MIDDLETON, OHIO — Baum Realty Group LLC has brokered the $1.9 million sale of a 22,052-square-foot, single-tenant building occupied by Staples in Middleton, about 30 miles northeast of Cincinnati. Patrick Forkin of Baum represented the seller, a private regional investor. The buyer was undisclosed. Staples has approximately four years remaining on its lease.
ST. LOUIS — McCarthy Building Cos. and HITT Contracting will build a $1.7 billion office campus in St. Louis for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), which provides intelligence and combat support services to the U.S. Department of Defense. The campus is being developed on a 97-acre tract at the corner of Jefferson and Cass avenues on the city’s north side. The property will feature approximately 712,000 square feet of office space, parking garages, a visitor’s center and an inspection facility. NGA, which has operated out of St. Louis for 70 years, will relocate from its current facility in south St. Louis to the new campus, which is expected to be fully operational by 2025. The U.S. Air Force owns NGA’s current campus, and it remains unclear what the military branch will do with that property following the relocation. “NGA’s new campus will be built with spaces that facilitate information sharing and collaboration among NGA’s and St. Louis’ talented innovators,” says Vice Admiral Richard Sharp, director of NGA. “Working together, we can better achieve NGA’s mission of providing world-class intelligence to U.S. service members and leaders to keep our nation secure.” A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 26. Following …
There’s a human factor when it comes to working in the affordable housing industry. Kelly Frank, senior banker at KeyBank, recalls attending a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a scattered-site housing development where a woman came up to her in tears expressing how grateful she was to have a home in a safe neighborhood setting. The ability to make such a positive impact on someone’s life is one reason Frank loves the affordable housing business. “A lot of work is being done to bring affordable housing to every community,” says Frank. “Everybody’s eyes are on it because it’s a resounding theme throughout the country that there’s just not enough affordable housing.” The United States is short 7 million rental units that are affordable and available to extremely low-income renters, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. These renters have household incomes that are at or below the poverty guideline, or 30 percent of their area median income. The silver lining is that Cleveland-based KeyBank and other lenders have a large toolbox of financing mechanisms available to combat the affordable housing crisis and facilitate the development and preservation of affordable units. Many loans are processed through agencies, including government-sponsored enterprises such as …
CHICAGO — Starbucks Coffee Co. has opened its Reserve Roastery in downtown Chicago. The 35,000-square-foot, five-story roastery opened to the public on Friday, Nov. 15 and is the largest Starbucks location. The store is located on the Magnificent Mile in a space formerly occupied by Crate & Barrel. All of the coffee beans roasted at the facility are served and sold on site. There are three coffee bars at the roastery. Baristas make classic espresso beverages at the coffee bar on the main floor. An experiential bar can be found on the third floor where customers can learn more about the art and science of coffee. A barrel-aged coffee bar can be found on the fourth floor where guests can enjoy cocktail-inspired coffee creations exclusive to the Chicago roastery. In addition to beverages, visitors can purchase food at Princi, a boutique bakery and café. The Chicago roastery joins locations in Seattle, Shanghai, Milan, New York and Tokyo.
ST. LOUIS — General contractor Clayco has celebrated the topping out and final concrete pour for One Hundred Above the Park, a 316-unit apartment tower in the Central West End of St. Louis. Designed by Studio Gang, the 540,369-square-foot, 385-foot project will also include retail space, amenities and parking. Units will be available for rent in summer 2020 with occupancy slated for the third quarter. Mac Properties is the owner and developer. Clayco is working with concrete company Concrete Strategies. Clayco says it has been able to speed up construction by utilizing building information modeling and GPS technology to digitally lay out and check all dimensions of the slab edges and penetrations, reaching the 36th floor in 15 months.
MAYFIELD HEIGHTS, OHIO — Mohr Capital has sold a 460,000-square-foot, net leased office building in Mayfield Heights, a suburb of Cleveland, for $61.1 million. The property is fully leased to Rockwell Automation Inc. Mohr acquired the asset two years ago. Rodrigo Godoi and Kyle Campbell of Mohr represented the company in the sale. There were no brokers involved in the transaction. The buyer was undisclosed.
PRIOR LAKE, MINN. — SkyView Advisors has brokered the sale of a 70,914-square-foot Select Space Storage facility in Prior Lake within metro Minneapolis. The 3.5-acre property is located at 4370 Fountain Hills Drive. Richard Riddle and Ryan Clark of SkyView represented the seller. Self-storage REIT CubeSmart purchased the property.
GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. — PF Michigan Group, a Planet Fitness franchisee, has leased a 24,797-square-foot space at 234 Market St. in Grand Rapids. Planet Fitness will serve as the anchor tenant of the approximately 31,000 square feet of commercial space at the property. Maplegrove Property Management LLC is the landlord. PF Michigan Group currently owns and operates 47 Planet Fitness locations throughout Michigan and northwest Ohio. Todd Leinberger, Mary Anne Wisinski-Rosely and Jason Makowski of NAI Wisinski of West Michigan represented the landlord while Lars Anderson of NorthStar Commercial represented the tenant in the lease transaction. The gym is expected to open in late spring 2020.
Even in the context of a sustained stretch of national economic growth and a Midwest region where there are plenty of high-performing markets, Minneapolis-St. Paul stands out. The commercial real estate market in and around the Twin Cities is thriving, in large part due to some impressive structural fundamentals. Metrics and measurables The state of Minnesota — especially the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area — has a very diverse base of employment, with a long list of significant Fortune 500 companies, including familiar and even iconic names like Target, Best Buy, 3M, U.S. Bancorp, General Mills, Medtronic, C.H. Robinson and United Health Care. United Health Care alone generated $226 billion in revenue in 2018. The economic and market diversity of the Twin Cities stands in contrast to some other Midwest markets, even some that are experiencing significant growth. The market has also experienced an exciting and ongoing uptick in workforce numbers and population growth, elevating Minneapolis-St. Paul far ahead of U.S. averages for both numbers — surpassing cities like Seattle, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. Forbes lists the state of Minnesota as among the nation’s top 10 “Best States for Business.” With 65 percent of the state’s population living in the Minneapolis-St. …
ST. LOUIS — A joint venture between GMH Capital Partners and AGC Equity Partners has acquired Everly on the Loop, a 428-bed student housing community serving students at Washington University in St. Louis. Built in 2017, the 192,390-square-foot community offers one-, two- and three-bedroom units that average 899 square feet. Shared amenities include a fitness center, yoga room, game room, swimming pool and indoor and outdoor entertainment spaces. The seller and terms of the transaction were undisclosed.