ST. LOUIS — Tarlton Corp. is serving as the general contractor for the reimagining of Tower Tee in St. Louis. Plans call for a 27-acre golf and recreation complex. Originally opened in 1963, Tower Tee was home to batting cages, an 18-hole golf course, a driving range and miniature golf. In 2018, the owners closed the business. Steve Walkenbach of Scottrade purchased the site in May 2019. The new Tower Tee Golf Complex will feature a 6,000-square-foot clubhouse, two single-level driving ranges, a two-story driving range, covered practice tee boxes, a nine-hole golf course, an outdoor training area, concession area and two outdoor pavilions. Non-golfers can enjoy a miniature golf course, bocce courts and batting cages. Construction is expected to begin in July with completion slated for next year. FGM Architects is the project architect. Art Schaupeter, a member of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, designed the new nine-hole course.
Midwest
NORMAL, ILL. — An affiliate of Phoenix Investors has acquired an approximately 500,000-square-foot industrial facility in Normal, just north of Bloomington. The purchase price was undisclosed. The property sits on 65.6 acres at 301 W. Kerrick Road. Wildwood Industries Inc. started development of the facility 12 years ago, but it was never fully completed or occupied. Phoenix plans to invest capital into the project to bring it to completion. The development features a clear height of 30 feet and 84 exterior docks. Ken Szady and Krysti Galvin of Marcus & Millichap brokered the sale.
CROWN POINT, IND. — Greystone has provided a $14 million FHA-insured loan for the refinancing of Cypress Pointe Apartments, a 174-unit multifamily property located in Crown Point, about six miles southwest of Merrillville. The borrower was Bayshore Properties. The Section 223(f) loan carries a 40-year term, 35-year amortization and a fixed rate. The refinancing will enable Bayshore to continue with ongoing maintenance and renovations. Originally built in 1978, Cypress Pointe features six buildings along with a clubhouse, pool, fitness center and playground.
ELK GROVE VILLAGE, ILL. — Seefried Industrial Properties has acquired an 8.8-acre site in Elk Grove Village with plans to develop a two-building industrial project spanning 163,000 square feet. The speculative development, situated in the Centex Industrial Park near O’Hare International Airport, will feature a clear height of 32 feet, 24 docks, eight trailer positions and 175 car parking spaces. Jonathan Kohn and Ron Behm of Colliers International represented Seefried in the land assemblage. The project team includes Harris Architects, Jacob & Hefner and Premier Design + Build. Completion is slated for the first quarter of 2021.
CHICAGO — Summit Design + Build LLC has completed the construction of 1040 W. Fulton, a five-story, 42,000-square-foot office building in Chicago’s Fulton Market district. Floors four and five will serve as the new headquarters for Summit. The project also features ground-floor retail space, a green roof and basement parking. Summit used heavy timber construction for the project. The building is the first multi-story mass timber building in the city of Chicago in 50 years, according to Summit. The project team included Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture, Eastlake Studio, Carr Realty Advisors, IMEG Corp., Weaver Consultants Group and WT Engineering. Chad Schroedl, Scott Maesel and Drew Dillon of SVN Chicago Commercial are the building’s leasing agents. First Bank of Highland Park provided construction financing.
CHICAGO — Meridian Design Build has completed construction of a 358,879-square-foot speculative industrial building in the city of Chicago. NorthPoint Development was the developer. The new facility sits on a 31.2-cre site. StudioNorth Architecture and Jacob & Hefner Associates made up the project team. Meridian and NorthPoint worked together to maximize participation by businesses owned by minorities and women for the project. The new building is the first within NorthPoint’s $164 million, 200-acre Avenue O Industrial Park. The park is a redevelopment of the Republic Steel site that has been vacant for more than two decades. Plans call for 2.3 million square feet of industrial development.
TOLEDO, OHIO — Hunt Real Estate Capital has provided a $17.2 million Fannie Mae loan for the refinancing of Steeplechase Apartments in Toledo. The 242-unit, garden-style multifamily property was built in phases from 1999 to 2004. It sits on a 19.5-acre site. The 12-year, fixed-rate loan features a 30-year amortization schedule. Hunt provided initial acquisition financing for the asset in 2017. Since the acquisition, the undisclosed borrower has invested $524,000 in capital improvements, including new water heaters, appliances, windows, landscaping, vinyl replacement, HVAC upgrades and carpet replacement.
ELK GROVE VILLAGE, ILL. — Screen Americas has signed a 44,198-square-foot industrial lease at Elk Grove Technology Park in Elk Grove Village. Screen is a provider of inkjet printing technology. The facility will serve as the North American headquarters for the company. Mike Sedjo, Jack Brennan and John Hamilton of CBRE represented the landlord, Brennan Investment Group, in the lease transaction. Joe Bronson of NAI Hiffman represented Screen, which will occupy space within a 151,693-square-foot building. Elk Grove Technology Park is an 85-acre industrial park near O’Hare International Airport. With the completion of Phase I in the fourth quarter of 2019, the park is nearly 75 percent leased.
CHICAGO — SVN Chicago Commercial has brokered the sale of Baric Commons in Chicago’s West Pullman neighborhood for $10.6 million. The 141-unit multifamily community is located at 232 E. 121st Place. Jeff Baasch and Finley Askin of SVN brokered the transaction. An out-of-state private investment group purchased the asset from an undisclosed seller.
By Steve Nowak, Siegel Jennings Co. A recent decision from an Ohio appeals court highlights a developing and troubling pattern in the state’s property tax valuation appeals. In a number of cases, an appraiser’s misuse of the highest and best use concept has led to extreme overvaluations. Given its potential to grossly inflate tax liabilities, property owners and well-known tenants need to be aware of this alarming trend and how to best respond. In the recently decided case, a property used as a McDonald’s restaurant in Northeast Ohio received widely varied appraisals. The county assessor, in the ordinary course of setting values, assessed the value at $1.3 million. Then a Member of the Appraisal Institute (MAI) appraiser hired by the property owner calculated a value of $715,000. Another MAI appraiser, this one hired by the county assessor, set the value at $1.9 million. The average of the two MAI appraisals equals $1.3 million, closely mirroring the county’s initial value. Despite the property owner having met its burden of proof at the first hearing level, the county board of revision rejected the property owner’s evidence without analysis or explanation. The owner then appealed to the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals (BTA). …