ROMULUS, MICH. — Ford Motor Co. has selected Romulus, a southwest suburb of Detroit and home of the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, as the location of its new global battery center named Ford Ion Park. The $100 million project will help accelerate research and development of battery and battery cell technology. Ford Ion Park is part of Ford’s $185 million investment in developing, testing and building vehicle battery cells and cell arrays. Ford will refurbish an existing 270,000-square-foot facility to house up to 200 engineers.
GRANITE CITY, ILL. — Contegra Construction Co. has completed the new 40,800-square-foot headquarters for icon Mechanical in Granite City, just north of St. Louis. icon Mechanical is a full-service mechanical contractor, engineering and construction firm specializing in the design, fabrication and installation of process piping, power piping, industrial ventilation and commercial HVAC. The company employs more than 150 people in addition to hundreds of trade workers on projects. The two-story property is located at 1616 Cleveland Blvd. and features an atrium, glass-walled offices, LED lighting, two stairways and open interior workspaces. Joining icon and Contegra on the project team were civil engineer Juneau Associates, architect Gray Design Group and structural engineer Alper Audi, all of which are St. Louis-area firms.
BETHESDA, MD. — Talonvest Capital Inc. has secured a $45.5 million construction loan to fund the ground-up development of a self-storage facility in Bethesda. Upon completion, the self-storage facility will feature a 131,559 net rentable square feet of climate-controlled space in approximately 1,560 units across nine levels. The project is expected to be completed in 2022. The loan features a low interest rate, a three-year term with an extension option and prepayment flexibility. Jim Davies, Erich Pryor, Mason Brusseau and Tom Sherlock of Talonvest secured the loan on behalf of the borrower, 1784 Capital Holdings, which is a self-storage developer based in Scottsdale, Arizona. Talonvest Capital is an Irvine, Calif.-based real estate firm that provides advisory services to self-storage and commercial real estate investors, owners and developers nationally.
BUFFALO GROVE, ILL. — Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria, famous for its Chicago deep-dish pizza, will consolidate several local properties and open a 125,000-square-foot headquarters in Buffalo Grove, a northern suburb of Chicago. The company will occupy space at 900-950 Busch Parkway in Lake County’s Corporate Grove Business Park. The property will serve as the company’s home office, e-commerce site, manufacturing plant and fulfillment center. Owned by The Missner Group, the building features 15,000 square feet of office space, eight docks and a clear height of 16 feet. Lou Malnati’s plans to occupy the space in spring 2022 following an extensive buildout. Ned Frank and Pat Hake of Colliers Chicago represented The Malnati Organization in the lease transaction. Brett Kroner of Cushman & Wakefield represented ownership.
LAS VEGAS — Harsch Investment Properties has broken ground on Sunset Airport Center II, a four-building industrial complex in Las Vegas’ airport submarket. Slated for completion in summer 2022, Sunset Airport Center II will be an addition to the 269,853-square-foot Sunset Airport Center property that Harsch purchased in 2016. Located on Sunset and Pecos roads, Buildings A and B combined will total 185,000 square feet and offer up to 19 tenant spaces that range from 6,000 square feet to 16,000 square feet. Each space features both dock-high and grade-level loading. The buildings range from 26-foot to 30-foot minimum warehouse clear heights, 160-foot minimum truck court, ESFR sprinklers and Sunset Road frontage. The project team includes R&O Construction, VLMK Engineering + Design and VTN Consulting Engineers. MDL’s Jarrad Katz and Galit Kimerling-Moreau are overseeing leasing of the property.
MADISONVILLE, TEXAS — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of D&J Storage, a 292-unit self-storage facility in Madisonville, about 100 miles north of Houston. The property spans 41,740 square feet. Dave Knobler of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, a private investor, in the transaction. Jordan Farrer, Charles LeClaire and Adam Schlosser, also with Marcus & Millichap, represented the buyer, an individual/personal trust. Both parties requested anonymity.
KUTZTOWN, PA. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of a 546-unit self-storage portfolio in the Eastern Pennsylvania city of Kutztown. The portfolio consists of two existing facilities totaling 22,243 net rentable square feet across 131 climate- and non-climate-controlled units, as well as a development site for which 148 climate-controlled and 268 non-climate-controlled units have been proposed. Nathan Coe, Brett Hatcher and Gabriel Coe of Marcus & Millichap represented the buyer and seller, both of which were private investment groups based in Eastern Pennsylvania that requested anonymity, in the transaction. Sean Beuche of Marcus & Millichap assisted in closing the deal as the broker of record.
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — The STRO Cos., a New Jersey-based investment firm, has acquired a 141,000-square-foot office and data center that is situated on a 14.4-acre site in the Northern New Jersey community of Florham Park. The company purchased the asset from Bank of New York Mellon (BNY), which also occupies the building, for an undisclosed price. Jose Cruz, Michael Oliver, Steve Simonelli, Kevin O’Hearn, J.B. Bruno, Jordan Avanzato and Michael Kavanaugh of JLL represented BNY in the transaction. Prudential Bank provided acquisition financing.
WOODBRIDGE, N.J. — Woodmont Industrial Partners has sold a 101,425-square-foot distribution center in Woodbridge, about 30 miles south of New York City. Woodmont completed construction of the property in the second quarter and subsequently executed a lease with Bentley Labs, a formulator and provider of beauty products. The property features a clear height of 36 feet and 12 dock doors with the option to expand to 24. The buyer was Denver-based EverWest Real Estate Investors.
WILTON, CONN. — CBRE has negotiated the $3.7 million sale of a 47,040-square-foot office and industrial building in Wilton, located in Fairfield County. The property, which was built in 1965 and renovated in 2006, was vacant at the time of sale. Louis Zuckerman, Tom Pajolek and Pat Colwell of CBRE represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction. The team also procured the buyer, a joint venture between Fuller Development and Spinnaker Real Estate Partners that plans to reposition the property for residential use.