CHICAGO — Transwestern has arranged a 13-year, 81,906-square-foot lease on behalf of The Chicago School of Professional Psychology in Chicago. The lease, which expands classrooms, offices and auxiliary service facilities, includes 45,636 square feet of new space. Additionally, 20,520 square feet of expansion space on the fourth floor of the Merchandise Mart has been taken by the school, as well as an extension of term for 15,750 square feet on the 13th floor. Phil Utigard and Katherine Williams of Transwestern represented the school; John Dempsey and Melissa Rubenstein of CB Richard Ellis, with Karin Kraai of Merchandise Mart Properties, represented the landlord.
MACHESNEY PARK, ILL. — Orput Cos. has broken ground on Willow Creek Retail Center, a 12,000-square-foot development located at the corner of Illinois Route 173 and Alpine Road in Machesney Park. The 24-acre center is anchored by Buffalo Wild Wings, which is scheduled to open its 6,000-square-foot facility this fall. Orput is being represented by Oak Brook, Ill.-based Mid America Asset Management for the leasing and development of the space.
STRONGSVILLE, OHIO — Fogg-Imperial, an affiliate of Brooklyn Heights, Ohio-based Ray Fogg Corporate Properties, has entered into a lease to build a 108,000-square-foot distribution center in Strongsville for Brighton-Best International. The site, which is located on Imperial Parkway within the Strongsville Industrial Park, will be developed by Ray Fogg Building Methods. Features of the facility will include 32-foot clear-height ceilings, ESFR fire sprinkler systems and multiple truck docks. Construction will begin this month, with completion slated for the end of this year.
TWINSBURG, OHIO — Matt Beesley of Cleveland-based CRESCO Real Estate, a member of the Cushman & Wakefield Alliance, has represented Concorde Mill Inc. in the sale of a 257,000-square-foot distribution center in Twinsburg. First Industrial Realty Trust acquired the facility and 45 acres of land, which it intends to lease to tenants. First Industrial has retained Beesley to market the available land to industrial users. The price of acquisition was not disclosed.
NORTH RANDALL, OHIO — Jennifer Fernandez of NAI Cummins has arranged the sale of Randall Park Mall in North Randall to Cincinnati United Contractors. Located on approximately 42 acres of land, the facility includes 393,005 square feet of interior mall space and a 196,531-square-foot former Dillard’s. Cincinnati United Contractors plans to redevelop the mall into a mixed-use facility that includes offices and additional retail stores. The price of acquisition was undisclosed.
INDIANAPOLIS — On behalf of St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers, BremnerDuke Healthcare Real Estate has broken ground on two medical office buildings totaling more than 40,000 square feet in Indianapolis. Located at the intersection of Franklin and Southport roads, the 22,000-sqaure-foot Franklin Township Medical Office Building is scheduled to open in October. The facility will be anchored by a primary care practice, with 16,000 square feet of space available for additional tenants. Additionally, a two-story medical office building, which is scheduled to open in December, is being constructed at the intersection of U.S. Route 31 and Southport Road. Anchor tenants at this 20,000-square-foot facility include a physical therapy clinic and a primary care practice. Another 5,000 square feet of space will be available for additional tenants.
ELWOOD, ILL. — Woodridge, Ill.-based Morgan/Harbour Construction has been selected by CenterPoint Properties to develop the expansion of CenterPoint Intermodal Center, an industrial park that is located at the corner of Illinois Route 53 and Hoff Road in Elwood. Approximately 4 million square feet of industrial facilities will be constructed within the 300-acre expansion of the park’s east side. The expansion includes the improvement of Route 53 with a new turn lane, the extension of Walter Strawn Drive into the proposed park and implementation of storm water management detention facilities onsite. Cornerstone Architects is providing the architectural services.
WICHITA, KAN. — RockBridge Capital has provided $10.1 million in first-mortgage financing to A.G. Holdings for the development of a 102-room SpringHill Suites in Witchita. The all-suite hotel, which will be located adjacent to the Plazzio lifestyle center, will be developed, owned and operated by A.G. Holdings.
MADISON, IND. — The Mumford Company has represented BAC Hotel Management in the approximately $1.43 million sale of the Country Hearth Inn of Madison. The inn was acquired by the Virginia-based multi-unit owner/operator, Lighthouse Lodging LLC. David Mumford and Ed James of Mumford’s Newport News, Va., headquarters and Tom Sommer of the firm’s Chicago office arranged the sale. The property will undergo renovations before continuing to operate as a Country Hearth Inn.
What area is your expertise? Indianapolis and Central Indiana Industrial buildings sales and leasing and land sales. What trends do you see presently in industrial development in your area? The Indianapolis industrial market got off to a strong start this year with 2.5 million square feet (MSF) of positive net absorption recorded for the first quarter 2008. Completed deals during the quarter included Fastenal Company (435,000-SF purchase), National Distribution Centers (230,000-SF expansion), Firestone Building Products (221,000-SF lease), Adidas (162,000-SF lease) and Remy International (57,000-SF lease) to name a few. This increase in activity from year-end 2007 helped the overall industrial vacancy rate lower from 7.9 percent to 7.7 percent. Several move-ins by companies that signed deals late in 2007, such as CVS Indiana LLC. in Mount Comfort, as well as Gatorade’s occupancy of its mammoth 1.1 MSF build-to-suit (BTS) facility in Ameriplex also contributed to this vacancy reduction. Another factor enabling vacancy to lower was the slowdown of speculative construction, particularly in the bulk market after 7.5 MSF of mostly speculative, bulk construction occurred in 2007. In fact, no new construction of any kind was completed during the 1st quarter as developers took a step back to allow this new …