largely by increased investment in the industrial warehouse and light manufacturing market. More than half of the square footage absorbed last year was in this particular sector. Only 139,000 square feet of commercial real estate space has been absorbed year-to-date through July. This is considerably less than the 300,000 square feet absorbed during the first seven months of 2012. The reduction in absorption activity is due to a shortage in the available inventory of quality light manufacturing and industrial warehouse buildings. To put that statement into context, consider that a total of 22 industrial and manufacturing buildings ranging in all sizes traded hands in 2012. Currently, we have only six buildings 20,000 square feet or larger on the market for …
DUBLIN, OHIO AND CLIVE, IOWA — HREC Investment Advisors has arranged the sale of the 92-guestroom Chase Suites Hotel in Dublin and the 112-guestroom Chase Suites Des Moines Hotel in Clive. Columbus, Ohio-based Batra Hospitality Group LLC acquired the Chase Suites Hotel in Dublin, a northern suburb of Columbus. West Des Moines, Iowa-based DBM Investment LLC purchased the Chase Suites Des Moines. The purchase prices were undisclosed. Scott Stephens, COO and senior principal, Mark Rousseau, senior vice president, and Tom Sommer, vice president of HREC, represented the seller, The Hardage Group, a San Diego-based hotel and real estate company, in the transaction.
ORLAND PARK, ILL. — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the $1.8 million sale of Fountain Square Village, a 12,085-square-foot retail property located in Orland Park, a southern suburb of Chicago. Sean Sharko and Austin Weisenbeck, investment specialists in Marcus & Millichap’s Chicago Oak Brook office, marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a private investor. Ryan Engle, a multifamily specialist at Marcus & Millichap, represented the buyer, an individual/personal trust. Fountain Square Village is located at 11013-11045 179th St.
LAKE ZURICH, ILL. — ScrubAir Systems Inc. has purchased a 25,000-square-foot industrial building in Lake Zurich, located about 38 miles northwest of Chicago, for $1.9 million. The property, located at 1200 Ensell Road, includes three exterior docks, two drive-in doors and 22-foot clear ceiling heights on 1.8 acres. ScrubAir Systems is moving from a smaller space at a business park in Lake Zurich. The ventilation and air pollution control equipment company custom designs and installs systems for large firms and corporations throughout the world. Paul Cawthon and Angelo Labriola, senior advisors at Sperry Van Ness LLC, represented ScrubAir Systems in the transaction.
CHICAGO — Exit Plan Holdings LLC has purchased a 7,000-square-foot retail building located at 5025 N. Clark St. in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago from a private seller. The new owners, who own Crew Bar & Grill and The SoFo Tap, plan to renovate the building to include a new façade and replace the rear of the structure. A Mexican restaurant will move into the remodeled space next year. Most recently, the property was occupied by T’s Bar and Restaurant, which closed in March. Rebecca Lundstrom, senior consultant for @properties Commercial, represented the buyer in the transaction.
OAK BROOK, ILL. — The Davis Cos., on behalf of an affiliate, and Arthur Goldner & Associates have sold The Crossings of Oak Brook in suburban Chicago for $35.7 million, or approximately $117 per square foot. Vancouver, Canada-based Adventus Realty Trust was the buyer. The Crossings of Oak Brook includes 1420 and 1520 Kensington Road, two three-story properties that total 303,510 square feet. The Davis Cos. and Arthur Goldner & Associates acquired the property in January 2010. The joint venture then implemented a capital improvement plan and increased the occupancy from 66 percent to 95 percent. HFF represented the seller and procured the buyer and NAI Hiffman acted as the leasing agent.
CHICAGO — Essex Realty Group Inc. has arranged the $4.9 million sale of 3348 W. Wilson Ave., a fully renovated, 33-unit multifamily building in the Albany Park neighborhood of Chicago. Units in the brick building feature granite countertops, black appliances, new cabinets, central air and iron porches. The property is situated on the north side of Wilson Avenue in between Kimball and Kedzie avenues. Jim Darrow and Jordan Gottlieb of Essex Realty represented the seller and Doug Imber and Kate Varde of Essex Realty represented the buyer in the transaction.