By John Faur, Newmark Zimmer The Kansas City industrial real estate market has been on a historical run since 2020 with over 40 million square feet of inventory added in that time frame. This run of new construction has catapulted Kansas City to the 15th largest industrial market in the country by square footage, despite only being the 31st largest MSA by population. During most of this period, the strong market dynamics which exist in Kansas City, such as strategic highway infrastructure, a centralized location, four Class-1 railroads, availability of bulk land sites and an active development community, were further amplified by the low-interest rate climate and record levels of tenant activity. The continued high pace of speculative industrial construction starts in 2022 positioned 2023 to experience a healthy amount of new deliveries, with almost 8 million square feet of speculative industrial space delivering to the market. While the financial markets presented opportunity during this run of growth, continuous rate hikes in 2023 created challenges that resulted in a significant decrease in year-over-year speculative construction starts (3.5 million square feet of speculative construction has occurred year to date in 2023 as compared with more than 13 million square feet in …
Property Type
The multifamily industry has its hands full: finance in adverse economic conditions, rapidly rising operation costs, as well as the challenge of attracting and keeping quality tenants as the biggest jump in new inventory creates more competition than the industry has seen in decades. Technology is an enabling and defining tool in the midst of these challenges. Tenants often expect services like internet access, telephone, television and Wi-Fi hotspots throughout a complex. Multifamily property staff need data access, speciality software, as well as the ability to schedule prospective resident visits, remote viewing, maintenance and more. Relatively few multifamily operations have the scope, scale and economics for an IT staff that can handle the support and repair requirements necessary to install systems, keep them working, protect data and networks while assisting tenant and staff users, particulary 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Managed IT services are third-party companies that remotely provide the IT expertise and the help a company requires. “If a resident can’t get on Wi-Fi, if a phone stops working, if there’s an issue with the network or if there’s a problem with the ability to share or store or retrieve data — that’s where we step …
ARLINGTON, TEXAS — Dallas-based Zale Properties will develop The Grove at La Frontera, a 396-unit multifamily project in Arlington. The property will consist of 336 apartments, 60 single-family rental bungalows and 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. Units will come in one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans. Amenities will include two pools, a fitness center, pickleball courts, a dog park, pet spa, clubhouse with a coffee bar, coworking spaces, walking trails, a putting green and a community garden. John Brownlee, Bo Beidleman and Chad Lisbeth of JLL arranged a four-year, fixed-rate construction loan through Principal Asset Management on behalf of the developer. Completion is slated for 2025.
HOUSTON — Dallas-based investment firm Novel Office has acquired 3555 Timmons, a 225,895-square-foot office building in Houston’s Greenway Plaza district. The 15-story building, which according to LoopNet Inc. was originally constructed in 1982, offers amenities such as a conference center, tenant lounge, training room and onsite food-and-beverage options. The seller and sales price were not disclosed. The new ownership has hired Transwestern to lease the building.
HOUSTON — Locally based development and investment firm Pagewood has purchased Costa Mesa, a 152-unit apartment complex in northwest Houston. The property consists of 12 two-story buildings that house one- and two-bedroom units that range in size from 614 to 1,044 square feet. Amenities include a pool, clubhouse, playground, business center and onsite laundry facilities. Amegy Bank provided acquisition financing for the deal. The seller and sales price were not disclosed. Pagewood plans to implement a value-add program.
MISSION, TEXAS — Northmarq has brokered the sale of Las Misiones Apartments, a 118-unit multifamily complex located in the Rio Grande Valley city of Mission. Built in 2005, the property offers one-, two- and three-bedroom units that range in size from 751 to 1,359 square feet. Amenities include a pool, fitness center, business center, playground, clubhouse, basketball court and a lounge. McGuire Family Properties purchased the asset from a pair of private investors for an undisclosed price. Zar Haro, Moses Siller, Phil Grafe, Bryan VanCura and Brian Booth of Northmarq brokered the deal.
OKLAHOMA — Evans Senior Investments (ESI) has arranged the sale of an undisclosed, 95-bed skilled nursing community located about 85 miles south of Oklahoma City. ESI represented the seller, a private owner-operator, which sold the property to a West Coast-based investor with experience in skilled nursing operations. Both parties requested anonymity.
BOSTON — New York-based investment firm Aker has acquired Pelham Hall Apartments, a 148-unit mid-rise building in Boston’s Brookline area, for $70 million. The building was originally constructed in 1926 and includes 14,601 square feet of retail space. Units come in studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans, and amenities include a fitness center, laundry facilities and a rideshare lounge. Simon Butler, Biria St. John, John McLaughlin and Brian Bowler of CBRE represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction. John Kelly of CBRE arranged acquisition financing for the deal.
OLD BRIDGE, N.J. — Paragon Packaging has signed a 192,000-square-foot industrial lease in Old Bridge, about 40 miles south of Manhattan. The packaging firm is taking space at Building 2 at the 4.2 million-square-foot Central 9 Logistics Park, which is under construction and expected to be complete in the second quarter. Mindy Lissner, Bill Waxman, Christine Eberle, David Gheriani, Jeff Volpi and Morgan Nitti of Cushman & Wakefield represented the landlord, 2020 Acquisitions, in the lease negotiations. Kyle Eaton of Newmark represented Paragon Packaging.
JACKSON TOWNSHIP, N.J. — New Jersey-based investment firm Horizon Equities has purchased Jackson Health Village, a 150,000-square-foot medical office building in New Jersey’s Ocean County, for $24 million. The three-story building was built on 11.3 acres in 2014 and was 64 percent occupied at the time of sale. Jeremy Neuer, Jose Cruz, Dan Loughlin, Tom Stanton and Matt Loughlin of JLL represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction and procured Horizon Equities as the buyer.