HASTINGS, MICH. — Wolverine Building Group has broken ground on a 100,000-square-foot industrial facility in Hastings, about 26 miles north of Battle Creek. Hastings Fiberglass, a fiberglass tool designer and manufacturer, will occupy the property. The $8 million development is located approximately a quarter-mile from the company’s current headquarters, which spans 70,000 square feet and is located at 770 Cook Road in Hastings. Completion of the property is slated for February 2018.
CHICAGO — Snapsheet has signed a 52,000-square-foot office lease at 1 N. Dearborn St. in Chicago. The company provides auto insurance carriers with a virtual claims technology that streamlines the claims process for customers. Snapsheet will be moving from 55 W. Monroe St., where it currently occupies 21,000 square feet. Snapsheet will occupy the new facility starting in January 2018. Brad Serot, Paul Reaumond and Todd Lippman of CBRE represented Snapsheet in the lease transaction. Jack O’Brien and Caroline Colnon of Telos Group represented the landlord, Beacon Capital Partners.
WINDHAM, MAINE — Cardente Real Estate has arranged the lease of 3,092 square feet of restaurant space in Windham. C2 Realty, a New York-based Japanese restaurant group, will occupy the space at 818 Roosevelt Trail. The landlord is Joy Real Estate of Lisbon LLC. Mark Sandler of Cardente Real Estate brokered the transaction.
SAN MARCOS, TEXAS — 29th Street Capital (29SC) has acquired The Reserve at West Avenue, a 152-unit, 488-bed student housing community in the San Antonio metro of San Marcos. Located at 109 West Ave., approximately two miles from Texas State University, the property consists of one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom units, each fully furnished, including washers and dryers. Amenities include a pool, 24-hour fitness center, private study rooms and a clubhouse with a game room. 29SC will invest roughly $1 million to the unit interiors and the property’s amenities.
BELLAIRE, TEXAS — SDI Realty Advisors has begun redeveloping Bellaire Town Center, a one-story, 39,000-square-foot retail center in the Houston metro of Bellaire. The project will deliver three buildings and increase the size of the center to 72,000 square feet. Phase I of construction is scheduled for a January 2018 completion and Phase II is scheduled for a fall 2018 completion.
RICHLAND HILLS, TEXAS — Henry S. Miller Brokerage (HSM) has negotiated the sale of the former All About Autos & North Hills Body Shop, a 30,2000-square-foot facility in the Fort Worth suburb of Richland Hills. Situated on three acres at 3925 Booth Callloway Road and built in 1986, the property features 36 service bays. Bill Bledsoe of HSM represented the seller, J&H Associates LP, in the transaction. John Lucas of KW Commercial represented the buyer, Steve’s Auto Repair.
FARMERS BRANCH, TEXAS — Colliers International has arranged the sale of Hutton Court, an industrial property in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro of Farmers Branch. The property, which was 87 percent occupied at the time of sale, features 52,613 square feet of office and warehouse space. Lizzy Blake of Colliers represented the seller, Utah-based Mountain West Industrial LLC. Dallas-based Frontier Equity LLC purchased the asset for an undisclosed price.
HUMBLE, TEXAS — Dallas-based investment firm STRIVE has brokered the sale of a 3,583-square-foot retail freestanding retail property in the northern Houston suburb of Humble. Leased to Taco Cabana, the property is an outparcel to a Super Target retail center. Kyle Rozell and Anthony Pucciarello of STRIVE represented the seller, a California-based private investor, and procured the buyer, a Houston-based private investor.
LOS ANGELES — Singapore-based Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd. has acquired a portfolio of eight student housing communities and four multifamily properties from Los Angeles-based Kayne Anderson Real Estate Advisors for $1.6 billion. The student housing portion of the portfolio consists of 3,611 beds in the United States and 140 beds in Canada. Properties include: WaHu — an 825-bed community located near the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis The District at Campus West — a 659-bed community located near Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo. SkyVue — a 627-bed community located near the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania 4th Street Commons — a 562-bed community located near Florida International University in Miami 930 NoMo — a 430-bed community located near the College of Charleston in Charleston, S.C. Todd — a 351-bed community located near the University of Missouri in Columbia, Mo. 700 on Washington — a 157-bed community located near the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis Parc Cite — a 140-bed community located near McGill University in Montreal, Canada The eight student housing properties are located an average of 0.2 miles away from campus, and have occupancies above 90 percent. The four multifamily properties total 1,388 units, and include: Mint Urban …
LAS VEGAS — Amid a throng of more than 37,000 convention-goers at RECon — the world’s largest retail real estate trade show — Heartland Real Estate Business sat down with veteran Chicago broker Rick Scardino and CEO Jeff Rinkov of Lee & Associates on the show floor of the Las Vegas Convention Center in late May. Scardino, a principal with the Chicago office, spearheads the retail division at Lee & Associates of Illinois. Rinkov serves as CEO and chairman of the board. The two discussed the overall health of the retail market in the Windy City and beyond, the emergence of “grocerants” and the driving factors behind the recent rash of retail bankruptcies and store closures. What follows is an edited version of that conversation. Heartland Real Estate Business: Does the old saying that the grocery sector is recession-proof because everyone needs to eat still hold true? Rick Scardino: I just hate painting anything with a broad brush. I don’t think anything is recession-proof. I grew up with family retail and the restaurant business. Sometimes people move from one category to another, they’ll go from an Aldi when things are tighter to a Jewel. HREB: Who do you think is …