FORT WAYNE, IND. — Bradley Co. has arranged two leases totaling more than 15,000 square feet in Fort Wayne. In the first transaction, Mike Dahm represented the landlord, Industrial Road Enterprises, as well as the tenant, HD Supply Waterworks, in the lease renewal of 13,480 square feet of industrial space located at 5120 Industrial Road. In the second transaction, Dahm and Kelly Castle represented the tenant, RPM Pizza Midwest LLC, in the lease of 2,130 square feet of retail space located at 301 W. Jefferson Blvd. Bradley Co. has served the Northern Indiana and West Michigan commercial real estate market since 1978.
OAKWOOD, GA. — Performance Food Group (PFG) has begun the expansion of its Performance Foodservice – Milton’s food distribution facility in Oakwood, a city in Hall County near Gainesville. PFG’s expansion project includes the construction of a new 174,000-square-foot building located at 3501 Old Oakwood Road. The new facility will feature a freezer, meat cutting operation, maintenance areas and space for fleet operations. The project is scheduled for completion in 2016 to be followed by the conversion of PFG’s existing freezer into a three-zone cooler section.
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Holliday Fenoglio Fowler’s Florham Park office has arranged $81.3 million in refinancing for a 15-property industrial portfolio. HFF secured the 10-year, fixed-rate loan through Principal Commercial Capital for the borrower, Heritage Capital Group. The 2.58 million-square-foot portfolio includes a mix of warehouse, distribution and cold storage facilities in New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. The properties feature clear heights ranging from 20 to 40 feet and include office space. Additionally, eight buildings have rail service access. At the time of closing, the portfolio was 92 percent leased to 31 tenants, including Staples Inc., Storage Mobility, McLane Food Service Inc., Victory Packaging LP, McGrann Paper, Scholastic Book Fairs Inc., Packaging Corporation of America and Global Foundries. Four properties are located near Syracuse, N.Y.; three near Rochester and Albany, N.Y.; three near Harrisburg, Pa.; and two near Columbus, Ohio. Jon Mikula of HFF led the team that represented the borrower in the transaction.
SOMERSET, N.J. — Colliers International has arranged 147,000 square feet of new long-term leases at two warehouses in Somerset. Owned by Cabot Properties, the single-tenant properties are located at 95 Clyde Road and 645 Howard Ave. Iberia Foods Corp. leased 82,000 square feet at 95 Clyde Road. The food and beverage supplier relocated its Brooklyn Bottling Group to the property from Carteret, N.J. The facility features eight tailgate loading doors and 24-foor ceiling heights. Additionally, Event Solutions International leased 65,000 square feet of space at 645 Howard Ave. The vehicle management services company is relocating and expanding its New York/New Jersey regional warehouse to the property, which features 8,000 square feet of office space and four tailgate loading doors. Both warehouses also include one drive-in door, new roofs, motion sensor lights, 100-care parking lots and access to Route 287 and the New Jersey Turnpike. Michael Markey and Jonathan Tesser of Colliers represented Cabot Properties in both transactions.
SUGAR LAND, TEXAS — A report from SmartAsset, a personal finance technology company, ranks Fort Bend County, a county in the Houston metropolitan area, as No. 1 in Texas and No. 5 in the United States as the area with the most incoming investments. The data, aggregated from various sources including the U.S. Census Bureau, showed that the county ranked highly in several further categories including gross domestic product (GDP) growth, new building permits and municipal bonds. The county ranked No. 10 in Texas with a GDP growth of over $3.5 million from 2013 to 2014. Fort Bend also ranked No. 1 in Texas and No. 2 in the United States for the highest number of new building permits granted per 1,000 homes. From 2013 to 2014, the county had a municipal bonds index of 2.13, earning the No. 8 spot in Texas. These bonds have been used to enhance quality of life such as mobility, water and safety, and are responses to the high growth in employment and residential opportunities available in the county.
JOLIET, ILL. — Amazon.com Inc. has unveiled plans to open a nearly 500,000-square-foot fulfillment center in Joliet, Ill., located about 45 miles southwest of Chicago. Baltimore, Md.-based GLP Development Co. is the project developer. The fulfillment center, which is expected to create 1,000 full-time jobs when it opens, will be the company’s first in the state. Amazon employees at the fulfillment center will process smaller items such as books, electronics and consumer goods. “We are thrilled that Amazon has chosen Joliet as the location for its new Illinois fulfillment center,” says Joliet Mayor Bob O’Dekirk. “The company is not only the leader in the e-commerce sector, but it also will create quality jobs for a diverse community throughout Joliet and Will County.” According to the Chicago Tribune, Amazon is already advertising for $13-an-hour and $14.95-an-hour jobs at the facility. The newspaper adds that Amazon has invested heavily in warehouses nationwide during the last three years as it faces increasing competition on speed from Walmart.com, eBay, Google and other online retailers.
GLENVIEW, ILL. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of 1941-2019 Johns Drive, a 68,075-square-foot industrial building located in Glenview, a northern Chicago suburb. The purchase price was $3.87 million. Built in 1980, 1941-2019 Johns Drive is a combined two-building portfolio. The one-story multi-tenant asset includes 68,075 square feet of rentable space and is currently operating at 81 percent occupancy. Stephen Lieberman and Paul Tesdal, investment specialists in Marcus & Millichap’s downtown Chicago office, marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a local private investor. Lieberman and Tesdal also secured and represented the buyer, a local investor, in the transaction.
MILWAUKEE, WIS. — The Dickman Company Inc./CORFAC International has arranged the sale of a 34,370-square-foot industrial building located at 2737 S. 31st St. in Milwaukee. The purchase price was not disclosed. K3 Cos. LLC purchased the building from the Tri-Capital Investment Group. Anthony Huenerbein of The Dickman Company brokered the transaction.
CHARLESTON, S.C. — The Rockefeller Group and WestRock Land and Development (formerly MWV Community Development and Land Management) have broken ground on a 477,000-square-foot distribution center in Charleston. The companies are developing the center on behalf of Gerber Childrenswear LLC, a children’s apparel company whose licensed brand portfolio includes Gerber, Jockey, New Balance and NFL. The company’s proprietary brands include Onesies Brand and Always Baby. The new distribution center will double Gerber’s footprint in the Charleston metropolitan area. The new facility will be located in the 400-acre Rockefeller Group – MeadWestvaco Foreign Trade Zone/Charleston industrial campus in Berkeley County. Peter Fennelly and Simons Johnson of Colliers International’s Charleston office represented Gerber Childrenswear in the transaction. Evans General Contractors is the general contractor for the project. The new distribution center is slated for a January 2016 completion.
Miami, the “Gateway to Latin America and the Caribbean,” boasts one of the strongest industrial markets in the nation, with over 200 million square feet of industrial space serving one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States. Stronger-than-average population and employment growth count among the region’s chief demand drivers, along with robust international trade, a booming housing market and a globally acclaimed tourism industry. South Florida’s population is expected to grow by 100,000 people annually over the next five years, while the region also has the fourth-highest job growth rate in the nation. As a result, demand for housing and consumer goods is rising, creating a very dynamic industrial development, leasing and sales environment. Significant and ongoing investment in South Florida’s seaports, airports and intermodal transportation infrastructure is giving investors and businesses confidence in the long-term growth of the region. On the infrastructure front, there is the highly publicized, $2 billion expansion of PortMiami, one of the busiest ports in the U.S. for container traffic. The project includes a deep dredge, the addition of several post-Panamax gantry cranes, an intermodal/freight rail linkage, and a new truck/freight tunnel. Once completed this year, PortMiami will be the only port south …