Midwest

BLOOMINGDALE, ILL. — Meridian Design Build has completed the renovation of the 38,710 square feet of office space for NOW Foods in Bloomingdale, located about 25 west of Chicago. The company recently moved 140 employees to the newly acquired office building at 244 Knollwood Drive to accommodate laboratory and manufacturing expansions within their existing production facility. The fast-track renovation included demolition and office reconfiguration work on the two upper floors of the four-story building. Bob Kolcz, senior project manager, and Greg Suthers, superintendent, of Meridian coordinated construction efforts. Heitman Architects Inc. provided architectural services.

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Building on the trends that began to emerge in the second half of 2010, the Toledo region’s industrial real estate market continues to improve. Demand for space in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan is occurring at its typical slow, steady pace. The result has been positive net absorption of more than 400,000 square feet during the past year. The vacancy rate fell from 8.65 percent at the end of 2011 to 8.52 percent at the close of 2012. If the improvement in the vacancy rate slows during the next 12 months, it will more likely be due to the poorer quality and functionality of much of the residual stock of empty buildings than weakening demand. One can see this evidence with the spike in new construction driven by build-to-suit projects for several noteworthy users who could not find suitable space within the existing supply. Auto sector is big driver It would come as no surprise to anyone remotely familiar with Toledo’s history and economy that a considerable portion of the user activity has come from the automotive sector. Suppliers to primarily Chrysler Group and General Motors (GM) have been quite active and have accounted for several of the larger lease …

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PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, WIS. — USDA Rural Development is in final process of providing a $32.4 million Community Facility Direct loan for Prairie du Chien Memorial Hospital. The loan will be used for the construction of a new 25-bed acute care hospital. Dougherty Mortgage LLC acted as a consultant to assist with the process of obtaining and structuring the USDA loan. The USDA funding for this project is contingent upon the completion of an environmental review process and the recipient meeting the terms of the loan agreement.

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INDIANAPOLIS — Milhaus Construction LLC has completed construction on the $6 million Mozzo, a four-story, mixed-use building in Indianapolis. Of the 65 apartments in the building, which include studios and one- and two-bedroom units, 60 percent are leased. The apartments have open-concept floor plans and are between 515 and 1,069 square feet with 9- to 11-foot ceilings, designer fixtures, granite countertops and hard-surface flooring. The property also includes 1,700 square feet of commercial space. The Mozzo is located at 531 Virginia Ave., in the heart of downtown Indianapolis. Gene B. Glick Co. manages the property.

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MIDDLETOWN, OHIO — Luttner Real Estate Investment Services has arranged the sale of a Social Security Administration building for $2.2 million in Middletown, about 90 miles southwest from Columbus. The 7,760-square-foot building is located at 3860 Towne Blvd. The lease has eight-and-a-half years remaining on the initial 10-year lease term. Dan Lariccia of Luttner represented the seller in the transaction, a private developer.

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EVANSTON, ILL. — Walgreens has plans to build what the company believes will be the nation’s first net-zero energy retail store, which engineers predict will 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 will be located in Evanston, at the intersection of Chicago Avenue and Keeney Street, where demolition of an existing Walgreens store now is under way. 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.

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CHICAGO — Prudential Mortgage Capital Co. has provided a $300 million loan for 155 North Wacker, a 1.15 million-square-foot office tower located in the Chicago West Loop submarket. The 10-year, fixed-rate loan refinances the property for the borrower, which developed the tower in 2009. Located on the northeast corner of Wacker Drive and Randolph Street, the property is 94.6 percent leased and is within walking distance of major public transportation lines. The 46-story, Class A building is LEED-Gold certified and features a glass lobby, state-of-the-art technology including high-speed “smart” elevators, floor-to-ceiling windows, and conference and fitness centers.

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CHICAGO — Aries Capital has arranged a $2.2 million Fannie Mae loan for 693 North Peoria Ave., a 9-unit multifamily building in the River West neighborhood of Chicago. The borrowers were Douglas Crocker and Matt McHugh, active buyers in the Chicago multifamily market. Crocker is the former president of Equity Residential Properties, and McHugh is the managing member of Affito Group. Crocker and McHugh purchased the property last year. The 10-year, non-recourse Fannie Mae loan features a 4.13 percent interest rate with a 30-year amortization schedule. The building was completed and fully leased in December.

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