COLUMBUS, OHIO — Herman & Kittle Properties Inc. has opened Whispering Creek, a $5 million apartment community in Columbus. The property is located at 2960 Gooden Way and features 188 units. Floor plans range from one-bedroom to four-bedroom units. Amenities include a business center, dog park, fitness center, laundry facility, play area and barbecue grills. The development is situated near Hoover Park and the Scioto Country Club on the Scioto River. Monthly rents start at $811.
INDIANAPOLIS AND BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MICH. — Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG) and Taubman Centers Inc. (NYSE: TCO) have modified their merger agreement to include a new purchase price of $43 per share, enabling Simon to proceed with its acquisition of an 80 percent interest in Taubman. CNBC reports that the decline in the agreed-upon share price from $52.50 per share effectively reduces the price tag of the deal by $800 million. This announcement comes just as the two regional mall REITs were set to square off in Circuit Court for the Sixth Judicial District of Oakland County (Michigan), litigation that has since been settled. Analysts at Piper Sandler, a Minnesota-based investment banking firm, expressed surprise at the ability of the two owner-operators to resolve the price disagreement ahead of today’s court hearing. “We thought any settlement or price cut would occur after the judge’s ruling,” the firm wrote. “Ultimately, Simon Property Group saves approximately $700 million in cash on the recut of the deal, offset by obligatory legal fees, which totaled $18 million in the third quarter. The pushing of the closing until late 2020 or early 2021 is also better timed for the economic recovery.” “For Taubman, the outcome is …
CLEVELAND — KeyBank Real Estate Capital (KBREC) and KeyBanc Capital Markets (KBCM) have structured $31 million in financing for the renovation of Carnegie Tower at Fairfax in Cleveland. Built in 1976, the affordable seniors housing property rises 12 stories and features 171 units. It is a project-based Section 8 building and is situated on two acres next to Cleveland Clinic. Units come in one- and two-bedroom floor plans and are reserved for residents age 62 and older. KBREC provided a $14 million HUD construction-to-permanent loan while KBCM sold $17 million of tax-exempt bonds. Additionally, KeyBank Community Development Corp. provided $10 million of low-income housing tax credit equity to purchase credits awarded to the project. Robbie Lynn, Kelly Frank, Ryan Olman and Sam Adams of KeyBank structured the financing on behalf of the borrower, Columbus-based National Church Residences. The project will preserve the building as affordable housing and ensure the long-term viability of the development, according to KeyBank.
CHICAGO — Associated Bank has provided an equity investment totaling $9.4 million of low-income housing tax credits and federal historic tax credits for the rehabilitation of Major Jenkins Apartments in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. The two apartment buildings, originally constructed in 1928, are connected and each rise four stories. Upon completion of the renovations, there will be 156 units designated for individuals who are homeless, at risk of homelessness, physically disabled or have chronic or mental illnesses. The units will be further broken down by resident income. There will be 40 units designated for residents earning up to 30 percent of the area median income (AMI), 54 units for those earning up to 50 percent of AMI and 62 units for those earning up to 60 percent of AMI. Completion is slated for the first quarter of 2022. Teresa Rubio of Associated Community Development LLC managed the equity investment on behalf of the borrower, nonprofit developer Mercy Housing Lakefront. Associated Bank partnered with RBC Community Investments for the financing.
DETROIT — Greystone Bel Real Estate Advisors has arranged the sale of the Whitmore Apartments Portfolio in Detroit for $9 million. The multifamily portfolio comprises six properties and 223 units in the Palmer Park district. The assets were built between 1928 and 1953. Nick Kirby and Cary Belovicz of Greystone Bel represented the seller, a family that had owned the portfolio since the 1960s. The duo also procured the undisclosed buyer.
WESTFIELD, IND. — Sealy & Co. has acquired Westfield Business Centre in Westfield, north of Indianapolis. The purchase price was undisclosed. The distribution center spans 133,160 square feet and is located on Oak Ridge Road. The Peterson Co. built the property in 2018. It is fully leased to distribution and manufacturing tenants, with Aptiv occupying 40 percent. Other tenants include Grinds LLC, ETI Fab and 3rd Dimension Industrial Printing. Alex Cantu and Alex Davenport of Colliers International brokered the sale on behalf of the seller, Oak Ridge LLC, which is an affiliate of Carmel-based Jackson Development LLC.
CLEVELAND — ResellerRatings, a Cleveland-based technology company, has signed a 3,500-square-foot office lease at the historic Caxton Building in downtown Cleveland. ResellerRatings, which is a ratings website where consumers submit reviews of online retailers, is scheduled to move into its new space in November. Stephen Morris of CBRE represented the tenant in the lease transaction. Katherine and Bill Bolton own the eight-story property. The Caxton Building opened in 1903 and was named after William Caxton, the first to introduce the printing press to England. The building was designed to house graphic arts and printing businesses.
Investors favor multifamily markets with brisk population growth and meaningful barriers to entry. But can a case be made in turbulent times for slow-growth Midwest cities characterized by weak entry barriers? View higher resolution version of chart above here. Midwest metro areas with relatively healthy demographic growth — Columbus, Indianapolis and Kansas City come to mind — have posted constructive performance trends during the pandemic recession so far, particularly with respect to rent. Among the 10 largest Midwest markets, Columbus recorded the fastest rent growth over the past three years (18.2 percent, according to Yardi Matrix) and nearly the fastest since the beginning of the pandemic (2.9 percent between February and October). Indeed, Columbus, Indianapolis (2.7 percent) and Kansas City (2.3 percent) respectively recorded the third, fourth and sixth fastest rent trends in the region since February, and each readily topped the -1.1 percent U.S. primary and secondary market average. The fastest rent growth in the region, however, was recorded by two metro areas not blessed with brisk population growth — Cincinnati and Detroit. Between February and October all property rents increased 3.0 percent in Cincinnati and 3.4 percent in Detroit, figures exceeded in only a handful of markets nationally. …
SOUTH ELGIN, ILL. — Synergy Construction Group has completed Panton Mill Station, a 100-unit luxury apartment development in South Elgin, about 40 miles west of Chicago. The four-story building is located on the banks of the Fox River and includes 10,000 square feet of retail space and a 180-stall surface parking lot. Amenities include a fitness center, business center and outdoor kitchens. Ware Malcomb provided architecture and interior design services for the project. Residents can now receive one month of free rent. Monthly rents start around $1,410.
ST. LOUIS — NorthMarq has arranged a $13 million loan for the refinancing of Trinity Park Apartments, a 490-unit multifamily portfolio in St. Louis. The properties are located at 11043 Mollerus Drive and 11065 Dunklin Drive. Noah Juran of NorthMarq’s Cincinnati office worked alongside David Garfinkel of NorthMarq’s St. Louis office to structure the three-year loan with two years of interest-only payments followed by a 25-year amortization schedule. A regional bank provided the loan, which lowers the interest rate and provides additional time for the portfolio to stabilize, according to Juran.