HOUSTON AND AUSTIN, TEXAS — LMI Capital has arranged $15 million for the refinancing of two retail properties in the greater Houston and Austin areas. The first transaction was a 10-year loan for a 102,000-square-foot site in southeast Austin, and the second transaction was a seven-year loan for a 21,000-square-foot property in north Houston. Both loans included a 4.75 percent fixed interest rate, flexible step-down payment and minimal closing costs. The names and addresses of the properties were not disclosed.
CROMWELL, CONN. – CBRE Capital Markets’ debt and structured finance team has secured $21.3 million in bridge financing for Cromwell Square, a 218,000-square-foot shopping center currently anchored by a 100,000-square-foot Kmart in Cromwell. Mark Fisher, Michael Riccio and Alex Furnary of CBRE facilitated the loan on behalf of the borrower, Greenwich-based developer/owner/operator HB Nitkin. The 10-year, fixed-rate bridge loan includes two years of interest-only payments and a 25-year amortization schedule. The loan will be used replace an existing $12.1 million loan and provide additional funds for the buyout of an existing Kmart lease. The store will be replaced with a 65,000-square-foot ShopRite grocery store and other tenants. The redevelopment is anticipated to take 18 months. The property is located at 51 Shunpike Road in Middlesex County, immediately west of Route 9 and 1.5 miles east of I-91 on the northwest corner of Shunpike Road and Route 372.
EAST GREENBUSH, N.Y. – HFF has secured the $15.1 million sale of Columbia Plaza, a 137,647-square-foot grocery-anchored retail center in East Greenbush. HFF marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a partnership between Capstone Realty Group and WP Realty. Nigro Cos., based in Albany, N.Y., purchased the asset free and clear of existing debt. Anchored by Price Chopper, Columbia Plaza is 89.3 percent leased and home to Peebles, Dollar Tree, Pet Stop, Vineyard Wine & Spirit, Nishiki Sushi, Hair Studio One, Liberty Tax Service, Quality Hearing, NBT Bank and Computer Answers. The three-building center was completed in 1988. Situated on 14.6 acres at 501 Columbia Turnpike, Columbia Plaza is located 3.5 miles southeast of Albany. The center’s Columbia Turnpike location places it in one of the main retail corridors in East Greenbush, a community located along the Hudson River. Columbia Turnpike is accessible from Interstates 8, 787 and 90 in addition to State Highways 151, 43 and 9J. The HFF investment sales team representing the seller was led by Jose Cruz, Kevin O’Hearn, Michael Oliver and Stephen Simonelli with assistance from Andrew Scandalios.
FINDLAY, OHIO — Watseka, Ill.-based Big R has signed a 98,000-square-foot retail lease at a former Sears store in Findlay, 40 miles south of Toledo. The outdoor sporting goods store will occupy the space at the Findlay Village Mall located at 1800 N. Tiffin Ave. The building, vacant since 2014, is now under construction with a planned opening in the second quarter of 2017. This will be the second Ohio location for Big R, joining the recently opened location in Lima. Duke Wheeler of Reichle Klein Group represented the tenant in the lease transaction. JJ Gumberg Co. is the landlord for the mall.
MIAMI — MMG Equity Partners has purchased Kendall Corners, a 97,189-square-foot shopping center located on Kendall Drive in Miami, for $38.6 million. The property was 92 percent leased at the time of sale to tenants such as Ashley Furniture, Baptist Hospital, Bank United, Mattress Firm, Phenix Salons and IHOP. The seller was undisclosed.
INDIANAPOLIS — Electronics and home appliances retailer hhgregg’s Inc.’s decision last week to close 88 stores — or roughly 40 percent of its total outlets — and three distribution facilities over the next two months came in the wake of a rough financial stretch for the company. Net sales decreased 23.7 percent on a year-over-year basis during the company’s most recent fiscal quarter, which ended Dec. 31, 2016, and the gross operating margin declined 4.1 percent. The net loss for the quarter was roughly $58.3 million, despite the fact that this period encompassed the holidays. The company was recently delisted from the New York Stock Exchange for failing to meet minimum requirements. Most commonly, delisting occurs when a security trades below $1 per share for 30 consecutive business days; hhgregg had not closed at or above this level since Jan. 9 of this year As a supplier of consumer goods that span several different sectors, hhgregg has been hit equally hard by the rising popularity of e-commerce and competition from other multichannel retailers like Walmart and Home Depot, both of which have enjoyed upward-trending stock prices throughout the year’s early stages. Its electronics division, in particular, was hit hard by this …
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Consolidated-Tomoka Land Co., a Florida-based real estate investment firm, has purchased WestCliff Center, a 136,185-square-foot shopping center located at 3563 Alton Road in Fort Worth, from RD Management for roughly $15 million. Situated on 10.3 acres and located less than a mile from Texas Christian University, the property is divided into three contiguous parcels, the asset encompasses four single-tenant properties and one multi-tenant property. The shopping center is currently 96 percent leased to tenants such as Albertsons, which occupies the anchoring 39,000-square-foot property; Cook Children’s Health Foundation, which leases the second largest property, a 38,000-square-foot office building; and Dollar General and Ace Hardware, which share the 55,000-square-foot, multi-tenant building. DuWest Realty represented the buyer in the transaction.
SPRING, TEXAS — EDGE Capital Markets has brokered the sale of West Rayford Retail Center, an 18,512-square-foot, multi-tenant retail asset in Spring, a northern suburb of Houston. Located at 8633 W. Rayford Road, the property is currently leased to tenants such as Sherwin Williams and Lush & Co. Spa. Josh Jacobs and Burdette Huffman of EDGE represented the seller, LSP Rayford LLC, while Sumner Hollingsworth of Hollingsworth & Associates represented the undisclosed buyer.
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Urstadt Biddle Properties has completed the disposition of its Westchester Pavilion property, a former power center mall in White Plains. Maple and Broadway Holdings, a subsidiary of Lennar Corp. through its Lennar Multi-Family Communities, acquired the site for $56.6 million. The buyer plans to raze the property and develop a high-end, mixed-used property with residential and retail space.
NEW YORK CITY — Hornig Capital Partners and Brickman Real Estate are redeveloping a former box manufacturing building into Box Factory, an office and retail property located at 1519 Decatur St. on the Queens-Brooklyn border of Ridgewood and Bushwick. Fogarty Finger Architecture is designing the $10 million renovation, which will bring 55,570 square feet of office space and 7,430 square feet of retail space to the area. Completion is slated for June 2017. ABS Partners Real Estate is marketing the office portion of the project, while Ripco Realty is marketing the retail portion.