ELGIN, ILL. — Developer Scannell Properties has selected Peak Construction Corp. to build a new 477,115-square-foot speculative warehouse in Elgin. Slated for completion in late December, the project will feature a clear height of 36 feet, 40 dock doors, four drive-in doors, trailer storage and parking for 372 cars. Harris Architects Inc. and Haeger Engineering make up the project team.
TERRE HAUTE, IND. — Sansone Group has sold Towne South Plaza, a 163,293-square-foot shopping center in the western Indiana city of Terre Haute. Wild Moose Ventures purchased the property for an undisclosed price. Sansone has managed and leased the property since 2002 and acquired the asset in 2015. The property has maintained strong occupancy over the years and underwent a major roof renovation. Some of the tenants include Ross Dress for Less, TJ Maxx, Dollar Tree and Best Buy. Grant Mechlin of Sansone, along with Ben Wineman and Rick Drogosz of Mid-America Real Estate Corp., brokered the transaction.
CHICAGO — American Street Capital (ASC) has arranged two loans totaling $9.4 million for the refinancing of a light industrial portfolio in Chicago. The first transaction was a $6.1 million loan for a 102,850-square-foot building. The second was a $3.3 million loan for a 90,975-square-foot, two-building property. Igor Zhizhin of ASC structured both loans with five-year terms and 25-year amortization schedules. A bank provided both loans.
CHICAGO — Cawley Chicago has arranged the sale of a 16,350-square-foot office building on the northern border of Chicago’s Fulton Market district for $2.8 million. The two-story brick, steel and timber building is located at 451 N. Racine Ave. Zach Pruitt and Nicholas Schaefer of Cawley represented the seller, an entity doing business as 1005 N California LLC. Marco Federow of MK Asset Management represented the buyer, advertising agency The Times.
JOLIET, ILL. — Krusinski Construction Co. has completed a new automotive center for Cassidy Best-One Tire & Service in Joliet’s Rock Creek Logistics Center. Ketone Partners, which served as developer for the 19,000-square-foot project, also owns the 263-acre Rock Creek Logistics Center. The auto center features 20 drive-in doors, 10 service bays, 1,000 square feet of office space, nine car parking stalls and seven trailer stalls. Cassidy Best-One will provide truck and automotive tire work as well as general maintenance for a variety of vehicles. The project team included Cornerstone Architects as architect and Jacob & Hefner Associates as civil engineer.
There was a time when an investment in the Columbus, Ohio commercial real estate market had to be justified to outsiders and required a higher return to attract investors. After all, it sits squarely in “fly-over country” in the heart of the rust belt. With the exception of getting a superior return, why would an investor choose Columbus, over say, New York or Chicago? But that’s all changed. Cap rates are now as low as, or lower than, other major markets. Investors have been driven to those markets, despite having a lower cap rate, because they knew rent growth was continuous and the sales price would appreciate over time. For decades, Columbus’ sales prices had remained stagnant due to a lack of increase in lease rates. However, over the past two years, lease rates have been rapidly increasing in the industrial market, and projections expect that trend to continue. The Columbus office market hasn’t seen the same rental appreciation — yet. But projections indicate that there will be rental appreciation in office as well, mostly due to increased demand and lack of speculative development over the past two years, but also due to rising land and construction costs. Because of …
CHICAGO — Brookfield Properties is turning over Water Tower Place to its lender, a unit of insurer MetLife, according to reports by the Chicago Sun-Times and Crain’s Chicago Business. The two media outlets report that the action indicates that the shopping mall is worth less than the estimated $300 million in debt owed on it. Situated on North Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago, the mall lost its anchor tenant Macy’s last year. The property, which was the city’s first indoor mall when it opened in 1975, rises nine stories and spans 818,000 square feet. Today, nearly a quarter of all of Chicago’s Magnificent Mile retail space is vacant, more than double its vacancy four years ago, according to Crain’s.
EDWARDSVILLE, ILL. — Contegra Construction Co. is underway on Gateway Commerce Center in Edwardsville near St. Louis. The 800,000-square-foot speculative distribution center is slated for completion this fall. EQT Exeter is the developer. Upon completion, the project will feature 146 dock doors, four drive-through doors, 3,000 square feet of office space, a specialized HVAC system and parking for 206 trucks and 538 cars.
SUN PRAIRIE, WIS. — Developer Roers Cos. has selected McShane Construction Co. to build The Wildwood at Main, a 172-unit affordable housing community in Sun Prairie, a northeast suburb of Madison. The two-building property will be constructed atop an underground parking garage. Amenities will include a clubroom, fitness room, playground and outdoor grill area. Korb + Associates is the architect. The project was designed to achieve Wisconsin Green Built Home certification. Completion is slated for August 2023. Income restrictions for units were not provided.
ELGIN, ILL. — Conor Commercial Real Estate has sold Northwest Pointe III in Elgin for an undisclosed price. The property consists of two industrial buildings totaling 349,080 square feet and is situated within Northwest Corporate Park. At the time of sale, the property was 72 percent leased to three tenants, including Continental Packaging. Both buildings feature a clear height of 32 feet and 20 dock doors. McShane Construction Co. served as general contractor and Ware Malcomb was the architect. Ed Halibert and John Hugenard of JLL represented Conor in the sale to the private buyer.
