LITTLETON, MASS. — Colony Capital has completed the sale of Potpourri | Littleton, a newly completed industrial facility located in Littleton. Gramercy Property Trust acquired the built-to-suit, 450,000-square-foot facility for $39.7 million. The property is fully leased to Potpourri Group on a long-term basis and will serve as the company’s regional fulfillment center. Robert Griffin, Edward Maher and Matthew Pullen of NGKF Capital Markets represented the seller in the deal.
LANCASTER, TEXAS — Arch-Con Construction has broken ground on I-20 Commerce Center, a 900,043-square-foot speculative warehouse for Copeland Commercial LLC. Located at 3535 N. Houston School Road in Lancaster, the warehouse is on a 50-acre site near I-35 and I-20. Powers Brown Architecture designed the tilt-wall warehouse, which features a cross-dock configuration, 36-foot clear height and a building depth of 600 feet. The building will feature two stories of glass at the office entries. The project is expected to be complete in May 2017, and JLL’s Kurt Griffin and Nathan Orbin are the leasing agents.
CARROLLTON, TEXAS — JLL has negotiated an 82,588-square-foot industrial lease renewal for B. Braun Medical Inc. The medical device manufacturer’s Dallas office is located at 1601 Wallace Drive in Carrollton. JLL’s Elizabeth Jones and Tom McCarthy negotiated the lease on behalf of the tenant. CBRE’s Steve Trese and Wilson Brown represented the landlord, Colony Capital.
WHEELING, ILL. — Meridian Design Build has completed the renovation of an 115,000-square-foot food manufacturing facility in Wheeling, approximately 30 miles northwest of Chicago. Richelieu Foods occupies the building, which features nine refrigerated loading docks, a 20,500-square-foot refrigerated warehouse, 33,500 square feet of production space and a 3,250-square-foot freezer. The building, located at 120 W. Palatine Road, is Richelieu’s fifth operating plant.
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. — MainSpring Capital Group has announced plans to develop Mainspring Flex Phase III at Pima Center. This phase will contain 150,660 square feet of spec light industrial space for warehouse, assembly and distribution uses. Flex Phase III construction will commence during the fourth quarter of this year. Completion is scheduled for mid-year 2017. The speculative development includes two buildings. The existing buildings at Pima Center are 98 percent leased. Pima Center is a 232-acre, mixed-use business park within the Salt River Pima Indian community. The park contains a variety of commercial properties ranging from the Honor Health Rehab Hospital and Rancho Solano Private 6-12 School to multi-story Class A office space, garden office and assembly/distribution/flex facilities. The business park contains more than 1 million square feet of office space and about 430,000 square feet of light industrial/flex facilities.
SMYRNA, TENN. — Hillwood plans to develop two industrial facilities totaling 924,325 square feet within Airport Business Park. Situated on 75 acres in Smyrna, a southeastern suburb of Nashville, the property has access to rail and three interstates. The project will feature 32- to 36-foot clear heights, ESFR fire protection, T5 or LED lighting, cross-dock loading and 130- and 185-foot truck courts. Kurt Nelson of Hillwood’s Memphis office is overseeing the development of the project. Hillwood has selected Brian Camp of ProVenture to lease both buildings.
MACON, GA. — Stan Johnson Co. has brokered the $3.5 million sale of a freestanding, 66,449-square-foot industrial facility leased to FedEx Ground Package System Inc. in Macon. Constructed in 2006, the build-to-suit property sits on 11.4 acres at 244 Mercer Junction. Alliance Commercial Real Estate Group purchased the asset, which FedEx uses as a package sorting and distribution facility. Britton Burdette and Mollie Alteri of Stan Johnson Co.’s Atlanta office represented the seller, 244 Mercer Junction Road LLC, and procured the buyer in the transaction.
The Connecticut industrial market has changed. The days of large corporate surplus assets littering our industrial parks, mid-teen vacancy rates and discounted lease rates are over — or at least on a hiatus. In the last few years, the market has tightened with many of the larger blocks of space absorbed by various local and national tenants. The last 20 to 25 years saw corporate consolidations, downsizing and the move to cheaper markets dominate our industrial landscape. Left behind were inefficient, large manufacturing facilities in a market losing its manufacturing base. As time went by, these idle, surplus assets were acquired by local and regional investors who eventually made these properties functional again. Over the years, steady absorption has chipped away at vacancy rates, and quality available product has become increasingly difficult to find for tenants. Traditionally, an industrial tenant needing 100,000 square feet or greater would have numerous alternatives to consider and a wide range of quality too. This gave tenants enormous leverage, allowing them to negotiate more flexible and favorable terms and conditions. The relatively recent shift in tide has allowed landlords to control the process and we’ve seen a corresponding upward tick in lease rates. The sales …
NEW YORK CITY — Rubenstein Partners has secured a $197 million first mortgage construction loan for 25 Kent Avenue, a mixed-use property in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. Serving as co-lead arrangers and co-bookrunners, Wells Fargo Bank and Natixis Real Estate Capital committed $197 million for the project. The new loan provides for all future construction costs and fully capitalizes the project. Being developed by Rubenstein Partners and Heritage Equity Partners, the eight-story building will feature 500,000 square feet of office and industrial space tailored to the creative and tech sectors.
HARLINGEN, TEXAS — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of an 82,414-square-foot industrial property located in Harlingen. Kenneth Hartmann and Joshua Murphy of Marcus & Millichap’s San Antonio office marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a private investor. Hartmann and Murphy also secured the buyer, another private investor. The building is located at 2810 N. Expressway 77.
