LOS ANGELES — An affiliate of Optimus Properties has completed the disposition of a retail building located at 8036-8038 W. Third St. in Los Angeles. Terms of the transaction were not released. Built in 1946, the property features 2,200 square feet of retail space and 12 parking spaces. At the time of sale, the building was fully occupied by The Osso Good Co., a maker of bone broth and paleo soups; I Love Nails, a nail salon; and Shampoo, a hair salon.
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — CT Realty has begun construction of Westport Logistics Center, an 882,565-square-foot industrial project located within the Alliance submarket of Fort Worth. The facility, which is being developed in a joint venture with Mitsubishi’s Diamond Realty Investments, will be situated within a mile of Interstate 35 and adjacent to Fort Worth Alliance Airport, as well as the BNSF intermodal railway. The project will consist of two buildings in either single-sided or cross-dock configurations, with 32- and 36-foot clear heights, 185-foot truck courts and build-to-suit office spaces. Completion is slated for the fourth quarter. Westport Logistics Center is CT Realty’s fourth major industrial development in the DFW metroplex.
IRVING, TEXAS — Locally based multifamily developer JPI has sold Jefferson LasCo, a 422-unit apartment community in Irving’s Las Colinas district. JPI completed the community, which offers proximity to Toyota Music Factory and a local DART station, in 2018. Floor plans consist of one-, two- and three-bedroom units and amenities include a pool with cabanas, fitness center, outdoor grilling stations, coffee bar, game lounge, conference room, package lockers and a rooftop terrace. Womack + Hampton designed the community. The buyer was California-based insurance giant Pacific Life.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — PINSTACK, an entertainment concept that combines bowling with other activities, as well as food and beverages, will open a 50,000-square-foot venue at Tech Ridge Center in Austin. This will be the first location outside of the DFW metroplex for PINSTACK, which is owned by Entertainment Properties Group Inc. In addition to bowling, the Austin center will offer a rock climbing wall, virtual reality games, laser tag, bumper cars and a ropes course, as well as a chef-driven menu featuring craft cocktails, wine and draft beer. The opening is scheduled for late 2019.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Cadence McShane Construction Co. has completed an 86-room, dual-branded Best Western Plus and Executive Residency by Best Western hotel in Austin. The four-story property is located near the downtown area and features kitchenettes for extended-stay experiences in select rooms. Shared amenities among the two brands include a pool, fitness center and a gaming lawn. Local firm TAG International served as the project architect, and 28 Hospitality LLC will operate the hotel.
WORCESTER, MASS. — Marcus & Millichap has negotiated the $2.4M sale of an industrial facility in Massachusetts. Located at 344 Franklin St., the 300,000-square-foot property was 60 percent occupied at the time of sale. Harrison Klein and Matthew Pierce in Marcus & Millichap’s Boston office represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction. An existing tenant purchased the property pursuant to a right of first refusal.
ASHLEY, IND. — Brightmark Energy has received $260 million in financing to build the nation’s first commercial-scale plastics-to-fuel plant in Ashley, a small town of fewer than 1,000 residents in the northeast corner of Indiana. The financing includes $185 million in Indiana green bonds, which were underwritten by Goldman Sachs & Co. Brightmark plans to invest $47 million in the plant, according to KPC News, a local news outlet. Brightmark is the controlling owner of RES Polyflow, an Ohio-based energy technology company that innovated the process for converting plastics directly into transportation fuel and other products. Brightmark acquired a majority interest in the company in November. Brightmark Energy Ashley Indiana will convert up to 100,000 tons of plastics into 18 million gallons per year of ultra-low-sulfur diesel and naphtha blend fuels and nearly 6 million gallons a year of commercial-grade wax in a process that is expected to be 93 percent efficient. The outputs could also be used to produce the feedstocks necessary for manufacturing plastic again, “thus creating the world’s first truly circular economy technology for plastics,” according to Brightmark. “We are excited about the market’s confidence in the validity of this technology to economically convert single-use plastics for …
Although the retail sector remains under pressure — evident by the spate of store closures and announcements since the start of the year — the job losses across the industry have not been severe, says Ken McCarthy, principal economist and senior managing director at Cushman & Wakefield. In fact, some retailers are in an aggressive hiring mode. Total employment in the U.S. retail industry has increased by 1.4 million jobs since 2010, according to McCarthy, who was quick to add that the sector has shed approximately 140,000 jobs over the past two years. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports a net loss of 11,700 retail jobs in March, which came on the heels of a revised loss of 18,500 jobs in February. (The retail numbers from the BLS exclude restaurants.) “Store types that have seen substantial job losses include those that are most vulnerable to competition from the e-commerce industry, including electronics and appliances, sporting goods, apparel and accessories, and more recently general merchandise stores,” explains McCarthy. “While we would not characterize the job losses as that severe, those store types and product types that are most vulnerable to e-commerce are likely to remain under pressure.” According to Challenger, …
Fueled by continued population growth that has made Columbus the 14th-largest city in America and its strategic location in the U.S. Interstate system, the Columbus industrial market has been on a multi-year run in terms of new inventory and positive net absorption. Given the fact that drivers are able to reach approximately 50 percent of American households and 30 percent of Canadians within a one-day drive of the city, we see no end in sight for these market trends. That one-day drive statistic has made Columbus one of the country’s leading e-commerce distribution markets. Also, according to a recent ranking by Realtor.com, the metropolitan area is the only large northern city to grow its population by more than 10 percent from 2010 to 2017. The company also reported that Columbus was the fourth-hottest housing market based on the number of hits each listing receives and time on the market. Further, the central Ohio region’s business-friendly environment encourages developers to build in designated areas, and it is working. At the close of the fourth quarter last year, 5.7 million square feet of new industrial product was under construction. The overall vacancy rate for the Columbus industrial market was 4.8 percent, which …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Urban Atlantic, Hines and Triden Development Group have broken ground on The Vale apartments and The Brooks condominiums at The Parks at Walter Reed in Washington, D.C. The Vale will be situated on a 2.3-acre site along Georgia Avenue and comprise 301 apartments and 18,300 square feet of retail space. PGIM Real Estate, the real estate investment management business of Prudential Financial Inc., will join the joint venture for developing the asset. Capital One provided construction financing for The Vale. The Brooks will be built on the adjoining half-acre site and will offer 89 units. Grosvenor Americas provided construction financing for The Brooks. The ground breaking is the first phase of construction for The Parks at Walter Reed, which will feature 150,000 square feet of grocery-anchored retail space; 1,200 residential units, including 432 affordable units; office space; parks; two foreign language immersion charter schools; and ambulatory care by Howard University. More than $300 million has been invested in the 66-acre campus, which is being developed in a public-private partnership with The District of Columbia.
