ST. PAUL, MINN. — NorthMarq has arranged a $19 million construction loan for an adaptive reuse project at 1554 Midway Parkway in St. Paul. The former seniors housing facility will be transformed into 148 market-rate apartment units. Completion is slated for next year. Michael Padilla of NorthMarq’s Minneapolis office arranged the five-year loan, which features two years of interest-only payments followed by a 25-year amortization schedule. A local bank provided the loan on behalf of the borrower, Premier Holdings LLC.
Midwest
CHICAGO — The Museum of Ice Cream (MOIC) has signed a long-term lease to open a 13,544-square-foot location at The Shops at Tribune Tower in downtown Chicago. MOIC represents the first retail tenant at the newly redeveloped Tribune Tower. The retail portion spans 50,000 square feet and anchors the ground floor of the 36-story, 740,000-square-foot tower, which is located at 435 N. Michigan Ave. Owners CIM Group and Golub & Co. have transformed the property into 162 luxury condominiums and are now welcoming their first residents. The building originally opened in 1925. Plans for the Chicago MOIC include a Chicago Transit Authority-inspired L car named the Sprink-L; a giant dessert-themed putt putt course with a Chicago dog ice cream treat; and a café with outdoor seating. The opening is scheduled for spring 2022. Chicago joins New York City and Austin as the only U.S. cities with a permanent location for MOIC.
NORTH AURORA, ILL. — The Opus Group has begun construction of two speculative industrial buildings known as Tollway Corporate Center in North Aurora. The development is a joint venture with Principal Real Estate Advisors. The first building will total 104,978 square feet and will feature 10 dock positions, two drive-in doors, eight trailer stalls, 64 car parking stalls and a clear height of 32 feet. The second building will span 543,638 square feet and will offer 54 dock positions, four drive-in doors, 90 trailer stalls, 142 car parking stalls and a clear height of 36 feet. Completion of both buildings is slated for June 2022. Opus is serving as developer, design-builder, architect and engineer. Brian Kling of Colliers International and Dan Leahy of NAI Hiffman are marketing the project for lease.
TROY, MICH. — Continental Realty Corp. (CRC) has acquired Oakland Plaza and Oakland Square, two shopping centers totaling nearly 392,000 square feet in Troy. The combined purchase price was $34 million. Together, the properties were 87 percent leased at the time of acquisition. Tenants include TJ Maxx, HomeGoods, Kohl’s, Bed Bath & Beyond, DSW, Michaels and Planet Fitness. Amy Sands and Clinton Mitchell of JLL represented the undisclosed seller. This was the first acquisition for CRC’s Opportunistic Retail Fund, a private equity fund formed this year to acquire value-add retail properties throughout the country. Completed in 1979 and renovated in 1994 and 2014, Oakland Plaza consists of three buildings and three outparcels comprising 171,518 square feet. It is 71 percent leased to 16 tenants. Delivered in 1986 with additional construction completed in 1997, the three-building Oakland Square spans 220,226 square feet. The asset is fully leased to seven tenants. Baltimore-based CRC now owns and manages more than 5 million square feet of commercial space across nine states.
NEW ALBANY, OHIO — Scannell Properties has broken ground on a 354,000-square-foot speculative warehouse in New Albany, about 15 miles northeast of Columbus. The developer purchased a 33-acre site on Innovation Campus Way. Completion of the project is slated for June 2022. Tom Miles and Scott Pickett of Avison Young represented Scannell in the land purchase. The duo will also handle leasing efforts for the property. MBJ Holdings was the seller.
WILTON, IOWA — Woda Cooper Cos. Inc. is underway on construction of Chandler Pointe in Wilton, about 30 miles east of Iowa City. The $6.9 million project will provide 35 units for residents age 55 and older. Monthly rents will range from $330 to $640 for one-bedroom units and from $395 to $735 for two-bedroom floor plans. Of the 35 units, 31 will be affordable for households with incomes at or below 80 percent of the area median income. Four apartments will be available at market rates. Completion is slated for late 2022. Nonprofit Housing Services Alliance Inc. is the co-developer and owner. The Iowa Finance Authority (IFA) provided affordable housing tax credits to support financing for the affordable units. IFA will also provide the first and second mortgages, including a HOME loan. Huntington National Bank is providing equity financing and a construction loan. The project team includes architect Excel Engineering, civil engineer Hall and Hall Engineers Inc. and sustainability consultant Sol Consulting + Design. Woda Cooper’s construction division is the general contractor for the project. The company’s management division will oversee leasing and day-to-day operations at Chandler Pointe.
Main Street Community Capital Unveils $1.3B Mixed-Use Destination Plans in Metro Cincinnati
by Katie Sloan
MIDDLETOWN, OHIO — Main Street Community Capital has unveiled plans for Hollywoodland, a 50-acre mixed-use development along the Great Miami River in Middletown. The city, which boasted a population of about 50,000 residents as of the 2020 census, is located 25 miles southwest of Dayton and 30 miles northeast of Cincinnati. Development costs for the project are estimated at $1.3 billion. The Middletown City Council met for over six hours this week to discuss the project with the public. The official vote on approving or denying the development is scheduled for Oct. 21. If approved, Hollywoodland would be a public-private partnership between the city and Main Street Community Capital. If approved, the development would include: A luxury hotel with an attached, publicly owned convention center, rooftop bar and themed restaurants; a family-oriented hotel with a water park; the adaptive redevelopment of an existing First National Bank building into a boutique hotel; an indoor entertainment and concert venue; an indoor amusement park; 3,000 deck-based parking spaces; luxury, mid-rise multifamily units and condominiums; a pre- and post-production motion picture studio with sound stages and support offices; restaurants, bars, brew-pubs and cafes; a comedy club; and lifestyle, convenience and recreational retail space. The project …
World and domestic markets are constantly recalibrating as the global supply chain continues to see a disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic. It has never been more clear though just how important freight logistics and a healthy supply chain are to keep the economy moving. Demand for distribution space continues to grow, and the latest data available reveals the bi-state St. Louis market is rebounding well from the uncertainty of 2020 and 2021, and is positioned to assist distributors and developers to meet the growing demand. The St. Louis region has more than 51 million square feet of modern bulk inventory supported by a strong labor force and an exceptional freight network that provides tremendous optionality to move goods into and out of the region via river, rail, truck and runway. Those advantages are contributing to historic lows in vacancy rates, with only 4.5 percent of modern bulk space (more than 250,000 square feet) available at this time. This follows on the heels of the overall vacancy rate for the entire St. Louis industrial market dropping below 6 percent in 2020, the first time it fell so low in more than 15 years. Fortunately, construction in the bi-state region has rebounded …
SOUTH BEND, IND. — Columbia Pacific Advisors Bridge Lending has provided a $66 million bridge loan to fund the acquisition of Prosper Apartments in South Bend. The 739-unit, garden-style apartment community is located at 3001 E. Jefferson Blvd. The property comprises 28 buildings across 47 acres. Amenities include a theater room, fitness center, indoor pool, billiards room, playground, dog park and community room. H&A Properties was the borrower. The property was 99 percent leased at the time of loan closing. Loan terms were not disclosed.
Greystone Funds $50.1M Bridge Loan for Acquisition of Six-Property Skilled Nursing Portfolio in Ohio
OHIO — Greystone has provided a $50.1 million bridge loan for the acquisition of a six-property skilled nursing portfolio in Ohio. The communities total 719 beds and are located in Berea, Cleveland, Clyde, Kent and Waterville. Fred Levine of Greystone originated the floating-rate, interest-only loan through Greystone’s nonrecourse bridge loan program. Greystone says it will work with the borrower to secure a permanent HUD-insured loan for the skilled nursing portfolio as soon as possible. The borrower was undisclosed.