COLUMBUS AND MACEDONIA, OHIO — National Church Residences has received two 9 percent Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) awards from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency for two affordable housing projects in Ohio. Divinity Landing is a new 54-unit affordable seniors housing property to be developed in Macedonia, a suburb of Akron. The three-story property will feature a community room, exercise center, multipurpose room, outdoor patio and onsite walking paths. The Commons at Grant, an existing 100-unit permanent supportive housing community in Columbus, was originally constructed in 2002 through the 9 percent LIHTC program. The development provides affordable housing for formerly homeless, veterans and disabled individuals. The planned renovation will include upgrades to apartments and common areas, as well as a new roof and windows. Construction on both projects is slated to begin as early as spring 2025.
FORT WAYNE, IND. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the $1.5 million sale of a retail building formerly occupied by Walgreens in Fort Wayne. The property is located at 1701 E. Paulding Road. David Klink and Jordan Klink of Marcus & Millichap represented the buyer and seller, both of which were limited liability companies.
NORTHBROOK, ILL. — Pine Tree, in partnership with a state pension fund, has purchased six open-air shopping centers from SITE Centers Corp. (NYSE: SITC) for $495 million. The portfolio comprises 2.5 million square feet and includes properties in metros such as Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Columbus, Ohio; Cincinnati; Phoenix; and Portland, Oregon. The assets included in the portfolio are: The portfolio’s retail anchors include Kroger, New Seasons Market, The Fresh Market, Target, Ulta Beauty, Nordstrom Rack, Dick’s Sporting Goods and 13 stores leased by TJX Cos. Pine Tree is a retail developer and management company based in Northbrook, Illinois. The deal, which was sourced off-market, brings Pine Tree’s assets under management to a total of approximately $2.5 billion and 20 million square feet. SITE Centers is a retail REIT based in Beachwood, Ohio. The SITC stock price opened at $14.56 on Friday, June 14, up slightly from $13.19 one year prior. — Channing Hamilton
By Dougal Jeppe, Colliers Over the past few years, we have been inundated with less than positive industry news. While it’s true we are at a historic moment in commercial real estate, and users are facing complex, never-before-seen questions about how to use their space, there remain many positives as we head toward the second half of 2024. So, let’s take a look at the good news from the Chicago office market. For now, downtown Chicago remains a tenant’s market, a trend expected to persist throughout 2024. With over 47.2 million square feet of office space available, tenants have a plethora of high-quality options to choose from, making it an opportune time for businesses seeking favorable lease terms to secure space. And companies are doing just that. There has been a recent uptick in large space renewals by long-term office tenants including some consolidations reflecting the commitments many Fortune 500 companies, such as Mesirow and PNC Bank, have made to the City of Chicago. Notably, JPMorgan Chase announced plans to reinvest in Chicago by renovating its namesake tower and keeping its 7,200 employees in the city. Similarly, Google has committed to the Central Loop, and plans to move about 1,000 …
RAVENNA, OHIO — Geis Cos. has completed a 248,000-square-foot manufacturing facility for LG America in Ravenna, about 15 miles east of Akron. The two-building property consists of a three-story, 100,000-square-foot Customer Solutions Building and a single-story, 148,000-square-foot Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) Compounding Building. The latter building features a fitness room, employee cafeteria and multiple labs for testing, inspection and weighing ABS compounds. Geis and First Energy worked together to engineer a transmission line and substation that is now owned by LG and will power the facility. The project involved significant coordination with the LG design team in South Korea. Geis Construction provided design-build services.
EAGAN, MINN. — Net Lease Office Properties (NLOP) has sold two office assets in the Minneapolis suburb of Eagan for gross proceeds totaling $60.7 million. The properties, which are leased to Blue Cross Blue Shield Inc., are located at 1800 and 3400 Yankee Doodle Road and total 347,472 square feet. Net proceeds after closing costs were used to repay approximately $48 million of JPMorgan’s senior secured mortgage and approximately $8 million on its mezzanine loan. Following the sale, NLOP owns 47 office properties, three of which are leased to Blue Cross Blue Shield.
FARGO, N.D. — Gindi Equities has acquired Osgood Townsite Apartments, a 243-unit multifamily community built in 2004 in Fargo. Property Resources Group sold the asset for an undisclosed price. The acquisition marks Gindi’s entry into the Fargo market. Gindi plans to invest in a renovation program to modernize and enhance the Class B property. Planned improvements include redesigned kitchens and bathrooms and upgraded building exteriors and grounds. Gindi will also implement sustainable elements and energy savings fixtures to increase efficiency and reduce utility costs. Property Resources Group will continue to manage and service the asset. With this acquisition, Gindi’s multifamily portfolio is valued at over $250 million and includes 2,000 units across the country.
ST. PETERS, MO. — SVN Chicago Commercial has arranged the $3.8 million sale of the Mercy Health medical office building in St. Peters, a northwest suburb of St. Louis. The 17,296-square-foot property is located at 107 Piper Hill Drive. Mercy Health occupies the building on a net-lease basis and recently executed a lease extension with substantial improvements to the site. Tim Franz of SVN represented the undisclosed seller. The asset sold to a West Coast-based REIT.
BEACH PARK, ILL. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of Self Storage of Beach Park, a 57,050-square-foot self-storage property in Beach Park, a city in northeast Illinois. The sales price was undisclosed. Completed in 2021, the asset features 197 non-climate-controlled units and 250 climate-controlled units within three single-story buildings. Sean Delaney of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, a limited liability company, and procured the buyer, Extra Space Storage. The property will be rebranded as Storage Express.
Last fall’s ebullience over the Federal Reserve’s likelihood of cutting the federal funds rate early and frequently in 2024 quickly faded as inflation remained too high for the Fed’s liking. Wall Street traders who make wagers on the Fed’s actions keep pushing their rate cut bets further into the year, according to CME Group, a derivatives marketplace. In early March, for example, nearly 75 percent of traders wagered on a rate cut in June. As of early June, less than 2 percent expected one. The most recent Fed meeting, on June 13, has confirmed this assumption that a rate cut is at least months away, if not longer. If and when the central bank cuts rates this year, the cost of capital is unlikely to approach the historically low levels of the last few years. As a result, the growing interest rate mantra of “higher for longer” may be finally convincing commercial property buyers and sellers to meet on pricing. New York-based research organization MSCI Real Assets recently noted that commercial property sales continued to slow in the first quarter of 2024 — a year-over-year decline of 16 percent to $78.9 billion. But it suggested that investors might be encouraged …