SPRINGFIELD, MO. — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the $2.9 million sale of TGI Friday’s, an 8,000-square-foot net-leased property located in Springfield. The property is located at 3242 S. Stewart Ave. Chad Lieber and Dominic Sulo of Marcus & Millichap’s Chicago Oak Brook office represented the seller, a private investor. Brett Chetek, a broker in Marcus & Millichap’s St. Louis office, assisted in closing the transaction.
NEW YORK — Kushner Cos. has purchased a retail condominium building in New York that formerly served as the headquarters for The New York Times for $296 million. The 250,000-square-foot building is located at 229 W. 43rd St. The 18-story space occupies a full block in the Times Square corridor, with frontage on 43rd and 44th streets. It served as the newspaper’s headquarters from 1913 through 2007 when the Times relocated to 620 Eighth Ave. The retail condominiums contain up to 45,000 square feet. Notable tenants at the property include Bowlmor Lanes, Haru Times Square and Guitar Center. There is about 60,000 square feet of vacant retail space. “We’re excited to acquire this wonderful Times Square retail condo, located in one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations,” says Jared Kushner, the firm’s CEO. “We believe this will be a great long-term asset, and a draw for retailers.” The seller is a partnership between Africa Israel USA and an affiliate of Five Mile Capital Partners LLC. “We are proud to have overseen the transformation of this trophy asset, and are pleased to have transferred the stewardship to such an outstanding organization as the Kushner Companies,” says Chagit Sofiev Leviev, Africa …
CENTERVILLE, IOWA — The Boulder Group has brokered the $2 million sale of a single-tenant Orscheln Farm & Home property in Centerville. The 26,710-square-foot property is located at 23680 Highway 5 Orscheln. Randy Blankstein and Jimmy Goodman of The Boulder Group represented the seller, a Midwest-based private real estate company,. The buyer was a Midwest-based private investor that purchased the property in a 1031 exchange. Orscheln Farm & Home has approximately 18 years remaining on its lease that features 9.5 percent rental escalations every five years. This recently constructed property is a relocation of a previous Orscheln store. Orscheln Farm & Home has 172 locations across the United States and supplies agricultural goods for farm, home, ranch and suburban customers.
Statistically speaking, retail real estate market conditions have remained relatively stable in St. Louis throughout 2014 and early 2015. Close to 88,000 square feet of new retail space was delivered in the first quarter of this year, resulting in a slight uptick in vacancies. At the end of the first quarter, the overall vacancy rate stood at 7.3 percent, up 10 basis points from the prior quarter, according to CoStar Group. The pace of new development is expected to escalate this year, with several new projects on the drawing board: • Pace Properties is under contract in Midtown — across from the IKEA that will soon open — to develop Midtown Station. The project will include 150,000 square feet of retail space. • Summit Development Group is under contract in Richmond Heights to develop a mixed-use project totaling 120,000 square feet that will feature a combination of restaurant and retail space — possibly even a grocer — and a hotel. The project will be known as The Crossings at Richmond Heights. • The city of Kirkwood has approved plans to redevelop the southeast and southwest corners of Lindbergh Boulevard and Manchester Road to make way for a Fresh Thyme Farmers …
LOS ANGELES — JLL has acquired Wilson Retail Group, a Los Angeles-based independent retail brokerage and capital markets firm, for an undisclosed sum. The merger will bring 16 Wilson associates to JLL. It will allow JLL to provide a broader range of brokerage and investment sales services to retailers and investors in a core urban gateway. Chris Wilson will now serve as executive vice president, Southwest brokerage lead at JLL Retail; Scott Burns will serve as executive vice president, retail brokerage lead for JLL’s Los Angeles office; and Geoff Tranchina will serve as executive vice president of investment sales. The new Wilson executive team will report to Peter Belisle, market director for JLL’s Southwest region. They will work closely with Naveen Jaggi, president of JLL’s Americas Retail Brokerage business. JLL’s Retail Group is the largest third-party retail property manager in the United States. JLL’s retail portfolio has more than 500 centers totaling 69 million square feet under management. The portfolio includes regional malls, lifestyle centers, grocery-anchored centers, power centers, central business districts, transportation facilities and mixed-use projects.
GRANDVILLE, MICH. — The Cooper Commercial Investment Group has brokered the $7.2 million sale of the Rivertown Center, a 60,876-square-foot, multi-tenant retail center in Grandville. Dan Cooper of Cooper Commercial represented the seller, an Ohio-based private investment group, and the Illinois-based buyer. The property, which was built in 2000, is 93 percent occupied. Some tenants include Planet Fitness, Qdoba, Noodles & Co., Hallmark, Family Christian Stores, Chicago Title and Plato’s Closet.
The New Mexico retail market is continuing to change in a positive manner, which bodes well for property owners and businesses. There are new national, regional and local tenants looking at this market, moving in and around the shopping centers of New Mexico. New shopping centers are being built, while existing shopping centers are being redeveloped and traded. Some of the most significant transactions include Columbus Pacific acquiring Sierra Vista Shopping Center in Albuquerque and moving Stein Mart and Hobby Lobby into a former K-Mart space. Pete Daskalos Properties has also purchased Four Hills Village Shopping Center on Central and Tramway in the Southeast Heights submarket. The center now has a new movie cinema, among other changes to its anchors and tenant roster. A K-Mart building at Rio Rancho at Hilltop Plaza Shopping Center was also sold after the store vacated. The new landlord is looking to re-anchor that space as well. These big box vacancies have created redevelopment opportunities for existing shopping centers located in established trade centers while rents are increasing as the larger spaces are subdivided and leased to other tenants. This has created momentum in the market and upward pressure on asking lease rates. Other retailers …
CANAL WINCHESTER, OHIO — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the $1.2 million sale of Ebright Self Storage, a 37,200-square-foot self-storage property located in Canal Winchester. The property is located at 5207 Ebright Road. Brett Hatcher of Marcus & Millichap’s Columbus office represented the seller and the buyer, both limited liability companies.
OCONOMOWOC, WIS. — Lee & Associates represented Anytime Fitness in the signing of a 5,880-square-foot lease at Summit Center Marketplace in Oconomowoc. Chris Etmanczyk of Lee & Associates Madison represented Anytime Fitness in the transaction. The new lease will fully occupy the shopping center. Anytime Fitness plans to open in August.
Birmingham’s retail market remained steady in 2014, with approximately 10 percent of the total 24 million square feet available for lease. Birmingham is tracking above national averages relative to new ground-up and rehab projects that are announced or underway. Downward pressure on rents have challenged developers pro-formas, though the very friendly city and state incentives environment has allowed developers to creatively meet tenants conservative occupancy cost requirements. While the Birmingham metro area is challenged by the threat of major closings by retailers like JC Penney, Sears and Kmart, there is a pipeline of first-to-market national retailers eyeing the growth submarkets, including Highway 280, Hoover/ Riverchase and Trussville. New Grocers Enter Market Trader Joe’s recently unveiled plans to open a 12,600-square-foot store at The Summit shopping center in the second half of 2015. Trader Joe’s provides a destination food option for the market. The Summit is leased and managed by Bayer Properties. Arizona-based Sprouts Farmers Market recently announced it would be entering the Birmingham metro as well. Sprouts’ first local offering will be at Brook Highland Plaza on U.S. 280. The 22,457-square-foot store will serve an array of fresh produce and meats. Additionally, GBT Realty is developing a 25,000-square-foot Sprouts location …
