Top Stories

SHVO, Deutsche Finance Acquire Iconic ‘Big Red’ Office Tower in Chicago for $376M

by Alex Tostado August 13, 2020

CHICAGO — A joint venture between SHVO and Deutsche Finance Bank has acquired the CNA Center, more commonly known as “Big Red” due to the bold color of the 45-story office tower, for $376 million. The 1.2 million-square-foot property is situated at 333 S. Wabash Ave. in Chicago’s East Loop district. At the time of sale, the property was leased to CNA Insurance, financial services company Northern Trust and the Chicago Housing Authority. Graham, Anderson, Probst & White originally designed the tower in 1973, and it underwent renovations in 2019. Amenities include a new food hall open to the public, a fitness center and childcare facilities. “Big Red is among the most recognizable towers in the Windy City’s skyline — the birthplace of the skyscraper and home to so much rich architectural history,” says Michael Shvo, chairman and CEO of SHVO. “We’re proud to now be a part of that Chicago tradition with this addition to our national portfolio of super-prime core properties. We look forward to not just maintaining Big Red’s stature but elevating it in the years to come.” The joint venture entered into a contract agreement with the sellers, Morgan Stanley and The Morgon Cos., in the …

August 13, 2020

Florida Retail Southeast Top Stories

Stein Mart Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, Plans to Close Most Stores

by Kristin Harlow August 12, 2020

JACKSONVILLE, FLA. — Discount retailer Stein Mart Inc. (NASDAQ: SMRT) has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida. The motion is an effort to maintain operations, including “the payment of employee wages and benefits without interruption, payment of suppliers and vendors in the normal course of business and the use of cash collateral.” Jacksonville-based Stein Mart expects to close a significant portion, if not all, of its brick-and-mortar stores. The company has launched a store closing and liquidation process but will continue to operate in the near term. Stein Mart says it is evaluating any and all strategic alternatives, including the potential sale of its e-commerce business and related intellectual property. In its fiscal first quarter that ended May 2, Stein Mart reported a net loss of $65.7 million. In addition, a merger agreement with an affiliate of Kingswood Capital Management LP terminated in April due to “uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to Stein Mart’s quarterly report. “The combined effects of a challenging retail environment coupled with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic have caused significant financial distress on our business,” says Hunt Hawkins, Stein Mart CEO and …

August 12, 2020

Acquisitions Industrial Texas Top Stories

VEREIT, Ocean West Purchase Distribution Center in Dallas for $246.7M

by John Nelson August 11, 2020

DALLAS — VEREIT Inc. and Ocean West Capital Partners LLC have teamed up to acquire a 2.3 million-square-foot industrial facility in Dallas. The newly built property is located at 9314 W. Jefferson Blvd. and is fully leased to The Home Depot. NorthPoint Development sold the build-to-suit property to the buyers for $246.7 million. The Missouri-based developer is staying on as a joint venture partner. There are 20 years remaining on the lease with The Home Depot. “The property’s logistically desirable location along with the tenant’s creditworthiness and the established long-term lease make this a strong investment for the growing partnership,” says Thomas Roberts, VEREIT’s executive vice president and chief investment officer. The property, known as Dallas Global Industrial Center, offers access to Interstate 30, Texas Highway 161, Loop 12, Interstate 20 and Interstate 35E. The park also has a direct spur from the main Union Pacific Rail Service line. The acquisition is the latest in VEREIT’s (NYSE: VER) partnership with Korea Investment & Securities Co. Ltd., a global financial services firm based in Korea that Ocean West advises, as well as Tiger Alternative Investors Ltd. To date, the VEREIT-led partnership has bought seven Class A, single-tenant industrial properties totaling $653.7 …

August 11, 2020

Development Georgia Office Southeast Top Stories

Trammell Crow Completes 345,000 SF, Transit-Served Office Building in Metro Atlanta

by Taylor Williams August 10, 2020

DUNWOODY, GA. — Dallas-based developer Trammell Crow Co. has completed Twelve24, a 345,000-square-foot office building located at 1224 Hammond Drive in Dunwoody, a suburb of Atlanta in the metro’s Central Perimeter submarket. The 16-story building features a skybridge with direct access to the Dunwoody MARTA Station. Twelve24 is also located adjacent to Perimeter Mall and in close proximity to Interstate 285 and State Route 400. In addition, Twelve24 houses 11,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, 7,500 square feet of which is preleased to Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant. Insight Global, a national staffing and services company, has leased approximately 72 percent of the office space as the anchor tenant. The building offers an amenity floor with a fully staffed, 10,000-square-foot fitness center, an indoor conference center, tenant lounge and a café. Outdoor amenities include a yoga lawn, multiple lounge areas and a covered outdoor conference center. According to a second-quarter report on the Atlanta office market from Colliers International, the Central Perimeter submarket has a direct vacancy rate of 14.7 percent and has seen more than 1 million square feet of positive absorption year-to-date. Trammell Crow is also working with Concord Hospitality Group to develop a 177-room Hyatt Place …

August 10, 2020

Development Industrial Kansas Midwest Top Stories

Urban Outfitters to Build $350M Distribution Center Near Kansas City

by Katie Sloan August 7, 2020

KANSAS CITY, KAN. — Urban Outfitters (Nasdaq: URBN) has announced plans to develop a $350 million omni-channel distribution center near Kansas City. The 880,000-square-foot development will be located on ancillary land owned by the Kansas Speedway in Wyandotte County, roughly 15 miles outside downtown Kansas City. The Philadelphia-based retailer is set to begin construction on the facility this fall with completion scheduled for early 2022. Documents obtained by The Kansas City Star identify Hillwood Development Co. as the developer for the project. Fort Worth, Texas-based Hillwood is led by Ross Perot Jr., son of the late Ross Perot, a billionaire who ran for president twice in the 1990s. Urban Outfitters selects the locations of its distribution centers based on a combination of factors, including location, available workforce and transportation infrastructure. Kansas City’s central location was cited as critical to the company’s distribution network. “Our priorities in identifying the home for our new omni-channel distribution center focused on people, and it was the quality of the local workforce and the commitment of their representatives in the state that convinced us this is the right place to be,” says Dave Ziel, chief development officer of Urban Outfitters. “This facility will be at the …

August 7, 2020

Development Healthcare Midwest Nebraska Office Top Stories

McCarthy Completes $86M Omaha VA Ambulatory Center in Nebraska

by Alex Tostado August 6, 2020

OMAHA, NEB. — McCarthy Building Cos. has completed construction of the Omaha VA Ambulatory Care Center, an $86 million, 157,000-square-foot outpatient facility for veterans. The property includes seven primary-care units, an outpatient surgery suite and a specialty medicine unit allowing 400 additional patients to visit the clinic each day, as well as a dedicated women’s health clinic area. The new facility, which is connected to the existing 12-story VA Medical Campus, will open to patients this month. This is the first center in the country to take advantage of the C.H.I.P.I.N. for Vets Act passed through Congress in 2016, according to McCarthy. Under the law, the VA is permitted to accept private donations to complete construction projects. The VA entered a public-private partnership with nonprofit group Veterans Ambulatory Center Development Corp. (VACDC) to save taxpayers roughly $30 million. The law also requires the builder to use innovative delivery techniques that fall outside federally prescribed specifications and methods. Such initiatives include subsurface utility mapping, virtual design and construction, and using a design-assist subcontracting approach instead of a hard-bid approach. McCarthy claims it completed the project four months ahead of schedule. “Breaking from the traditional design-bid-build delivery format allowed for creative solutions, more …

August 6, 2020

Development Industrial Kentucky Southeast Top Stories

Dollar General Plans $65M Distribution Center in Northern Kentucky, Expansion of Cold-Storage Footprint

by Kristin Harlow August 5, 2020

WALTON, KY. — Dollar General (NYSE: DG) has unveiled plans to open a 630,000-square-foot distribution facility in Walton, approximately 20 miles south of Cincinnati and the Ohio border. The $65 million investment is expected to bring 250 jobs to the city and support 800 stores. The Walton facility will serve as Dollar General’s 18th distribution center. Construction is scheduled to begin in September with operations to begin in January. Dollar General has also announced plans to build three additional DG Fresh facilities to support a shift toward self-distribution of products that require cold storage such as dairy, deli meats and frozen products. Construction is scheduled to begin this fall on a 160,000-square-foot cold storage facility in Ardmore, Oklahoma, with completion slated for spring 2021. Similarly, construction is scheduled to begin this fall on a 160,000-square-foot cold storage property in Bowling Green, Kentucky, with completion slated for summer 2021. Dollar General is currently finalizing construction of a 200,000-square-foot cold storage facility in West Sacramento, California, to complement its West Coast distribution operations. The property is scheduled to open this fall. At full capacity, each of the DG Fresh facilities are expected to create approximately 65 new jobs and support roughly 1,500 …

August 5, 2020

Farley Building Penn District Manhattan NYC

Development Leasing Activity Mixed-Use New York Northeast Office Top Stories

Facebook Leases 730,000 SF of Office Space at Vornado’s Farley Building in Manhattan

by John Nelson August 4, 2020

NEW YORK CITY — Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) has signed a lease to fully occupy the office portion of The Farley Building, a mixed-use project under construction in Manhattan. The landlord, Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO), is redeveloping the historic property, which was formerly the James A. Farley Post Office Building. The social media giant will occupy 730,000 square feet in the building. A timeline for the move-in and the number of employees moving into Farley was not disclosed. “The Farley Building will further anchor our New York footprint and create a dedicated hub for our tech and engineering teams,” says Robert Cookson, Facebook’s vice president of real estate and facilities. The Farley Building spans a double-wide city block between 31st and 33rd streets and 8th and 9th avenues. The property is part of Vornado’s Penn District development. Vornado owns more than 10 million square feet in Penn District, which is undergoing a $2 billion redevelopment, not including infrastructure and transit improvements by City of New York totaling $3 billion. Penn District includes the Farley Building, Penn 1 and Penn 2, all of which are under construction. Penn 1 and 2 are redevelopments of One Penn Plaza and Two Penn Plaza, …

August 4, 2020

California Company News New York Northeast Retail Top Stories Western

Parent Companies of Lord & Taylor, Men’s Wearhouse Both File for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

by Taylor Williams August 3, 2020

NEW YORK CITY AND FREMONT, CALIF. — The list of apparel retailers to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy grew longer over the weekend as the parent companies of Lord & Taylor and Men’s Wearhouse both filed petitions for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in an effort to restructure their debt loads. Le Tote Inc., a New York City-based e-commerce firm specializing in the clothing sector that owns Lord & Taylor, filed its petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Tailored Brands, the Fremont-based parent company of Men’s Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank, filed in a district court in Texas. Le Tote acquired Lord & Taylor about a year ago for $100 million from Hudson’s Bay Co. At that time, Lord & Taylor operated about 40 department stores around the country. Approximately half of those stores will now close. In mid-March, Hudson’s Bay Co., the Canadian firm that also owns Saks Fifth Avenue, also sold a 660,000-square-foot office building in Manhattan that had served as Lord & Taylor’s office hub. Amazon bought the property for $1.15 billion to serve as its New York City headquarters. Just two weeks ago, Tailored Brands unveiled a corporate restructuring plan that …

August 3, 2020

California Restaurant Retail Top Stories Western

California Pizza Kitchen Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

by Katie Sloan July 31, 2020

PLAYA VISTA, CALIF. — California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) is the latest fast casual restaurant chain to file for bankruptcy protection due to strain brought on by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas on Thursday in order to “close unprofitable locations, reduce its long-term debt load and quickly emerge from bankruptcy as a much stronger company,” according to the filing. The Playa Vista-based company did not release a list detailing which of its 200 restaurants it plans to close. CPK is set to receive $46.8 million in debtor-in-possession financing, enabling the ongoing operation of its locations, continued payments to vendors and employees, and the provision of ongoing commitments to stakeholders while the company is in the Chapter 11 process. The company currently has $13 million of cash on hand and has not paid rent for the past several months at a majority of its locations, according to reports by CNN. CPK plans to exit the Chapter 11 process in under three months. “The unprecedented impact of COVID-19 on our operations certainly created additional challenges, but this agreement from our lenders demonstrates their commitment to …

July 31, 2020

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