ST. CHARLES, MO. — St. Louis Funny Bone Comedy Club has opened a new location at the Streets of St. Charles, a 27-acre mixed-use development in suburban St. Louis. The family-owned comedy club has operated in St. Louis for more than 30 years. The club hosts talent from the St. Louis area as well as nationally touring comedians, and hosts a weekly open mic night on Tuesdays. Jerry Kubach is the club’s owner. Cullinan Properties Ltd., the owner of Streets of St. Charles, also unveiled new tenants at the property such as The Socialite and Hot Box Cookies.
KANSAS CITY, MO. — Ascendas REIT has purchased a 2.1 million-square-foot industrial portfolio spanning 13 buildings in metro Kansas City for $156 million. The acquisition marks the first entry into the U.S. logistics market for Singapore-based Ascendas. The infill properties are situated across the submarkets of South Johnson County, North Johnson County, Eastern Jackson County and Northland. The portfolio is 92.6 percent occupied by 27 tenants. Two entities doing business as ColFin 2017-11 Industrial Owner LLC and ColFin Cobalt I-II LLC were the sellers. Mark Long, John Hassler, Jim Linn and Andrew Briner of Newmark Zimmer brokered the transaction. Ascendas, an industrial REIT, is listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited. Its portfolio comprises 210 properties across the globe.
CHESTERFIELD, MO. — Gateway Studios & Production Services is scheduled to break ground this Thursday, Nov. 11, on its new $130 million campus in Chesterfield, a western suburb of St. Louis. When complete, the 32-acre project will be the largest production services and rehearsal facility of its kind in the country, according to Gateway Studios. The project will include a hotel and four studios that will accommodate the development and creation of arena-size tours, movie and television productions as well as corporate events. The development will employ more than 100 music and production professionals upon completion, which is slated for the first quarter of 2023.
JOPLIN, MO. — Matthews Real Estate Investment Services has brokered the $7.8 million sale of a 79,454-square-foot industrial facility occupied by FedEx in the Southwest Missouri town of Joplin. The property is located at 3752 Enterprise Ave. Brett Davis and Alexander Harrold of Matthews brokered the transaction. Both the seller and buyer were private investors.
BRANSON, MO. — Outside the Lines (OTL), a design-build company specializing in water features, fountains, rockwork and themed environments, is building a show fountain within the lake at Branson Boardwalk in Missouri. The 12,500-square-foot lake is adjacent to the Aquarium at the Boardwalk. The $55 million project, the first attraction to be developed at the Branson Boardwalk, includes a 34-ton, 55-foot octopus sculpture by Demiurge. The octopus will be integrated into the show fountain with color-changing LED lights. Kuvera Partners is the owner and operator of both the Branson Boardwalk and Aquarium at the Boardwalk.
ST. LOUIS — St. Louis-based ElmTree Funds LLC has closed its largest commingled fund to date. Known as Net Lease Fund IV LP, the fund raised $888 million of investor commitments. Fund IV has approximately $2.5 billion in immediate investment capacity, of which roughly $800 million has been committed and deployed. The fund’s investor base is comprised of public and private pension plans, insurance companies, endowments and foundations. Fund IV targets investments in industrial and logistics assets across the United States. Annie Hsieh of ElmTree led the fundraising effort for Fund IV.
KANSAS CITY, MO. — The Cordish Cos. has broken ground on Three Light Luxury Apartments, a $140 million apartment complex in the heart of Kansas City’s Power & Light District. Three Light is the third apartment property to be built in the area, following One Light and Two Light, which are 97 percent occupied. Three Light will rise 26 stories with 288 units. The project will also include a seven-story parking garage and 7,600 square feet of ground-floor retail space. More than 30,000 square feet of amenities will include an exterior deck, infinity pool, entertainment kitchen, theater room, fitness center, business center, valet dry cleaning and coworking areas. Completion is slated for September 2023. More than 20 percent of the units in Three Light will be priced for residents who earn up to 80 percent of the area median income. The project team includes JE Dunn Construction, Hord Coplan & Macht, RD Jones + Associates and Selbert Perkins Design. The project was first announced in April.
CHESTERFIELD, MO. — Merchants Capital has arranged $71 million for the refinancing of Wildhorse, a 188-unit luxury apartment complex in the St. Louis suburb of Chesterfield. Wildhorse also features a 15,000-square-foot Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse with a rooftop bar and 10,000 square feet of retail space. The borrower, Great Lakes Capital, completed construction in April and has since leased the property to full occupancy. Proceeds from the Merchants Bank of Indiana loan paid off an existing construction loan, bought out limited partners and secured additional interest-only payments.
DARDENNE PRAIRIE, MO. — Mia Rose Holdings and Benton Homebuilders are underway on the construction of The Prairie, a multi-phase residential project in Dardenne Prairie, about 37 miles northwest of St. Louis. The project includes five three-story apartment buildings totaling 180 units. Benton Homebuilders is constructing nine buildings consisting of 60 three-bedroom villas. One of the apartment buildings will include first-floor retail space. Property manager 2B Residential plans to begin pre-leasing the units in early 2022. Phase I of the apartments is scheduled to open in mid-2022. The project team includes general contractor Midas Construction; architects Rosemann & Associates PC and DL Design; and civil engineer Premier Design Group. Mia Rose is teaming with entrepreneur and restaurateur Jim Cook on the development.
LIBERTY, MO. — The Opus Group has broken ground on Liberty Heartland Logistics Center in Liberty, a suburb just northwest of Kansas City. The first building is an 847,475-square-foot build-to-suit for Hallmark Cards Inc. The project will feature a clear height of 40 feet, 48 dock doors, two drive-in doors, 150 trailer parking spots and 450 vehicle parking spots. This will be Hallmark’s second distribution center in Liberty and will be situated less than one mile from its current facility. Completion is slated for February 2023, at which time Hallmark anticipates more than 1,200 full-time employees working between its two centers. Opus also plans to build two additional speculative buildings at Liberty Heartland Logistics Center that will span 572,000 and 239,000 square feet. Opus is the developer, design-builder, interior designer, architect and engineer. Mark Long, John Hassler and Scott Bluhm of Newmark Zimmer are marketing Buildings B and C for sale or lease. The Missouri Department of Economic Development collaborated with project partners.