Illinois Real Estate Journals

Mark Reiling

Mark Reiling of Investors Real Estate Trust is the new president of NAIOP Minnesota. He began his one-year term in January, succeding former president Sonja Dusil of CBRE.

Reiling has more than three decades of commercial real estate experience, and is executive vice president and chief investment officer at Investors Real Estate Trust.

Reiling served on the NAIOP Minnesota board from 1996 to 1997, 2003 to 2005 and 2008 to 2010. He has held several other leadership positions, including board service for Catholic Charities, St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce, St. Thomas Academy, University of St. Thomas School of Real Estate and Sunrise Banks.

Stewart Capital Partners has completed four new lease transactions at Brookdale Corporate Center in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, adding the following tenants:

• Brooklyn Center School District Offices, represented by Neil Kolatkar, CBRE.

• Brooklyn Center Sports & Injury Clinic, represented by Alon Ventura, CCIM, A-1 Asset Management, LLC.

• Dr. Jeffery Jaeger, DDS, represented by Gary Lally of Hoyt Properties.

• National Benefits Group, LLC, represented by Tom Desautel of CBRE.

Brookdale Corporate is a recently renovated two-building office campus centrally located 10 minutes from downtown Minneapolis at the intersections of I-94/694 and Highway 100 in Brooklyn Center.

Each building is made up of six stories totalling 228,000 square feet. Major tenants include Kidney Specialists of Minnesota, University of Minnesota Physicians, Merkle, Savvy Sherpa, National American University, Carson, Clelland & Schreder Law Offices, Endodontic Associates Limited and First Step Group.

Block & Company, Inc., Realtors recently sold the 5,946-square-foot Stroud’s restaurant building at 5200 Shawnee Mission Parkway in Fairway, Kansas.

The building was sold for an undisclosed amount. The property will continue to operate as a Stroud’s restaurant under the new owner.

David Block of Block & Company negotiated the sale of the restaurant on behalf of the seller, Redbarry-Fairway, LLC.

Niall Byrne

Niall Byrne has joined Oak Brook, Illinois-based Inland Investment Real Estate Services as executive vice president and head of property management.

Byrne comes to Inland Investment from Retail Properties of America, Inc, where he worked in leadership and executive positions for 10 years. Most recently, he served as executive vice president and president of property management for the company.

During his career, Byrne has also held positions with Providence Management Company, the Habitat Company, the Balcor Company and Thomas Havey and Company.

The trend is a real one: Millennials and other younger consumers want to live in multifamily buildings in the centers of busy urban areas.

But here’s the question: How long-lived will this trend be? Will these same young consumers remain in cities once they start having kids? Will they turn to single-family homes as their families grow larger?

No one can predict what Millennials will do. But a new survey from ValueInsured, a provider of down payment protection insurance, indicates that Millennials will do what their older peers have long done: Most of them plan to eventually buy a home.

Yes, urban living in an amenity-filled apartment is trendy and fun … when you’re young. But there are hassles that come with urban living, even if you try not to drive. As renters grow older, and start having children, those hassles — crowded streets, noisy neighbors, a lack of space for their growing kids — often chase them to single-family living in quieter neighborhoods.

According to the ValueInsured study, nine out of 10 Millennial renters want to one day own a home.

That, of course, is a huge percentage. How soon Millennials get there, though, is an open question.

Veteran commercial real estate professional Steve Schaub has joined the Indianapolis office of Avison Young as a senior vice president.

Schaub brings more than 15 years experience to Avison Young. He most recently worked as a senoir vice president with Summit Realty Group, which was recently acquired by Colliers International.

During his career, Schaub has completed about 100 million square feet of sale and lease transactions on behalf of tenants, landlords, buyers and sellers.

Carpet Cushion & Supplies, a wholesale distributor of carpet pads and flooring installation products, has leased 43,750 square feet at 6737 E. 30th St. in Indianapolis.

JLL’s executive vice president Brian Seitz and vice president Brian Buschuk, both based in Indianapolis, represented the landlord, First Industrial, in the transaction. JLL’s executive vice president Steve Schwegman and Transwestern’s Joel Friedland and Steve Stone represented the tenant.

The property is located near the Indianapolis Central Business District and provides tenants with good access to I-70 and I-465.

American Realty Advisors has acquired I-88 Gateway Logistics Center, a 604,565 square-foot industrial property in North Aurora, Illinois, for an undisclosed price.  The building is currently fully leased to Midwest Warehouse & Distribution System Inc. through 2022.

Built in 2014, the property is located in the I-88 west industrial submarket of the Chicago, approximately 40 miles west of the Chicago CBD.

The property sits on a 32.6-acre site and has 32-foot clear heights, 60 cross-dock truck doors, four drive-in doors, ESFR fire protection, a fully air conditioned food grade facility, secured trailer parking with 63 trailer stalls, 46 trailer staging bays with an additional 63 future trailer stalls, and 300 parking spaces.

The seller, a joint venture between Opus and USAA Real Estate Company, was represented by Jeffery Devine and Steven Disse of Colliers.

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Associated Bank has closed a $10.6 million acquisition and bridge loan for Molto Properties to acquire a 246,446-square-foot cross-dock industrial building in the Randall Crossings Business Park, 2770 Alft Court in Elgin, Ill.

“We are excited about the opportunity to help Molto Properties acquire the 2770 Alft property and hope this is the first of many projects we’ll collaborate on together,” Craig Przygoda, senior vice president with the Commercial Real Estate division of Associated Bank who managed the loan, said.

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1155 Bowes Rd

Brown Commercial Group brokered two industrial building sales in the Chicago suburban market, totaling 56,600 square feet. The sales totaled approximately $3.6 million.

These sales are a sign of continued strength in the Chicago suburban investment market and that financing for small to mid-sized assets has become easier to obtain.

“Chicago’s industrial market continues to draw investors who want strong tenancy and the stability that provides,” Dan Brown, president of Brown Commercial, said. “The key to success in today’s market is to understand what these entrepreneurial investors want and be able to complete the transactions quickly to meet their needs.”

The first transaction was the sale of 1155 Bowes Rd. in Elgin, Illinois to a private investor. The 34,400-square-foot building includes 12,000 square feet of office space. It’s used for training, sales, and to dispatch vehicles to respond to property restoration issues.

The building, fully leased to Response Team 1, a national restoration company based in Wheeling, was under contract within four days.

Brown Commercial Group’s Mason Hezner represented private investors in the sale, and Dan Brown represented the buyer, another private investor.

The second transaction was the sale of a 22,000-square-foot, 9-unit building at 1820 Production Dr. in St. Charles, Illinois.

Brown Commercial Group’s Brian Lindgren and Maria McNeil represented the sellers, private investors Alan and Beth Butters. The buyer, a private investor, was represented by Dan Brown.

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NAI Hiffman represented Heller Industrial Parks in its lease renewal with Oak Creek Distribution for 254, 425 square feet of industrial space in Bridgeview, Illinois.

Oak Creek Distribution is known as the Home Owners Bargain Outlet (HOBO) and operates six locations throughout Chicagoland and southeast Wisconsin.

The building is located at 7557-7575 South 78th Avenue near the intersection of I-55 and I-294 and is a primary distribution hub for the company.

Steve Connolly, SIOR, and Larry Much, SIOR, both Executive Vice Presidents with NAI Hiffman’s Industrial Services group, represented Heller Industrial Parks in the transaction.

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Two spec buildings are now complete within Panattoni Development Co.’s 355 Corporate Center in Lockport, Illinois, according to Nicolson, Porter & List, Inc. who has been hired as exclusive leasing agent for the buildings and all of 355 Corporate Center.

Panattoni Development Co. made its first move into the I-355 extension with the new 50-acre 355 Corporate Center in Lockport.  The first two light industrial buildings at the business park are now complete.

One building totals 273,640 square feet and features up to 65 docks, four drive-ins and parking for 268 cars. The second building is 228,690 square feet and offers up to 65 docks, four drive-ins and parking for 240 cars.

Both buildings feature 32-foot clear height, ESFR sprinkler systems and highly visible locations, including over a half mile of highway frontage on I-355.

Designed by Harris Architects and built by Alston Construction, the buildings are ideal for a range of distribution and manufacturing uses.

355 Corporate Center is located less than one mile from a full interchange at 159th and I-355, seven miles from I-55 and five miles from I-80.  In addition to the two spec buildings now complete, 355 Corporate Center has additional land sites with  extensive frontage on I-355 ready for build-to-suit or additional spec development.

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J.C. Anderson, Inc. has hired Joseph Fahrenbach to join the team as project manager. He will manage on-going construction projects, including pre-construction, estimating, scheduling and construction.

Prior to joining J.C. Anderson, Inc., Fahrenbach was most recently employed as project manager with Skender Construction in Chicago. His prior experience includes project management for a variety of accounts including Nokia, Bank of America, Performance Trust, Motorola and McTigue Financial Group.

With more than 15 years of industry experience, Fahrenbach is a LEED Accredited Professional and is well-versed in a variety of project management duties including estimating, scheduling, purchasing, safety, cost control and engineering. He received his Master’s degree in Real Estate Investment and Finance from DePaul University and earned a Bachelor’s degree from Northern Illinois University.

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The Missner Group has acquired a 152,000-square-foot industrial warehouse at 8338 Austin Avenue in Morton Grove, Illinois.

The property is comprised of approximately 76,000 square feet of office space and 76,000 square feet of warehouse/manufacturing space.

The building sits on 7.3 acres and features 16’ clear heights, five exterior docks and one drive-in door. The property is currently 100% leased by two tenants: Schwarz Supply Source and Integrated Merchandising Systems, LLC.

Mr. Missner and Ed Adler, SVP of The Missner Group led the acquisition for the firm. Eric Sorenson and Dirk Riekse of Cushman and Wakefield represented The Missner Group in the purchase of the property. The Cushman and Wakefield team also represented the building’s seller.

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Cincinnati’s industrial market hit a milestone in the fourth quarter of last year, recording a net absorption of 1 million square feet in the last quarter of the year.

Cushman & Wakefield reported that the Cincinnati market hit this number despite having an industrial vacancy rate under 5 percent.

Jarrett Hicks, senior research analyst in Cushman & Wakefield’s Cincinnati and Dayton offices, said that the net absorption rate of 5.81 million square feet in the Cincinnati industrial market easily beat the 2014 mark of 4.78 million square feet.

Cushman & Wakefield reported that the Cincinnati office market had a strong 2015, too. Area businesses absorbed more than 327,000 square feet in the fourth quarter, bringing total net absorption for the entire last year to more than 930,000 square feet.

The Cincinnati industrial market during the past two quarters saw the delivery of more than 2 million square feet of bulk warehouse space, according to Cushman & Wakefield. All that new industrial space drove Class-A bulk vacancy rates here to 5.1 percent, up from a miniscule 1.3 percent in the second quarter of 2015. Class-B vacancy rates continue to fall because of the leasing activity in the central and northern Kentucky submarkets, Cushman & Wakefield reported.

Cincinnati’s central submarket saw the most demand with 471,187 square feet of net absorption, followed by the northwest with 319,456 square feet.

Cushman & Wakefield researchers predicted that the market’s vacancy rate will remain below 5 percent for the next 12 months.

Friedman Integrated Real Estate Solutions recently signed a long-term lease with ZF TRW for 171,332 square feet at the renovated Arboretum III building at 34605 W. Twelve Mile Road in Farmington Hills, Michigan.

TRW Automotive was recently acquired by German-based ZF Friedrichshafen AG.

Arboretum was the former headquarters for Trinity Health prior to that company’s move to Livonia, Michigan. Trinity’s departure dropped the occupancy of the complex to just 16 percent. Friedman and Kojaian Management purchased the property and repositioned it with a lobby and atrium renovation. New amenities were added, including a shared conference area and full-service Café. Efficient LED lighting was retrofitted throughout.

Friedman has since brought the occupancy of the building to 90 percent through the leasing of more than 300,000 square feet of office space. New tenants include ZF TRW, AGC Flat Glass, Alliance Inspection Management and IQuence, among others.

David Friedman and Amit Hingorani at Friedman represented the landlord in this transaction.

The Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq team of Paul Donovan, Jaclyn May, Jeremy Striffler and Bill Rothstein has negotiated a $2.75 million purchase agreement with United Properties for The Chancery, a Summit Avenue property in St. Paul, Minnesota, currently owned by the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Despite the agreement, the sale is subject to approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, and additional offers will be accepted on the property through March 18. Any interested parties should contact Jeremy Striffler at 612-305-2108.

Property information can be found here.

The Chancery is a two-building, 59,000-square-foot complex at 226 and 230 Summit Avenue in St. Paul. The complex sits on 3.38 acres of land. The 226 Summit property is an office building, and 230 Summit served as the residence of the archbishop.

Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq earlier this year negotiated the $4.5 million purchase of the Hayden Center, a former Archdiocese school, and continues to list three other properties for the Archdiocese, including 224 and 250 Dayton in St. Paul and 10310 295th Street West in Northfield.

Rachel Saak

Rachel Saak has joined HOK as an architect in St. Louis.

Saak brings eight years of healthcare facility experience to the firm, and most recently worked as an architect for Bates Architects in St. Louis. Saak joins the team working on the BJC HealthCare Washington University School of Medicine Campus Renewal project.

Saak earned her masters of architecture from Washington University in St. Louis and her degree in architectural studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She currently resides in Chesterfield, Missouri.

Cincinnati developer Al. Neyer has begun construction on the Offices@Vernon Place development, a 146,000-square-foot office building for Cincinnati’s Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

Al. Neyer worked with two investment groups, REEAAL and Jade IV LLC, to create an investment opportunity for minorities who are not normally included in commercial real estate ventures. The Offices@Vernon Place project is 67 percent minority managed and owned.

The city of Cincinnnati approved $7.5 million to fund the public infrastructure associated with the project’s development. PNC Bank provided additional financing support.

The four-story Ofices@Vernon Place will be home to nearly 700 workers at Cincinnati’s Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Crews are expected to complete the office building and four-tier parking garage in the third quarter of 2017.