LAKE ZURICH, ILL. — Sperry Van Ness has arranged the lease of a 5,704-square-foot retail space in Lake Zurich at North Lake Commons, north of Chicago. The tenant, Marvin Somlo, has partnered with SOMS Fitness Group LLC to operate a new fitness property called Title Boxing Club.
Has the pendulum swung to favor property owners in the Twin Cities industrial market? Not quite, but strong net absorption for bulk buildings and a recovering economy are creating positive momentum, bringing the market closer to equilibrium. Challenges remain for manufacturing and low-clear-height properties, but we expect that area of the Twin Cities industrial market to strengthen, too, as overall conditions continue to improve. In the third quarter, industrial net absorption totaled 669,179 square feet, driving down the vacancy rate to 11.2 percent compared with 11.8 percent in the previous quarter for the 113 million-square-foot market. The Northwest and Southwest submarkets led the way, with 329,774 square feet and 226,230 square feet of net absorption, respectively. While positive net absorption is a great sign for the Twin Cities industrial market, the statistics really get interesting when broken down for big-box bulk properties, especially modern space built since 1995 with at least 28-foot clear-height ceilings. Modern bulk industrial properties account for approximately 25 percent of the overall 25 million-square-foot bulk market, but gained more than half of the subsector’s net absorption with 131,175 square feet. That led to a 2.1 percent drop in third-quarter vacancy from the previous quarter, to 5.7 …
FARMINGTON HILLS, MICH. — Michigan-based Agree Realty has purchased four Applebee’s restaurants and an Advance Auto Parts for a total cost of approximately $10.1 million. The recently acquired Applebee's assets are located in Harlingen and Wichita Falls Texas, as well as two properties in Pensacola, Fla. The Advance Auto Parts is located in Lebanon, Va. Each of the restaurants has a new 20-year lease providing for fixed annual rental increases. Agree Realty specializes in single tenant net lease retail properties throughout the U.S.
NORTHBROOK, ILL —A joint venture between Middleton Partners and Romanek Properties, two Northbrook-based real estate investment firms, has acquired the Hillsdale Office Portfolio from Duke Realty. The portfolio is a six-building, 446,000-square-foot campus located on the northeast side of suburban Indianapolis. The overall occupancy of the single-story campus is approximately 88 percent. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
OAK BROOK, ILL. — Two information technology service providers, Interactive Business Systems and ManageForce, have each signed leases at Butterfield Office Plaza in Oak Brook. Interactive Business Systems has renewed its lease for 14,448 square feet, and ManageForce has a new lease for 2,762 square feet. NAI Hiffman’s Jud Henry represented DenHoltz, the landlord in the transaction. Aubrey Van Reken, also with NAI Hiffman, represented ManageForce in the new lease.
BURNSVILLE, MINN. — St. Louis-based Bianco Properties has acquired the property leased to Kohl’s department store in Burnsville, a suburb of Minneapolis. The acquisition of the 102,412-square-foot retail building marks Bianco’s entry into the market. The property was purchased in an all-cash transaction from an affiliate of Cole Real Estate Investments, with CB Richard Ellis representing the seller.
TOLEDO, OHIO — Health Care REIT has completed the acquisition of Sunrise Senior Living Inc. property portfolio, the sale of the Sunrise Management Co. and the acceleration of all planned joint venture partner buyouts. The Toledo-based real estate investment trust, that invests in seniors housing and health care real estate,currently has invested $3.4 billion in Sunrise properties. Bank of America Merrill Lynch acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Health Care REIT in the deal. Arnold & Porter LLP, Goodmans LLP, Nabarro LLP, Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick LLP, and Sidley Austin LLP, acted as Health Care REIT's legal advisors.
IRVING, ILL. — Hostess Brands Inc., the bankrupt maker of Twinkies, has hired privately held Hilco to help sell off its real estate and other assets as the Irving-based company liquidates in bankruptcy. Federal bankruptcy judge Robert Drain approved the appointment of Chicago-based Hilco to sell all real estate, machinery, equipment and rolling stock assets that remain in the company’s estate following court supervised auctions conducted by investment bank Perella Weinberg Partners. The auctions are expected to be completed this spring.
OAK BROOK, ILL — Inland American Real Estate Trust Inc. has acquired two necessity-based shopping centers in Oklahoma and Texas for approximately $94.7 million. The properties include Rockwell Plaza, a 254,690-square-foot shopping center in Oklahoma City and Stone Ridge Market, a 218,436-square-foot retail property in San Antonio.
MILWAUKEE — The Dickman Co. has arranged the sale of a 62,494-square-foot office building at 544 S. 1st Street in Milwaukee for $5.8 million. The single-story building was constructed in 1952 as an industrial property and was converted to an office building in 2007. Dickman Co.’s Samuel D. Dickman and Samuel M. Dickman Jr. represented the buyer and seller in this deal. The seller was 544 S. 1st Street LLC and IndependenceFirst Inc., and the buyer was an existing tenant in the building.