ST. LOUIS — Construction of Saint Louis University Hospital’s $1.5 million emergency department expansion is slated for completion in June. The 4,000-square-foot project will add five additional treatment rooms, a new nurses’ station, work and storage spaces and a new two-station registration area. The emergency department, one of the region’s busiest trauma centers, treats more than 100 emergency cases each day and more than 39,000 cases per year. McGrath & Associates is the general contractor. The design team includes BSA LifeStructures and KJWW Engineering Consultants.
MINNEAPOLIS — Dougherty Funding LLC has closed a $16 million loan for the acquisition and conversion of the Holiday Inn Minneapolis Metrodome hotel into a Courtyard by Marriott. The hotel, which is located at 1500 Washington Ave. in Minneapolis, has 265 rooms. The renovation and rebranding follows the hotel's recent sale to Minneapolis-based Heartland Realty Investors, according to the Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal.
EVANSVILLE, IND. — The Buckingham Cos. will design and construct townhouses on the campus of the University of Evansville, which has a total enrollment of 2,643 students. The townhouses will accommodate 150 upperclassmen. The $8.5 million project will deliver six townhouse buildings. One cluster of two buildings will be Frederick Commons, and four other buildings will comprise Walnut Commons. Half of the townhouses will be complete and available for move-in in August, with others following in October and January 2014.
SKOKIE, ILL. — Essex Realty Group Inc. has arranged the sale of Boulevard Place, a newly constructed multifamily building in Skokie, a northern suburb of Chicago, for $5.7 million. The 31-unit property includes 2,996 square feet of retail space and 55 parking spaces. The apartment building is located at 8253-57 Skokie Blvd. Matt Welke, Jason Fishleder and Doug Fisher of Essex were the brokers in the transaction.
MONROE, OHIO — Ball Metal Beverage Container Corp. has signed a 163,000-square-foot industrial lease at 1225 Logistics Way in Monroe, located about 30 miles north of Cincinnati. The 553,694-square-foot Building B is the second building to be built at Monroe Logistics Center. Ball Metal Beverage Container is the building’s initial tenant. Si Pitstick and Josh Young of Cincinnati Commercial represented the landlord, Industrial Developments International. Chuck McCosh of Cushman & Wakefield represented Ball Metal Beverage Container in the transaction.
The Indianapolis industrial market has experienced a significant amount of absorption during the past several quarters, driving down the multi-tenant vacancy rate to 3.3 percent and leading to a new round of speculative development, according to brokerage firm Cassidy Turley. The key engines driving growth are technology, housing, auto suppliers, and distribution centers related to Internet sales. Some 3.2 million square feet of speculative industrial space is under construction in the Indianapolis area. The city currently has 240.5 million square feet of inventory. When completed, the speculative product in the development pipeline is expected to result in the multi-tenant vacancy rate rising closer to the historical norm of approximately 4 percent. Michael Weishaar, senior vice president and principal at Cassidy Turley’s Indianapolis office, says the low industrial vacancy rate is partly the result of proper planning. “Our developers are intelligent about oversupply,” says Weishaar. “They saw a rough economy and thought we needed to re-look at our supply chain.” With so much speculative development under way, is there enough demand to absorb it all? Although vacancy rates will rise closer to their historical average in the short term when space comes available, in the long run this amount of space …
CHICAGO — Harbor Group International has completed the sale of the Burnham Center, a 22-story, 579,848-square-foot building, for $94.6 million to Alliance Partners HSP LLC. The building, which is located at 111 W. Washington St. in Chicago, features a two-story lobby with marble walls and floors, on-site retail, 24-hour security and access to an underground pedway system. Tenants include Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy, administrative offices for the Clerk of the Circuit Court and State’s Attorney, GrubHub and Burnham Nationwide. Bruce Miller, James Postweiler and Nooshin Felsenthal of Jones Lang LaSalle brokered the sale. Dave Hendrickson and Keith Largay of Jones Lang LaSalle secured the acquisition financing for Alliance Partners.
CHICAGO — The Terra Foundation for American Art has sold the retail portion of the Ritz-Carlton Residences Chicago Magnificent Mile for $86.6 million to New York-based Acadia Realty Trust. The 18,141-square-foot, two-story property, which is located 664 North Michigan Ave., housed the Terra Museum of American Art until 2004. Tommy Bahama and Ann Taylor occupy the majority of the retail space and account for 85 percent of the property’s net operating income.
KANSAS CITY — Steadfast Income REIT has acquired the Library Lofts East, two conjoined apartment buildings totaling 119 units in Kansas City’s redeveloped Library District, for $12.7 million. The property is located at 1004 Baltimore Ave. It includes the 10-story Dwight Building, which was built in 1923, and the six-story 1906-built Burnap Building. Both buildings were retrofitted and renovated in 2003. The buildings feature a collection of one- and two-bedroom loft-style apartments with original hardwood floors, large windows, spacious closets and skylights. David Gaines and Alex Blagojevich of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, a Kansas City-based developer.
CHICAGO — Leopardo has completed the 25,000-square-foot interior build-out of ThyssenKrupp’s new U.S. headquarters in Chicago. Located at 111 W. Jackson St., the finished space features 15-foot exposed and painted concrete ceilings in all open areas. The project also included high-end audio/visual technology in the conference rooms, custom millwork and custom sound-insulated glass. Restrooms were completely gutted and renovated. Leopardo served as general contractor with Harley Ellis Devereaux as architect and Kent Consulting as mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineer. ThyssenKrupp is a German technology and materials firm that has 150,000 employees in more than 80 countries.