HOUSTON — Cypressbrook Co. has negotiated a 25,368-square-foot industrial lease at 1819 Turning Basin Drive in east Houston. According to LoopNet Inc., the property was built in 1980 and totals 65,494 square feet. John Hornbuckle of Cypressbrook represented the tenant, EN Group Corp., in the lease negotiations. David Munson of Boyd Commercial represented the landlord, First Industrial Texas LP.
OMAHA, NEB. — Berkadia has arranged the sale of Steeplechase on Maple, a 314-unit multifamily property in Omaha. The sales price was undisclosed. Located at 14949 Manderson Plaza, the community features one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans. Amenities include a fitness center, pool, outdoor area, sundeck, clubhouse and playground. Alex Blagojevich, Michael Sullivan, Ralph DePasquale and Parker Stewart of Berkadia represented the seller, Illinois-based Redwood Capital Group. Colorado-based Centennial Capital Partners purchased the asset.
CHANNAHON, ILL. — Camso USA Inc., a subsidiary of Michelin, has signed a 252,208-square-foot industrial lease at 24601 S. Bradley St. in Channahon. The company is relocating from a warehouse in nearby Joliet and expects to move into the new facility in September following the completion of tenant improvements. Camso is one of North America’s largest manufacturers and distributors of rubber tires and tracks for off-road vehicles and construction equipment. David Liebman of Merit Partners Inc. represented the tenant in the lease transaction. Sean Henrick and Jason West of Cushman & Wakefield represented the landlord, Crow Holdings Industrial.
EARTH CITY, MO. — The Opus Group has broken ground on a 13.5-acre industrial development in Earth City, about 20 miles northwest of St. Louis. Johnstone Supply, a wholesale distributor of HVAC equipment, will occupy four acres with a new 45,000-square-foot headquarters and distribution center. Opus will also construct an 111,000-square-foot speculative industrial building on the remaining 9.5 acres. Johnstone’s space will include a training room and product showroom. The spec building will feature 139 car parking stalls, 27 dock positions and a clear height of 32 feet. Construction on both buildings is slated to begin this month with completion scheduled for spring 2021. Opus is the developer, design-builder, architect and engineer. Jake Corrigan and Vince Bajardi of Sansone Group will market the project for lease.
KANSAS CITY, KAN. — Block & Co. Inc. Realtors has acquired a former Best Buy store located at 10500 Parallel Parkway in Kansas City. The purchase price was undisclosed. The 46,538-square-foot freestanding building sits on 4.2 acres within the 850,000-square-foot Plaza at the Speedway shopping center. David Block, Alex Block and Max Kosoglad of Block & Co. represented the buying entity. David Hickman of CBRE represented the undisclosed seller. Block & Co. will handle leasing and management of the vacant space, which can be leased to a single tenant or subdivided to allow for multiple tenants.
CHICAGO — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of a 6,000-square-foot retail building occupied by Chase Bank and European Wax Center in Chicago for $3.7 million. The property is located at 3730 N. Southport Ave. Mitchell Kiven of Marcus & Millichap marketed the building for sale on behalf of the seller, a private investor. Kiven also procured the buyer, a New York-based developer specializing in boutique hotels. The property went under contract at the end of February, but as the COVID-19 pandemic worsened and the tenants closed doors, the buyer became wary of proceeding. Dean Giannakopoulos of Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp. assisted the parties in restructuring the transaction, which closed in July.
By Alex Patton Retail real estate investors in Boston are cautiously evaluating the risk profiles of tenants even as businesses reopen following temporary closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The emerging consensus is that until a vaccine is developed to safely treat the virus, the safest investments are tied to essential tenants with reliable incomes. That short list includes grocers, drugstores, home improvement businesses and liquor stores. Like the rest of the country, all nonessential retail businesses in Massachusetts were forced to close temporarily in early March, for what was originally expected to be a short period. After several weeks, the commonwealth’s government implemented a phased reopening system that allowed some retail businesses to resume operations. However, after months with significantly reduced income, a number of small retailers are declaring bankruptcy and permanently closing stores to save money. “The underlying question that permeates the retail investment industry, as an investor or a lender, is how much of the income is durable? In other words, which retailers are going to survive?” asks James Koury, senior managing director of investments at the Boston office of Institutional Property Advisors (IPA). “A vaccine would be a game-changer, but we can’t know if it will …
KANSAS CITY, KAN. — Urban Outfitters (Nasdaq: URBN) has announced plans to develop a $350 million omni-channel distribution center near Kansas City. The 880,000-square-foot development will be located on ancillary land owned by the Kansas Speedway in Wyandotte County, roughly 15 miles outside downtown Kansas City. The Philadelphia-based retailer is set to begin construction on the facility this fall with completion scheduled for early 2022. Documents obtained by The Kansas City Star identify Hillwood Development Co. as the developer for the project. Fort Worth, Texas-based Hillwood is led by Ross Perot Jr., son of the late Ross Perot, a billionaire who ran for president twice in the 1990s. Urban Outfitters selects the locations of its distribution centers based on a combination of factors, including location, available workforce and transportation infrastructure. Kansas City’s central location was cited as critical to the company’s distribution network. “Our priorities in identifying the home for our new omni-channel distribution center focused on people, and it was the quality of the local workforce and the commitment of their representatives in the state that convinced us this is the right place to be,” says Dave Ziel, chief development officer of Urban Outfitters. “This facility will be at the …
TEMPLE TERRACE AND LUTZ, FLA. — Amazon will develop a 600,000-square-foot fulfillment center in Temple Terrace. The Seattle-based e-commerce giant expects the facility to open in 2021 and house 750 full-time employees. Employees at the site will pick, pack and ship smaller customer items such as books, electronics, small household goods and toys. In addition, Amazon will hire for roles in human resources, operations management, safety, security, finance and information technology. Temple Terrace is located 17 miles northeast of Tampa International Airport and 10 miles northeast of downtown Tampa. Additionally, Amazon plans to open a last-mile delivery center in Lutz, which is about 10 miles north of Temple Terrace, Fla. The Lutz delivery station is also anticipated to open in 2021.
HAMPSTEAD, MD. — Stag Industrial has signed a book publisher to a 1 million-square-foot industrial lease at 630 Hanover Pike in Hampstead. The lease was effective Aug. 1 and will last for five-and-a-half years with three months of free rent and 3 percent annual rent escalations. The property is situated 30 miles north of downtown Baltimore. As of June 30, Boston-based Stag’s portfolio comprised 457 buildings in 38 states with approximately 91.8 million rentable square feet.