FLAT ROCK, ROMEO AND WAYNE, MICH. — The Michigan Strategic Fund board has approved performance-based grants and State Essential Services Assessment Exemptions to support Ford Motor Co.’s investment of approximately $2 billion in the automaker’s Flat Rock, Wayne and Romeo assembly plants. As part of the agreement, Ford will create approximately 700 new jobs at its Flat Rock Assembly Plant and approximately 100 new jobs at the Romeo Engine Plant. Ford plans to invest approximately $1 billion at its Flat Rock plant to build a data center and transform the plant into a manufacturing innovation center capable of producing electrified and autonomous vehicles, in addition to the Ford Mustang and Lincoln Continental. Ford expects to begin producing the first of these vehicles in 2020, including an all-new fully electric small SUV engineered to deliver an estimated range of at least 300 miles and its first fully autonomous hybrid vehicle for commercial application. The company will invest $1 billion in its Romeo and Wayne facilities, primarily to support Ford Ranger and Ford Bronco production.
DETROIT — Bernard Financial Group has arranged a $5.2 million loan for the construction of Baltimore Station in Detroit. The 22-unit luxury apartment complex will also feature 8,100 square feet of retail space. TCF Bank provided the loan. Dennis Bernard and Kevin Kovachevich of Bernard arranged the loan on behalf of the borrower, Baltimore Station LLC.
ST. LOUIS — Dougherty Mortgage LLC has arranged a $5.2 million HUD loan for the refinancing of the Downtowner Apartments in St. Louis. Originally constructed as a hotel in 1963, the 95-unit affordable housing property was renovated and converted into apartment units in 2007. In addition to the rental units, there is approximately 5,652 square feet of retail and restaurant space on the first floor. Dougherty’s Minneapolis office arranged the loan, which includes a 35-year amortization schedule. Washington Avenue Apartments LP was the borrower.
MILWAUKEE — Dakonte Products Group Inc. has signed an 8,734-square-foot industrial lease in Milwaukee. The manufacturer of vinyl products will occupy the space at 6615 West Mill Road. GFG Chicago Industrial ML LLC owns the building. Samuel M. Dickman Jr., Samuel D. Dickman, Zach Hansen and TJ Huenerbein of the Dickman Co. Inc. brokered the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — Nobu Downtown will open in April at L&L Holding Co.’s 195 Broadway office tower. Located between Fulton and Dey Streets, the 12,500-square-foot restaurant includes a 4,500-square-foot street-level bar and lounge, subterranean dining and a private sake table. David Rockwell of Rockwell Group designed the restaurant space.
STRATFORD, CONN. — Cushman & Wakefield has brokered a 10-year lease extension totaling 100,968 square feet for Yale New Haven Health (YNHH) and North East Medical Group (NEMG) at 99 Hawley Lane in Stratford. Jay Hruska of Cushman & Wakefield led the leasing efforts on behalf of the tenants, while Joseph Codi internally represented building owner Mountain Development. YNHH and NEMG will house multiple office and support functions at the location. 99 Hawley Lane, also known as Merritt 8 Corporate Park, is a Class A office building with recently renovated common areas. Amenities include a cafeteria, corporate conference center, fitness center, lobby concierge and structured parking.
BOSTON — Wheelock Street Capital and The Seyon Group have formed a joint venture to acquire industrial real estate assets in prime Northeast markets. The joint venture commenced with the acquisition of three assets totaling $32 million along the Route 128 corridor in Greater Boston. The Seyon Group, recently formed by Bryan Blake, Andrew Iglowski and John Meador, pursues real estate investment opportunities varying in size and scope. The Wheelock/Seyon partnership was formed to take advantage of market forces increasing the demand for flex/industrial assets located in close-in suburban markets. Wheelock is targeting an allocation of $100 million from its current investment vehicle, Wheelock Street Real Estate Fund V, for equity investments in the industrial sector. The partnership has been active in the investment market since the start of 2017.
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — CitiBank and Goldman Sachs & Co. have provided $124.5 million in acquisition financing for three Class A office properties in Florham Park, N.J., a city approximately 20 miles west of Newark. HFF arranged the 10-year, fixed-rate loan on behalf of Mack-Cali Realty Corp. (NYSE: CLI), a REIT specializing in office and multifamily properties throughout the Northeast and mid-Atlantic. RXR Realty, a New York City-based developer and property manager, sold the three buildings, which are part of a six-property portfolio, to Mack-Cali for an undisclosed price. Jon Mikula of HFF represented Mack-Cali in the loan placement transaction. All three buildings are located on John F. Kennedy Parkway in the city’s Short Hills neighborhood. The building at 51 JFK Parkway was built in 1988, spans approximately 250,000 square feet and is currently leased to tenants such as Merrill Lynch’s Wealth Management division, Wells Fargo Advisors and accounting firm KPMG. The six-story property at 101 JFK Parkway was constructed in 1981, clocks in at roughly 190,000 square feet and is currently leased to tenants such as Investors Savings Bank. The date of completion and square footage of 103 JFK Parkway were not available, but the property is currently leased to …
Tumbling rents, landlord concessions and weakening levels of absorption have defined Houston’s multifamily market for much of the duration of the oil bust that spanned from late 2014 to mid-2016, but the multifamily market is now on the mend, says a third-party multifamily data analyst. Bruce McClenny, president of Apartment Data Services, which tracks the vital signs of nearly 3,000 multifamily properties nationwide, believes Houston’s multifamily market is about nine months past the rock-bottom point. As the opening speaker at the Interface Houston Multifamily Conference before 170 industry professionals on Tuesday, March 28, McLenny explained why he believes that a turnaround, albeit a slow one, has already begun. “The first six months of 2016 was the bottom, economically,” McLenny said during the conference, which was held March 28 at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Houston’s Galleria neighborhood. “Things have gotten better from that moment on. There’s absorption out there. Through the first two months of this year, we had more than 1,900 units absorbed.” In 2016, submarkets on the city’s south and east sides — Pearland West, Baytown, Pasadena, Galveston — fared markedly better than submarkets in other parts of town, according to McLenny. All four of these submarkets attained positive …
IRVINE, Calif. — HCP (NYSE: HCP) has completed its previously announced sale of 64 Brookdale Senior Living-operated multifamily communities for $1.1 billion. The deal was announced in November 2016. Affiliates of Blackstone Real Estate Partners VIII LP purchased the portfolio, with Brookdale staying on as operator. Specific names and locations of the properties were not disclosed. The properties total 5,967 units, which equates to a sale price of $189,000 per unit. Occupancy for the portfolio was 85.2 percent at the time the sale was announced. KeyBank Real Estate Capital’s Healthcare platform provided a $703 million financing package for the buyers. Charlie Shoop of KeyBank Real Estate Capital’s Commercial Mortgage Group led the financing team for a Fannie Mae credit facility, which accounts for the bulk of the financing. Peter Trazzera of KeyBank Real Estate Capital’s Healthcare Group led the financing team for KeyBank’s balance sheet financing that made up the rest of the loans. At the time the sale was announced, HCP also noted its plans to terminate leases on 25 Brookdale properties totaling 2,031 units over the next year. HCP also plans to transfer eight expiring Brookdale triple-net leases to a RIDEA structure, through a joint venture where Brookdale acquires 10 percent interest in the properties. …