BOZEMAN, MONT. — ACRES Capital Corp. has originated a $29.2 million loan to fund the construction of Babcock Apartments, a multifamily property located at 1612 and 1624 W. Babcock St. in Bozeman. The borrower is Roundhouse Development, a fully integrated developer and operator of multifamily housing. Los Angeles-based George Smith Partners arranged the loan. Babcock Apartments will feature 95 apartments, 105 parking spaces and 2,300 square feet of ground-floor retail space. Units will include in-unit washers/dryers, stainless steel appliances, dishwashers, wood cabinets, marble countertops and private balconies in select units. Community amenities will include a fitness center, tenant lounge, open space areas, individual storage units and on-site parking. Jonathan Lee led the George Smith Partners team that arranged the loan, while Chris Hetzel of ACRES’ Los Angeles office originated the deal.
PHOENIX — Westmount Realty Capital has purchased Mountain Vista Commerce Center, a three-building industrial property located at 14647 S. 50th St. in Phoenix. Terms of the transaction were not released. Built in 1999, the multi-tenant property features 134,713 square feet of flex industrial space. One building is configured for corporate office use built out with modern standard design and finishes. The other two buildings are configured for showroom/training and office/warehouse spaces with 18-foot, clear-height dock doors. Additionally, the property provides 517 total parking spaces and a large monument sign. At the time of sale, the property was 62 percent occupied. Cognizant Trizetto, a healthcare IT services provider, occupies 38 percent of the modern corporate office space, while six wellness- and fitness-related businesses occupy another 32 percent.
WENTZVILLE, MO. — Associated Bank has provided a $25.5 million loan for the acquisition of Grand Central at the Junction in Wentzville, a northwestern suburb of St. Louis. The 180-unit apartment community, located at 6101 Grand Central Ave., features amenities such as a community lounge, fitness center, pool and grilling areas. Randy Stille of Associated Bank handled the loan closing on behalf of the borrower, Minneapolis-based Timberland Partners. The acquisition marks Timberland’s eighth multifamily property in the St. Louis market. The company owns and manages a portfolio of 83 communities in 15 states totaling more than 18,000 units.
SAULT STE. MARIE, MICH. — Woda Cooper Cos. Inc. has opened Osborn Commons, a $14 million mixed-income housing project located at 215 Governor Osborn Blvd. in downtown Sault Ste. Marie, a city in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Of the project’s 65 units, 63 are available for residents who earn 30 to 80 percent of the area median income. Two units are available at market rate and seven units are designated for those with disabilities. Amenities include a fitness center, management office and two community rooms. The development also includes a 2,000-square-foot retail store known as The Market on Osborn. Local entrepreneurs Steve and Kathy Twardy operate the store, which sells beverages, snacks, dairy products, fresh produce, packaged dry goods and a variety of breakfast and lunch options. The Michigan State Housing Development Authority provided affordable housing tax credits for the project. Affordable housing investor CREA LLC provided equity financing; lender Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust provided the first mortgage; and Merchants Capital provided a construction loan. The City of Sault Ste. Marie provided a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT). Hooker DeJong Inc. was the project architect and Sol Consulting + Design provided sustainability consulting. The U.S. Green Building Council certified …
PHOENIX AND SURPRISE, ARIZ. — Taylor Street Advisors has arranged the sales of three multifamily properties located in Phoenix and Surprise for a total of $14.2 million. Brian Tranetzki and Anton Laakso of Taylor Street Advisors represented the buyer, an out-of-state investor, and the undisclosed seller in the deals. The transactions include: The $5.4 million, or $200,000 per unit, acquisition of Encanto Oasis, a 26-unit property located at 1840 W. Thomas Road in Phoenix. The buyer plans to add in-unit washers/dryers and private patios to each unit and convert the laundry facilities and gym space into two additional residential units. The $3.8 million, or $209,722 per unit, purchase of The Madison, an 18-unit community located at 5624-5646 N. Sixth St. in Phoenix. The $5 million, $147,059 per unit, acquisition of Thompson Ranch, a 34-unit townhome property located at 15427 N. Jerry St. in Surprise.
RALSTON, NEB. — CBRE has provided $4.9 million in long-term agency financing for Orleans Square Apartments, an 83-unit multifamily community in the Omaha suburb of Ralston. Josh Larsen of CBRE originated the financing through Freddie Mac’s Small Balance Loan program on behalf of the borrower, Thrive Street Living. The 10-year loan features a fixed interest rate of 3.26 percent and amortizes over 30 years.
VALPARAISO, IND. — Mauser Packaging has signed a 25,110-square-foot industrial lease at 2650 Barley Road in Valparaiso, a city in Northwest Indiana. Barley Properties owns the newly constructed building, which spans 65,592 square feet. Holladay Properties and Holladay Construction Group provided development and construction services for the project. The two firms have also been tapped to market the property for lease. Mauser specializes in manufacturing packaging products from recycled content as well as reconditioning, reuse, recycling and professional disposal.
DES MOINES, IOWA — The Boulder Group, a net-lease investment brokerage firm, has brokered the sale of a restaurant property occupied by Fazoli’s in Des Moines for $1.2 million. The 3,350-square-foot building is located at 3600 Merle Hay Road. Randy Blankstein and John Feeney of Boulder represented the seller, an undisclosed investment firm based in Texas, in the transaction. A Midwest-based investor was the buyer. Fazoli’s, an American fast-casual restaurant chain, has more than 10 years remaining on its lease.
By Lupita Gutierrez-Garza, principal, and Christian Gutierrez, senior associate, Southern Commercial Real Estate Group The impacts of COVID-19 on the retail sector in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) have mirrored those of the rest of the country. However, the way the region responded was different from the way it addressed past crises, such as natural disasters, and even very different from past responses to local problems like peso devaluations and drug cartel activity along the border. The response was multifaceted and included many trial-and-error situations. But through sheer determination and quick thinking by local leadership, regional landlords and tenants managed to mitigate all the uncertainty to not only survive, but to thrive. What made a difference in the region was the behind-the-scenes build-up of its economic infrastructure that has slowly been chipping away at the inequities the region has endured for years. Infrastructure build-up has been ongoing for over a decade and has come in many forms, including education and medical, industrial and logistics, aerospace technology and wind energy. All of these sectors managed well during the peak of the pandemic and continued to expand at phenomenal paces. Their growth has piqued a lot of outside interest and investment …
Baltimore’s industrial market has been flourishing for years, but current trends suggest it may be poised to become one of the hottest markets in the United States over the next few years. Supporting these dynamics will be continued growth in e-commerce, a new emphasis by manufacturers and retailers on expanding their “safety stock” in warehouses and increasing land constraints in the Mid-Atlantic. The confluence of these trends is expected to drive average Baltimore industrial rents at one of the fastest clips of any market in the United States over the next two years. In 2021, the Baltimore industrial market recorded its most active first quarter of gross leasing in over a decade. Net absorption of 1.3 million square feet sparked the year with a strong start as the region’s industrial vacancy rate continued to hover near its lowest level in more than a decade. Vacancy in Baltimore industrial properties has been stable since 2018, despite approximately 12 million square feet of new warehouses constructed in that time span. Several important trends are driving the record-breaking market conditions and are expected to facilitate growth into the foreseeable future. The first trend is a sharply recovering economy in 2021 that may perform …