VERNON HILLS, ILL. — Principle Construction has completed a 53,000-square-foot renovation project for Probat Burns, a manufacturer and provider of grinding and roasting equipment for the coffee, pharmaceutical and food industries. The company is relocating its headquarter to 601 Corporate Woods Parkway within Corporate Woods Business Park in Vernon Hills from its current location in Memphis, Tenn. The new facility includes a customer training area, a showroom, 7,500 square feet of office space, manufacturing space, warehouse space and 1,500 square feet of engineering space. Principle provided extensive interior and exterior construction services for the renovation project. Timothy Morgan Associates provided architectural services for the project. The property is owned by Mark Kestenbaum of Armon Investments.
FALL RIVER, MASS. — The groundbreaking ceremony has been held for the new HealthFirst Family Care Center in Fall River. The $13 million project will consist of the conversion of a 78,000-square-foot industrial space into a community health canter. The new facility will replace an existing HealthFirst center located on County Street. Completion is expected next December. Skanska USA is serving as project manager and will provide general contracting services along with Columbia Construction. Steffian Bradley is the project architect.
SOUTH WINDSOR, CONN. — Sentry Commercial has brokered the sale of a 68,920-square-foot industrial facility located at 571 Nutmeg Road in South Windsor for $1.77 million. The buyer was Daniel DelMastro, the owner of Aero Med Ltd. The seller was GBR Investments. Sentry Commercial was the sole broker in the deal.
FLOWER MOUND — Nature's Best has leased a 308,000-square-foot distribution center in Lakeside Trade Center at 101 Enterprise Dr. in Flower Mound. The long-term lease at Lakeside Trade Center Building 5 will feature approximately 35,000 square feet of freezer/cooler space. Nature's Best will model the facility after the recent relocation of its main distribution center in Chino, Calif., where the company completed an expansion into a 410,000-square-foot LEED Gold certified building. Nature's Best plans to begin serving retailers throughout Texas from the Flower Mound distribution facility in late spring 2011.
CARSON, CALIF. — Watson Land Co. has leased a 258,678-square-foot industrial building with 8.4 acres of excess land located within Watson Industrial Center at 771 Watsoncenter Road in the heart of L.A.’s South Bay submarket. The 27-month lease is valued at approximately $6 million. CB Richard Ellis’ Jeffrey Morgan represented the tenant, NYK Logistics, in the transaction; Watson Land Co. was represented in-house by Lance Ryan and Mike Bodlovich.
NEW BRAUNFELS — Dallas-based Metropolitan Capital Advisors (MCA) has arranged permanent financing for a 217,500-square-foot warehouse and distribution facility for Ashley Furniture in New Braunfels. A $6.53 million permanent fixed-rate mortgage was arranged on behalf of a partnership controlled by the principals of Hill County Furniture Partners, an Ashley Furniture franchisee. Hill County Furniture Partners occupies 100 percent of the facility, which supports retail stores throughout central and south Texas. MCA's Scott Lynn and Sunny Sajnani placed the 20-year mortgage with an Oklahoma bank, where it is guaranteed under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Business and Industry Loan Program. Greg O'Donnell of Business Finance & Development worked with MCA to help secure the USDA loan guarantee.
BERKELEY COUNTY, W.V. — Macy's Inc. is planning to develop a 1.3 million-square-foot fulfillment center near Martinsburg in Berkeley County. Construction is scheduled to begin in spring 2011, with operations commencing in April 2012. The company is currently deciding between two sites in Berkeley County. When fully operational, the facility will employ approximately 1,200 full- and part-time associates year round.
AUBURN HILLS, MICH. — Reid Limited Partnership II recently purchased 148,000 square feet of industrial space in Auburn Hills. Auburn Group Limited Partnership sold the property, which is located at 2550 Auburn Court, for an undisclosed price. Principal Associates represented the buyer; Paul Hoge of Signature Associates represented the seller in the transaction.
FARMERS BRANCH — Sport Supply Group has signed a long-term renewal for a 137,670-square-foot office/warehouse space in Valwood Industrial Park in Farmers Branch. Sport Supply Group was represented by David Wetherington and Bill De La Chapelle of Transwestern's Dallas office, while Brian Pafford of Bradford Commercial Real Estate Services represented the Chicago-based asset manager for the property. Sport Supply Group was given a tenant allowance that will be applied to cosmetic upgrades to its 35,000-square-foot office space.
LUBBOCK — Cymbet Corp. and X-FAB Texas have reached an agreement to open the world's highest volume solid state battery (SSB) production facility in Lubbock. Cymbet provides solid-state energy storage solutions for microelectronic systems, and X-FAB provides expertise in advanced analog and mixed-signal process technologies. The new Cymbet facility will be integrated with X-FAB's Lubbock facility, and is projected to add 77 new jobs during the next 5 years. Production will begin in the second quarter of 2011.