CHICAGO — Joseph Freed & Associates has announced five new tenants for the Block 37 retail project currently under development on State Street in Chicago. Locally based clothier Bigsby & Kruthers will open a 9,000-square-foot location on the project’s second floor. Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant Tahini will open a 1,500-square-foot restaurant on the Transit Level. Frozen yogurt and kefir shop Starfruit Café, which is owned by Morton Grove, Ill.-based Lifeway Foods, also will open a 700-square-foot location on the Transit Level. Sunglass Hut will open a 1,000-square-foot location on Level One. Finally, Swarvoski, a crystal maker, will open a 900-square-foot location on Level One. They will join a tenant roster that already includes Muvico, Lettuce Entertain You, PUMA, Zara, Anthropologie, and a new salon and store from Aveda. Tenant move-in dates were not released.
Midwest
CINCINNATI — Little Caesars Pizza has signed a lease for 2,000 square feet at Hyde Park Plaza, a 396,810-square-foot shopping center located at 3760-3880 Paxton Rd. in Cincinnati. Once it opens in June, the pizza chain will join a tenant roster that includes a 99,675-square-foot Kroger, as well as Great Clips, H&R Block, Massage Envy, Starbucks Coffee, Staples, ACE Hardware, Walgreens, Michaels, PNC Bank and National City Bank. The center is owned and operated by Jacksonville, Fla.-based Regency Centers.
Apartment conditions in St. Louis will soften this year due to job losses and localized oversupply; however, some submarkets in the metro area will record a relatively strong performance. The local labor market is projected to be weighed down by the manufacturing sector and the trade, transportation and utilities segment, resulting in approximately 12,000 job cuts in 2009, which will ease apartment demand. Vacancy is projected to climb 100 basis points this year to 8.6 percent, the highest rate since early 2006. As a result, owners will reduce rents in an effort to maintain occupancy levels. The average asking rent is forecast to end the year at $722 per month, a contraction of 1 percent, following a 1.7 percent advance in 2008. In the near term, fundamentals will firm in the Airport/Interstate 70 and Clayton/Mid-County submarkets, as their proximity to arterial routes will continue to generate healthy tenant demand. As such, vacancy is forecast to retreat approximately 60 basis points to 9.5 percent this year in the Airport/I-70 submarket, while vacancy in the Clayton/Mid-County area is expected to fall roughly 30 basis points to 7 percent. Class A properties near interstates 270 and 170 are projected to outperform as a …
HEBRON, KY. — Denver-based ProLogis has leased approximately 151,000 square feet of distribution space located within ProLogis Park 275 in the Cincinnati suburb of Hebron. The tenant is one of the world’s largest brand-name apparel marketers. ProLogis Park 275 is an approximately 1.9 million-square-foot, master-planned distribution park. It currently contains four buildings and a tenant mix that includes Amazon.com, International Paper, Consolidated Procurement Services and Galerie USA. It is situated adjacent to Cincinnati/North Kentucky International Airport. Terms of the lease were not disclosed.
WICHITA, KAN. — Lawrence, Kan.-based Princeton Children’s Center has expanded into the Wichita market with the opening of a 15,720-square-foot facility. The day care center will cater to children from ages 6 weeks to 5 years. Greg Cromer with the Lawrence office of American Real Estate & Investments arranged the transaction; construction financing was provided by Nulty Construction. The day care chain plans to expand into other Midwest cities.
BUTLER, WIS. — NAI MLG Commercial has brokered the sale of a 10,000-square-foot commercial building located at 4757 N. 125th St. in Butler. NAI’s Curt Pitzen and Adam Matson represented the seller, N.H. Machining, as well as the buyer, CSM Enterprises. The acquisition price was not disclosed.
INDEPENDENCE, MO. — The St. Louis office of Love Funding has arranged $1.1 million in acquisition financing for Maple Manor Apartments, a 40-unit multifamily property located in Independence. The community is situated on 1.6 acres and receives HUD subsidies. Love Funding’s Harry Cheatham originated the loan, which carries a 6.4 percent fixed interest rate and a 30-year amortization schedule. The borrower was Prominent Properties; the lender was not disclosed.
ST. PAUL, MINN. ¬— The Minneapolis/St. Paul office of Colliers Turley Martin Tucker has completed the sale of the Riverview at Upper Landing apartment community to Boston-based Intercontinental Real Estate Corp. Intercontinental acquired the property for $43.5 million on behalf of U.S. Real Estate Investment Fund LLC. Riverview at Upper Landing is a two-building, Class A community located at 400 Sprint St. in St. Paul that features 344 apartment units and 482 below-grade parking spots. Gina Dingman, James McCaffrey and Julie Lux of Colliers represented the seller, Prudential Real Estate Investors, in the transaction.
CINCINNATI — The 1.5 million-square-foot shopping mall previously known as Cincinnati Mills has been acquired by a group of investors led by Whichard Real Estate, and the name has been changed to Cincinnati Mall. The new ownership group, which also serves as the property asset manager, acquired the mall from Simon Property Group at the end of 2008. Cincinnati Mall is anchored by Bass Pro Shops, Kohl’s, Burlington Coat Factory, Babies ‘R’ Us, Off 5th Saks Fifth Avenue Outlet and two multi-screen cinemas. The mall, which is located in the northern suburbs of Fairfield and Forest Park, Ohio, is the largest in the Cincinnati area.
OVERLAND PARK, KAN. — Black & Veatch, an engineering, consulting and construction company, has acquired the building it currently occupies in Overland Park to serve as its global headquarters. The company purchased the 600,000-square-foot building at 11401 Lamar Ave. for $60 million, and has plans to expand the complex with an additional 250,000-square-foot building in the future. It is the largest office building in the state of Kansas. Black & Veatch has been the sole occupant of the building since it was built in 1976.