KANSAS CITY, MO. — Walker & Dunlop Inc. has provided a $9.2 million Freddie Mac loan for the refinancing of Santa Fe Village in Kansas City. Built in 1965, the multifamily property includes 215 units. Jeff Schmidt and Tim Cotter of Walker & Dunlop originated the 10-year loan, which features a 30-year amortization schedule. The borrower, Alexander Forrest Investments LLC, completed extensive renovations at the property in 2007 and 2008.
KANSAS CITY, MO. — Copaken Brooks has completed the lease-up of the retail space at its Town Pavilion office building in Kansas City. The property totals 840,642 square feet with 30,372 square feet of first-floor retail space. Three new tenants — Johnny C’s Deli & Pasta, Chick N Pie and Ruby Jean’s Juicery — have signed leases at the property. Johnny C’s is a local Italian deli that serves pastas, sandwiches and salads. Chick N Pie will occupy the space formerly home to Pizza Hut and KFC Express. The quick-service concept, from the same owners of Plowboys BBQ, serves chicken, burgers, pizza and salads. Ruby Jean’s Juicery specializes in smoothies, juices, performance shakes and snacks. The company has five other locations.
ST. LOUIS — NorthMarq Capital has arranged a $13.2 million loan for the acquisition of the Westview office building in St. Louis. The 125,645-square-foot property is located at 12312 Olive Blvd. near Highway 270. David Garfinkel of NorthMarq arranged the loan on behalf of the borrower, Diamond Income Fund Investors. A life insurance company provided the loan.
VALLEY PARK, MO. AND LAKEWOOD, OHIO — Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors has arranged the sale of three properties occupied by 7-Eleven for $4.2 million. One of the properties, a 2,193-square-foot building and gas station located in Valley Park, Mo., sold for $1.9 million. The property was built in 1998. Jeremy McChesney of Hanley represented the seller, Equitas Investments. Matt Lemon and Suheil Sahouria of The Trafton Group represented the buyer, a private investor. Built in 1975, the second building features 2,410 square feet and is located in Lakewood, Ohio. The property sold for $885,000. McChesney again represented the seller, Equitas Investments. Matt Waterman of Pegasus Investments represented the buyer, a private investor based in California. The sales transaction also included a third property located in Florida.
Welcome to St. Louis, Missouri. Home to nine Fortune 500 companies and the 11-time world champion St. Louis Cardinals franchise. St. Louis currently lays claim to nearly 3 million residents in the metropolitan statistical area and has exemplified economic stability and consistent growth since the Great Recession. Herein we’ll explore one key indicator of the economic health of the region: the slow but steady growth of the St. Louis office market. Demand drivers With approximately 136 million square feet of space, St. Louis is one of the largest office markets in the Midwest, and it is getting larger. Increased demand in the local office market has been predominantly driven by job growth and the consistent decrease in unemployment since its high mark of 10.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009. As of November 2017, the region’s unemployment rate is down to a healthy 3.3 percent, compared to a national average of 4.1 percent. Consequently, this demand for office space has resulted in decreased vacancy, increased rental rates and, ultimately, new construction. At the end of the third quarter of 2017, the vacancy rate was 7.6 percent, down from 8.7 percent in 2016. Average asking rental rates were up to …
MARYLAND HEIGHTS, MO. — Midas Hospitality has opened Residence Inn and Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott in Maryland Heights, about 20 miles northwest of St. Louis. The $25 million project is Marriott’s first dual-branded hotel in the St. Louis area. The 119,000-square-foot property is located at 11918 Westline Industrial Drive, formerly home to Clayton Engineering. The hotel includes 96 rooms for the Residence Inn and 88 rooms for the Fairfield Inn & Suites. The property features a fitness center, indoor pool, meeting rooms, guest laundry facilities and backyard seating areas with a grill and pergola. Midas Hospitality will manage the hotel, which was built by sister company MC Hotel Construction.
Over the last five years, Kansas City has seen a flurry of activity in the industrial sector. Since 2012, we have seen approximately 22.7 million square feet of new Class A industrial space hit the market, with speculative development and build-to-suits. Considering that Kansas City had only about 14 million square feet of Class A industrial space prior to 2012, these additions have had a huge impact on our marketplace. Prior to big box speculative development in Kansas City, it was hard to land large users due to lack of available product. These users did not have the time to wait for build-to-suit projects to be completed, so if product wasn’t readily available, they would move on to a different market. As a result, developers began to introduce speculative buildings, meeting this demand for new Class A product. Kansas City has thus emerged as a major player competing for larger users and their requirements. This year alone we have seen record absorption numbers and are not showing any major signs of slowing down anytime soon. The two major drivers that are taking this space are e-commerce and logistics users. The new demand for larger spaces has increased the average size …
ST. LOUIS — JNS and HDA Architects have been selected by real estate development company HomeBase to design an AC Hotel by Marriott in St. Louis. The 192-room hotel will feature 1,000 square feet of meeting space. The ground floor will include a common area with a bar, limited-menu restaurant and “European-style” breakfast for guests with French croissants, fruits, cheeses and egg tarts. AC Hotels are European-inspired hotels with several international locations.
KANSAS CITY, MO. — CBRE has brokered the sale of 2323 Grand in Kansas City’s Crown Center for an undisclosed price. The 11-story office property features 320,976 square feet and an underground parking garage. The transaction also included a surface parking lot for a combined total of 2.3 acres. The building is 83 percent leased by tenants including Sun Life Financial Services Co. Inc., Seigfried Bingham PC and Thornton Tomasetti Inc. On-site amenities include a cafeteria with a dining room and outdoor patio, fitness center and conference rooms. The property recently underwent a $6.5 million renovation. Gina Anderson, Gary Carr and Robert Hill of CBRE arranged the sale on behalf of the seller, Assurant. Stanton Road Capital purchased the asset.
The overall Kansas City retail market remains very healthy and active. As retailers continue to navigate through e-commerce challenges, developers continue to get creative with the redevelopment of existing centers, adding mixed-use components and consolidation of big box vacancies. Restaurants and hospitality seem to be catalysts in helping to kick-start these redevelopments from the retail side. Over the past year, retail spending in Kansas City has continued to increase, but there remains a limited amount of speculative construction in the market. Therefore, the vacancy rate has dropped from 6.2 percent in 2016 to 5.7 percent as of the third quarter of 2017. The average rental rate has increased from $12.85 to $13.05 per square foot as of the third quarter. Solid job creation from major employers like Cerner and Garmin has helped the unemployment rate of 3.7 percent stay below the national average of 4.1 percent. The restaurant sector is in the process of evolving just as the retail sector is. We are seeing a lot of the major chains slowly shuttering locations where the larger footprint is no longer viable. These properties are getting backfilled fairly quickly by retailers and smaller local restaurant groups. Retail investors have stayed active. …
