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It’s no longer a secret. Residential housing is one of the biggest stories to hit Cleveland’s central business district in over a quarter century. The only thing more impressive than the long list of residential projects that have been completed over the last five years is an even longer list of residential projects that are either planned or under construction. Despite this prolonged surge in activity, several questions remain, with most centered around the viability and sustainability of this sector. But before we take a look forward, let’s first take a look back. Downtown Cleveland has added approximately 1,700 new rental units over the past five years, with the total residential rental inventory standing at nearly 5,900 units. Last year alone saw 573 new units come on line as the direct result of converting nearly 500,000 square feet of former commercial and office space to residential. But despite this additional inventory, the occupancy rate has increased nearly 2 percent over the last five years, ending 2015 at 97.5 percent. Population surge in CBD  The downtown area contains approximately 14,000 residents, a 79 percent increase since 2000, according to a newly released report from the Downtown Cleveland Alliance. The average rent …

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NEW YORK CITY — Gabrielli Truck Sales Ltd. has acquired a 5.1-acre land tract adjacent to John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens. Philips International sold the site for $7.8 million. The buyer plans to construct a facility for its own use on the site. Michael Nachamkin and Evan Pariser of HFF represented the seller in the transaction.

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When CEO Keith Volgman made the decision a year ago to expand his loan origination business, NorthPoint Capital, the Chicago-based mortgage banking operation began the search for the ideal candidate to spearhead that effort. Volgman’s objective was to leverage NorthPoint Capital’s highly competitive, long-term correspondent lending relationships to benefit a larger number of Midwest property owners. Charles Krawitz, who has more than 25 years of experience in commercial real estate finance, turned out to be the perfect fit. After all, Krawitz had a proven track record of boosting deal volume based on jobs he previously held at KeyBank, LaSalle Bank and elsewhere. Last May, Krawitz officially became COO of a new entity, NorthPoint Capital Funding. Operating from the company’s office in downtown Chicago, Krawitz oversees the expansion and training of the loan origination staff. His charge is to grow the scope and scale of the firm’s lending relationships across the commercial and multifamily landscape. While there is no shortage of lenders  chasing product in today’s market, money doesn’t flow evenly, observes Krawitz. “It doesn’t necessarily flow into neighborhood assets the way it flows into the institutional space. It doesn’t flow into the rural markets the way it flows into the …

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The greater Indianapolis industrial market has experienced incredible growth over the past three years, and it continues to be one of the most sought-after industrial markets in the country. Supply and demand is the big story in early 2016. Because shovel-ready land is difficult to find, demand for land alternatives is pushing development further and further away from the beltway while simultaneously causing land prices to escalate. Local communities that figure out how to competitively bring shovel-ready land to the market will reap great rewards. There is strong demand for space across the industrial sector, with second-generation and medium-size distribution space outpacing the other industrial product types. Those seeking smaller, single-tenant buildings under 50,000 square feet are realizing how difficult they are to find. Additionally, the supply of available speculative space in the greater Indianapolis market has been on everyone’s radar for the past two years. Demand for spec space is catching up to the supply as evidenced by several new leases signed since the end of 2015. Currently, there is approximately 2.2 million square feet of industrial product under construction, including 1.4 million square feet of speculative development and 800,000 square feet of build-to-suit construction. Game changer The e-commerce …

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ORLANDO, FLA. — Wells Fargo Bank N.A. was the top commercial and multifamily mortgage servicer by volume for all of 2015, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). The annual ranking was released Sunday during the opening day of the MBA’s 2016 Commercial Real Estate Finance and Multifamily Housing Convention & Expo at the Hyatt Regency Orlando. The conference, which runs through Wednesday, Feb. 3, is expected to attract 3,000 commercial real estate finance professionals from across the industry. Under the big tent are mortgage bankers, life company and bank lenders, agency lenders, investment bankers, service providers and many others. The MBA rankings also show Wells Fargo, PNC/Midland, KeyBank, and Berkadia were the largest master and primary servicers of commercial/multifamily loans in U.S. commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS), collateralized debt obligations (CDO) and other asset-backed securities (ABS) during 2015. A primary servicer is generally responsible for collecting loan payments from borrowers, performing property inspections and other property-related activities.  A master servicer is typically responsible for collecting cash and data from primary servicers and then providing that cash and data, through trustees, to investors. To view a copy of the report, click here. Capital Spigot Remains Open Kathy Marquardt, vice president of commercial …

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NEW YORK CITY — Ariel Property Advisors has brokered the sale of a development property located at 515 E. 86th St. in the Upper East Side. The 22-foot wide development site, which is part of an assemblage, sold for $11.2 million. The property has approximately 22,150 buildable square feet as of right for a rental or condominium development. A four-story, 6,060-square-foot vacant building currently sits on the lot. Victor Sozio, Howard Raber, Shimon Shkury, Randy Modell and Jesse Deutch of Ariel Property Advisors represented the seller, a private investor, and procured the buyer, a private investor, in the transaction.

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The long-held perception of the Milwaukee office market is that it mostly trades tenants between buildings with one landlord winning at the other’s expense, while the overall pie remains the same size. However, with cranes dotting the horizon, large blocks of vacant space quickly leasing up, a number of major new developments waiting to break ground, and the inflow of outside dollars into Milwaukee, the market has recently experienced some amazing deal velocity. This activity is expected to continue as we head into 2016. However, the office market could slow down due to the completion of several projects currently under construction. The greater Milwaukee office vacancy rate stood at 15.5 percent in the third quarter, down slightly from 15.6 percent in the third quarter of 2014. The vacancy rate in the central business district (CBD) dropped from 16.2 percent to 14.9 percent during the same period. Meanwhile, rental rates have increased slightly in both the overall market and the CBD. Cranes in the skies Construction on the Northwestern Mutual Tower and Commons began in late 2014 in downtown Milwaukee and is scheduled for completion in late 2017. A 32-story office tower will adjoin a two-block-long, three-story space known as The Commons. The new development …

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The office sector in the northern suburbs of Indianapolis shows clear signs of solid growth and stability with new construction and deeper tenant demand for space, particularly in the Class A segment. A number of factors contribute to this trend, including job growth, availability of land for housing and favorable demographics. Decision-makers live in the northern suburbs along with families, empty nesters and educated workers. Nearly 90 percent of all suburban office space in greater Indianapolis is located north of 71st Street in five key submarkets: North/Carmel, Keystone, Northwest, the Fishers/I-69 Corridor and Northeast/Castleton. Five I-465 interchanges define these five northern suburban office submarkets of Indianapolis, providing workers efficient access to 17.5 million square feet of office space. Through the third quarter of this year, overall occupancy in these five suburban submarkets stood at nearly 85 percent. The occupancy rate for Class A space was considerably higher at 89 percent. There are only seven blocks of contiguous office space 100,000 square feet or greater available in the suburbs and downtown — four of which are located in the northern suburbs. These spaces include 133,000 square feet at Two Concourse, 10194 Crosspoint Blvd.; 113,000 square feet at the former Charles Schwab …

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Traverse City may be known as a small resort town on the shores of Lake Michigan, but each year it grows in popularity. And more commercial real estate players are taking notice. In the past year, Traverse City has been named one of the “Top 20 Best Small Towns in the U.S. to Visit” (Smithsonian); “One of the 50 Best Places to Live in America” (Men’s Journal); “One of the 10 Must See Cities in America” (Horizon Travel Magazine); “One of 10 U.S. Destinations on the Rise” (TripAdvisor); and “One of America’s 20 Most Romantic Towns” (Travel + Leisure). Tourism is on the rise as we become known as a region not only for cherries, but also for great restaurants, wineries, microbreweries, recreational trails for hiking and biking, skiing, festivals and a great place to live. With increasing notoriety comes pressure for development, and Traverse City is no exception. We have seen more development and projects in the pipeline in the past 12 months than we have seen since the height of the real estate boom 10 years ago. Tourists will be happy to note more hotel rooms in the downtown area as the new Hotel Indigo nears completion. The …

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Algiers Plaza New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS — HFF has arranged a $27.7 million loan for Algiers Plaza, a recently renovated, 236,389-square-foot shopping center located along General deGaulle Drive in New Orleans. The Winn Dixie-anchored shopping center has recently added Petco, Ross Dress for Less, T.J. Maxx and Burke’s to its tenant roster. Existing tenants include Payless Shoe Source, Buffalo Wild Wings, Mattress Firm and Walgreens. Algiers Plaza was 85 percent leased at the time of financing. De’On Collins and Travis Anderson of HFF arranged the floating-rate loan through BBVA Compass on behalf of the borrower, N3 Real Estate. N3 will use the loan proceeds to pay off a construction loan, acquire all of the minority partnership interests and fund future capital improvements and leasing costs at the property.

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