MINNEAPOLIS — Upland Real Estate Group Inc. has negotiated the sale of the Rockler Fur building in downtown Minneapolis for an undisclosed price. The buyer, Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative, plans to convert the property into 48 units of affordable housing. The seven-story, 38,305-square-foot building was originally built as a Printer’s Exchange building in 1915 with a Gothic Revival style. Rockler Fur has occupied the property since the 1940s. Upland will also represent Rockler in its relocation process in spring 2020.
GURNEE, ILL. — Luxor Workspaces has expanded its warehouse operations to a newly built, 190,000-square-foot warehouse along I-94 in Gurnee. The move, which took place prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, was expected to create eight new jobs and enhance Luxor’s level of service to its Midwest customers. CenterPoint Properties developed the warehouse and Morgan/Harbour Construction served as general contractor. Sam Badger of CBRE represented Luxor in the search for the new property. Vivek Singla of CBRE served as Luxor’s tenant improvement project manager during the final buildout. Features of the distribution center include a clear height of 36 feet, 22 docks and a 7,000-square-foot office space with a conference room and break room. Waukegan, Ill.-based Luxor is a designer and manufacturer of workspace products.
TOPEKA, KAN. — Darland Construction Co. has completed the conversion of a former Kmart store in Topeka into Wanamaker Hills Shopping Center. The 108,546-square-foot retail property is now home to Ulta, Old Navy, DSW, Five Below and Petco. Equity Investment Group, an Indiana-based developer, bought the property in 2014. Schwerdt Design Group was the project architect.
DALLAS — Hines has acquired Inwood Trade Center, a 738,198-square-foot infill business park located in the North Trinity submarket of Dallas. The 14-building development is situated on 38 acres and located less than three miles from downtown and Uptown Dallas as well as Dallas Love Field Airport. The buildings were constructed between 1961 and 1978 and were 98 percent leased at the time of sale. Houston-based Hines will implement a value-add program to refresh the buildings’ façades, signage and landscaping. Omniplan is designing the repositioning, and Holt Lunsford Commercial will handle leasing of the upgraded spaces.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Dallas-based investment firm Mohr Capital has purchased a 404,800-square-foot office and industrial portfolio in Austin for $100 million. The portfolio includes a 160,000-square-foot industrial building leased to Amazon and Uber and a four-building, 244,800-square-foot office facility leased to a mix of technology, government and healthcare tenants. JLL represented the seller, Zydeco Development, in the transaction. Boyd Messmann and Kyle Campbell represented Mohr Capital on an internal basis.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — CBRE has brokered the sale of Iron Rock Ranch, a 300-unit apartment community in south Austin. Built on 22 acres in 2002, the property consists of 216 apartments and 84 townhomes. Amenities include two pools, a fitness center, playground, pet park, basketball court and a volleyball court. Charles Cirar, Michael Wardlaw and Colin Cannata of CBRE represented the seller in the transaction. John Fenoglio of CBRE arranged acquisition financing on behalf of the buyer, Houston-based Domain Communities.
If you’ve spent time in quaint New England cottages, you know that unique indoor environment can conjure feelings of warmth, happiness and comfort. Exposed wood inside of houses provides sensations of coziness and security that have been emulated in biophilic design — a term referring to the human connection with nature — across America. So why hasn’t this warm and healthy feeling spread to America’s offices? We’ve seen the mill brick buildings and the steel and concrete office developments scattered along America’s highways and suburban areas. Some of us may have even worked in them. They are reliable, cost-effective and provide tenants with the basic amenities needed to get their work done. But the American office building is changing. Today’s companies demand more for their employees and are recognizing that comfortable offices with exceptional amenities are quickly becoming the new standard to attract top, young talent. According to Cushman & Wakefield’s 2019 “CRE Perspectives on Coworking” report, nearly two-thirds of companies are utilizing some form of coworking space. Look at the most popular coworking spaces in the country — many provide biophilic design elements to keep occupants happy. In early October, building owner Farley White, along with Cushman & Wakefield, …
From 2009 through 2015, Las Vegas renters were afforded the luxury of renting many of the high-rise condominiums around the Strip and Downtown Las Vegas. This was due to the massive amount of short sales and foreclosures during that time. There were about 7,876 condo units completed between 2006 and 2009. Shortly after the crash, these developments shifted to luxury rentals. During 2011, we tracked 785 condos that were rented with an average of $1.31 per square foot, or $1,838 per month. During that same time, we tracked sales prices of these high condos at an average of $154 per square foot, or $239,411 per unit. We also tracked 904 sales during 2011 that typically involved investors putting their inventory back into the “shadow inventory.” Fast forward to 2015, and resales of this same inventory were trading at an average of $238 per square foot. Rents of this inventory were at $1.45 per square foot, or $2,000 per month. The higher-end buildings like Mandarin Oriental (now Waldorf Astoria) were at $2.70 per square foot. The trend continues to today as sales prices continue to rise. Rents continue to go up and no new for-sale inventory is being delivered. Most of …
For decades, all classes of commercial real estate in Dallas enjoyed somewhat lopsided advantages over Fort Worth. Until about 15 years ago, Dallas, the main beneficiary of the job, housing and population growth coming to the metroplex, commanded the lion’s share of demand from commercial real estate users while also having more capital for new development. Retail was no exception. Today, the Dallas area has seen its retail scene push northward toward Plano and Frisco, the new hubs of corporate relocations and regional workforce consolidations. But the combination of a shortage of developable land and a tight vacancy rate within the Interstate 635 loop is pushing rents. On a triple-net basis, rates are now as high as $60 per square foot in top submarkets like Uptown, Lakewood and Deep Ellum and $90-plus per square foot in the tony Preston Hollow and Park Cities submarkets, according to HSM’s research. Our data also shows that the average retail vacancy rate within the Interstate 635 loop in Dallas is approximately 2.6 percent, while there is 205,000 square feet of new space under construction within this area. By contrast, the urban core of Fort Worth inside the Interstate 820 loop spans about half as …
CLEARWATER, FLA. — Cushman & Wakefield has negotiated the sale of The Vue at Belleair, a 339-unit multifamily community in Clearwater, 20 miles west of Tampa. Located at 1551 Flournoy Circle W., the property sold for $78 million, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Luis Elorza, Brad Capas, Robert Given and Michael Mulkern of Cushman & Wakefield’s Multifamily Advisory Group represented the seller and developer, Columbus, Ga.-based Flournoy Development Co., in the transaction. Suffern, N.Y.-based Castle Lanterra Properties acquired the community, which consists of 11 two- and four-story residential buildings. Built in 2019, Vue at Belleair offers one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, as well as gated access, elevators, a rooftop terrace, clubhouse, coffee bar, two dog parks, car care center, saltwater pool, fitness center, fire pits and a business center with a conference room, video game room and a billiards table. The property was 93 percent occupied at the time of sale. The Vue at Belleair is located on the east side of U.S. Route 19.