If the recession is truly over in Cincinnati and the nation, we are thankful. Still, the pace of deal and development activity is exceedingly slow. Projects started before the Great Recession are proceeding at a cautious speed. Retail leasing, which has always had a long deal cycle, now seems to take forever. But there are some bright spots in Cincinnati. The downtown market is thriving. Steiner + Associates and Bucksbaum Retail Properties recently announced that they will soon break ground on Liberty Center, a 1.1 million-square-foot, $325 million mixed-use development on 64 acres in West Chester, located about 18 miles north of downtown. And in an interesting twist on new development, college campus mixed-use projects are one of the few ways developers can develop in this risky environment. The Banks Hits A Home Run Our retail update begins on Cincinnati’s riverfront. Located on the Ohio River between Great American Ballpark and Paul Brown Stadium, the 18-acre mixed-use development known as The Banks continues to add new housing, offices, dining and entertainment. A few more restaurants opened this past year including The Yard House, The Wine Guy Bistro, Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse and Tin Roof, which serves up lunch, dinner and music. …
BEMIDJI, MINN. — DoubleTree by Hilton has opened a new 92-room hotel along the waterfront of Lake Bemidji following a 15-month, $14 million investment. The newly constructed DoubleTree by Hilton Bemidji hotel adjoins the existing Hampton Inn & Suites Bemidji, a sister brand within the Hilton Worldwide portfolio. SCGM LLC owns the hotel, which is managed by Rich Siegert & Associates. The hotel features more than 5,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, 700 feet of private beach access, and more than half of the rooms include private balconies that overlook Lake Bemidji.
SPRINGFIELD, MO. — Denver-based Beacon Student Housing, which is partnering locally with developer Tim Roth, has broken ground on a 200-bed student housing project near Missouri State University. The 100,000-square-foot apartment development is comprised of two, four-story buildings, which will include one-, two- and four bedroom units. The design team includes Buxton Kubik Dodd Architects and General Contractor Build LLC. The project is slated for a summer 2014 opening.
EVANSTON, ILL. — Sporting two wind turbines, nearly 850 solar panels and a geothermal system burrowed 550 feet into the ground, Walgreens has opened what it believes is the nation’s first net-zero energy retail store in metro Chicago. The store is expected to produce energy equal to or greater than it consumes. Walgreens plans to achieve a net-zero energy building by utilizing solar panels, wind turbines, geothermal technology, energy-efficient building materials, LED lighting and ultra-high-efficiency refrigeration. The store is located in Evanston, at the intersection of Chicago Avenue and Keeney Street. The Chicago-area location allows easy access for Walgreens engineers based at the company’s headquarters in Deerfield, to measure the store’s performance for an entire year to determine if the store reaches its goal of net-zero energy use.
CHICAGO — The Boulder Group has arranged the $1.6 million sale of a single-tenant, net-leased 7-Eleven property in Chicago. The 3,200-square-foot retail building, located at 3005 N. Pulaski Road, was developed in 2013. The property is fully leased to 7-Eleven, which has 10 years of lease term remaining and a 10 percent rental escalation in 2018. Randy Blankstein and Jimmy Goodman of The Boulder Group represented the seller, a Midwest-based developer, in the transaction.
CHICAGO — HFF has arranged $70 million in financing for a 19-property self storage portfolio totaling 1.26 million square feet in various locations in Illinois, Ohio, Florida, Nevada, Rhode Island and New York. HFF worked on behalf of Chicago-based Harrison Street Real Estate Capital to arrange the two-year, floating-rate loan through a national bank. The assets in the 11,238-unit portfolio are 83 percent leased. Morningstar Mini-Storage and CubeSmart manage the properties. Stephen Skok and Timothy Joyce, managing directors, led the HFF team representing the borrower.
STURTEVANT, WIS. — Meridian Design Build has broken ground on a 76,320-square-foot expansion to the existing Kerry Ingredients & Flavours plant in Sturtevant, a southern suburb of Milwaukee. The local plant, where dry spices are blended to make flavorings for other food-industry manufacturers, was originally 65,000 square feet in size when Kerry acquired the property. In 2008, Kerry added 30,000 square feet, according to the Journal Times, a local newspaper. The multiphase development will include a fully air-conditioned warehouse, 10 loading docks and a secure spice storage area. Meridian will also make improvements within the existing plant to accommodate increased production output at the facility. The project is slated for a mid-summer 2014 completion. Harris Architects is providing the design services. Pinnacle Engineering Group will complete the civil engineering work for the project.
CLEVELAND — Greenwood Hospitality Group has partnered with Cleveland-based GEIS Hospitality Group to manage the 156-room Metropolitan Hotel in Cleveland. The hotel will anchor The 9, a mixed-use project under development by the GEIS Cos. Scheduled to open in August 2014, the Metropolitan will occupy the former AmeriTrust tower and historic Cleveland Trust Rotunda. The Metropolitan will include 156 rooms, with some as large as 650 square feet. It will feature a lobby bar, fitness center and spa, as well as the only rooftop bar and sundeck in the city, according to Greenwood. The hotel will be part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection, a group of more than 50 independent hotels.
HOMER GLEN, ILL. — Millennium Properties R/E has arranged the sale of a 3.4-acre development site near 159th Street and Will-Cook Road in Homer Glen, about 30 miles southwest of Chicago. The new owners, Richards Building Supply, will develop the site into a new headquarters location. A Chicago-based lender sold the property. The development site can support a 19,200-square-foot building. A number of businesses are close to the site, including 7-Eleven, Ace Hardware, Speedway and a daycare facility, as well as a number of residential subdivisions. Matthew O’Connor of Scott & Kraus LLC served as legal counsel for the lender.
ST. LOUIS — Tryperion Partners has acquired a 637,000-square-foot, Class A office portfolio totaling six properties located throughout suburban St. Louis. The portfolio is more than 90 percent leased under long-term leases and includes the national headquarters for Energizer Holdings and Panera Bread, along with the regional headquarters for Equifax and New Balance. The acquisition was completed in two separate transactions. The first consisted of two buildings totaling 252,000 square feet in the Maryville Centre office campus located in Town & Country, about 18 miles west of St. Louis. John Hancock Life Insurance Co. provided the acquisition financing for the two buildings. The second transaction included four buildings totaling 385,000 square feet in Sunset Hills and Maryland Heights. Wells Fargo provided the acquisition financing for the buildings. Tryperion has retained Tom Ray and Art Kerckhoff of CBRE as listing agents for the Maryville assets, and Jay Holland and Piers Pritchard of Cassidy Turley as listing agents for the Sunset Hills and Maryland Heights assets. CBRE will manage the portfolio.