NEW YORK CITY — CBRE has negotiated a 28,850-square-foot office lease at the former headquarters building of WeWork, which is located at 115 W. 18th St. in the Chelsea area of Manhattan. The tenant, culinary importer and distributor Roland Foods, will relocate its own corporate headquarters from Masonic Hall on West 23rd Street to the entire fifth floor of the six-story building. Joseph DeRosa and John Isaacs of CBRE represented Roland Foods in the lease negotiations. ABS Partners represented the landlord, Wasserstein Enterprises.
NORTH BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Bubble Island Playground will open a 5,975-square-foot indoor gym at The Shoppes at North Brunswick, a 147,054-square-foot lifestyle shopping center in Central New Jersey. The location will be the company’s first overall. Kevin Pelio of Azarian Realty Co. represented the undisclosed landlord in the lease negotiations. Jim Cheng of eXp Realty represented the tenant. A tentative opening date was not announced.
Commercial property owners in the District of Columbia are crawling out of a post-pandemic fog and into a new, harsh reality where office building values have plummeted, but property tax assessments remain perplexingly high. Realization comes slowly Immediately following the pandemic, many office property owners adopted a wait-and-see attitude toward the volatility permeating the sector, clinging to hopes that the rising popularity of remote work and similar office worker practices would prove temporary. Once the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates to combat generational inflation in 2022, however, hopes for a “return to normal” vanished and a grim reality set in. Recent transactions involving office properties in the District clearly indicate that investors recognize the negative impact these market forces have exerted on office building valuations and are now pricing those changes into the amounts they are willing to bid for acquisitions. These recent sales show office building values have declined by more than 50 percent from pre-pandemic levels. The other shoe began to drop on office market pricing in early 2023 with a rise in distress transactions, in which the office owner sells or forfeits the property to resolve some form of trouble, typically financial. These turnovers in ownership …
LOMBARD, ILL. — A joint venture between Pacific Retail Capital Partners (PRCP) and Synergy Construction Group has broken ground on the mixed-use redevelopment of Yorktown Center, an enclosed regional mall located in the Chicago suburb of Lombard. The 1.2 million-square-foot mall opened its doors in October 1968. The 130-acre property is currently home to over 170 stores and restaurants, including anchors Von Maur and JCPenney. The joint venture acquired a 217,887-square-foot anchor building at the site that was formerly occupied by Carson Pirie Scott in fall 2022. The property will be demolished to make way for Phase I of the redevelopment, which will include a community park dubbed The Square, 600 residential units and thousands of square feet of new, exterior-facing shops and restaurants. The Square will feature a children’s play area, entertainment stage, dog park and fitness area. New retail space will be occupied by tenants including The Fresh Market, Tapville Social, Empire Burgers + Brew, Dave & Buster’s and Ancho & Agave, among others. The residential portion of Phase I, Yorktown Reserve, will offer luxury multifamily units. Shared amenities will include a fitness center, resort-style swimming pool and hot tub, sauna, business center, DIY room, game room, multiple media and theater …
By James Young, JLL Through 2023 and 2024, JLL industrial has seen a historically high number of new leases signed. JLL research saw positive absorption in the third quarter of 2024 at 48,200 square feet, primarily driven by the completion of owner-built projects. This activity, combined with existing occupier commitment to the region and record-high asking rents, points to a thriving market. As the Milwaukee industrial market continues to grow its regional presence, there are a few factors that set it apart from its larger peer cities like Indianapolis or Minneapolis. In this article, we will discuss what is driving regional industrial activity and the market’s strong growth trajectory. Industrial evolution We continue to see wide expansion into the suburban market, though this has not always been the case. Relocating a tenant from an established urban industrial area to a suburban location was often challenging 15 years ago. Such a move could entail workforce relocation, warehouse closures and complex logistical changes that potentially risked business disruption. Today, JLL research shows other large occupiers are not only retaining their spaces in the Milwaukee market but are also actively expanding into suburbs like Waukesha and Menomonee Falls. JLL is tracking 11 build-to-suit …
FREEPORT, TEXAS — Dallas-based developer KDC has delivered a $114 million importation facility in Freeport, a Gulf Coast city located about 60 miles south of Houston, that is an industrial build-to-suit project for Volkswagen Group of America (VWGoA). The 120-acre development represents a consolidation of the German automaker’s port operations in Houston and Midlothian and encompasses several service buildings totaling more than 200,000 square feet, along with asphalt parking for more than 16,000 vehicles, trucks and railcars. In addition, the facility will be able to process up to 140,000 Volkswagen, Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini and Porsche vehicles annually, supporting about a third of VWGoA’s U.S. retail dealers. Stewart Development & Construction served as the general contractor for the project, construction of which began in late 2022.
DALLAS — California-based investment firm Stanton Road Capital has completed the renovation of Element Towers, a two-building, 672,942-square-foot office complex located off I-635 in North Dallas. The project team upgraded and redesigned the lobbies of both buildings, which also now feature fitness centers with private showers and lockers, fully furnished conference/training facilities and onsite food services. Additional enhancements include updated outdoor communal and recreation areas. ENTOS Design provided architecture and design services while Arco/Murray handled construction. Stanton Road Capital has tapped Holt Lunsford Commercial to lease Element Towers post-renovation.
ATHENS, TEXAS — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of Sentry Storage, a 316-unit self-storage facility located about 50 miles southeast of Dallas in Athens. Built on 9.1 acres in 1981 and recently expanded, the facility totals 47,356 rentable square feet. Brandon Karr and Danny Cunningham of Marcus & Millichap represented the Dallas-Fort Worth-based seller in the transaction and the locally based buyer. Both parties were private investors that requested anonymity.
HOUSTON — Locally based developer Triten Real Estate Partners has broken ground on a 171,000-square-foot industrial project in North Houston. The property, which can support a single or multiple users, will function as a distribution center and will feature two drive-in ramps, 41 dock-high doors, speculative office space and ample trailer parking. Method Architecture is designing the project, and Angler Construction is serving as the general contractor. CBRE is the leasing agent. Completion is slated for summer 2025.
HOUSTON — TMEIC, a joint venture between Toshiba and Mitsubishi Electric, has signed a 39,698-square-foot office headquarters lease in Houston’s Energy Corridor area. The Japanese manufacturer of electrical and automation systems for industrial plants is relocating its U.S. headquarters from Virginia to the 14-story, 350,000-square-foot Eldridge Oaks building. Brad Fricks and Matt Asvestas of Stream Realty Partners represented the landlord, an affiliate of Los Angeles-based Broadshore Capital Partners, which recently renovated the building, in the lease negotiations. Weldon Martin and Matthew Seliger, also with Stream, represented TMEIC.