FARMINGTON HILLS, MICH. — Bernard Financial Group has arranged a $5.6 million loan for the refinancing of a 72,607-square-foot office property in Farmington Hills. Dennis Bernard and Joshua Bernard of Bernard Financial Group arranged the loan on behalf of the borrower, Duke & Duke LP. Securian Life Insurance Co. provided the loan.
FLINT, MICH. — Avison Young has brokered the sale of a single-tenant retail property occupied by Dollar General in Flint for $1 million. The 9,774-square-foot building, renovated in 2019, sits on 1.1 acres at 1510 E. Carpenter Road. Chris Maling, David Maling and James Becker of Avison Young represented the seller, Michigan-based Maplewood Partners LLC. The team also procured the buyer, a Minnesota-based family trust. Dollar General has nine years remaining on its lease.
As the nation’s retailers adapt to more curbside pickup and outdoor offerings as a result of COVID-19, what will happen in cold-weather states like Michigan once winter hits? Panelists pondered this question during “Michigan Retail Outlook,” a webinar hosted by Shopping Center Business and Heartland Real Estate Business that took place Tuesday, Aug. 25. “We have tenants that are expanding their outdoor seating and planning ahead for winter by adding covers, plastic vinyl or outdoor heaters,” said Mike McBride, senior vice president of asset management for RPT Realty, which has an office in Southfield, Mich. “We’re seeing them expand for the long term with outdoor equipment.” Joining McBride on the panel were Deno Bistolarides of Encore Real Estate Investment Services, Thomas Litzler of Schostak Brothers & Co., Cynthia Kratchman of Mid-America Real Estate — Michigan, Nathan Forbes of The Forbes Co. and Eric Larson of Downtown Detroit Partnership. Todd Sachse of Sachse Construction moderated the discussion. “Europe has lived with outdoor seating 12 months per year forever,” noted Forbes, who is managing partner in Southfield, Mich. “There have to be ways to keep that outdoor space open during the winter months through temporary heating or other measures. We have to …
DETROIT — Bedrock, the real estate arm of Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert, has hired Kofi Bonner, former Cleveland Browns chief administrative officer, as CEO starting Sept. 21. He replaces Matt Cullen, who left in July. A leader behind some of California’s most recent coastal developments, Bonner has extensive experience in development projects in metro areas. He served as co-chief operating officer at Irvine, Calif.-based FivePoint Holdings, where he led the entitlement and development of the San Francisco Shipyard and Candlestick Communities. Bonner spent the last year focused on real estate development and technology ventures through his Bonner Enterprises. He began his career as the affordable housing developer for Oakland Community Housing Inc. “With his extensive experience leading landmark projects on the West Coast and the years he spent in Cleveland with the Browns, Bonner is the right leader to build on Bedrock’s nearly 10 years of transformational development work,” says Bill Emerson, vice chairman of Bedrock and current acting CEO. Emerson will transition his role back to vice chairman of both Bedrock and Rock Holdings Inc. Since its founding in 2011, Bedrock has invested and committed more than $5.6 billion to acquiring and developing more than 100 properties, including …
DETROIT — Developers Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH) and Develop Detroit have broken ground on a $36.3 million mixed-income development in Midtown Detroit’s Sugar Hill Arts District. Slated for completion in late 2021, the project will occupy what is currently a vacant lot on the northwest corner of John R and Garfield streets. The development will include 68 apartment units, 11,900 square feet of retail space and 164 parking spaces. Fourteen of the units will be set aside for residents who earn 30 to 60 percent of the area median income. The project site is located across from the John D. Dingell VA Medical Center. As such, many of the affordable units be dedicated to homeless veterans. Midtown Detroit Inc. plans to develop an outdoor green space adjacent to the building. In addition to the affordable housing component, the project is significant because it is one of the last designed by Phil Freelon, a celebrated black architect who passed away last year. The project team includes general contractor Whiting-Turner and architects Perkins & Will and McIntosh Poris. VM3 Consulting Corp. is working to engage minority- and women-owned firms as well as Detroit-based workers. Project funding comes from the City of …
OAKBROOK TERRACE, ILL. — J.C. Anderson has been selected to complete a 109,000-square-foot office build-out for German engineering and technology company Bosch at One Tower Lane in Oakbrook Terrace. The project encompasses the top five floors of the 31-story office building as well as a 15,883-square-foot separate commercial space at the property known as “The Annex.” Bosch plans to relocate about 350 employees from its automotive aftermarket division in Broadview to the new space in Oakbrook Terrace. Scheduled for completion in November, the project will include the addition of conference rooms, private offices and open seating areas. The annex portion will serve as a testing and lab facility. Whitney is the project architect and Cushman & Wakefield is providing project management services.
ALGONQUIN, ILL. — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of a 7,926-square-foot retail building in Algonquin for $3.7 million. Located at 1496 S. Randall Road, the property serves as an outparcel to a Walmart Supercenter. Austin Weisenbeck and Sean Sharko of Marcus & Millichap marketed the building on behalf of the seller, a developer. A Midwest-based investment company purchased the asset, which was fully leased at the time of sale to The Vitamin Shoppe, FedEx and Bentley’s Pet Stuff.
EAST PEORIA, ILL. — Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors has brokered the $3.5 million sale of a newly constructed retail property occupied by Panera Bread in East Peoria, about 70 miles north of Springfield. The 4,380-square-foot, drive-thru location is situated within a 650,000-square-foot mixed-use development known as The Levee District. Jeff Lefko and Bill Asher of Hanley represented the seller, Cullinan Properties Ltd. David Rush of CBRE represented the buyer, a Santa Barbara, Calif.-based private investor.
KANSAS CITY, MO. — Hunt Midwest continues to expand StorTropolis, its brand of climate-controlled self-storage facilities, throughout metro Kansas City. The developer has opened a 138,000-square-foot facility at 3140 NW Jefferson St. in Blue Springs, Mo., and begun construction on a 111,000-square-foot facility in Lenexa, Kan. Hunt Midwest began developing self-storage properties in 2018 and, in partnership with Strickland Construction, has built and opened three other StorTropolis facilities — two in Kansas City and one in Shawnee, Kan. Each three-story StorTropolis building ranges in size from 104,000 to 138,000 square feet and offers 580 to 760 climate-controlled units. Storage Asset Management, a privately owned, third-party management company, operates StorTropolis. Hunt Midwest is also the developer for SubTropolis, a massive underground business complex with more than 6.5 million square feet of leasable space.
CHICAGO — Chamberlain University, known for its nursing school, has signed a lease for 75,000 square feet of educational space at Riverview at Roscoe on Chicago’s North Side. Baum Revision acquired the office property in a joint venture with Meridian Capital in March of this year. The property is currently undergoing capital improvements with a focus on wellness to achieve LEED Platinum certification. Patrick Russo, Adam Showalter and Jessica O’Hara of Stream Realty Partners have been retained to lease and market the property. There are 40,000 square feet remaining available for lease. Chamberlain has locations across the United States in addition to online programs.