BRISTOL, WIS. — Peak Construction Corp. is underway on a 1 million-square-foot speculative industrial building at Bristol Business Park in Bristol, about 40 miles south of Milwaukee. NorthPoint Development is the developer. Completion is slated for this November. The building will feature a clear height of 40 feet, 105 dock doors and four drive-in doors. The project team includes studioNorth Architecture and Manhard Consulting Ltd.
Property tax systems vary from state to state across the country, with differing procedures in each assessor’s jurisdiction. Complicating things further, the personalities of assessors and their staff influence the way they interact with property owners or their agents. It is the responsibility of the property owner or their agent to learn and adapt to the procedures and behaviors at work in their assessor’s offices. However, there are universal pre-emptive steps that property owners in any jurisdiction can take to combat excessive valuations. These property-specific action items and best practices can significantly increase the chances of a successful valuation protest. 1. Document Property Financial Statements In most appraisal systems, income-producing apartment property will be valued using the income approach. Arguably the most important pieces of information the apartment owner can present in protesting assessed values are the property’s rent rolls and profit-and-loss statements. The timely preparation and completion of these documents prior to a protest is essential to any discussion of fair market value. Key line items such as potential gross income, vacancy and collection loss, and net operating income can assist in negotiating lower assessed values. Market rent, in-place rents and occupancy are key indicators on a rent roll …
CHICAGO — A partnership between Mavrek Development, GW Properties and Luxury Living Chicago Realty has unveiled plans to develop a mixed-use project in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood. Plans call for 248 luxury apartment units, 40,000 square feet of office space and 8,000 square feet of retail space. Amenities will include a fitness center, outdoor pool, coworking lounge and package service. Both apartment renters and office tenants will have access to the amenities. The project will replace a parking garage. Demolition is expected to begin this summer with groundbreaking scheduled by the end of the year. The office portion is expected to be ready for tenant buildouts in the third quarter of 2023, with the residential units slated for completion in early 2024. NORR is the project architect.
ST. LOUIS — St. Louis-based ElmTree Funds has acquired seven industrial and office properties across the U.S. for approximately $800 million. The single-tenant, net-leased properties span 3.2 million square feet and are fully leased with a weighted average lease term of 13.7 years. The assets are in markets such as Minneapolis, Seattle and Raleigh. ElmTree, a real estate private equity firm that manages capital on behalf of institutional and private investors, made the acquisitions in the first quarter of 2022.
SOUTHGATE, MICH. — Friedman Real Estate has brokered the sale of Southgate Tower in Southgate, a southwest suburb of Detroit. The sales price was undisclosed. Rising 14 stories and constructed in the early 1970s, Southgate Tower is a former bank office building that now sits vacant. The buyer, Southgate Tower LLC, plans to undertake a massive redevelopment project. Upon full buildout, the project will consist of 201 apartment units. The construction timeline is 24 to 30 months. Friedman’s Andrew Ledger represented the buyer in the transaction. The seller was undisclosed.
KANSAS CITY, MO. — Dwight Capital has provided a $27.2 million HUD 221(d)(4) loan for the construction of The Apartments at Westport Commons in Kansas City. The 138-unit apartment project will be built on the site once occupied by Westport High School. The school closed in 2010 and the site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015. Kansas City Public Schools Repurposing Initiative acquired the site. Locally based Brain Group and Mercier Street are the developers. Amenities will include a clubhouse, leasing office, business center, fitness center, dog park, cinema, community rooms, concierge services and 24,000 square feet of commercial space. The project will utilize state and federal historic tax credits in addition to the debt financing from Dwight. The loan includes a Green Mortgage Insurance Premium (MIP) reduction set at 25 basis points because the property will qualify as green or energy-efficient housing under the LEED program. Steven Hunt of Dwight originated the loan.
CHICAGO — Skender has completed a renovation of the interior office space for Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS) at 2 N. Riverside Drive in Chicago’s West Loop. The renovation project updated the company’s 65,000-square-foot space across two-and-a-half floors and added a new roof deck. The office includes a mix of conference rooms, private offices, collaboration areas, cafés and pantries. Employees can work or socialize outdoors on the new roof deck. Skender collaborated with Partners by Design, McGuire Engineers, Structural Shop, Engineering Plus, CBRE and Spark Chicago. ELS owns and operates manufactured home communities, RV resorts, campgrounds and marinas.
The Section 42 Low-Income Housing Credit program has been America’s primary tool in the effort to construct affordable homes for low- and moderate- income households and ease renter cost burdens since 1986. This public-private partnership has created or preserved more than 3.1 million rental units, accounting for over 30 percent of the nation’s affordable housing stock. Congress is considering legislation that would materially expand and strengthen the tax credit program. In addition to several technical changes to tax credit accounting and rules governing the use of private-activity bond financing, the legislation would authorize increases in credit allocation in 2021 and 2022. The impact of these changes would be substantial, catalyzing construction of more than 100,000 additional units per year over a 10-year period, perhaps trimming the number of rent burdened low-income households by half. Building more affordable housing will represent a significant step toward reducing housing instability and economic inequality in America. But are quantitative gains alone enough? Constructing affordable housing in low-poverty, high-opportunity census tracts is challenging. The following discussion explores some ways in which developers, lenders and credit allocating agencies can increase the level of affordable housing construction in low-poverty, high-opportunity areas (LPHOA) and optimize the …
MENDOTA HEIGHTS, MINN. — Northmarq has arranged a $28.8 million loan for the acquisition of Centre Pointe Business Park in Mendota Heights, a southern suburb of the Twin Cities. The eight-building office park is located at 2060 Centre Pointe Blvd. Totaling 263,279 square feet, the property was built in phases beginning in 1997. The last phase was completed in 2019. The park, which was 95 percent leased at the time of sale, is home to 18 tenants, including Permasteelisa North America Corp. and HealthPartners Inc. Bill Mork of Northmarq arranged the 10-year loan, which features a fixed interest rate and a 25-year amortization schedule. A local credit union provided the loan to the buyer, Edina-based Capital Partners. CBRE represented the undisclosed seller.
LA VISTA, NEB. — Cushman & Wakefield/The Lund Co. has brokered the sale of the Securities America Office Complex in La Vista, a southern suburb of Omaha. The Class A office complex consists of three buildings totaling 148,524 square feet. The property is situated within the 237-acre Southport development, a major mixed-use project near I-80. Richard Secor Jr. and John Lund of Cushman & Wakefield/Lund represented the seller. Further details of the transaction were not disclosed.
