OVERLAND PARK, KAN. — TruHome Solutions, a financial services company offering mortgage lending services, has signed a 36,000-square-foot office lease at the Aspiria campus in Overland Park. The company plans to move in the first quarter of 2024, bringing 220 employees. Michael VanBuskirk and Trey DeRousse of Newmark Zimmer represented the tenant. Hunter Johnson of Occidental Management represented the landlord on an internal basis.
PLEASANT PRAIRIE, WIS. — Dermody Properties has acquired the former We Energies power plant in Pleasant Prairie, a southern suburb of Milwaukee. The firm plans to redevelop the site into a 232-acre campus named LogistiCenter at Pleasant Prairie. Plans call for three logistics buildings totaling 2.4 million square feet that will accommodate built-to-suit opportunities. Mass grading is underway, with building pads ready for vertical construction by the fourth quarter. Given its historic operation supporting southeast Wisconsin’s power grid as a backup power plant, LogistiCenter at Pleasant Prairie has access to abundant power. The site also benefits from large quantities of freshwater service from Lake Michigan.
OMAHA, NEB. — WarHorse Gaming, a subsidiary of Ho-Chunk Inc., has begun construction on its new gaming facilities in Omaha and continues with the next phase of construction at its Lincoln facility. Kraus-Anderson is the construction manager. WarHorse Gaming Omaha will feature roughly 1,300 slots and 20 table games once complete. The first phase of the casino is slated to open about a year after the start of construction. The project also includes a parking garage that can accommodate all phases of the casino. WarHorse Gaming Lincoln’s next phase of construction will begin shortly after the Omaha facility’s construction starts. The expansion will double the size of the current facility and add an additional 500 parking stalls at the casino and racetrack. Plans call for 870 slot machines, six to 10 table games and an expanded dining area. Once fully constructed, the Lincoln facility will employ more than 500 people and generate roughly $14 million in tax revenue for the state. The second phase is expected to take about one year to complete. Subsequent construction phases will include the build-out of the full gaming floor, parking garage and hotel.
WASHINGTON, MO. — Contegra Construction Co. is underway on a 220,000-square-foot production facility for AZZ Precoat Metals in Washington, about 50 miles west of St. Louis. AZZ Precoat Metals is an independent metal coil coater. Completion of the facility is slated for spring 2024. Production equipment will be installed in the second half of 2024, with production anticipated to commence in 2025. The project will be part of the 115-acre Oldenburg Industrial Park. Joining Contegra on the project are Vision Electric for electrical, Jarrell Mechanical Contractors for HVAC, O.J. Laughlin Plumbing Co. Inc. for plumbing and Musselman & Hall Contractors for concrete. Texas-based AZZ Inc. acquired Precoat Metals for $1.3 billion from Sequa Corp. in May 2022.
CHICAGO — Ferrero North America has opened its new Innovation Center and North America R&D Labs in Chicago. The 45,000-square-foot project, located in the historic Marshall Field & Co. building, brings together Ferrero’s R&D teams from throughout the U.S. and houses teams working on Keebler, Famous Amos, Mother’s, Fannie May and other brands. There are more than 150 employees. The investment further expands Ferrero’s footprint in Illinois. The company manufactures Butterfinger and Baby Ruth products at its plant in Franklin Park, and Keebler products on 110th Street in Chicago. The Ferrero manufacturing campus in Bloomington produces Crunch, 100 Grand and other products, and will soon include a new chocolate processing facility and a new Kinder Bueno production facility. Brookfield Properties operates the Marshall Field building, which is designated as a Chicago Landmark, a National Historic Landmark and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1978. In 2021, Brookfield completed a major restoration and overhaul to convert the former department store into a modern office building. The property rises seven stories and totals 636,000 square feet.
DETROIT — Cresa has acquired Axiom Advisory Group, a Detroit-based, tenant-focused commercial real estate firm specializing in global corporate real estate portfolio management. Axiom, which also has team members in Chicago and Dallas, is led by Ryan Bertin and Curt Stanton. The duo will serve as managing principals and co-leaders of Cresa’s Detroit operations. The company’s entire eight-person staff joins Cresa and will operate under the Cresa brand effective immediately. Since it was founded in 2017, Axiom has completed more than 450 assignments, representing 16 million square feet across 28 countries for various publicly traded and privately held corporations. The acquisition formally ends Cresa’s longtime partnership with Plante Moran in Detroit.
By Scott Bluhm, Newmark Zimmer Since 2016, the Kansas City industrial market has been on a hot streak. We observed more opportunities and increased user activity. There have been consistent years of record positive space absorption and the delivery of Class A buildings, whether speculative or build-to-suit. The peak of that hot streak was in 2022. The year concluded with records in positive absorption, vacancy and rental growth. By the end of 2022, Kansas City became the 15th-largest industrial market in terms of square footage, surpassing Seattle. Significant statistics for 2022: •Over 16 million square feet of positive absorption •A vacancy low of 3.6 percent •A 10.6 percent increase in rental rates The year 2023 has been unique due to economic conditions and uncertainty. New speculative construction starts are down approximately 70 percent, with around 2.5 million square feet breaking ground in 2023. Most of the speculative buildings delivering in 2023 were projects that began construction in 2022. Annual net absorption has decreased to 2.5 million square feet in the first and second quarters. For reference, the fourth quarter of 2022 saw a record-setting net absorption of approximately 7.3 million square feet, and the third quarter of 2022 had 3.2 …
HOPKINS, MINN. — Kraus-Anderson has completed Phase I construction of The Hallon, a luxury apartment community located adjacent to the future Blake Road Metro Green Line Extension Transit Station in Hopkins, a southwest suburb of Minneapolis. Developed by Trilogy Real Estate Group and designed by ESG Architects, the three-phase project will connect three buildings with 770 units. Located across from Cedar Lake Trail, the development features a public community space. The first phase consists of a seven-story building with 219 units, garage parking and retail space on the first level. Amenities include an outdoor pool, fitness center, sport simulator room, bike shop, clubroom, lounge, work-from-home spaces and a conference room. The second phase will feature a seven-story building with 250 units. Construction on Phase II has begun, and completion is slated for summer 2024. Details are still pending on the third phase.
OAK CREEK, WIS. — Heyday has broken ground on Heyday Oak Creek, a 130-unit build-to-rent community in the Milwaukee suburb of Oak Creek. The project marks Heyday’s second build-to-rent community in Wisconsin. Floor plans come in one-, two- and three-bedroom layouts ranging from 832 to 1,701 square feet. Each residence features an attached two-car garage with personal electric vehicle charging outlets. Private patios or covered porches accompany each home. Residents have access to bike and walking paths as well as a dog parka and community garden. Leasing is slated to begin in early 2024.
CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA — Meridian Design Build has completed construction of a 479,000-square-foot industrial build-to-suit in Cedar Rapids. Scannell Properties developed the project on behalf of a provider of global shipping and information services. Located at 1035 Commerce Park Drive SW, the building features 190 loading docks, 12 drive-in doors, 168 interior van loading positions and 31,977 square feet of office space. Meridian completed significant site improvements to accommodate a 660-car parking lot, 189 van staging spaces, 130 tractor parking spaces and a 330-stall trailer storage yard. Cornerstone Architects provided architectural design services, and Manhard Consulting handled the civil engineering design.
