AURORA, ILL. — Wholesale Interiors has signed a 551,200-square-foot industrial lease to fully occupy 2805 Duke Parkway in Aurora. The furniture supplier is subleasing the space from Follett Corp. on a three-year basis and will expand its operations from Bensenville. Owned by Duke Realty, the facility features a clear height of 32 feet, 74 dock doors, four drive-in doors, 73 trailer parking stalls and 153 car parking stalls. The property also includes 25,000 square feet of office space. Christopher Volkert and Brian Kling of Colliers International represented Follett Corp. in the lease transaction.
IOWA — Stan Johnson Co. has brokered the sale of a four-building industrial portfolio across Iowa for $16.9 million. The properties total nearly 684,000 square feet and are leased to a subsidiary of Magna International Inc. The buildings include 408 and 411 Maplewood Ave. in Williamsburg, 403 S. 8th St. in Montezuma, and 1951 A Ave. in Victor. Rob Gemerchak and Jeff Hughes of Stan Johnson represented the seller, Granite REIT, a Toronto-based publicly traded real estate investment trust. New York-based GMS Equities purchased the portfolio.
INDEPENDENCE, MO. — Berkadia has arranged a $15 million loan for the refinancing of Cedar Ridge, a 234-unit multifamily property in Independence, about 10 miles east of Kansas City. The community features one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans. Amenities include a playground, tennis court, clubhouse, community garden and laundry facilities. Andy Ahlers of Berkadia arranged the Fannie Mae loan on behalf of the borrower, San Francisco-based Cedar Ridge Apartment Homes LLC. The 15-year loan features a fixed interest rate below 4 percent.
SALEM, MASS. — Bell Partners Inc., a North Carolina-based property investment and management company, has purchased Vinnin Square Apartment Homes, a 148-unit multifamily property in Salem, a city located northeast of Boston. The property, which will be renamed Bell North Shore, comprises two five-story buildings, 16 townhomes and two additional buildings containing six units each. Amenities include a fitness center, walking trails, tennis courts and a pool. The seller and sales price were undisclosed.
FRISCO, TEXAS — Locally based general contractor KWA Construction has begun work on Kilby, a 258-unit apartment community that will be located within the $600 million Frisco Square development on the northern outskirts of Dallas. Developed by Toll Brothers Apartment Living and designed by BGO Architects, the four-story property will feature amenities such as a pool, fitness center, outdoor patio with grills, game lounge and a clubroom. Completion is scheduled for late 2020.
ROCKWALL, TEXAS — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale-leaseback of a 145,375-square-foot industrial property located at 2975 Discovery Blvd. in Rockwall, an eastern suburb of Dallas. The property was built on 12 acres in 2015. Adam Abushagur of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller and tenant, Col-Met Engineered Finishing Solutions, in the transaction. Abushagur also procured the buyer, an institutional investor.
DALLAS — Stream Realty Partners has brokered the sale of a 127,270-square-foot industrial building located at 4545 W. Davis St. in Dallas. The property was built in 2001, according to LoopNet Inc., and offers proximity to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Cannon Green and Sarah Ozanne of Stream Realty Partners represented the seller, Orion Realty, in the transaction. Craig Jones and Caleb McCoy with JLL represented the buyer.
NEW YORK CITY — Australian restaurant Ruby’s Café has signed a 1,450-square-foot retail lease in Manhattan. The property is Ruby’s Café’s third location in Manhattan, and the company plans to install a garage-door storefront ahead of its opening in fall 2019. Daniyel Cohen of Winick Realty Group represented Ruby’s Café in the lease negotiations. Benjamin Birnbaum and Andrew Taub of Newmark Knight Frank represented the landlord, HUBBNYC.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Lowe, a national real estate investor, developer and manager, has acquired the former Randall School site at 65 I St. SW in Washington, D.C. Lowe plans to redevelop the 2.7-acre site into a 500,000-square-foot mixed-use project featuring a contemporary art museum. Lowe had first come on as partner for the project in 2017 but is now assuming control of the development from TRSW, a partnership between Telesis Corp., a national affordable housing developer, and the Rubell family, long-standing collectors and patrons of the arts. Lowe intends for the project to create an arts and cultural anchor in the Southwest neighborhood. The designated Arts District will provide a second home for the Miami-based Rubell Family Collection, an internationally acclaimed contemporary art collection that draws visitors from around the world, according to Mark Rivers, executive vice president at Lowe. At the core of the project is the restoration and repositioning of the school’s three buildings, of which two will be transformed into an approximately 31,000-square-foot art museum housing the Rubell Family Collection. Entry to the museum will be free of charge to all residents of the District. The West Randall building will be reconfigured as an 18,000-square-foot creative office …
Driven by activity in the office sector, commercial real estate in Manhattan is having one of its best years on record. The overwhelming demand for Manhattan office space has led to a surge in office-using employment and an accelerated pace of construction. In addition, the success and appeal of the new Hudson Yards project has breathed new life into the borough’s office market, with developers unable to keep up with the demand. The continued expansion in the technology and coworking sectors is reshaping the market. Companies are willing to pay a premium to snag office space that attracts top-tier, tech-savvy talent. This trend has caused office asking rents to rise to record levels. By The Numbers CBRE data shows that average asking rents for Midtown Manhattan office space reached $88 per square foot in the second quarter of 2019, 9.1 percent higher than the previous year. Class A office space commands even more, surpassing the $100 per square foot mark in desirable submarkets like Hudson Yards, Times Square or the Plaza District. The Midtown vacancy rate decreased 10 basis points to 12.2 percent, the lowest in 18 years, according to CBRE, while the past quarter saw 14.7 million square feet …