PHILADELPHIA — Agree Realty Corp., a Michigan-based publicly traded REIT, has acquired the 11,500-square-foot flagship store of Wawa’s, a chain of gas stations and convenience stores serving the East Coast, for approximately $15 million. The store is situated within the 13-story Public Ledger Building, located adjacent to Independence Hall in the Center City area of Philadelphia. The store is the largest of the Wawa’s chain and includes a bakery, merchandise and an expanded selection of the company’s reserve coffee products. The seller was not disclosed.
SAYREVILLE, N.J. — AMS Acquisitions LLC, a New York City-based investment firm, has purchased a two-building, age-restricted housing community in Sayreville, located in northern New Jersey. AMS acquired the property from New Jersey-based development firm Gillette for $13 million. The property includes an 80-unit building, known as Gillette Towers, with one-bedroom floor plans reserved for persons age 55 or older. AMS will break ground on a 56-unit building later this spring. Amenities include a library/media room, outdoor gazebos and bocce and shuffleboard courts., and rents range from $1,400 to $1,550 per month. New York-based Castellan Real Estate Partners provided an undisclosed amount of acquisition financing for the deal, with AMS using its own equity to complete the transaction.
PHILADELPHIA — Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) has signed a 54,000-square-foot office lease expansion at the Wanamaker building, a 1.4 million-square-foot office and retail property located in the Center City neighborhood of Philadelphia. Following this transaction, CHOP will occupy more than 300,000 square feet across six floors. The building owner, a partnership between Rubenstein Partners LP and Amerimar Enterprises Inc., is entering the final phase of a capital improvement program for the building, which was originally built in 1911 to house Wanamaker’s, one of America’s first department stores.
DURANGO, COLO. — Colliers International Multifamily Advisory Group has arranged the sale of Hillcrest Apartments, located at 1000 Goeglien Gulch Road in Durango. San Francisco-based Virtu Investments sold the property to Denver-based Blueline Equity Partner for an undisclosed price. Situated next to Fort Lewis College, Hillcrest Apartments features 112 units and was built in 2002. Craig Stack and Bill Morkes of Colliers International represented the seller in the deal.
CORONA, CALIF. — Progressive Real Estate Partners has arranged the sale of Corona Freeway Center in Corona. An Orange County, Calif.-based private investor sold the property to Orange County-based PRES Cos. for $11 million. The 67,690-square-foot retail center was built in 1991 and was recently renovated, including a new roof, new HVAC, updated landscaping, painting, major renovations to the parking lot, and the addition of a 60-foot high digital freeway pylon sign and a 400-square-foot digital screen. Tenants include Express Scripts, Jenson USA Bicycles and LA Carpet & Flooring. Frank Vora of Progressive Real Estate Partners represented the seller, while Greg Ozimec of Industrial Brokers represented the buyer in the deal.
NEW YORK CITY — Shakespeare & Co., a chain of bookstores that was founded in 1983, will open its first store in Lower Manhattan when it assumes occupancy of a 2,300-square-foot space at 230 Vesey St. in January 2020. The store, which will be located within the 14-acre Brookfield Place complex on the Hudson River, will include a children’s book section and café. In addition, the store will host monthly book club events in its communal area.
WHEELING, ILL. — The Lynmark Group has completed the ONE luxury apartments at Wheeling Town Center in suburban Chicago. A grand opening weekend event for the public will take place Friday through Sunday, May 17-19. The property offers unique floor plans with private terraces, balconies, keyless entry and in-unit washer and dryers. Amenities include Peloton bikes, dog washing stations, pool and cabana, yoga studio, clubroom, demonstration kitchen and electric vehicle car charging stations. Residents can now earn two months of free rent when signing a 14-month lease. Monthly rents start at $1,520. Wheeling Town Center features 100,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment space. The entire mixed-use project is scheduled for completion later this year.
MINNEAPOLIS — Lake City Hospitality LLC, comprised of Eagan-based JR Hospitality and Iowa-based Hawkeye Hotels, is partnering with Stahl to convert a vacant office tower and surrounding site located at 317 Second Ave. in downtown Minneapolis into a dual-branded Hilton hotel. The eight-story building will undergo an $18.8 million renovation and 41,129-square-foot addition. The newly transformed space will feature 201 Tru and Home2 Suites guestrooms. Originally built in 1900, the existing 76,000-square-foot building was previously known as the William E. McGee Building. The facility was occupied by Hennepin County’s Office of the Public Defender for over 20 years, but the property has been vacant since 2012. JR Hospitality originally acquired the structure in 2017 before partnering with Hawkeye Hotels in late 2018. Ramaker & Associates Inc. is the project architect. Completion is slated for May 2020.
GRANITE CITY AND GODFREY, ILL. — Triloma Seniors Housing, an affiliate of Triloma Financial Group, has acquired The Fountains at Granite City and The Fountains at Godfrey, both located in Illinois just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. The communities offer a combined 135 assisted living units. Cedarhurst Living will take over operations. Regions Bank provided acquisition financing through its healthcare real estate group. The amount of the financing and the sales price of the communities were not disclosed. The Fountains at Granite City, which was built in 2000 and expanded in 2006, features 72 assisted living units. The Fountains at Godfrey was built in 2006 and includes 63 assisted living units. The communities have been rebranded to Cedarhurst of Granite City and Cedarhurst of Godfrey. Triloma and Cedarhurst expect to spend approximately $1.8 million to renovate the communities, including improvements to the common areas.
CHICAGO — Brown Bag Seafood Co. will open its newest location in Willis Tower. The fast-casual seafood concept will be located in Catalog, the 300,000-square-foot dining and retail area at the base of the office tower. Catalog is currently under construction. Willis Tower is undergoing a $500 million renovation project, the biggest transformation in the building’s 46-year history. The first phase is expected to be open to the public in late 2019. Brown Bag Seafood Co. joins Convene, Urbanspace, Shake Shack, Sweetgreen, Starbucks and Market Creations. The Willis Tower location will be Brown Bag’s sixth restaurant. Willis Tower, formerly Sears Tower, is a 110-story skyscraper and is the tallest building in Chicago.