OMAHA, NEB. — Broad Reach Retail Partners has acquired Baker Square Shopping Center in Omaha for an undisclosed price. The grocery-anchored center spans 158,380 square feet and features Fresh Thyme Farmers Market, JoAnn Fabric and CHI Health. The property is 73 percent leased. The seller was not disclosed. LinkedIn recently signed a lease for a new 200,000-square-foot campus less than one mile north of the shopping center.
LINCOLNWOOD, ILL. — CubeWork has signed a 202,259-square-foot industrial lease at 7080 N. McCormick Blvd. in Lincolnwood, a northern suburb of Chicago. CubeWork is an office and warehousing coworking company. The 234,000-square-foot property sits on an 8.6-acre site. The remainder of the building is leased to Service King, a national vehicle collision repair company. Steve Stone of Cushman & Wakefield represented the landlord, New Lincoln LLC. Bill Mass of Mass Realty represented CubeWork.
AUBURN HILLS, MICH. — Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores and Schostak Brothers & Co. have formed a joint venture to redevelop the Palace of Auburn Hills and its surrounding land. Schostak will serve as the lead partner and manage the future mixed-use development, which is expected to include research & development companies, technology firms, as well as corporate offices. Neither financial terms nor a timeline was disclosed. The Pistons organization is preparing to move its remaining team and business operations from The Palace to the new Henry Ford Detroit Pistons Performance Center, which is scheduled to be complete this fall. The Pistons played at The Palace from 1988 until they began playing at Little Caesars Arena in downtown Detroit in 2017.
CHICAGO — Evergreen Real Estate Group has completed a $4 million renovation of Bethel Terrace Apartments, a 123-unit affordable seniors housing community in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood. Evergreen Construction Co., the firm’s full-service construction arm, managed the six-month project. Evergreen also helped secure the renewal of the HUD Section 8 HAP (Housing Assistance Payment) contract, which provides tenant-based assistance, for an additional 20 years. Updates to the residential units at Bethel Terrace included new flooring and paint; new appliances, cabinetry and countertops in kitchens; new vanities and plumbing fixtures in baths; energy-efficient baseboard heaters with programmable thermostats; and LED lighting. Improvements to common areas included new paint, flooring, lighting, elevator upgrades, shared Wi-Fi and an enhanced security system. Outside, Evergreen Construction Co. completed a façade restoration and roof replacement, installed new lighting and landscaping, replaced fencing, repaired sidewalks, repaved the parking lot, and added a new garden patio with accessible seating. The Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) provided financing for the rehabilitation. The community’s nonprofit owner is Englewood Cooperative Apartments. Bethel Terrace is connected by a ground-level corridor to the adjacent Sangamon Terrace Apartments, a four-story affordable seniors housing development that Evergreen is currently building.
CARY, ILL. — Illinois Lift Equipment Inc. has signed a 29,000-square-foot industrial lease at 675 Industrial Drive in Cary. The 53,944-square-foot facility was built in 1987. The equipment dealer, which provides forklifts and scissor lifts, currently occupies more than 75,000 square feet at 640 Industrial Drive and was seeking additional space for overflow storage. Dan Brown of Brown Commercial Group represented the landlord, DOD Technologies Inc. Brian Lindgren of Brown represented the tenant.
EVANSVILLE, IND. — The Cooper Commercial Investment Group has brokered the sale of Diamond Center in Evansville for $1 million. The 10,000-square-foot retail property is fully occupied. Tenants include Dollar General and Subway. Bob Havasi and Dan Cooper of Cooper Group represented the seller, an Indiana-based private investment group. A New Jersey-based private group purchased the asset at a cap rate of 7.3 percent.
NOVI, MICH. — Gerdom Realty & Investment has negotiated two leases at Thomasville Centre in Novi. Alchile Mexican Grill & Bar and Pho Mai Vietnamese restaurant are the newest tenants to join the center, which is located on Grand River Avenue. Alchile opened this spring, leasing 5,130 square feet. Pho Mai will open during the second half of this year and occupy 1,680 square feet. Joel Karboske of Gerdom represented the landlord, Mclaughlin Family Properties.
KANSAS CITY, MO. — Berkadia has arranged a $32.9 million loan for the conversion of the former Commerce Bank executive office building in Kansas City into apartments. Known as Flashcube Apartments, the property will include 184 units. Construction began in January and is expected to take 12 to 18 months to complete. Community amenities will include a game room, basketball court, fitness center, pickleball court, lounge, dog run and bike storage. John Schorgl of Berkadia arranged the 2.5-year loan provided by Boston-based UC Funds. Missouri-based WI Flashcube LLC was the borrower. The developer plans to reserve 40 units for affordable housing. These units will rent for an average of $1,187 per month, according to CityScene KC. The building is nicknamed “flashcube” because of its reflective glass exterior. It has been vacant for more than a decade.
PEWAUKEE, WIS. — The Barry Co. has brokered the $15 million sale-leaseback of Harken Inc.’s headquarters in Pewaukee. The 170,000-square-foot industrial building features 30,000 square feet of second-floor office space. The facility was constructed in 2012 as a build-to-suit for Harken, which is a manufacturer and marketer of marine hardware and accessories used in events such as America’s Cup and the Olympics. David Buckley of Barry brokered the transaction. HRKN LLC, a private real estate group not affiliated with Harken, purchased the property.
CHICAGO — Architecture firm Lamar Johnson Collaborative (LJC), a subsidiary of constructor Clayco, has combined with Clayco-owned architecture firm BatesForum, creating one firm of more than 240 professionals in five offices. The expanded firm has expertise in commercial, residential, multi-use, interiors, healthcare, retail, planning, landscape, education and industrial architecture. Among the firm’s unique capabilities are its technical assurance group, which consults with project teams to apply lesson from the built environment to projects still on the drawing board, and the virtual design and construction team, which provides building information modeling support. The combined firm now exceeds 200 active architecture and design projects in 24 states, while together with parent company Clayco, the overall construction value of projects exceeds $4 billion. Chicago-based Clayco acquired LJC last fall.
