KANSAS CITY, MO. — Copaken Brooks and Square Deal Investments have acquired the former Kansas City Public Library and Board of Education Building for an undisclosed price. The building is located at 1211 McGee St. in downtown Kansas City. The 11-story, 261,800-square-foot property has been vacant since the Kansas City Public Schools district moved to its current location at 2901 Troost in 2016. Aaron Mesmer and Matt Levi of Block Real Estate Services represented the seller, the school district.
OVERLAND PARK, KAN. — VanTrust Real Estate LLC has sold a 76,332-square-foot medical office building in Overland Park for an undisclosed price. The Class A property is located at 6650 W. 110th St. VanTrust developed the property in 2017. It is currently 92 percent occupied. Keith Baker of CBRE represented the buyer, Griffin-American Healthcare REIT IV Inc., a non-traded real estate investment trust. After the sale, CBRE was awarded leasing and property management assignments. Baker will handle leasing while Stacy Oldham will oversee management. As of June 30, Griffin-American Healthcare REIT IV’s portfolio totaled 4.1 million square feet in 24 states.
BOLINGBROOK, ILL. — Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) has signed a 25,523-square-foot industrial lease in Bolingbrook. The car manufacturer will use the space as a training facility for its employees. The 112,049-square-foot building is located at 1325 Remington within Carlow Corporate Center. The property features a clear height of 28 feet, 242 car parking spaces, three drive-in doors and 11 loading docks. FCA will begin occupying the space in January. Jordan Decker and Chris Cobb of Cushman & Wakefield represented FCA in the lease transaction. Dominic DeRose, Vern Schultz and Charles Canale of Colliers International represented the owner and developer, Opus Group.
SEATTLE — The City of Seattle has selected Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. (NYSE: ARE) to develop an approximately 800,000-square-foot mixed-use campus known as the Mercer Mega Block. The life sciences and technology-driven project will be built on the last large, undeveloped site — nearly three acres — in Seattle’s Lake Union submarket. Alexandria won the bid for the project by agreeing to pay $143.5 million for the land and to address homelessness, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal. The Seattle City Council approved the development plan on Monday night. The newspaper reports that total project costs could reach $305 million. Plans call for two 13-story office and laboratory towers as well as a 30,000-square-foot community center. Alexandria also intends to develop on-site affordable housing, a farm-to-table restaurant, ground-floor retail space and a pedestrian-only walkway on 8th Avenue surrounded by public spaces with outdoor seating. “We envision our Mercer Mega Block development as a mission-critical campus that can drive the cross-pollination of life science and technology, spur world-class innovations to improve the human condition and significantly enhance the surrounding neighborhood,” says Joel Marcus, executive chairman and founder of Alexandria. The company also says it has strong confidence in the …
New Jersey’s industrial market continues to expand, driven by a plethora of industries, including retail, manufacturing, food companies, transportation and logistics. As the popularity of e-commerce shows no signs of abating, New Jersey has become a key location for distribution centers and last-mile delivery hubs to serve the entire Northeast region. E-retailers are scooping up available industrial space, taking advantage of New Jersey’s excellent air, freight, port, and rail infrastructure that links it to the rest of the region and the country. Increasing Demand After taking a slight breather during the first quarter of 2019, in part due to a lack of available high-quality space, total leasing activity has increased by 20 percent during the past three months, bolstered by more than 20 leases exceeding 100,000 square feet. Absorption was widespread, with occupancy level increases in 16 of 25 submarkets for both the quarter and year over year. In total, 2.4 million square feet of positive net absorption was recorded during the second quarter of 2019, the highest level since the third quarter of 2018. Moreover, occupancy levels increased by 8.6 million square feet during the past 12 months, the eighth consecutive quarter where more than 8 million square feet …
This has been a roller coaster of a year when it comes to the economy, and many are talking about the potential of a recession happening very soon. According to the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, August has been just slightly down. Consumer spending makes up 70 percent of the U.S. economy. If sentiment moves down, consumers and purchasing managers begin to curtail spending and an economic slowdown is inevitable. Unfortunately, the more the news and articles focus on the impending recession, the more it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Other signs that point toward a potential recession include an unemployment rate that is at the lowest point in 49 years, trade wars that are causing material prices to increase, and geopolitical unrest abroad that could have a huge impact on the U.S. economy. On the bright side, wages appear to be moving up, initial unemployment claims remain low, interest rates support continued investment and inflation remains in check. There is a close correlation between real estate values and the health of the U.S. economy, but like most things, it is quite nuanced. As companies retract and give back space, occupancies fall and therefore so does the value of commercial real estate. …
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Amazon will open a regional air hub at Fort Worth Alliance Airport in October, a move that is expected to bring 300 new full-time jobs to the region. The build-to-suit project is the first of its kind in the Amazon Air network and will support the Seattle-based e-commerce company’s larger-scale regional needs, including sortation capability and infrastructure to handle multiple flights daily.
RICHARDSON, TEXAS — Locally based developer Leon Capital Group has begun leasing Society 190, a 415-unit multifamily community located off President George Bush Turnpike in Richardson, a northeastern suburb of Dallas. The property, construction of which is nearing completion, will feature one-, two- and three-bedroom units ranging in size from 680 to 1,450 square feet. Rents start at $1,275 per month. Amenities include a pool, fitness center, game room, outdoor kitchen and coworking office space.
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Multifamily developer Presidium has broken ground on Presidium at Revelstoke, a 408-unit project located within Alliance Town Center in north Fort Worth. The property will be situated on 17.2 acres and will offer amenities such as a pool, outdoor grilling and gaming area, fitness center, dog park, playground and electric car charging stations. O’Brien Architects is designing the project, and Kimley-Horn is the civil engineer. Provident General Contractors is handling construction, which is expected to be complete in the second half of 2020.
MCKINNEY, TEXAS — KDC will develop a 200,000-square-foot manufacturing facility for Raytheon at the defense contractor’s Space & Airborne Systems headquarters in the northern Dallas suburb of McKinney. The project, construction of which is slated for a late 2020 completion, is expected to bring 500 new jobs to McKinney. In 2014, KDC delivered a 489,000-square-foot office complex for Raytheon at CityLine in Richardson.