With low vacancy, positive absorption and robust leasing and investment activity, the Columbus industrial sector is positioned to experience a substantial amount of demand to continue throughout 2022 after a record-breaking year in 2021. Last year set the tone for historic construction and absorption and the market is poised to continue its strong momentum. It is easy to look at the map and see why Columbus is such a great logistics hub given its prime location within a 10-hour drive within 47 percent of the U.S. population, fairly flat topography and direct access to major freeways. There is one big piece of the pie that doesn’t always get noticed, which is the economic development powers that are putting Columbus on the map. Jobs Ohio and OneColumbus have done an incredible job attracting businesses to the state of Ohio. The biggest investment in the history of Ohio was announced this January when Intel revealed plans on building a new chip factory in New Albany. This $20 billion investment really put all eyes on the Northeast part of Columbus. As it gets tougher to get entitlements and zoning in other industrial submarkets, New Albany seems to be carrying a significant amount …
Midwest
SOMERS AND OAK CREEK, WIS. — Chicago-based HSA Commercial Real Estate has unveiled plans to build three new speculative warehouses totaling nearly 1.2 million square feet in Southeast Wisconsin. Highland Commerce Center of Somers will span 910,000 square feet in Somers. Construction is scheduled to begin in the third quarter with completion slated for the second quarter of 2023. The project will feature a clear height of 40 feet. OakView II Industrial will span 154,810 square feet with a clear height of 32 feet. The project will be situated within the OakView Business Park in Oak Creek. Construction is scheduled to begin in June with completion slated for October. HSA also plans to build 150 West Oakview Industrial in the OakView Business Park. That building will span 131,244 square feet with a clear height of 32 feet. Construction is expected to begin in May and wrap up in September. The project team for all three buildings includes Pinnacle Engineering Group as civil engineer and Chicago-based Partners in Design as architect. PREMIER Design + Build Group will serve as general contractor for the Somers project, while Riley Construction will build both properties in Oak Creek.
OMAHA, NEB. — JLL Capital Markets has brokered the sale of One Pacific Place in Omaha for $34 million. Trader Joe’s anchors the 90,945-square-foot retail center, which is 93 percent leased. Other tenants include Talbots, Chico’s, Wheatfield’s, Dentistry for Health, Five Salon, Hand & Stone Massage & Facial Spa, Bath & Body Works, Eddie Bauer, Club Champion, Power Life, Nothing Bundt Cake and Andre’s. Completed in 1989, the property was last renovated in 2010. Amy Sands, Clinton Mitchell, Michael Nieder and Chris Gerard of JLL represented the seller, a joint venture between RED Development and BIG Shopping Centers. Lund Co. Investments Inc. was the buyer.
AURORA, ILL. — Panattoni Development has purchased 29 acres in Aurora with plans to build a 356,462-square-foot speculative industrial development. Panattoni expects to break ground on the project this month. The industrial facility will feature a clear height of 36 feet, 34 loading docks, 139 trailer positions and 290 car parking spaces. Completion is slated for the third or fourth quarter of this year. Nick Krejci and Noel Liston of Darwin Realty/CORFAC International represented Panattoni in the acquisition. Darwin has been retained to market the project for lease.
INDIANAPOLIS — Colliers has arranged the sale of Franklin Road Business Center in Indianapolis for an undisclosed price. The two-story industrial flex building spans 320,219 square feet at 2855 N. Franklin Road. Originally built in 1961, the property features 16 docks, three drive-in doors, a 239-seat auditorium and office space. Franklin Road Business Center is 75 percent leased to five tenants, including Nakoma Products, Barrette and Siro Technology. Alex Davenport and Alex Cantu of Colliers represented the seller, Franklin Road Realty LLC. Denver-based Legacy Capital Partners Inc. purchased the asset.
WEST BLOOMFIELD, MICH. — Tranquility Healing Spa has leased 2,000 square feet at a retail property located at 6765 Orchard Lake Road in West Bloomfield. The property, which is also occupied by Beyond Juice, is now fully leased. Michael Murphy and Tjader Gerdom of Gerdom Realty & Investment represented the landlord, Zeerco Development. Murphy and Gerdom also represented Zeerco in the sale of the building to a local investor. Jon Kouza of AQRE Advisors represented the buyer.
ROCHESTER, MINN. — CBRE Investment Management has acquired The Berkman, a 350-unit luxury apartment complex in Rochester, a city in Southeast Minnesota. The purchase price was $187.6 million, according to local media reports. The sellers were Kayne Anderson Real Estate and Alatus LLC. Located at 217 14th Ave. SW, The Berkman sits across the street from the Mayo Clinic’s Saint Marys Campus, which is the nation’s largest intensive care unit. The property is also less than one mile from the Mayo Clinic’s downtown campus. The community opened in 2020. The Berkman features several environmentally friendly components, including low-flow plumbing fixtures, efficient electric heat pumping technology and sustainable building materials. David Selznick, chief investment officer with Kayne Anderson, says the objective of the development was to provide an environmental, social and governance (ESG)-oriented community to support the Mayo Clinic’s staff, patients and overall Rochester resident base. “We believe that this asset’s proximity to the area’s elite base of education, research and world-renowned medical institutions, combined with strong demographic fundamentals, will position this property as a quality asset that will capitalize on durable demand from ‘eds and meds,’” says Benjamin Green, managing director of residential transactions at CBRE Investment Management. Community amenities …
FRANKLIN, IND. — MDH Partners has purchased Franklin Tech Park, an 808,505-square-foot industrial facility in the Indianapolis suburb of Franklin. The purchase price was undisclosed. Constructed in 2009, the property sits on 42 acres at 500 Bartram Parkway. The facility is LEED Gold-certified and features a clear height of 32 feet, 78 exterior dock doors and over 100 trailer parking spaces. The transaction marks the first acquisition in Indiana for Atlanta-based MDH. Upon acquisition, MDH executed a lease with Atlanta-based, third-party logistics provider Broadrange Logistics. Houston Hawley of MDH served as the acquisition lead for the company. JR Wright and John Gosnell of Strategic Real Estate Partners brokered the sale.
FAIRFIELD, OHIO — Brennan Investment Group has acquired 34 acres at the intersection of Seward and Symmes roads in Fairfield, a northern suburb of Cincinnati. The firm plans to build two speculative industrial buildings totaling 445,000 square feet. One building will span 282,000 square feet, while the other will total 163,000 square feet. The site is near I-75, I-275 and the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport. The seller and sales price were not released.
CINCINNATI — SRS Real Estate Partners has brokered the sale of Ridgewater Plaza in Cincinnati for $10.2 million. The 175,945-square-foot shopping center is located at 3240 Highland Ave. The property is 92 percent occupied by tenants such as American Freight and NAPA Auto Parts. Jack Cornell of SRS represented the seller, Oklahoma-based Frayer Enterprises, as well as the buyer, an Ohio-based private real estate investment firm.