ST. LOUIS — The Opus Group, in partnership with AIG GlobalReal Estate, has begun construction on a 12-story luxury apartment building in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis. The building will include 217 apartment units featuring alcove, one-, two-bedroom and penthouse floor plans. Amenities will include a fitness center, a pool terrace with an outdoor grilling space and fire pits, bar and club rooms, a dog wash and underground parking. Opus Development Co. LLC is the developer and Opus Design Build LLC is the design-builder. Opus AE Group LLC is the architect and structural engineer of record. Minneapolis-based ESG Architects provided conceptual design services. Completion of the project is slated for fall 2016.
ST. LOUIS — PPM/Keller Plaza LLC has acquired a retail center in St. Louis for $3.7 million. Keller Plaza includes a 52,842-square-foot shopping center and 11,034 square feet of ground leases. The property is located at 4500 Lemay Ferry Road. PPM acquired the property from Phillips Edison & Co. Jack in the Box, Firestone, Jiffy Lube and the Keller Plaza Cine 8 theaters anchor the property. There is a total of 1,020 square feet of in-line vacancy.
ALLEN, TEXAS — Allen Economic Development Corp. and Sentinel Capital have broken ground on the first phase of AllenPlace. The 22.5-acre, 700,000-square-foot, five-building, Class A office park is located on the east side of North Central Expressway between Millennium Drive and Butler Drive in Allen. KONE, an elevator and escalator company, announced earlier this year it would be the lead tenant with more than 200 company employees in the $26-million first phase of AllenPlace. In addition to office space, KONE’s commitment includes light manufacturing and test facilities in the first phase of development. Jeff Patman, senior vice president of Site Selection Group, represented KONE in their site selection. Ben Appleby with Paladin Partners represented the landlord, Sentinel Capital, in the transaction. Paladin Partners will be responsible for the leasing at AllenPlace. Houston-based Sentinel Capital LLC is developing AllenPlace in partnership with Centra Partners LLC and Triad Real Estate.
HOUSTON — DCT Industrial Trust has arranged three pre-leases totaling 172,000 square feet in its northwest Houston development, DCT Northwest Crossroads Logistics Centre. The leases bring the first phase of the development, a 362,000 square foot, multi-tenant building, to 100 occupancy. In June 2014, the company pre-leased 52 percent of Northwest Crossroads Logistics Centre I through a 190,000 square foot lease with Lennox. The development will be completed in the first quarter of 2015. When finished, DCT Northwest Crossroads Logistics Centre will span 682,000 square feet across two buildings. The company began construction on Phase II, a 320,000-square-foot building, in the third quarter of 2014. Phase II is slated for completion during the second quarter this year.
DALLAS — Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide and New Orleans-based KFK Group will open a new Starwood managed Westin hotel in downtown Dallas. The Westin Dallas Downtown will open by December 2015 as part of an adaptive re-use project that will transform the complex into a lifestyle development. Construction has already begun, following KFK’s acquisition of the 1-million-square-foot building in March of last year. The Westin Dallas Downtown will feature 323 guest rooms and extensive meeting facilities. The hotel will anchor the redevelopment of the office building known as “One Main Place.” The vertical mixed-use property will feature a dedicated hotel entrance parallel to Elm Street and a second floor hotel lobby in the former banking hall. Hotel facilities will include a three meal restaurant, a bar and more than 27,000 square feet of meeting space including a ballroom overlooking the eastern courtyard.
BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of United Rentals, a 6,450-square-foot net-leased property located in Brownsville. Geoff Ficke and Chris Adams of Marcus & Millichap’s Dallas office marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a developer. Dominic Sulo and Matthew Wenger of the firm’s Chicago Oak Brook office procured the buyer, a private investor. United Rentals is located at the intersection of Old Port Isabel Road and East Ruben M. Torres Sr. Boulevard. Built in 2009, the property is situated on 1.9 acres and was originally occupied by RSC Equipment Rental. United Rentals assumed the property after the company’s acquisition of RSC in 2012. Founded in 1997, United Rentals operates more than 880 rental locations in 49 states and 10 Canadian provinces.
IRVING, TEXAS — Lee & Associates has negotiated the lease of a 101,500 square-foot industrial building located at 1800 Hurd Drive in Irving. Nathan Denton of Lee & Associates represented the buyer, Alliance Glass & Metal. John Fulton and Brett Owens with Transwestern Commercial Services represented the seller, Thanestate Investments.
LOS ANGELES — A joint venture between AWH Partners and Starr Companies has acquired the 488-room Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport for reported purchase price north of $100 million. The full-service hotel is located at 2500 North Hollywood Way, adjacent to Bob Hope Airport and Amtrak-Burbank Airport train terminal, in the Los Angeles submarket of Burbank. The Marriott-branded hotel recently underwent a $10-million renovation. It includes two towers, along with an adjacent conference center that features nearly 46,000 square feet of indoor/outdoor function space. Amenities include a fully equipped fitness center, business center, two heated outdoor pools, spa, a concierge lounge, and a restaurant with dine-in and in-room dining options. The seller, Westbrook Partners, was represented by HFF’s Scott Hall.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF. — Decron Properties Corp. has purchased the 187-unit Highland Gardens apartment community in the Silicon Valley submarket of Mountain View for $86 million. The community is located at 222 and 234 Escuela. Highland Gardens was built in 1964 and recently underwent a renovation. Common-area amenities include a resort-style swimming pool, fitness center, recreation areas and covered parking. Decron plans to further upgrade the community. They will include a relocation and expansion of the fitness center, the creation of a Wi-Fi lounge, a new Jacuzzi/spa and enhanced landscaping with outdoor fire pits. This acquisition is Decron’s first in the Bay Area. The firm has an additional $63-million worth of assets under contract that are set to close by the end of the month. Decron is the development arm of the Nagel Family Trust, which owns and manages more than 5,000 multifamily units, primarily in Southern California. The firm plans to invest up to $350 million in the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley submarkets this year, according to David Nagel, Decron’s president and CEO. The seller was a joint venture between Maximus Real Estate Partners and Rockpoint Group LLC. The transaction was executed by Stan Jones, Phil …
SAN FRANCISCO — Jamestown has acquired a 92,023-square-foot office building in San Francisco for a reported $65.2 million. The historic creative office property is located at 731 Market Street. The building is situated on the south side of Market Street, between Third and Fourth streets, near the convergence of the SOMA, Mid-Market, Union Square and Financial District neighborhoods. The six-story property is fully leased to eight tenants, including Stitch Fix, ConnectSolutions and Liftopia. It also contains 12,067 square feet of ground-floor retail that is occupied by CVS. The building was constructed in 1908, when it was known as the Bancroft Building. It recently received an extensive renovation that included upgrades to the building systems and lobby. The asset was acquired by the Jamestown Premier Property Fund, the firm’s flagship core and core-plus investment vehicle for institutional investors. The fund also owns 799 Market Street, a neighboring creative office and retail asset that is fully occupied by technology tenants, in addition to Ghirardelli Square, Waterfront Plaza and Alameda South Shore Center. The seller, Harvest Properties, was represented by JLL.