What area is your expertise? Sales and leasing of industrial and commercial property in Portland, Oregon. What trends do you see presently in industrial development in your area? Industrial development continues to be fairly strong, provided land can be found to be developed. Overall, within the Portland Metropolitan Area industrial land supply is short on top-quality sites. Consequently, secondary and redevelopment sites, though limited in supply, continue to be the choices available to development firms. What type of industrial product is doing well in your area? There are two types that seem to be doing fairly well. One is 40,000 to 50,000 square foot and larger spaces for warehouse/distribution use in newer developments that are located along major freeways with easy access. The others are 5,000 to 20,000 square foot spaces for local or semi-regional companies with a need for corporate headquarters, assembly manufacturing and/or warehousing. Who are the active industrial developers in your area? Locally, firms such as Specht Development, Pacific NW Properties, PacTrust Development; national companies such as Opus, Prologis, Birtcher and Trammel Crow continue to be very active in our area. Please name one or two significant industrial developments in your area. What impact will these projects …
What area is your expertise? Generally speaking, my expertise is in multi-tenant retail centers with a mixed-use component as well as traditional grocery anchored centers. The areas that I cover are Los Angeles and Orange County, Calif. What trends do you see presently in retail development in your area? Since land costs have risen so dramatically, the general trend that we have seen is for more vertical development with a mixed-use component. What type of retail product is doing well in your area? Urban infill projects are doing very well. The tenants are not being aggressive like they were over the last few years so the focus has moved back to the urban infill locations. What retailers are new to your area? Clearly Tesco has made a big splash in our market, which has affected the plans of many of their competitors with regards to expansion. While we hear their expansion has stalled, we still believe that it is too early to tell how their entrance in the market will affect the grocery business. Who are the active retail developers in your area? There are many, but it’s very fragmented. Caruso, and CIM are some of the bigger players but …
FERNLEY, NEV. — Sacramento, Calif.-based Panattoni Development Co. has completed work on a 337,500-square-foot facility in Fernley. Located at 2375 E. Newlands Dr., the 20-acre lot accommodates space for storage of fencing, decking and railing products. The facility was built for Trex, a national producer of composite decking, railing and fencing.
EL CAJON, CALIF. — Pacific Realty Advisors has acquired a multi-tenant industrial building for $5.83 million. Located at 1100 N. Magnolia in El Cajon, the 40,919-square-foot property features 2,150-square-foot bays and convenient access to the 67 and 8 freeways. Current tenants include Helix Mechanical, McKeever Inc. and Motonation. Ken Ruppert and Kerry Schimpf of Grubb & Ellis|BRE Commercial represented the buyer and the seller, Burer Family Investments LP, in the transaction.
BEAVERTON, ORE. — Red Mortgage Capital Inc., the mortgage-banking arm of RED CAPITAL GROUP, has provided $10.64 million in Fannie Mae DUS, fixed-rate financing to Portland, Ore.-based The Randall Group Inc. for Elmonica Court Apartments, which is located at 1248 SW Kiley Way in Beaverton. Built in 1997, the community consists of 12 three-story apartment buildings offering a total of 144 one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Unit amenities include full-size washers/dryers, large closets and a patio/balcony with extra storage space. Community amenities include a swimming pool and a garden with sitting areas.
TEMPE, ARIZ. — Jeff Lion, a California investor, has purchased a 17,200-square-foot general industrial building in Tempe for $1.45 million. Located at 1104 W. Geneva, the property, which was built in 1980, was vacant at the time of acquisition. The buyer plans to market the property for lease. John Creedon of Corridor Commercial represented the buyer; Pete Klees of Grubb & Ellis|BRE Commercial LLC represented the seller, BRS-San Diego Commerce Center LLC, in the transaction.
WEST LOS ANGELES, CALIF. — Hold This LLC has acquired a 5,237-square-foot retail building, which is located at 3783-85 Cahuenga Blvd. in West Los Angeles. La Selva Associates Inc. sold the property for $2.1 million. The buyer plans to use the property as a post-production facility. Stacy Vierheilig-Fraser of Charles Dunn’s Studio City, Calif., office represented the buyer; Colliers Seeley represented the seller in the transaction.
LAS VEGAS — CityCenter has unveiled its plans for a resort casino, which is slated to open in late 2009. Designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, ARIRA Resort & Casino will feature two curvilinear glass towers, lush foliage, wood and stone elements, and a three-story lobby and casino. Additionally, the project will feature a variety of dining options, including bistros, cafés and world-renowned restaurants. Other features include lounges, bars, nightclubs, a spa, a full service salon, a barbershop, a deluxe fitness room and a group exercise studio. ARIRA will be the core of CityCenter, a more than $8 billion vertical city currently under construction between the Bellagio and Monte Carlo resorts on the Las Vegas strip.
SAN FRANCISCO — Thornton Tomasetti Inc. has been selected to team up with Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects to provide structural design services for Transbay Transit Center in San Francisco. The new center will centralize the region’s transportation network by accommodating nine transportation systems, including AC Transit, Caltrain, MUNI, Golden Gate Transit, SamTrans, Greyhound, BART, WestCAT and the future California High-Speed Rail. For the centerpiece of the project, the design team has proposed transforming the roof of the transit center into a public park, City Park. The 5.4-acre park would feature attractions and amenities that characterize urban green spaces. The 40-acre redevelopment area surrounding the terminal station will be developed into residential and retail components.
MESA, ARIZ. — Carter Cos. is developing Falcon Crest Business Center at 4030 E. Quenton Dr. in Mesa. The 73,385-square-foot industrial facility is divisible to approximately 7,500 square feet and offers 10 truckwells and eight grade-level doors. Ergonomic Solutions Inc. (ESI) has pre-leased 31,712 square feet at the property, which is slated for completion in first quarter 2009. Garrett Schoenberger and Andrew Markham with Grubb & Ellis|BRE Commercial are marketing the project.