CLEVELAND — Developer Geis Cos. and Sandvick Architects Inc. have teamed up to transform the former AmeriTrust tower and Cleveland Trust Rotunda into The Metropolitan at The 9. The $250 million hotel will be located at the intersection of East 9th Street and Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland. When it opens in the fall of 2014, the hotel will include 156 rooms and suites, featuring 16 custom-designed sky suites with large windows that provide panoramic views of downtown Cleveland. The project will also feature 12,000 square feet of meeting space, a Heinen’s grocery store, indoor dog park, spa and fitness center. Additional amenities include the Adega restaurant, offering Mediterranean cuisine and downtown Cleveland’s largest outdoor dining area, along with Azure Sky, which will offer the downtown’s largest rooftop bar. Geis Cos. and Sandvick Architects plan to preserve the site’s architectural features, while combining that with modern technology and design. The hotel will be affiliated with Marriott International’s Autograph Collection of more than 50 independent hotels. Geis-owned GLSD Architects is designing the project.
Property Type
COLUMBUS, OHIO — The headquarters building for Columbia Gas of Ohio in downtown Columbus has sold to CC-13 LLC. The property sold for $15 million, according to Columbus Business First. The acquisition includes the 15-story, 239,532-square-foot office building and a 16,158-square-foot, 484-space parking garage, as well as the furniture, fixtures and equipment in the building and the underlying 1.9 acres. Columbia Gas of Ohio built the Class A office building in 1983 and has leased, occupied and maintained it since then. The office building includes an auditorium, fitness center, full-service cafeteria, kitchenettes, two open-air balconies and other amenities. CC-13 LLC, which is owned by Casto Partners and local attorney Robert Meyers, purchased the property from Civic Center Drive LP. Indiana, Pa.-based First Commonwealth Bank provided the financing for the acquisition. Don Roberts and George Stecz of CBRE represented both the buyer and seller in the transaction.
LAKE ZURICH — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the $1.1 million sale of Trader Joe’s Out Parcel Center, a 2,995-square-foot retail property in suburban Chicago. Sean Sharko and Austin Weisenbeck, investment specialists in Marcus & Millichap’s Oak Brook office, marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a private investor. The California-based buyer was a private individual in a 1031 tax-deferred exchange. Trader Joe’s Out Parcel Center is located at 797-799 W. Main St. in Lake Zurich. FedEx and GameStop, which both signed five-year leases in 2008, occupy the center. FedEx recently signed a five-year extension, while GameStop signed a two-year. The property is situated across from the Village Square Shopping Center, which is anchored by TJ Maxx, OfficeMax, Petco, MC Sports and Trader Joe's.
RAHWAY, N.J. —A joint venture between three New Jersey residential developers — AST Development, Sterling Properties and Heartstone Development — have started construction on Metro Rahway, a 116-unit rental community in Rahway. The project will transform a former industrial site into a transit-oriented development, which is within walking distance to shopping, dining and the Rahway train station. Situated on 1.6 acres along Campbell Street, Metro Rahway will be a four-story building with a mix of one- and two-bedroom residences featuring nine-foot ceilings and ceramic-tiled kitchens. Rahway is slated for completion by late spring 2014. The rental rates have not yet been set.
NEW YORK CITY — Madison Realty Capital (MRC) has closed a $40.2 million loan to fund the payoff of a discounted existing $50 million acquisition loan on the Hudson Yards development in Manhattan. Additional proceeds of the loan will be used to fund predevelopment costs for a 265,000-square-foot hotel project on the site, which is located on the corner of 37th Street and 11th Avenue. When constructed, the 420-room hotel will feature several food and beverage outlets, as well as meeting space. The project is one of the many new developments at Hudson Yards. After the 2005 rezoning, the area now has capacity for approximately 26 million square feet of new office development, 20,000 units of housing (of which almost 5,000 units will be affordable), 2 million square feet of retail space and 3 million square feet of hotel space.
NEW YORK CITY —Tarte Cosmetics has signed a 15,439-square-foot lease, occupying a portion of the eighth floor at 1375 Broadway in Manhattan. Tarte specializes in glamour, makeup and beauty products that are eco-friendly and cruelty-free. Savanna, a New York-based real estate private equity firm, recently repositioned the property including a new lobby, entrance and upgrades to the building façade. Eric Meyer, Martin Meyer and Michael Thomas of Colliers International represented the landlord in the transaction. Robert Kaplan of Hidrock Realty represented the Tarte Cosmetics.
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of a 45,346-square-foot property net-leased by Sonic Restaurants Inc. in Fort Worth. Situated at 8661 North Beach St., the location benefits from daily traffic counts in excess of 26,630 vehicles per day. Sonic has more than eight years remaining on the lease and multiple five-year extension options. Vincent Knipp of Marcus & Millichap’s Fort Worth office represented the seller, a partnership. Alex Bouchard and Gus Lagos, of Marcus & Millichap’s Houston office, secured the buyer, also a partnership.
DALLAS AND MESQUITE, TEXAS — Centerline Capital Group has arranged $19.3 million in refinancing for two Dallas-area Fannie Mae multifamily properties. The borrower, a Texas limited liability company managed by Gage Investments Ltd., is the same on both loans. Spanish Court Apartments, a 373-unit garden-style community in the western suburb of Mesquite, will receive a 10-year, $10.3 million in funding on a term amortized over 30 years. Spanish Village Apartments, a facility consisting of 22 residential buildings in Dallas, will receive $9 million in funding on the same terms. Centerline Capital is a subsidiary of New York-based Centerline Holding Co.
HOUSTON — NAI Houston has arranged the lease of 31,250 square feet of industrial space in Houston for Benthic USA LLC, a provider of offshore marine geotechnical investigation, analysis and design. The property, a warehouse/distribution facility, is part of Hammerly Business Park, which is located at 1805 Brittmoore Road in the northwest submarket. Chris Kugle of NAI represented Benthic in the negotiations. Charlie Christ of Clay Development represented the landlord, the name of which was not disclosed.
SCHERTZ, TEXAS — PinPoint Commercial LP and Thrive Senior Living LLC have broken ground on a new seniors housing property, The Legacy at Forest Ridge Assisted Living and Memory Care Facility, in the northeast San Antonio suburb of Schertz. The community, located near I-35 North and Schertz Parkway, will consist of up to 112 assisted living beds and 28 memory care beds and incorporate cutting-edge technologies such as remote radio-frequency identification for resident location monitoring. Construction is slated for completion in mid-2014.