MINNEAPOLIS — Fox Rothschild LLP, a national law firm, is relocating its Minneapolis headquarters from Two22 Tower to City Center in November. The firm will occupy 39,081 square feet of Target’s former space. Francis Cauffman Architects will serve as architect and interior designer for Fox Rothschild’s new space, which will span half of floor 36 and the entirety of floor 37. City Center is a 51-story, 1.6 million-square-foot office and retail tower owned by Ryan Cos. US Inc.
STERLING HEIGHTS, MICH. — Alliant Credit Union has provided a five-year, $16 million loan for the refinancing of a 370,656-square-foot industrial building in Sterling Heights, about 20 miles north of downtown Detroit. The property includes 47,856 square feet of office space. The borrower was a private investor group that closed an original loan with Alliant in December 2017.
COUNTRYSIDE, ILL. — In a sale-leaseback transaction, MDH Partners has purchased a 78,490-square-foot industrial property in Countryside, about 18 miles southwest of Chicago. The sales price was undisclosed. The property is located at 5315 Dansher Road within Chicago’s North I-55 industrial submarket. Doug Pilcher of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller and tenant, Sokol & Co., which is a food manufacturing company. Houston Hawley served as the acquisition lead for MDH.
ELGIN, ILL. — Chicago-based Martinez Produce & Seafood has expanded its Chicagoland footprint with the purchase of a 65,772-square-foot industrial facility in Elgin. The building, which features six truck docks and two drive-in doors, more than doubles the company’s footprint. Cory Kay and Mike DeSerto of Entre Commercial Realty represented Martinez Produce & Seafood, while Lee & Associates represented the seller. The sales price and seller were not provided.
COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA — The Opus Group has broken ground on River Road Logistics, a 302,300-square-foot speculative industrial building in Council Bluffs. Located at the intersection of Nebraska Avenue and River Road, the development will feature 34 dock doors, two drive-in doors, 50 dedicated trailer parking stalls, 225 car parking stalls and a clear height of 32 feet. More than half of the building has been preleased. The facility is slated for completion in the first quarter of 2023, and Opus plans to build a second building at the site. Opus is the developer, design-builder, architect and structural engineer. Matt Hasenjager and Denny Sciscoe of Cushman & Wakefield/The Lund Co. are marketing the space for lease.
SAINT FRANCIS, WIS. — JLL Capital Markets has brokered the $15.1 million sale of Whitnall Square in Saint Francis, just south of Milwaukee. Pick ’N Save anchors the 133,421-square-foot shopping center, which was constructed between 1989 and 1991. Other tenants include Petco, Planet Fitness, Harbor Freight Tools, Metro PCS, Dollar Tree, Subway, H&R Block, Bangkok House Restaurant, Hariport, Papa Murphy’s Pizza and P.T. Nails. The center is 96 percent leased. Amy Sands, Clinton Mitchell, Michael Nieder and Jaime Fink of JLL represented the seller, Newport Capital Partners, and procured the buyer, Savitar Realty Advisors.
Maverick Commercial Arranges $14M in Permanent Financing for Home Depot-Occupied Property in Chicago
CHICAGO — Maverick Commercial Mortgage Inc. has arranged a $14 million first mortgage loan for a 103,550-square-foot retail property occupied by Home Depot in Chicago’s Chatham neighborhood. Earlier this year, Home Depot signed a new 10-year lease with MG Development LP for the property, which is located at 200 W. 87th St. and includes an exterior garden center. A regional bank provided the 10-year, floating-rate loan, which features a 25-year amortization schedule. Proceeds from the loan paid off the existing lender, provided cash to the borrower and paid for closing costs.
PORTAGE, IND. — Greenstone Partners has negotiated the $8.2 million sale of a 52,798-square-foot industrial building in Portage, a city in northwest Indiana. Completed in June 2021, the building is named The Diversey at AmeriPlex and is situated within AmeriPlex at the Port, a 385-acre industrial park. Tenants at the property include Fagor Arrasate, Johnson Brothers, Shorebags and Dream Big Gymnastics. Jason St. John of Greenstone represented the seller, Indiana-based developer Holladay Properties, and procured the West Coast-based buyer.
CHICAGO — Kiser Group has brokered the sale of a 21-unit apartment building in Chicago’s East Rogers Park neighborhood for $3.2 million. The property is located at 1237 W. Morse Ave. and includes 14 one-bedroom units and seven two-bedroom units as well as nine parking spaces. Danny Logarakis of Kiser represented the seller, who had owned the property for more than two decades and completed upgrades. Logarakis also represented the undisclosed buyer, who is expected to renovate units and increase rents.
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Build-to-Rent Planning and Entitlements: How to Avoid Challenges
The build-to-rent (BTR) property type has gained significant traction in the commercial real estate market due to increasing interest from tenants, investors and developers. Developers moving into the BTR market before 2020 originally focused on this sector as an “in between” product for future home buyers who weren’t ready to commit to a single location but wanted additional space and amenities. The pandemic fueled tenants’ desires for more privacy and space without the long-term commitment of homeownership, which ignited growth in the sector. As costs for single-family homes continue to rise, the BTR niche also increasingly attracts would-be homeowners who are priced out of the homebuying market — and the growing demand for BTR properties draws the attention of more and more investors and developers. But not all stakeholders are immediately on board with development of BTR properties. The concept is rather new in some markets and local communities have questions about the zoning and operation of these hybrid communities, which are an intriguing mix of single-family concept and multifamily operations. Developers often need to educate municipalities about the BTR concept — and they need to plan BTR properties that work for the local community. This is where Bohler — a land …