CHICAGO — AmTrust Realty Corp. plans to invest approximately $100 million in its Chicago office portfolio over the next two years. The portfolio consists of 6 million square feet across seven buildings located in the Central and East Loop. AmTrust has selected JLL as the leasing agent for the properties. Newly appointed AmTrust President Jonathan Bennett will lead capital improvements efforts and oversee leasing for the portfolio, along with Anne Holker, who was recently promoted to AmTrust’s managing director of leasing and acquisitions. Citing the rise in downtown office vacancy rates and an increasingly competitive talent market, AmTrust says it has recognized the need to upgrade and reposition several of its Chicago properties to attract new tenants and bring employees back into the office. The first asset to receive improvements will be the nearly 1 million-square-foot building at 30 N. LaSalle St., which was built in 1975. Melissa Rubenstein, Joseph Gordon, Craig Coupe, Ellen Trager and Anna Panici of JLL are leading leasing efforts. AmTrust’s portfolio spans 12 million square feet across New York, Illinois and Ohio.
KANSAS CITY, KAN. — Avanti Residential has acquired Village West Apartments in Kansas City for $65 million. The 306-unit Class A apartment community is located at 8343 Leavenworth Road near Village West, a retail, dining and entertainment destination. Built in 2014, the property features amenities such as a clubhouse, media lounge, coworking lounge, fitness center and pool. Village West Apartments was 96 percent leased at the time of sale. Mac Crowther and Whittaker Potts of Newmark represented the seller, JVN Realty Corp. Avanti now owns four properties in the greater Kansas City area.
EAST LANSING, MICH. — Champion Real Estate Co. has acquired a portfolio of six student housing properties near Michigan State University for $42 million. The communities offer a total of 524 beds and are located at 635 Abbot Road, 129 Burcham Drive and 731-787 Burcham Drive in East Lansing. Champion MSU, a subsidiary of Champion, is set to begin a complete rebrand and gut renovation of the communities. Stewart Hayes, Scott Clifton and Dave MacDonald of JLL represented the seller, DTN Management Co.
CHICAGO — The Motion Agency has signed a 19,681-square-foot office lease at the Reid Murdoch Building located at 325 N. LaSalle Drive in Chicago’s River North neighborhood. The creative communications agency had been a subtenant in the space since summer 2018. Built in 1913, the property spans 325,000 square feet. Dougal Jeppe of Colliers Chicago represented the tenant in the lease transaction. Landlord information was not provided.
LINCOLN, NEB. — Northmarq has brokered the sale of Fairways at Lincoln for an undisclosed price. The 613-unit multifamily property, built in 2007, is located at 375 Fletcher Ave. in Lincoln. Fairways at Lincoln is situated on a nine-hole golf course. Parker Stewart and Dominic Martinez of Northmarq represented the seller, Kansas City-based Cohen-Esrey. John Reed of Northmarq secured acquisition financing on behalf of the buyer, Connecticut-based Hamilton Point Investments. Northmarq provided the loan through its status as a Freddie Mac Optigo lender. The five-year loan features one year of interest-only payments, a 30-year amortization schedule and a fixed interest rate of 2.75 percent.
INDIANAPOLIS — JLL Capital Markets has arranged a $26.9 million loan for the refinancing of The Lakes Apartments in Indianapolis. The 232-unit apartment community consists of 15 buildings. Units average 998 square feet. Amenities include a clubhouse, pool, outdoor kitchen, fitness studio, business center, pickleball courts, pet walking area and car care center. Matthew Schoenfeldt of JLL arranged the loan on behalf of the borrower, NTS Development Co. JLL will service the Freddie Mac loan through its status as a Freddie Mac Optigo lender. The loan features a seven-year term and a fixed interest rate.
TROY, OHIO — Plymouth Industrial REIT has purchased a three-building industrial portfolio totaling 396,800 square feet in Troy, about 20 miles north of Dayton. The purchase price was $22.5 million. The portfolio includes: a 160,000-square-foot building at 2180 Corporate Drive that is leased to F&P America; a 160,000-square-foot building at 1520 Experiment Farm Road that is leased to F&P America; and a 76,800-square-foot property at 952 Dorset Road that is home to Remedi SeniorCare and Cox Media Group. Steve Timmel, Jeff Johnston, Will Roberts, Chris Prosser and Doug Whitten of CBRE represented the seller, Culmen Real Estate Services.
SKOKIE, ILL. — Newcastle Properties has purchased Orchard Plaza in Skokie for an undisclosed price. This is the first time the 42,452-square-foot retail center has sold in over 60 years. Located near Old Orchard Mall at the corner of Skokie Boulevard and Gross Point Road, the property is home to tenants such as Bonefish Grill, Men’s Wearhouse, Advance Auto and the U.S. Post Office. Beth Sansiper and Jeff Gurian of Becker Gurian represented Newcastle Properties in the transaction. Drew Trammell of Newcastle Properties managed the underwriting and closing. The seller was not provided.
OVERLAND PARK, KAN. — Global payment solutions company EML has signed a lease to relocate its North American corporate headquarters to Aspiria in Overland Park. The company signed an 11,773-square-foot office lease and will occupy space on the fourth floor of Building 6100. The tenant is working with Aspiria’s owner, Occidental Management, to update the space. Occupancy is slated for April 2022. Chad Stafford and Hunter Johnson of Occidental and RC Jensen and Bryan Johnson of Colliers handled the lease transaction. Occidental plans to develop the 60 acres surrounding the Aspiria campus. Plans call for 1 million square feet of Class A office space, 380,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, a 120-room hotel and 600 multifamily units. Design planning for the long-term project has begun.
Mall and shopping center owners nationwide are faced with the vacancy of major big box anchors that have closed their doors due to the continued uptick in online retail and changing shopping habits and desires of today’s consumers. Often massive, these two-story, or even three-story spaces seem impossible to fill with the decline of most brick and mortar retail stores. Developers are being challenged to think outside the [big] box to find new tenants and creative uses for the space. Malls were originally thought of as community centers for neighborhoods during the mall boom. That attitude fell by the wayside as malls removed their socially engaging aspects and lost their sense of place — instead of being a place for the community to gather, the mall became simply a place to shop. Now, largely expedited by the pandemic, there have been seismic shifts in retail and shopper habits/what the consumer wants out of their shopping experience. The key word here is experience. Malls have had to readapt to fill in vacant spaces from large department stores that consumers no longer favor. This has opened up a lot of atypical uses, from distribution centers to residential to entertainment components to medical facilities. …