CHICAGO — 4C Insights has signed a 14,394-square-foot office lease expansion at 1 E. Wacker Drive in Chicago. The data science and media technology firm previously occupied 4,785 square feet in the building. This expansion more than triples the firm’s footprint. Bill Sheehy and Mark Cassata of CBRE represented 4C in the lease transaction. John Beason and Monica Moore of JLL represented the undisclosed landlord.
NORTH RANDALL, OHIO — Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has unveiled plans to open an 855,000-square-foot fulfillment center at the former site of Randall Park Mall in North Randall, roughly 15 miles southeast of Cleveland. “Along with Team NEO and the Village of North Randall, the Cleveland Port Authority and the Greater Cleveland Partnership, we are pleased to partner with Amazon to revitalize and bring jobs back to a property that has stood vacant for too long,” said John Minor, JobsOhio president and chief investment officer. “Amazon’s investment at a site where the nation’s largest shopping mall once stood will now support digital retail jobs.” The new center will create approximately 2,000 full-time associate jobs with benefits. Employees will work with Amazon Robotics to pack and ship smaller customer items such as electronics, toys and books. Amazon currently employs more than 4,500 full-time hourly associates at its two existing Ohio fulfillment centers in Etna and Obetz. “Our ability to expand in Ohio is the result of two things: incredible customers and an outstanding workforce in the state,” said Sanjay Shah, Amazon’s vice president of North American customer fulfillment. “We very much appreciate the state and local elected leaders who have supported Amazon’s arrival …
The Charlotte economy has created jobs at a faster rate than the national average throughout this cycle. With 34,900 new jobs over the last 12 months and more than 110,000 over the last three years, the regional job market has created a new demand for the luxury multifamily inventory throughout infill and select suburban submarkets. Four of the MSA’s top five employers — Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Carolinas HealthCare System and Novant Health — each have a combined 1,000-plus job openings in Charlotte, while AXA, Red Ventures, Dimensional Fund Advisors and CompuCom have begun major expansions across the metro area. This has created a need for additional multifamily inventory, which has expanded by 7,700 units over the last 12 months, while absorption was just shy of 7,000. The modest downtick in occupancy was more than offset by a 4 percent same-store rent growth (30 basis points higher than the five-year trailing average of 3.7 percent). Two marquee high-rise projects are nearing completion in the central business district’s Third Ward: Greystar’s Ascent and Childress Klein’s Museum Tower. The early returns show unprecedented per square foot rents for the metro area. In most infill locations, developers are offering one month free …
SAN JOSE, CALIF. — Institutional Property Advisors has arranged a $32.5 million bridge loan for the 112-unit Terra Willow Glen apartments in San Jose. The community is located at 850 Meridian Way. It was built in 1979. The borrower purchased the asset in cash, six months prior to exploring value-add financing options. The borrower planned to take a lower leverage bridge loan option at lower pricing, but considered higher leverage options, which provided more attractive leveraged returns. Anita Paryani-Rice of Institutional Property Advisors arranged the loan.
PHOENIX — Nicola Crosby Real Estate has acquired Cabot Business Center, a 109,805-square-foot industrial/flex business center in Phoenix, for $11.3 million. The multi-tenant property is located at 3802-3922 E. University Drive. This is the first Phoenix-based asset for Nicola Crosby, a subsidiary of Nicola Wealth Management Ltd., a real estate asset management company that acquires and manages properties for the SPIRE Real Estate Portfolios. Darren Tappen, Peter Beauchamp, Aric Adams, Mike Kasulaitis, and Matthew Ault of Kidder Mathews represented the seller, Dunbar CBC, in this transaction. The firm will also manage the property.
ENUMCLAW, WASH. — An unnamed buyer has acquired the 23-suite Alta Crystal Resort at Mount Rainier in Enumclaw for an undisclosed price. The hotel is located at 68317 SR 410 East. The upscale select-service resort is situated near the Cascade Range ski area in Northwest Washington. Joseph Kennedy of Crystal Investment Property represented the seller in this transaction. Crystal Investment is a member of Hotel Brokers International.
OAKLAND, CALIF. — Lee & Associates has arranged the $2.5 million sale of a property net-leased to Bridgestone in Oakland. Bridgestone has occupied the 7,150-square-foot building since 1984. Ryan Bennett and Ryan Barr of Lee & Associates represented the seller, Granite Peak Property Investments, in the transaction. The buyer was undisclosed.
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA — Rooflifters USA has completed a 25,200-square-foot roof raising that will allow Dave & Busters to open at the Dimond Mall in Anchorage. The mall modified the space and raised the roof about six feet. The larger height allows tenants like movie theaters, big-box retailers and climbing-wall facilities to occupy spaces that most traditional retail locations are unable to initially accommodate. The actual roof raising was done overnight. It’s part of a massive reconfiguration for the Dimond Center remodel and expansion project. The 44,000-square-foot Dave & Buster’s is slated to open in 2018.
DOVER, DEL. — University Housing Solutions (UHS) is developing a student-focused residential campus on 30 acres of land it owns adjacent to Delaware State University (DSU) in Dover. During its discussions regarding a potential public-private partnership development with DSU, UHS learned of an immediate, urgent need for student housing. To meet this demand, UHS will build a 500-bed student housing project with the ability to add an additional 1,500 beds. The UHS project will include a food court and retail space. UHS will address the current student housing shortage through an expedited approval, design and construction effort, and will have sufficient remaining land to provide for future student housing needs within a master-planned, student-oriented residential campus. Martin Kimmel, principal of Kimmel Bogrette Architecture + Site, is leading the effort for UHS. Other members of the UHS project team include Skanska USA (construction) and Asset Campus Housing (management, maintenance, and operations).
NANTUCKET, MASS. — Strategic Storage Growth Trust (SSGT), a public non-traded REIT sponsored by SmartStop Asset Management, has purchased an 840-unit self-storage facility in Nantucket. Located at 6 Sun Island Road, the 93,000-square-foot facility was constructed in 2002 on 1.7 acres of land. The property was approximately 91 percent occupied at the time of acquisition. The property includes 17 climate-controlled wine storage units that serve the Nantucket Wine & Food Festival. The SSGT portfolio currently consists of 21 operating self-storage facilities located in 10 states comprising approximately 13,700 self-storage units and approximately 1.6 million net rentable square feet of storage space.