Sealy & Company has inked a two-building lease renewal, totaling more than 1.6 million square feet, with World Wide Technology at Lakeview Commerce Center II and III in Edwardsville, Ill. WWT has been a long-term—and the firm’s largest—tenant.

Lakeview Commerce Center II is at 3971 Lakeview Corporate Drive and spans 539,877 square feet, with a range of enhancements tailored for industrial, office and lab use. Delivered in 2006, the building features 29,900 square feet of office and lab space, as well as T5 lighting and backup generators, among others.

READ ALSO: E-Commerce Growth Revives Industrial Market

Lakeview Commerce Center III is a 1,109,830-square-foot distribution building at 3951 Lakeview Corporate Drive. It was completed in 2008 and expanded in 2015 to offer additional office pods, more trailer stalls and enhanced security with multiple guard stations.

The building recently was the recipient of the BOMA 360 designation for meeting high standards with regard to energy efficiency, life safety and security, and tenant relations, as well as other considerations.

Located in St. Louis’ Metro East submarket, the properties are just west of Highway 111, having direct access to Interstate 270. Downtown St. Louis is some 20 miles away.

Sealy Regional Director William Shagets led the negotiations on behalf of the owner, assisted by Cushman & Wakefield Managing Director Ed Lampitt and Executive Director Matt Eastin.

Strong leasing activity

The St. Louis industrial market witnessed a vacancy rate of 4.7 percent in the third quarter of this year, up by only 10 basis points over the quarter, according to a CBRE report. Leasing activity totaled more than 1.2 million square feet, up 24 percent quarter-over-quarter.

The Metro East submarket had the second-largest vacancy rate in the region at 9.9 percent, marking a 100-basis-point quarter-over-quarter increase. However, the submarket saw the strongest leasing activity in the metro that quarter, totaling 414,000 square feet.

The post Sealy Signs 1.6 MSF Renewal Near St. Louis appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

A joint venture between Lincoln Property Co. and IMC Management has secured a refinancing loan for The Sevens, a 197,311-square-foot Class A office building in Clayton, Mo. Additionally, Lincoln recapitalized the asset, adding IMC to the venture.

Old National Bank provided the $19.4 million note with a maturity date set in May 2027, St. Louis County records show. Previous financing included a $19.6 million bridge loan also originated by Old National Bank in 2022, according to CommercialEdge information.

Lincoln purchased the metro St. Louis asset in a joint venture with Stockbridge in 2015. EQ Office sold it for $10.7 million, CommercialEdge also shows.

Completed in 1971 and renovated in 2000 and 2017, the vintage office building rises 24 stories and includes eight levels of parking with 888 spaces. The tower features 18,186-square-foot floorplates, an on-site café, conference center and gym, among others.

The property is 73 percent leased. Riot Games, the League of Legends video game’s developer, recently renewed the lease on one of the two floors it occupies the building. NUSO, a communications-focused software-as-a-service provider, also signed a full-floor commitment with limited downtime.

St. Louis’ office vacancy rate stabilizes

Located at 7777 Bonhomme Ave., The Sevens is nestled inside the city’s central business district, while downtown St. Louis is some 10 miles east. Clayton received federal grants for the CBD’s Resurfacing Project, which started this March and aims to mill and overlay the streets.

Several upscale dining facilities, transit stops and a 47-acre park are within walking distance of the property. Roughly 10 miles away, a joint venture of Good Developments Group, Vault Partners and Millstone Co. is planning a $1.2 billion mixed-use development spanning 100 acres. CBRE was selected to provide brokerage services for up to 500,000 square feet of Class A office space.

The office vacancy rate in metro St. Louis stood at 14.6 percent at the end of 2024’s first quarter, according to a Newmark report. The figure marked a 50-basis-point decrease year-over-year, but a 10-basis-point increase quarter-over-quarter.

The post Lincoln JV Lands Refi for St. Louis Office Tower appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

CBRE has been selected by the team behind Gateway South, the $1.2 billion mixed-use development in St. Louis, to be the exclusive brokerage to lease up to 500,000 square feet of Class A office space. That space is part of the first phase of the project taking shape at the former Crunden Martin industrial site.

Tom Ray, a CBRE first vice president based in the firm’s St. Louis office, will spearhead leasing on behalf of the developers—Good Developments Group, Vault Partners and Millstone Co.

READ ALSO: Why Mixed-Use Developments Are All About the Right Synergies

The 100-acre master-planned project is officially known as the Gateway South Advanced Building Collaboration District. Its $200 million first phase will involve the repurposing of the former Crunden Martin industrial buildings at 760 S. Second St. The adaptive reuse project will feature commercial space, office and advanced manufacturing real estate.

The overall Gateway South development will have more than 1.5 million square feet of light manufacturing facilities. It is expected to take at least 10 years to build out and create thousands of jobs.

The development team intends to break ground at the Crunden Martin site in the third quarter of this year and complete the first phase by the second quarter of 2026, according to the St. Louis Business Journal. Bob Millstone, a St. Louis developer who recently joined the project’s team, told the business journal they plan to meet a June 30 deadline set by the City of St. Louis to secure financing.

More Gateway South details

The site will be repurposed to include food and beverage retail, prototyping spaces, production facilities, flex and office space catering to construction-centered tenants. Tenants like distilleries, roasteries and bakeries could be among the concepts to locate there as part of the F&B offerings.

The redevelopment site is located near downtown St. Louis, directly south of the 91-acre Gateway Arch National Park and along the Mississippi River. It has direct access to river, rail and road transportation and is minutes from interstates 55, 64 and 44. The property is also close to Anheuser Busch Stadium and Ballpark Village, a sports-themed district by the stadium with restaurants, bars and nightlife venues.

The post CBRE Tapped to Lease Major Part of $1.2B St. Louis Mixed-Use District appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

A rendering of the soon to be Door.com headquarters. Image courtesy of Latch Inc.

Latch Inc., set to be rebranded as Door.com, has signed a lease for its new headquarters in metro St. Louis. Currently headquartered in New York City, the company has secured a more than 48,000-square-foot warehouse and office space location.

Intelica Commercial Real Estate is the owner of the building, according to CommercialEdge data. Situated at 1220 N. Price Road in Olivette, Mo., the property is a one-building facility totaling 164,130 square feet. Completed in 1948, it features a truck court, loading doors, dock levelers, 90 car parking spaces and refrigerated storage.

Downtown St. Louis is some 12 miles west of the property. Current tenants of the facility include MidWest Window Film, Eagle Drayage & Warehouse and Solar Control Films, the same data source shows.

Latch is partnering with Oakline Studio to design its new headquarters space and CI Select for interior furnishings. Upon completion, it is set to feature an open layout with exposed ceilings and cement floors.

Due to its diverse talent pool, affordable cost of living and central location, St. Louis was the ideal city to relocate in, Jamie Siminoff, founder of Latch, said in prepared remarks. Alongside 16 new hires in the city, Latch intents to bring an additional 30 jobs to the market.

The facility will support both warehousing and office operations, including inventory, returns, in-house testing, sales and finance. David Lillis, Latch’s senior vice president of finance, and Chris Peckham, head of sales, will lead the new office location.

St. Louis’s good quarter

The second quarter of 2023 in St. Louis had the highest square footage of office absorption when compared to the previous six quarters, a Newmark report shows. Despite vacancy rates increasing to 15.2 percent with overall negative net absorption across multiple submarkets, rents increased, led by demand for Class A space.

Industrial demand also had a strong second quarter, with 1.3 million square feet absorbed. As with the office market, both vacancy and rental rates increased for industrial space in St. Louis, with strong demand but also a high number of deliveries, the same report shows.

Recently, ICL broke ground on a $400 million battery manufacturing plant in St. Louis, anticipated to wrap up in 2025. The 140,000 square foot facility is the first of its kind in the nation.

The post Latch Moves From NYC With 48 KSF St. Louis Lease appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Representatives from the U.S. Department of Energy attend the St. Louis plant’s groundbreaking. Image courtesy of ICL

ICL has broken ground on a $400 million St. Louis battery manufacturing plant. The project is set to be the first large-scale plant of its kind that manufactures lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries in the nation.

Situated on ICL’s Carondelet campus, the facility will encompass 140,000 square feet. It is expected to produce 30,000 metric tons of LFP, a component needed for electric vehicles, energy storage, mobility, infrastructure and more. The facility is anticipated to deliver in 2025.

The U.S. Department of Energy supplied a $197 million grant toward the project. In a statement at the groundbreaking ceremony, U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said that the facility will contribute toward a strong U.S. supply chain of clean energy products.

READ ALSO: Manufacturing Thrives Amid Construction Surges

In an effort to incentivize EV manufacturers and American-made EV products, the Biden administration is contributing grants toward related projects through the Inflation Reduction Act. Tesla, BMW and Mercedes are just some of the companies to recently announce billion-dollar investments into EV and battery production plants.

McCarthy Building Cos. is the battery plant’s general contractor. ICL also partnered with Aleees to establish a U.S.-based LFP supply chain.

The post ICL Breaks Ground on $400M St. Louis Battery Plant appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

The ribbon-cutting at Riverport Trade Center last week. Image courtesy of NorthPoint Development

NorthPoint Development has opened a three-building Class A industrial park in the St. Louis suburbs. The 725,000-square-foot Riverport Trade Center, located in Maryland Heights, Mo., formally opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 3.

The facility is situated on an approximately 46-acre property at 13955 Riverport Place Drive. NorthPoint invested $63.8 million in the project, with occupying tenants making additional investments. The property is accessible from Interstates 70 and 270, and is close to St. Louis Lambert International Airport.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Ed Lampitt and Matt Eastin are actively marketing industrial leases at the property. Existing tenants include Core & Main Fire Protection, Esbelt Corp., Matthews Aurora, Vicostone, Cerrozone, Smart Karton and Core Telecom Systems.

NorthPoint has invested close to $800 million in the St. Louis metro, where it has constructed 11 industrial assets totaling 11.8 million square feet. Its first facility in the region was the Hazelwood Logistics Center in 2015.

In November 2022, NorthPoint wrapped up construction of its 1 million-square-foot Gateway Tradeport IV industrial project in Pontoon Beach, Ill., a suburb of St. Louis that sits across the Mississippi River, which divides Missouri and Illinois. Clear on the other side of Missouri, the developer landed electric truck manufacturer Orange EV as a client at its Turner Logistics Center in Kansas City, Mo.

NorthPoint is constructing a 3.3 million-square-foot industrial park in Spartanburg, N.C., on land it acquired last year, as well as a 1.4 million-square-foot industrial project on 170 acres in San Antonio, Fla., breaking ground on both projects in late 2022. Early this year, the developer sold a warehouse site in Bucks County, Pa., to Lidl for $144.6 million, and opened a 625,000-square-foot industrial asset in Union, Ohio.

The post NorthPoint Development Opens $64M Facility Outside St. Louis appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

The Shoppes of Mid Rivers. Image courtesy of GBT Realty Corp.

GBT Realty Corp. has sold The Shoppes of Mid Rivers, a 270,000-square-foot shopping center in St. Peters, Mo., with the assistance of JLL. Jenel Real Estate has purchased the asset for $40.7 million.

In 2021, the property became subject to a $29.6 million four-year loan originated by Fifth Third Bank, according to CommercialEdge data.

Construction on The Shoppes of Mid Rivers started in 2016 and the property came online in 2018. The retail center encompasses six buildings spread across a 27.8-acre site. At the time of the sale, the asset was 99 percent leased; tenants include Marshalls, Burlington, Ross Dress for Less, HomeGoods, Ulta Beauty, Five Below, Academy Sports and many more.

Shoppes of Mid Rivers is located at 5245 N. Service Road, some 30 miles from downtown St. Louis. The shopping center is adjacent to Interstate 70, in an area where the traffic count reaches approximately 140,000 vehicles per day. The average income per household within a 5-mile radius is approximately $96,118.

JLL Director Michael Nieder, together with Managing Directors Clinton Mitchell and Amy Sands, brokered the deal on behalf of the seller. The brokerage firm also assisted GBT Realty in the disposition of a 77,850-square-foot portion of a shopping center in Chester, Va.

The post GBT Realty Sells St. Louis Retail Asset for $41M appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

28 Gateway Commerce Center

Transwestern Investment Group has sold 28 Gateway Commerce Center, a 500,000-square-foot industrial asset in Edwardsville, Ill., The buyer was Miesto Ventures LLC, according to Madison County public records.

Transwestern purchased the property in 2017 from Link Logistics, marking the first acquisition through its Transwestern Strategic Partners Fund II. The company paid $30 million for the property, which was part of a 2.5 million-square-foot portfolio deal, CommercialEdge data shows.

Located at 28 Gateway Commerce Center Drive W. and built in 2005, the one-story, cross-dock warehouse features ESFR sprinklers and 200 parking spots, the same data provider shows. Situated on a 25.3-acre lot, the property is close to Interstates 255 and 270, 16 miles from St. Louis and within 20 miles of St. Louis Lambert International Airport.

Eastdil Secured’s team led by Director Caitlin Clinton and Investment Banker Josh McArtor worked on behalf of Transwestern. At the time of the sale, the property was fully occupied by Walgreens.

In October, TIG’s Transwestern Strategic Partners Fund III closed with $325 million worth of commitments, marking the company’s largest fundraise. Earlier this year, the company announced the launch of  Transwestern Ventures, an opportunistic investment platform that will handle real estate investments in various sectors across the U.S. In 2021, TIG sold a 10-building industrial portfolio in the Midwest, totaling 2.9 million square feet, through TSP Value and Income Fund II. All buildings are located in high-demand industrial markets, such as St. Louis, Columbus or Indianapolis.

The post Transwestern Sells 500 KSF St. Louis-Area Industrial Asset appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Gateway Tradeport III. Image via Google Street View

NorthPoint Development has completed Gateway Tradeport IV, a 1 million-square-foot industrial facility in Pontoon Beach, Ill., according to St. Louis CNR Magazine.

The speculative building is part of the developer’s 600-acre Gateway Tradeport master-planned industrial project, that will comprise more than 7.5 million square feet of space at full build-out. Contegra Construction Co. acted as general contractor.

Located at 1202 Tradeport Parkway, Gateway Tradeport IV comprises 112 dock doors, 45,000-pound dock levelers, efficient LED lightning, 40-foot clear heights and occupancy sensors. The single-story property is also equipped with a TPO roof, tilt-up concrete panels and includes 752 parking spots for vehicles and 264 parking spots for tractor-trailers.

The distribution complex is situated across an Amazon delivery station, at the intersection of interstates 270 and 255, 13.2 miles from downtown St. Louis. The first two buildings at Gateway Tradeport comprise 544,000 square feet each, while Gateway Tradeport III encompasses 624,000 square feet. With the fourth structure completed, the project now yields roughly 2.7 million square feet of industrial space. JLL’s David Branding is in charge of marketing the buildings for lease, according to CommercialEdge data.

In October, ITS Logistics leased more than 1 million square feet of space at NorthPoint’s upcoming Intermodal Logistics Center project in Fort Worth, Texas. The company broke ground on the development in August and the building is expected to be completed in July 2023.

The post NorthPoint Completes 1 MSF Spec Facility Near St. Louis appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Rendering of Aviation Business Park. Image courtesy of CBRE

CBRE has announced the preleasing of Panattoni Development Co.’s Aviator Business Park’s expansion in Hazelwood, Mo.

Aviator Business Park’s expansion plan is composed of three new facilities, all scheduled for delivery in September. CBRE has preleased a total of 382,105 square feet to four tenants, working on behalf of the landlord.

Panattoni Development Co. acquired the development site of Hazelwood Ford in 2008 and has completed six buildings. The three new facilities will be Aviator 6, with 275,862 square feet, Aviator 2, with 197,188 square feet and Aviator 5, with 130,928 square feet.

The general contractor appointed will be Kadean Construction and the added buildings will feature office space, 50-foot by 50-foot column space, docks equipped with 40,000 pounds mechanical levelers and seals, car and trailer parking spots and ESFR sprinkler systems.

The Class A industrial park is located at 6250 N. Lindbergh Blvd., with access to Interstate 270, Interstate 70, and Interstate 170, 5 miles from St. Louis Lambert International Airport and within 17 miles of downtown St. Louis. Aviator Business Park’s completed buildings are fully occupied by multiple tenants, such as Amazon, International Foods, Graybar and Weekends Only.

382 KSF of industrial space preleased

Pretium Packaging will occupy 178,128 square feet in Aviator 6. The other tenants include Federal Moving and Storage, which will occupy 97,734 square feet in Aviator 6, Community Wholesale Tire, which will occupy 76,058 square feet in Aviator 2 and Rivian, which will occupy 30,185 square feet in Aviator 5. The three new buildings are now 60 percent leased.

CBRE’s Senior Vice President Katie Haywood of the company’s Industrial & Logistics, Advisory & Transaction team, together with Associate John Frith has worked on behalf of the landlord.

Recently, Stream Realty Partners has been appointed as leasing agent in charge of Mack Innovation Park Deer Valley, an industrial project with 917,000-square-foot first phase, in Phoenix.

The post Panattoni Development Signs 4 Tenants at St. Louis Industrial Park appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

4001-4045 Lakefront Court, Earth City. Image courtesy of Sealy & Co.

Sealy & Co. continues its growth in the St. Louis industrial market, purchasing a five-building portfolio totaling 554,007 square feet of distribution space from Altus Properties for an undisclosed amount.

With this latest acquisition, Dallas-based Sealy’s holdings in the market account for nearly 13 percent of its more than 20 million square feet of assets owned across the U.S. The St. Louis market is third in total square feet owned by Sealy behind its two other major markets—Dallas and Memphis, Tenn.

READ ALSO: The Logistic Sector’s Record-Breaking Momentum

The properties acquired were described by Sealy as functional infill assets in two submarkets—Mid County and North County—with high barriers to entry. The portfolio is currently fully leased to 17 diverse tenants. The properties are:

• 91,181 square feet at 13652-13670 Lakefront Drive, Earth City, Mo.;
• 162,800 square feet at 4001-4045 Lakefront Court, Earth City;
• 110,612 square feet at 8480-8526 Mid-County Industrial Drive, St. Louis;
• 125,820 square feet at 3481-3499 Rider Trail North, Earth City;
• 59,724 square feet at 3401-3467 Rider Trail South, Earth City.

Calling St. Louis a top-tier market, Jason Gandy, managing director of investment services at Sealy, said in a prepared statement the company has found great success in investing in quality, value-add industrial assets in the region. In April, Sealy acquired a 129,000-square-foot infill property with two tenants at 8807 Seeger Industrial Drive in St. Louis from JGB Properties LLC.

One of the most important commercial centers in the Midwest, the St. Louis industrial market is a key distribution and logistics hub and a conduit for port, rail and truck freight. The portfolio acquired from Altus Properties is also located near interstate highways and St. Louis’ Lambert International Airport.

The transaction was handled by Sealy’s Investment Services Team, led by Gandy and Senior Investment Associate Davis Gibbs. Michael Hanrahan of Cushman & Wakefield provided local brokerage assistance to Altus Properties.

Active buyers

Sealy, which has assets in 17 key U.S. markets, has closed on more than $89 million in acquisitions in the past 30 days. Among the recent purchases were two off-market transactions announced in Arkansas and Michigan made just days apart. In late August, Sealy said it had acquired a 303,369-square-foot FedEx Ground facility in southwest Little Rock, Ark., and an 80,000-square-foot distribution warehouse in Flint, Mich. In July, Sealy entered the Savannah, Ga., market when it acquired a 305,400-square-foot industrial portfolio from an undisclosed buyer. The portfolio, which consists of warehouse and distribution properties, is located near the Port of Savannah and within 5 miles of Interstates 95 and 16 and minutes from the Savannah Hilton Head International Airport.

In April, Sealy made two purchases in less than a week in the Kansas City, Kan., and Detroit markets. The first deal announced was the acquisition of a 407,500-square-foot industrial warehouse in Flint that is fully leased to General Motors for truck manufacturing operations. The 21-acre site was sold by Schostak Brothers to Sealy for an undisclosed price. It is adjacent to Bishop International Airport and close to the intersection of Interstates 69 and 75. Days later, Sealy said it had acquired Lone Elm Commerce Center, a Class A, 210,500-square-foot distribution warehouse in Olathe, Kan., from developer Heise-Meyer LLC. The 12-acre site is part of a larger industrial park and has frontage along Interstate 35.

The post Sealy Closes Deal for 5-Building St. Louis Portfolio appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Westport Commerce Center. Image courtesy of PCCP LLC and TriStar Properties

PCCP LLC and TriStar Properties are teaming up again on an industrial park project in the St. Louis metro by forming a joint venture to develop six speculative buildings totaling 1.3 million square feet of space in Maryland Heights, Mo.

READ ALSO: CRG Launches 2nd US Logistics Fund

Westport Commerce Center, a fully entitled project, will be built on 137 acres the joint venture recently acquired to construct six, single-loaded warehouse buildings each ranging in size from 194,615 square feet to 252,720 square feet. The six buildings will feature 185-foot combined truck court and trailer parking, 32-foot clear heights, ESRF sprinklers, LED lighting and a rear-load design.

Construction will be built in phases. Development of the first phase has begun with two buildings of 194,615 square feet each. They are expected to deliver by the spring of 2022. The next phase will be determined as leasing activity occurs for the first phase.

Matt Towerman, executive vice president & principal with TriStar, said in a prepared statement the partners concluded Westport’s ideal location would fill a void for last-mile distribution in the St. Louis metro area. The site is located within the central St. Louis County industrial submarket at the intersection of St. Louis and St. Charles counties, providing proximity to most of the metropolitan area’s population. The project is also a short drive from the intersection of Highway 364 and Maryland Heights Expressway (Highway 141), which provides connectivity to Interstates 70 and 270.

Dorian Farhang, PCCP vice president, said in a prepared statement this is the sixth joint venture between PCCP and TriStar. The previous five projects, totaling 5.2 million square feet, have all been developed in the Metro East submarket of St. Louis. Farhang said each of those projects had out-performed initial underwriting and they expect Westport Commerce Center to meet the demand for newly built industrial facilities in the area.

PCCP and TriStar’s previous partnership was for the development of industrial buildings at the Gateway Commerce Center in Edwardsville, Ill. In June 2018, the firms announced the development of two facilities totaling 2 million square feet for World Wide Technology. One of the partners’ early projects at Gateway was Gateway 717, a 717,000-square-foot speculative warehouse later leased to Amazon. In addition to Amazon and WWT, Gateway’s tenants include P&G, Unilever and Geodis Logistics.

More PCCP Projects

In May, a joint venture of PCCP and Panattoni Development Co. Inc. said it planned to develop a speculative 526,400-square-foot Class A industrial warehouse on a 46-acre site in Cartersville, Ga. Slated for completion in June 2022, Bartow Commerce Center Building III will be located in the Bartow Commerce Center in the Atlanta market and is the third facility the partners have developed at the site.

PCCP and Panattoni are also developing a speculative industrial development in Hagerstown, Md., where they will build a 730,880-square-foot Class A warehouse at a newly purchased 90-acre site. Creekside Logistics Center, located off Interstate 81 and near Interstate 70, is expected to be completed by December.

The post PCCP, TriStar Form JV for St. Louis Industrial Park appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

1430 S. Third St., St. Louis. Image courtesy of Transwestern Investment Group

Having brought a 2.9 million-square-foot portfolio of industrial assets in the Midwest to full occupancy, Transwestern Investment Group has decided to part ways with the collection of 10 well-located buildings. TSP sold the properties on behalf of TSP Value and Income Fund II, its four-year-old discretionary investment fund, to Stockbridge for an undisclosed amount.

READ ALSO: Dream Industrial to Sell US Portfolio for $167M

With buildings located in the high-demand industrial markets of St. Louis, Indianapolis and Columbus, the portfolio turned the heads of investors eager to fortify or even establish a Midwestern footprint with a substantial collection in one fell swoop.

“There is significant opportunity for growth in secondary industrial markets across the Midwest. The location of these assets generated a great deal of interest from a wide variety of investors, some of which have not historically been interested in acquiring industrial product,” Ryan Grable, vice president with Transwestern Investment Group, told Commercial Property Executive.

Good bones

5345 Decatur Blvd., Indianapolis. Image courtesy of Transwestern Investment Group

The portfolio includes seven buildings in St. Louis and Indianapolis that Transwestern had acquired as part of a 2.5 million-square-foot portfolio purchase in 2017, just months after the launch of Fund II. The metropolitan St. Louis properties, which account for a total of approximately 909,500 square feet, consist of: 1430 S. Third St. in St Louis; 1602 Park 370 Court in Hazelwood, Mo.; 1600 Park 370 Place & 4774 Park 370 Blvd. in Hazelwood, Mo.; and 1010 Turner Road in St. Peters, Mo. TIG’s 2017 purchase had also included the facility at 6030 Gateway Drive and 5345 Decatur Blvd., accounting for an aggregate 467,600 square feet in metropolitan Indianapolis.

Rounding out the portfolio TIG just sold to Stockbridge are the three Columbus assets, which TIG had acquired on behalf of Fund II from a joint venture between Singerman Real Estate and Green Door Capital in 2019, the same year Fund II completed its final closing. The 1.5 million-square-foot group of facilities, which had been only 50 percent occupied at the time of purchase, consists of 3800 Lockbourne Industrial Parkway, 4150 Lockbourne Industrial Parkway and 3880 Industrial Parkway.

6030 Gateway Drive, Plainfield, Ind. Image courtesy of Transwestern Investment Group

While the new owner of the portfolio will benefit from the steady income that comes with a full tenant roster, there remains an option for upside potential in the not-too-distant future. The weighted average lease term among the 24 tenants at the newly traded portfolio is just over 3 years, and in-place rents are approximately 8 percent below today’s market rates.

Michael Caprile and Zachary Graham of CBRE represented TIG in the transaction with Stockbridge, and it is no surprise that the team welcomed such strong interest from investors.

The industrial sector in America’s heartland is thriving. As noted in a first quarter 2021 report by CBRE, “The Midwest industrial market continued to see new construction activity, occupancy growth, sustained low vacancy, and steady average asking lease rates despite tough economic conditions.”

The post Transwestern Investment Group Sells 2.9 MSF Midwest Portfolio appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

EDGE@WEST. Image courtesy of Clayco

Seneca Commercial Real Estate has completed its four-story office property in the St. Louis metro area. Clayco, the project’s general contractor, finished construction on EDGE@WEST, which was designed by Lamar Johnson Collaborative.

The project has also received financing that was led by Enterprise Bank and Trust and PACE funding from Stonehill.

READ ALSO: Office Occupancy Inches Up Across US, Kastle Finds

The project broke ground in December 2019 and Clayco completed the core and shell of the building a year later. Now completed, the 125,000-square-foot Class A office building offers an average floorplate size of 21,330 square feet on its first floor and an average floorplate size of approximately 34,200 on its second to fourth floors.

The open-concept office features communal amenities that include an IT and screen package, fitness center, coffee bar, fireplace area, meeting spaces, outdoor lounges and sports courts. EDGE@WEST’s design was aimed at attracting tech and creative companies, but its first tenant will be FM Global, a mutual insurance company.

COVID-19-conscious design

With EDGE@WEST having started construction prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the office’s design elements were incorporated during the construction process.

“Edge@West was originally designed to be an office building looking toward the future,” Laura Stock, associate at Lamar Johnson Collaborative, told Commercial Property Executive. “When COVID-19 changed the rhetoric of what it meant to feel ‘safe’ in an office, we believed it was imperative to look to the future of what ‘safe’ may mean.”

To adapt the building design, the project team adjusted the entrances by making them touchless and adding automated check-in and sanitation stations. For the restrooms, the fixtures were also designed to be touchless, while the dual-action doors could be opened with a bump from feet or hands. The design also included improving its air circulation by installing overhead doors in the first-floor community spaces to allow for additional air flow and adding plasma filters to the building’s mechanical system for improved air quality. The project team also installed self-cleaning antimicrobial surfaces on any major touch points.

Many other major office projects across the country have taken similar measures to better ensure the health and safety of its tenants. This new healthy building design mindset is also likely to lead to increased attention from potential tenants, according to a Morningstar report from May 2020.

The post Seneca Commercial’s St. Louis Office Project Reaches Completion appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

3951 Lakeview Corporate Drive. Image courtesy of Sealy & Co.

Sealy & Co., of Dallas, has acquired a 1.1 million-square-foot, cross-docked distribution warehouse in the St. Louis market. Panattoni Development Co. sold the property for an undisclosed price. The purchase reportedly brings Sealy’s year-to-date acquisition volume to more than $400 million.

READ ALSO: Logistics Property Co. Closes $1B Industrial Real Estate Fund

The Class A facility is at 3951 Lakeview Corporate Drive, in Lakeview Commerce Center, near Granite City, Ill., in the Metro East submarket. The business park is adjacent to the I-255/I-270 interchange and close to Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.

The building features 32-foot clear height, 96 dock doors with knockouts for 40 future dock doors, 90 trailer stalls, ESFR sprinklers, 60- by 50-foot speed bays, and 50- by 50-foot column spacing. The current tenant has in recent years expanded its presence within Lakeview Commerce Center and occupies three additional properties, one of which Sealy acquired in January of this year.

The transaction was brokered by Michael Caprile and Zach Graham of CBRE and Sealy’s Investment Services team, led by Scott Sealy Jr., Jason Gandy and Davis Gibbs.

3951 Lakeview Corporate Drive. Image courtesy of Sealy & Co.

In a prepared statement, Scott Sealy Jr., the company’s chief investment officer, noted St. Louis’ strength as a logistics hub during the pandemic and added that the tenant “has demonstrated a long-term commitment to their significant presence in this submarket.”

A Sealy & Co. spokesperson did not reply to Commercial Property Executive’s request for additional information.

Acquisitions everywhere

Among the deals that helped propel Sealy above $400 million in acquisitions this year were the August purchase of a 197,800-square-foot distribution facility in Covington, La., near New Orleans, and its acquisition shortly after of an eight-building, 1.2-million-square-foot, fully leased industrial portfolio in Greenville, S.C., from Blackstone.

The Metro East St. Louis submarket has an 8.8 percent average vacancy (versus 6.1 percent for metro St. Louis as a whole) on an inventory of 46.4 million square feet, according to a third-quarter report from Newmark Grubb Zimmer. The average Metro East asking rent for warehouse/distribution space is $3.77 per square foot.

The industrial project to watch in Metro East is NorthPoint Development’s 600-plus-acre Gateway TradePort, in Pontoon Beach, Ill., which at full buildout is planned to total 11 buildings and 7.5 million square feet. The first building was delivered in January and has since been fully leased; a second building got underway in August.

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Cedar Hill. Image courtesy of Capstone Manufactured Housing

Capstone Manufactured Housing has brokered the $8 million sale of a 204-site manufactured housing portfolio located within the St. Louis MSA. A private investor sold the 107-site Eagle Creek in High Ridge, Mo., and the 97-site Cedar Hill Estates in Cedar Hill, Mo.

Public records show that BoaVida Communities received a $5 million loan from Benefit Street Partners Realty Trust to finance the acquisition. The debt is set to mature in 2023. The buyer has long-term ownership plans for the properties and intends to convert the remaining community-owned homes over to the residents.

Eagle Creek is located at 1681 S. Golden Circle, less than 3 miles from several retail and dining options, while downtown St. Louis is roughly 23 miles northeast. Located at 69 Cedar Hill Estates, some 35 miles from the metro’s downtown, Cedar Hill Estates is within walking distance of several restaurants and shops. The properties were 95 percent occupied at the time of sale.      

Capstone Partner & Director Kevan Enger and Investment Sales Advisors Ian Hilpl and Brian Hummell represented the seller. In September, the trio closed the $15 million sale of a 531-site manufactured housing portfolio in Springfield, Mo.  

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Joe Sneed, Vice President of Construction, Spiegelglass Construction Co. Image courtesy of Spiegelglass Construction Co.

Spiegelglass Construction Co. has hired Joe Sneed as vice president of construction. In this newly created position, Sneed will manage small to medium-sized commercial construction projects such as restaurants, event and office spaces, laboratories, educational/medical/manufacturing facilities, cannabis dispensaries, retail shops, churches and temples.

Sneed has more than 35 years of construction industry experience. Before joining Spiegelglass, he was with J.E. Foster Building Co., where he served as vice president. The position involved estimating and project management work as well as business development. Sneed has also worked as director of pre-construction position at Kozeny-Wagner and chief estimator with McGrath & Associates Inc. As a member of the St. Louis community, Sneed lends his expertise to various organizations such as the U.S. Green Building Council and the American Society of Professional Engineers.

In December, Spiegelglass Construction received a general contractor appointment for Salt + Smoke’s new location within Ballpark Village, according to St. Louis Business Journal. The barbecue restaurant will occupy 5,500 square feet at the base of One Cardinal Way, a 29-story apartment tower that forms part of the $260 million second phase of the mixed-use development.

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8451 Western Way, Jacksonville, Fla. Image courtesy of Plymouth Industrial

Plymouth Industrial REIT Inc., of Boston, has bolstered a couple of its current strongholds by acquiring two industrial properties in St. Louis and one industrial property in Jacksonville, Fla., for a total of $51.2 million. The sellers were not disclosed.

READ ALSO: Transactions: September 2020

The two properties in St. Louis total 566,408 square feet. Commerce Center I and II are two Class A in-fill buildings totaling 487,150 square feet that are fully leased to five tenants. The buildings (both completed in 2001) are at 909 N. 20th St. and 900 N. 23rd St. and were acquired for $27 million. Their previous owner was Real Capital Solutions, of Louisville, Colo., according to information provided to Commercial Property Executive by Yardi Matrix.

2326 Grissom Drive in St. Louis consists of two Class B industrial buildings totaling 79,258 square feet and fully occupied by a single tenant. The property is near St. Louis Lambert International Airport and was acquired for $3.7 million.

The industrial property in Jacksonville is 8451 Western Way, a 289,850-square-foot Class B building that’s fully leased to five tenants. It’s off I-95, close to two of Plymouth’s business parks, and was acquired for $20.5 million.

The acquisitions were funded with working capital and borrowings under Plymouth’s credit facilities.

Presence is stronger, market is not

In a prepared statement, Pendleton White Jr., Plymouth’s president & chief investment officer, described the acquisitions as classic Plymouth properties in markets with strong industrial demand fundamentals and access to large, highly skilled blue-collar labor pools, and in close proximity to the company’s existing portfolio assets. He added the properties were acquired well below replacement cost.

Plymouth’s existing industrial portfolio in Jacksonville consisted of three parks, all in the Southside submarket, and totaling 20 buildings and more than 1.1 million square feet. The whole portfolio was acquired at the end of 2018, in a transaction involving a $75 million purchase of Plymouth stock by Madison International Realty, as well as some other moving parts.

The St. Louis industrial real estate market lost a little ground in the second quarter, with overall vacancy increasing to 5.9 percent and average rents declining from $4.61 to $4.52 per square foot, according to a second-quarter report from Newmark Grubb Zimmer.

The culprit was negative net absorption, which totaled 553,000 square feet in the second quarter and 1 million square feet over the past four quarters. In addition, a little over 600,000 square feet of space was delivered in the second quarter, and nearly a further 1.4 million is currently under construction, again according to Newmark Grubb Zimmer.

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READ ALSO: McCarthy Building Launches Development of Marriott Hotel

Forsyth Pointe is a true local endeavor, with the development, design and construction teams all based in metropolitan St. Louis. Designed by Christner Architects and Cedergreen LLC, the project will consist of two towers connected by a seven-level parking facility. The property’s 10-story east tower will feature 265,000 square feet of space, while the eight-story west tower will encompass 210,000 square feet. In addition to premier office accommodations, Forsyth Pointe’s steel-framed glass structures will include street-level retail space totaling 20,000 square feet. And the property’s 500,000-square-foot parking facility will offer 1,250 spaces and a roof-level garden terrace spanning an entire acre.

Early in Forsyth Pointe’s design phase, McCarthy, in its role as construction manager, incorporated an integrated virtual design and construction process for the project; it was a prescient move that would prove useful, as construction in Missouri continued amid the spread of COVID-19. “Using an integrated VDC process provides the opportunity to work effectively and remotely with the owner, designer and trade partners using cloud-based building information modeling collaboration platforms accessible by all team members,” a spokesperson for McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. told Commercial Property Executive. “Our top priority is first and foremost safety. We are committed to staying on top of each new development and to serving as an active partner in keeping our communities healthy.”

Down but not out

The St. Louis office market has not gone unscathed by the consequences of the pandemic-related stay-at-home orders; however, the second quarter of 2020 brought a bit of good news. The metropolitan St. Louis’s Class A office segment posted positive net absorption during the three-month period, according to a report by CBRE. And in Clayton, the vacancy rate for Class A assets was just 5.5 percent, the second-lowest vacancy rate for Class A offerings in the entire metro area. Forsyth Pointe is reportedly approximately 80 percent preleased. McCarthy expects to deliver the project in the summer of 2022.

The post Ground Breaks on 1 MSF St. Louis Mixed-Use Project appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Walker Medical Building

CBRE Capital Markets | Healthcare and Life Sciences has brokered the sale of  Walker Medical Building, a 129,590-square-foot property in St. Louis. Lee Asher, Chris Bodnar, Ryan Lindsley, Jordan Selbiger and Sabrina Solomiany, together with TJ Redmond, represented the seller in the deal. According to Yardi Matrix data, AMSI Properties had owned the Class B asset since 2002.

Situated on 8 acres at 12855 N. Outer 40 Road in the West County submarket, the three-story building came online in 1983. The medical office asset features a surgery center with two operating rooms and a cancer center with MRI, CT and a linear accelerator. According to CBRE, the property was 82 percent leased at the time of sale, having Mercy Health, DaVita and Urology of St. Louis on the tenant roster.

Walker Medical Building is some 16 miles west of downtown St. Louis, just north of Interstate 64. Four major medical institutions—Mercy Hospital St. Louis, BJC Healthcare’s Missouri Baptist Medical Center, St. Luke’s Hospital and St. Louis Children’s Specialty Care Center—are within a 3 mile-radius of the property.

Last April, CBRE arranged the $90 million sale of three portfolios totaling 23 medical properties. The assets are spread across Illinois, Florida, Alabama and Georgia, with 13 of them located in the Greater Chicago area.

If you’d like to be featured in Brokers’ Corner, simply fill in our short form or send your deal to deals@cpe-mhn.com.

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10330 Old Olive Street Road. Image courtesy of BioPharma Services Inc.

BioPharma Services has relocated its U.S. clinical facility to Creve Coeur, Mo., from Columbia, Mo., due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on its operations. The Toronto-based medical research firm has leased the entire 25,000-square-foot building that used to house St. Louis Clinical Trials, a subsidiary of Evolution Research Group. BioPharma’s clinic has a capacity of more than 100 beds.

According to Yardi Matrix data, Core Properties has owned the single-tenant asset since 2016. Located at 10330 Old Olive Street Road, the two-story building came online in 2002. The property features 11,564-square-foot floorplans, and both subterranean and ground-floor parking ensuring a parking ratio of 2.9 spaces per 1,000 square feet. 

The 1.3-acre site is 15 miles northwest from downtown St. Louis, near the intersection of U.S. Road 67 and Olive Boulevard. There are several shopping venues and dining options within a 1-mile radius of the facility. St. Louis Lambert International Airport is 15 minutes away.

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City Foundry STL. Image courtesy of Lawrence Group

CapStone Holdings has invested $40 million in the $210 million first phase of City Foundry STL, a mixed-use project designed and planned by Lawrence Group in downtown St. Louis featuring a food hall, entertainment venues, retail and office space. The stake from the Bonita Springs, Fla.-based, business incubator and investment firm is one of the largest single-entity investments in the project that is set to open this summer.

READ ALSO: Queens Opportunity Zone Site Sells for $59M

Located on the 15-acre site of the former Federal Mogul Foundry, City Foundry STL is part of $8 billion in new investments being made in central St. Louis as part of the Cortex Innovation Community District. The adaptive reuse project was unveiled in September 2016.  Plans call for the open-steel shell of the former foundry to house St. Louis’ first food hall and anchor a complex with pedestrian-friendly walkways, three major entertainment venues, and other offerings. The first phase will include 122,000 square feet of restaurant and entertainment space, 105,000 square feet of retail, 107,000 square feet of office space and a 500-space, multi-level parking garage. The office space is fully leased, according to the St. Louis Magazine. The magazine also reported two more office buildings and an additional parking garage are planned in a second phase.

Keith Stone, CapStone Holdings chairman & founder, said in a prepared statement City Foundry matches the firm’s investment criteria. He cited the high-growth location, the vision being brought to life by established developers and entrepreneurs and the projected long-term positive returns as reasons for the firm’s investment. Stone said City Foundry is expected to be the city’s new predominant place to gather, eat, innovate and play.

City Foundry is located in an Opportunity Zone, a designation created by the 2017 federal tax law that offers real estate investors tax benefits. The developer was able to raise capital for the City Foundry project because of its location in the Opportunity Zone, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper. The newspaper also reported the city of St. Louis has approved $19.4 million in tax increment financing for the redevelopment.

Ballpark Village expansion

City Foundry isn’t the only major project in the city. In November, a new Class A office tower anchored by PwC opened in downtown St. Louis as part of the $260 million expansion of Ballpark Village, a mixed-use neighborhood being developed by the St. Louis Cardinals and The Cordish Cos. The 11-story building includes 120,000 square feet of office space, street-level retail and more than 460 parking spaces. The PwC Pennant Building is the first building to open in the second phase of the 10-acre Ballpark Village development that will eventually include a hotel, a 29-story luxury residential tower and a three-story retail pavilion.

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Paul Hilton, Managing Principal, BurkHill Real Estate. Image courtesy of BurkHill Real Estate

Paul Hilton, former executive director at Cushman & Wakefield, will assume the role of managing principal at BurkHill Real Estate, a company he co-founded in 2016 with former Cassidy Turley CEO, Mark Burkhart. Hilton brings over three decades of experience to the new position.

For the past 26 years, he has worked as a commercial real estate investment specialist with Cushman & Wakefield. Throughout his career, he has represented a variety of major real estate players in transactions valued at more than $8 billion.

Hilton’s responsibilities will involve identifying opportunities across several asset classes and enacting both short- and long-term strategies for the company’s investment fund. Additionally, he will partner with Burkhart to oversee the property management and leasing teams.

In September 2019, a joint venture between BurkHill and Gershman Commercial Real Estate purchased an 18-property portfolio of more than 800,000 square feet from Sachs Properties. The deal, plus planned capital improvements, is valued in excess of $100 million.

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Premier 370 1001

Distribution Management Inc. has signed a 375,200-square-foot, long-term lease with Duke Realty Corp. at Premier 370 Business Park, a 375-acre master-planned development in St. Peters. The imaging supplies distributor will occupy the entire Class A warehouse at 1001 Premier Parkway. The lease brings the 2.5 million-square-foot collection of five buildings that Duke Realty developed within the industrial campus to full occupancy.

Bordered by Highway 370, the business park is well connected to all parts of the St. Charles County through Interstates 70 and 270, as well as a Norfolk Southern railway. In addition to the five buildings developed by Duke Realty, two other parcels have been sold to outside parties and developed, while another 80 acres are still available for development. Premier 370 Business Park has a build-out potential of more than 6 million square feet of industrial space. Notable tenants include Reckitt Benckiser and Best Buy. The campus is also home to Amazon’s first robotics fulfillment center in Missouri.

Premier 370 1001 sits on more than 24 acres roughly 28 miles northwest of downtown St. Louis, accessible via Interstate 70. The 2018-built facility features 36-foot maximum clear height, four grade-level and 40 dock-high doors, as well as 40 trailer parking spaces, per Yardi Matrix data.

Newmark Knight Frank’s Art Leichner and Andrew Crites, together with Kevin McLaughlin and Dan Lesinski of Newmark Grubb Zimmer, represented Distribution Management in the lease. Colliers’ Geoff Orf was the listing agent for the property.

In August, another one of Duke’s industrial parks reached full occupancy. A Cushman & Wakefield team assisted the landlord in securing a new tenant at the 802,284-square-foot campus in Lockport, Ill.

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Next NGA West. Rendering courtesy of McCarthy HTT

The development team behind the new National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency campus in St. Louis is breaking ground on Next NGA West (N2W) on Nov. 26. The McCarthy HITT joint venture will lead construction on the $1.7 billion venture, which marks the largest federal investment project in the history of the city, slated for opening in 2025.

The mega-project’s budget includes the $711.7 million McCarthy HITT contract, funded through the Pentagon’s military construction resources. The design-build team also includes Black & Veatch, Gensler and Akima. Jointly managed by NGA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Air Force, the development will rise on a 97-acre site in the St. Louis Place Neighborhood. Last December, the city transferred the new site to the U.S. Air Force.

Secure work environment

Located at the intersection of Jefferson and Cass avenues, the facility will encompass a roughly 712,000-square-foot office building, a visitor’s center, a remote inspection facility, parking garages and access control points. Plans call for wireless technologies to ensure a secure and classified work environment. Additionally, the development team is aiming for LEED Silver certification.

Following a series of planning studies, the partners decided that a new facility will prove less disruptive to NGA’s mission, it will be quicker and less costly than upgrading the agency’s current headquarters, which dates back to the 1840s. The U.S. Air Force owns NGA’s current facility as well, situated in south St. Louis. No decision has been made on what will happen to the property once NGA vacates it.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will oversee construction and design on behalf of NGA after the groundbreaking. The federal agency estimates that the project will require up to 1,300 workers per day at its peak in 2022. Furthermore, N2W is anticipated to create a total of approximately 5,000 construction jobs.

NGA’s new campus is just one of a series of projects involving military office developments currently underway across the U.S. Last month, Manchester Financial kicked off the $1.5 billion redevelopment of the U.S. Navy’s waterfront property in San Diego.

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Jim Loft, Executive Vice President, Gershman Commercial Real Estate. Image courtesy of Gershman Commercial Real Estate

Jim Loft has joined Gershman Commercial Real Estate as one of the company’s newest executive vice presidents. The industry veteran will focus on the office sector in St. Louis through representation provided to both office property users and owners.

Loft’s addition to the team will facilitate the company’s ongoing expansion, according to Chris Fox, president & CEO of Gershman. In September, the firm increased its portfolio in one of the largest and most complex commercial transactions closed in the St. Louis metro area in recent history. Gershman partnered with BurkHill Real Estate in the $100 million acquisition.

With nearly 20 years of industry background, Loft brings extensive experience in commercial real estate strategy, transaction and brokerage services. Throughout his career, he has been involved in a series of notable deals valued in excess of $300 million. Loft’s client list includes SARA Investment Real Estate, Cullinan Properties, Altus Properties, Washington University School of Medicine, Highbrook Investors and Mutual of Omaha, among others.

Prior to joining Gershman, Loft served as senior vice president at Colliers International. He also worked with Colliers Turley Martin Tucker, where his responsibilities included lease negotiations, site selection and construction management for both local and national corporate clients. Loft holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree from the University of Missouri- Columbia.

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Raising Cane’s at 805 South Vandeventer Ave. Image courtesy of Hanley Investment Group.

Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors has arranged the sale of a brand new Raising Cane’s quick-service restaurant in St. Louis, Mo. The buyer, a Newport Beach, Calif.-based private investor, acquired the single-tenant asset for $5 million from Noles Properties, who was represented by Hanley in the transaction.

The 2,913-square-foot building, located at 805 South Vandeventer Ave., opened in August. Situated in The Grove Entertainment District, one of St. Louis’ leisure destinations, the asset is surrounded by local retailers, restaurants, breweries, bars and an improv theater. The property is also roughly a mile away from Saint Louis University, a private institution with nearly 20,000 students.

Raising Cane’s is positioned in a midtown market, with major projects being developed within a one-mile radius. These include Missouri’s only IKEA, a 200-acre innovation hub called The Cortex District and five mixed-use buildings.

In the last 18 months, Hanley Investment has completed the sales of five Raising Cane’s restaurants, including a new construction in Anaheim, Calif. The St. Louis deal was mediated by Hanley Vice President Jeff Lefko and Executive Vice President Bill Asher, along with John Shuff, vice president of brokerage at Pace Properties. Lefko and Asher recently brokered the $8.8 million sale of another California retail property.

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Opening of The PwC Pennant Building. Image courtesy of The Cordish Cos.

A new Class A office tower anchored by PwC has opened its doors in downtown St. Louis, marking a major step forward for the $260 million expansion of Ballpark Village, a mixed-use neighborhood being developed by the St. Louis Cardinals and The Cordish Cos. 

The 11-story building topped out in April. Dubbed The PwC Pennant Building, the property was designed by HKS Architects and TAO + LEE Associates and constructed by PARIC Corp. The building includes 120,000 square feet of office space, in addition to street-level retail and more than 460 structured parking spaces. PwC’s office features a private rooftop deck.

FOX Sports Midwest, a regional sports network, will move its business offices to the building, joining PwC and investment banking firm ButcherJoseph. The TV network’s primary studio is within the existing first phase of Ballpark Village, and a second studio will be built in the new office premises.

Expansion scheme takes shape

The PwC Pennant Building, which broke ground in December 2017, is the first building to open within the second phase of the 10-acre, master-planned Ballpark Village development. Upon completion, the expansion project will bring an additional 700,000 square feet of dining, entertainment, hotel, residential, retail and lifestyle space to the downtown.

Other properties underway at Ballpark Village include an upscale hotel—Live! by Loews St. Louis—which will open in the first quarter of 2020, a 29-story luxury residential tower—One Cardinal Way, opening in the following quarter—and a three-story retail pavilion overlooking the new plaza. New amenities within the second phase will include Baseballism, Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse, Onelife Fitness and Sports & Social St. Louis.

Developer The Cordish Cos. and the St. Louis Cardinals partnered to build Ballpark Village after the Major League Baseball team opened Busch Stadium in 2006. The $100 million first phase of the mixed-use development opened in 2014. The Pwc Pennant Building represents the first new-construction office building in downtown St. Louis in more than a generation.

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2301 S. Kingshighway Blvd. Image via Google Street View

Confluent Development has wrapped up the redevelopment of a historic property in St. Louis. The project entailed the remodeling of a 4,200-square-foot BMO Harris Bank, which remained operational during the renovation process, and a newly constructed, 10,000-square-foot Walgreens store. Earlier this year, the drugstore giant revealed plans to close roughly 200 Walgreens stores in the U.S.

The developer, who is also the owner of the project, broke ground in April 2018. Located at 2301 S. Kingshighway Blvd., in the Reber Place Historic District within the city’s Southwest Garden neighborhood, the site formerly housed Southwest Bank in a 1905-built structure. Confluent Development preserved the historical facade of the original building along Kingshighway Boulevard and redeveloped the remainder of the underutilized land, making the infill project the first of its kind in St. Louis.

Additionally, the developer donated a third building to Tower Grove Neighborhoods Community Development Corp., a local nonprofit that promotes affordable housing, responsible development and diverse character within the neighborhoods around Tower Grove Park. The project also features a fourth vacant site available for a potential future tenant. In 1953, the location was the site of a famous bank robbery, which was later made into “The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery,” filmed on-site in 1959 starring Steve McQueen.

Walgreens relocated from a former location within the neighborhood. The new store features a drive-thru pharmacy, while the bank includes a drive-thru ATM. Rosemann & Associates served as the architect, with PARIC Corp. serving as the contractor. Pace Properties is leading marketing efforts for the property’s available pad.

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Roosevelt Building. Image courtesy of Gershman Commercial Real Estate and BurkHill Real Estate LLC

Gershman Commercial Real Estate and BurkHill Real Estate LLC have acquired an 18-property, 850,000-square-foot portfolio in Chesterfield, Mo., from Sachs Properties in one of the largest and most complex commercial real estate transactions in the St. Louis metro area. The partners’ total investment in the properties will exceed $100 million, including the purchase price and planned capital improvements.

READ ALSO: NorthMarq Secures Financing for St. Louis Mixed-Use Buy

The portfolio, assembled over 50 years by the family-owned Sachs Properties, is clustered around the intersection of Highway 64/40 and Clarkson Boulevard. It consists of 13 multi-tenant office buildings, four retail/restaurant properties and one industrial/warehouse facility. Boasting more than 160 tenants, the assets have an overall occupancy rate of more than 90 percent.

The office properties are located at: 400 Chesterfield Center, 16150 Main Circle Drive, 16401 Swingley Ridge Road, 16090 Swingley Ridge Road, 500 Chesterfield Center, 16100 Chesterfield Parkway W., 16091 Swingley Ridge Road, 16052 Swingley Ridge Road, 16020 Swingley Ridge Road, 300 Chesterfield Center, 1400 Elbridge Payne Road, 1422 Elbridge Payne Road and 1415 Elbridge Payne Road. The industrial site is located at 16517 Old Chesterfield Road.

The four retail sites have three restaurants currently in operation. The building at 16123 Chesterfield Parkway W. is vacant. P.F. Chang’s is at 1295 E. Chesterfield Parkway. YaYa Euro Bistro operates at 15601 Olive Blvd. and Bishop’s Post is at 16125 Chesterfield Parkway W.

Chris Fox, executive vice president & managing director of brokerage and advisory services for Gershman Commercial Real Estate, said the Gershman/BurkHill partnership will continue to operate the properties as a portfolio and will be retaining many of the Sachs employees in accounting, maintenance and property management.

Long, Complex Transaction

Fox told Commercial Property Executive discussions between Gershman—the largest locally-owned CRE firm in the St. Louis metro area—and the Sachs family had been ongoing for about two years, as the family grappled with whether or not to start selling some of the properties that the late founder Louis Sachs and his team had acquired, as part of a 1,500-acre master-planned community they called Chesterfield Village. The Sachs family will continue to own more than 150 acres around Chesterfield Village, that could be prime development sites in the future.

 “The properties have a bit of an iconic status. They have been competing very well in that broader suburban marketplace for many years. They are well-located and historically high-performing assets. It was a very unique opportunity,” Fox told CPE.

Once they realized Sachs Properties wanted to sell the portfolio as a whole with one closing, Fox said Gershman officials knew they needed an equity partner that shared their long-term investment outlook for the properties. They teamed with BurkHill, a private real estate investment fund founded by local real estate veteran Mark Burkhart. The former CEO of Cassidy Turley (now part of Cushman & Wakefield), Burkhart launched BurkHill’s first fund in 2016 to invest in real estate assets. Burkhart said in a prepared statement his firm’s experience coupled with Gershman’s long history of success would make a great combination.

The properties, which range in age from 10 to 30 years, will be renovated and modernized, Fox said. The capital improvement plan, which will likely include some additional amenities such as food, fitness and conference offerings, will be unveiled in November, he said.

“As we add value to the properties, the marketplace will see them as continuing to compete at the highest end of the market,” Fox said.

Mixed-Use Project Gets Underway

Chesterfield was also in the news in early August when NorthMarq arranged $54.5 million in debt and joint equity financing for Pearl Cos. and Great Lakes Capital to begin construction of WildHorse, an $80 million mixed-use development. Plans call for 188 luxury residential units, a 128-key hotel and restaurant space. The Class A multifamily portion of the development is slated for completion in early 2021, while the hotel and conference center and upscale restaurants, including Ruth’s Chris Steak House, will be completed after the residential component. The development will also include 12,500 square feet of retail and 10,500 square feet of restaurant space.

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Raymond Sedey, CEO starting with January 2020, McCarthy Holdings. Image courtesy of McCarthy Holdings

McCarthy Holdings has selected Raymond Sedey as the company’s next chief executive officer. Sedey will assume the new position on Jan. 1, 2020, and will replace current CEO Michael Bolen, who will stay on in the role of chairman of the McCarthy board of directors.

Sedey has been with McCarthy since 2000 when he started as a project engineer in the firm’s Southwest Region. He transitioned through several key roles over the years including project superintendent, manager and director, and was appointed vice president of operations for the Las Vegas office in 2009. In his next promotion at McCarthy, in 2012, Sedey was named executive vice president in charge of business operations in Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado.

In 2015, Sedey was tasked to lead the McCarthy Texas Region as regional president, while in 2018 he took a leading role in combining operations of the McCarthy Southeast Division and Texas Region, which resulted in forming a new Southern Region. Sedey took over as regional president of the new region.

Second non-family member CEO

Sedey will be the second non-family member to hold the position within the construction company—since it became employee-owned—and the third CEO in the last 50 years. Founded in 1864 as a family-owned business, McCarthy converted to 100 percent employee ownership in 2002, while also becoming one of the largest Employee Stock Ownership Plan companies nationwide.

McCarthy’s next CEO also serves as the executive sponsor for the company’s national craft initiative and he is an instructor and mentor in McCarthy’s leadership development program. Furthermore, Sedey is involved in numerous organizations such as the Dallas Regional Chamber, American Heart Association, Montana State University College of Engineering advisory board and Make-A-Wish Foundation, among others.

Sedey holds a bachelor’s degree in construction engineering from Montana State University-Bozeman. He will maintain an office in Dallas as well as at the firm’s St. Louis corporate headquarters.

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Wildwood Plaza

NorthMarq has closed on $3 million in financing for the acquisition of Wildwood Plaza, a 17,490-square-foot mixed-use property in metro St. Louis. The team of Senior Vice President Jeff Chaney and Vice President Dan Baker worked on behalf of the borrower and procured the loan through StanCorp Financial Group.

The 10-year mortgage carries a 25-year amortization term. According to public records, the seller was Phoenix-based Arciterra, while the buyer is associated with an entity called Chez IX Wildwood Plaza LLC. 

Located at 151 and 179 Plaza Drive in Wildwood, the building was completed in 2007 on a 1-acre site. The asset is part of a planned development that comprises a new City Hall, The Wildwood Hotel, Dierbergs Supermarket, B&B Movie Theater, Walgreens, Starbucks and several other retailers, as well as office buildings. 

The property is fully leased to two tenants—SourceHOV occupies the entire office component, while PNC Financial Services Group leases the ground-floor retail section. SourceHOV, a business solutions and data analytics provider, recently renewed its lease through 2029 and PNC signed on until 2027. 

Wildwood Town Center is situated at the northeast corner of Fountain Place and Plaza Drive, along Manchester Road, some 30 miles west of downtown St. Louis. The submarket is considered one of the most affluent areas in the metro.

Earlier this summer, NorthMarq arranged a 10-year term refinancing for a single-tenant industrial property in Fairfield, Calif. The building is leased to Amcor Rigid Plastics. 

If you’d like to be featured in Brokers’ Corner, send your deal to deals@cpe-mhn.com.

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3301 Rider Trail S.

SARA Investment Real Estate has completed the purchase of a 115,000-square-foot office building in Earth City, Mo. Altus sold the asset for $8.5 million, according to Yardi Matrix data, while First Bank provided acquisition financing, as indicated by St. Louis County records. The asset last changed hands in July 2013 for $3.3 million.

The Class B property is located at 3301 Rider Trail S., in the Northwest suburb of St. Louis. Completed in 1982, the building underwent a series of improvements between 2006 and 2013, also per Yardi Matrix data. Renovation work included upgrading the common areas and exterior, as well as refurbishing the building entry. Situated on a 9.9-acre site, the property provides 720 parking spots with a parking ratio of six spaces per 1,000 square feet.

The three-story asset is 100 percent leased to a tenant roster including U.S. Bank and Hillshire Brands. Situated at the intersection of Rider Trail and Earth City Expressway, the property provides access to interstates 70 and 270 and is less than 6 miles from Lambert International Airport.

The investment marks the buyer’s ninth acquisition in the market, according to Jared Stinehagen, vice president of operations at SARA Investment. Todd Spitzer, director of real estate for SARA Investment, is spearheading leasing efforts at the property, as indicated on the new owner’s website.

Last November, SARA Investment sold the Midwest Creative Office Portfolio, a group of properties totaling approximately 525,000 square feet. The buyer, R2 Cos., paid $60 million for the properties.

The post SARA Investment Expands St. Louis Footprint appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Cassens Business Center. Image courtesy of Stan Johnson Co.

Green Street St. Louis has completed the $14 million disposition of Cassens Business Center, a 132,279-square-foot industrial property in Fenton, Mo. A Teaneck, N.J.-based private investor acquired the facility, while Argentic provided acquisition financing, according to St. Louis County records.

Located at 2391 Cassens Drive, on a 10.7-acre site, the multi-tenant building was fully leased to two national credit firms and a regional company at the time of sale. Following Green Street St. Louis’ acquisition of Cassens Business Center in 2016, the then-owner launched a complete overhaul of the property. Per Yardi Matrix information, the asset previously traded for $2.3 million, or $16.02 per square foot.

The one-story facility features 22-foot minimum clear heights, eight docks, one drive-in, ESFR fire sprinklers, skylights and truck court. Additionally, there are 85 parking spaces on the premises and paved outside storage and trailer storage is also available. The business center is situated in a dense industrial area and provides access to interstates 44 and 270.

The Stan Johnson Co. team of Senior Director Brad Pepin and Director Zach Harris represented the Missouri-based seller in the deal. According to Stan Johnson Co. Managing Director Jeff Hughes, warehouse and distribution space is experiencing a pivotal shift, with e-commerce and last-mile logistics continuing to be huge drivers for the asset class.

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Pitt Immune Transplant & Therapy Center Phase I. Image courtesy of Ventas

Ventas Inc. continues to make progress with the planned $1.5 billion pipeline of projects through its university-based Research & Innovation business. The REIT recently announced four new developments totaling $800 million and more than 1.3 million square feet to be built in partnership with university-focused real estate developer Wexford Science & Technology LLC at locations in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and St. Louis.

In Pittsburgh, Ventas and Wexford will develop The Pitt Immune Transplant & Therapy Center, a $280 million, trophy-quality historic redevelopment. The University of Pittsburgh has preleased a portion of the 350,000-square-foot project to house the Immune Transplant and Therapy Center. The university’s long-term commitment brings the property’s prelease level up to 70 percent.

The College of Nursing and Health Professions. Image courtesy of Ventas

Ventas and Wexford have two projects totaling $400 million on tap in the thriving University City submarket in Philadelphia, including The College of Nursing and Health Professions, a 260,000-square-foot build-to-suit for Drexel University. The facility will allow Drexel to consolidate CNHP under one campus umbrella, relocating the college from its current home at Three Parkway and two other locations in Center City. Ventas also announced the Ventas-Wexford team’s plans for One uCity Square, an office and lab building that will be part of the Knowledge Community at uCity Square in Philadelphia. One uCity Square, which will feature 390,000 square feet of space, is already 40 percent preleased.

In St. Louis, the Ventas-Wexford team will develop 4210 Duncan, a 320,000-square-foot office building in the Washington University-affiliated Cortex Innovation Community. The project, which will mark Ventas’s fifth building in Cortex, will cost $115 million to realize.

Big picture

News of the four Ventas-Wexford projects in Pennsylvania and St. Louis come roughly four months after Ventas announced its $1.5 billion R&I Pipeline, which will ultimately yield 10 projects. The arrangement extends Ventas’s exclusive partnership with Wexford—which became an independent company soon after Ventas’s $1.5 billion acquisition of Wexford’s real estate assets from affiliates of Blackstone Real Estate Partners VIII LP—through 2029.

4210 Duncan. Image courtesy of Ventas

Ventas and Wexford expect to deliver the Pitt ITTC in two phases, both due for completion in 2021. Drexel’s CNHP is on track to open in 2022, as is the One uCity Square property. The partners anticipate bringing 4210 Duncan to the market by the close of 2021. During Ventas’s first quarter 2019 earnings conference call on April 26, Debra Cafaro, CEO of Ventas Inc., said the R&I Pipeline is the REIT’s number-one capital allocation priority and that all the projects will likely have gotten underway by July 2020.

The post Ventas Reveals $800M in Projects for Research & Innovation Business appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

Pierre Leclede Center. Image courtesy of HFF

KBS has sold a 579,846-square-foot office complex in the St. Louis-area to Lingerfelt CommonWealth Partners for an undisclosed price. Pierre Laclede Center is a two-building, Class A property in Clatyon, Mo., that KBS acquired in 2010.

Lingerfelt CommonWealth will own the tower through Lingerfelt CommonWealth Value Fund II, its discretionary investment vehicle.

Built between 1964 and 1970, the office campus consists of a 16-story building and a 24-story tower situated at 7701 and 7733 Forsyth Blvd., in the heart of the central business district of Clayton. The location offers easy access to major thoroughfares including interstates 170 and 64, as well as the Lambert International Airport and downtown St. Louis. The buildings were completely renovated in 2008 and 2014, according to Yardi Matrix data.

Tenants at the property have access to amenities including an outdoor patio area, conference rooms, fitness centers, a café and deli, on-site concierge and car-washing and a private-dining club located on the top floor of the property.

A strong office market

Last month, The PwC Pennant Building topped out in downtown St. Louis. The Class A office tower is situated within the $260 million expansion of Ballpark Village. As the unemployment rate in Missouri dropped to 3 percent, its lowest level in 50 years, the office vacancy rate in the Clayton area tightened to 3.8 percent in the first quarter of 2019, according to a CBRE report on the St. Louis office market. 

An HFF investment advisory team of Jaime Fink, Jeffrey Bramson, Danny Kaufman, Bryan Rosenberg, Patrick Shields and Sam DiFrancesca represented the seller in the transaction.

The post KBS Sells 580 KSF St. Louis Office Property appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

James Havel, EVP & CFO, Clayco. Image courtesy of Clayco

Former Ernst & Young Managing Partner James Havel has joined Clayco as executive vice president & chief financial officer. Havel will work together with current CFO Tony Schofield, who, in time, will shift his focus toward strategic initiatives. Both of them will work from the company’s St. Louis office.

Havel will bring to his new position more than 40 years of experience, his financial and operational expertise being linked to companies such as Enterprise Financial Services Corp., Express Scripts and Ernst & Young. He is also the owner of Havel Associates, a financial consulting company he founded at the beginning of 2019. A graduate of Regis University, Havel is also a member of the board of directors of Enterprise Financial Services Corp.  

The new CFO will be involved in all of Clayco’s newest projects. The company, together with its real estate development and investment arm CRG, have recently teamed up with Farpoint Development to launch Decennial Group, a national opportunity zones real estate and energy investment and development platform. They plan to raise $1 billion to invest in commercial, industrial, multifamily and energy projects in opportunity zones nationwide.   

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Gateway Commerce Center. Image courtesy of Meridian Design Build

Meridian Design Build has begun construction on a 674,000-square-foot speculative industrial building for Exeter Property Group. The new facility will be located on a 135-acre parcel within Gateway Commerce Center in Edwardsville, Ill., in the St. Louis suburban area. JRA Architecture will be providing design services, while Stock & Associates Consulting Engineers will complete the civil engineering work.

The multi-tenant building will feature 36-foot clear heights and will accommodate up to 132 loading docks, four drive-in doors, 398 auto parking stalls and 171 exterior trailer stalls. Meridian will also do park infrastructure improvements as a part of the project.

Located in the thriving Metro East submarket at the intersection of interstates 270 and 255, Gateway Commerce Center has seen significant development activity last year, one of the most recent projects being PCCP and TriStar’s $115 million warehouse occupied by World Wide Technology. Other major tenants at the 2,300-acre industrial park are P&G, Unilever, Amazon, Geodis Logistics and Hershey.

The post Meridian Design Kicks Off St. Louis-Area Industrial Project appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

The PwC Pennant Building groundbreaking ceremony. Image courtesy of St. Louis Cardinals/The Cordish Companies

The Cordish Cos. and the St. Louis Cardinals celebrated the topping out of The PwC Pennant Building, a Class A office tower that forms part of the $260 million expansion of Ballpark Village in downtown St. Louis. Anchored by accounting firm PwC, the 11-story building will deliver 120,000 square feet of office space.

Investment bank ButcherJoseph & Co. will be the second tenant in the new property, taking 8,000 square feet. Located at the corner of Walnut and Eighth streets, The PwC Pennant Building is scheduled to open this summer as the first new-construction office building in the city’s downtown in more than a generation.

HKS Architects, Hord Coplan Macht and Tao & Lee designed the tower, which is being constructed by PARIC Corporation. The property along Cardinal Way will also offer street-level retail and 460 parking spaces. PwC will have a private rooftop deck.

Swinging for the fences

Ballpark Village Phase 2. Rendering courtesy of St. Louis Cardinals/The Cordish Companies

The placing of the last beam in the PwC-branded building marks a milestone for the second phase of Ballpark Village, which is slated to provide 700,000 square feet of mixed-use space upon completion. Also under development are a three-story retail pavilion anchored by Onelife Fitness, a Live! by Loews hotel and a 29-story residential tower called One Cardinal Way.

The Cordish Cos. and the St. Louis Cardinals teamed up on the 10-acre, master-planned Ballpark Village after the Major League Baseball team opened Busch Stadium in 2006. The $100 million first phase of the project, a dining and entertainment district, opened in 2014 and has drawn more than 20 million customers in its first four years. The partners broke ground on the second phase of the project outside of Busch Stadium in December 2017.

The newly topped-out building will help strengthen fundamentals throughout the St. Louis office market, alongside other signature office projects being delivered toward the end of 2019 and the start of next year, according to a report by Cushman & Wakefield.

The brokerage found that the downtown submarket posted 16,000 square feet of positive office absorption in the first quarter of 2019, while vacancy reached 18.7 percent. Office vacancy across St. Louis City tightened to 17.4 percent, the lowest level in more than 15 years.

The post PwC-Anchored Office Tower Tops Out in St. Louis appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.

575 Maryville Centre Drive

Ten Capital Management (TCM) has closed on the acquisition of a St. Louis-area office property from Bluerock Real Estate. The Class A building comprises 258,441 square feet and is 97 percent leased to four tenants, with Cushman & Wakefield as the anchor tenant. 

The building, located at 575 Maryville Centre Drive in the Town and Country suburb, is situated close to the interchange of Interstate 64 and Highway 141 and in close proximity to Maryville University. Amenities at the building include a fitness center, two conference rooms, on-site dining and a parking garage.

“The Property was acquired at a significant discount to replacement cost and is located in one of St. Louis’ premiere office parks, Maryville Center Office Park, which has demonstrated above-market historical occupancy and rent growth,” said Paul DiSandro, a TCM partner & portfolio manager, in prepared remarks.

The property last changed hands in 2008, when Bluerock Real Estate purchased the asset from Solutia for $42.8 million. Bluerock secured a $29 million loan for the property in 2013 that matures in July 2023. Investors have been increasingly eyeing Midwestern cities like St. Louis, as companies chase both yield and NOI.  

Image courtesy of Yardi Matrix

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West Park I

Tremont Mortgage Trust has closed $29.5 million on behalf of a private buyer, to finance the acquisition of a St. Louis office portfolio. The properties include West Park I, West Park II and Pine View Point, totaling 299,000 square feet. 

The first mortgage bridge loan features $26.4 million initial funding and a $3.1 million future funding allowance for property improvements and leasing. The loan was structured with a three-year initial term and two one-year borrower extension options. The as-is LTV ratio is 71 percent. 

Portfolio breakdown

Located at 12655 Olive Blvd., West Park I comprises 98,588 square feet across five stories. The 1987-built property is 100 percent occupied to tenants including Edward Jones, Horizon Financial Group, Stifel Bank & Trust and Esse Health.

Situated at 12647 Olive Blvd., West Park II features 134,164 square feet over six floors. The 1988-built property has a 15.2 percent vacancy rate and is leased by tenants including Sorenson Communications, Flagstar Bank, Parker + Lynch and CSG. The building was last sold in August 2015, when Alex Brown Realty purchased the asset from TA Realty for $12.5 million.

Located at 1285 Fern Ridge Parkway, Pine View Point comprises 68,397 square feet across three stories. The 1999-built asset is fully leased to tenants including the U.S. Social Security Administration, Access Disability and Mitchell Humphrey. The property underwent cosmetic renovations in 2016. Back in July 2015, Fulcrum Asset Advisors purchased both West Park I and Pine View Point from Equity Commonwealth, for a total of $14.3 million, according to Yardi Matrix. 

St. Louis has been a growing metro for buying activity in 2018. Just last month, Gardner Tanenbaum purchased the Federal Bureau of Investigation regional office in St. Louis, for $21 million. Prior to that, Lincoln Property Co. acquired the STL Logistics Portfolio in the submarket of Hazelwood, Mo., for $49.2 million. 

Image courtesy of Yardi Matrix 

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2222 Market St.

Marcus & Millichap has completed the sale of the Federal Bureau of Investigation regional office in St. Louis. According to Yardi Matrix data, Tibeiar sold the asset to Gardner Tanenbaum for $21 million, part of the purchasing price being covered via a loan from Centennial Bank.

The 89,564 square-foot, two-story property is located at 2222 Market St., in a designated opportunity zone. Completed in 1998 as a build-to-suit for the FBI, it was expanded by approximately 15,000 square feet 10 years later. It also includes approximately 8,600 square feet of industrial space.

“This sale represents the rising demand we are witnessing for properties leased by the General Services Administration,” said Geoff Ficke, first vice president of investments, in prepared remarks.

Ficke represented the buyer in the deal, which marks the 17th government real estate transaction closed this year by his team. Gardner Tanenbaum plans to retain ownership of the property for the next nine years, which coincides with the remainder of the lease.

Image courtesy of Yardi Matrix

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STL Logistics Portfolio

Lincoln Property Co. has acquired the STL Logistics Portfolio in Hazelwood, Mo., for $49.2 million. Newmark Knight Frank completed the sale on behalf of the previous owner, Colony Realty Partners. 

The portfolio comprises eight buildings within two adjacent industrial parks: Lambert Pointe Business Center and McDonnell Pointe Business Center. Lambert Pointe features six assets totaling 624,116 square feet and McDonnell Pointe includes two properties totaling 115,640 square feet. All the building are fully leased to 21 tenants, anchored by Monsanto, Aesculap, Ryder, Access and Buckeye International. The facilities are within close proximity to Interstate 270 and St. Louis Lambert International Airport. 

NKF’s Capital Markets team of Co-Head of U.S. Capital Markets Robert Griffin, Vice Chairman Edward Maher, Executive Managing Director Matthew Pullen and Managing Director James Tribble, worked alongside NKF Managing Director Jay Kerley and Block Hawley President Jeffrey Hawley, to close the deal. 

“Located just 20 miles northwest of St. Louis, the STL Logistics Portfolio benefits from an exceptional ‘last-mile’ distribution location,” Pullen said in a prepared statement. “The assets comprise the exact type of infill, multi-tenant distribution facilities that are highly sought after in today’s marketplace for their high quality, flexible design and modern infrastructure.”

Last week, Lincoln Property Co. Southeast and Crow Holdings Capital Real Estate broke ground on Factory Shoals Distribution Center, in Lithia Springs, Ga., a 251,466-square-foot speculative warehouse and distribution facility. 

Image courtesy of Newmark Knight Frank 

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A dual-branded Marriott property has opened its doors in St. Louis. A private investor is the owner and developer of the 211-key hotel, which is split between a Courtyard by Marriott with 110 guestrooms and a Residence Inn with 101 suites. The project kicked off in mid-2017.

Located at 12815 Daylight Drive, the property is positioned on a former quarry near the intersection of Interstate 270 and Missouri Route 100. Nearly 1.5 million square feet of Class A and B office space fall within half a mile of the asset, according to Yardi Matrix. A wide variety of retail options are in the immediate area, with the 8.2 million-square-foot West County Center roughly 1 mile away.

Both hotels offer a range of amenities. The Courtyard St. Louis West County contains 2,175 square feet of meeting space and a business center, with the Residence Inn St. Louis West County offering guests on-site laundry facilities and a grocery shopping service. Both hotels include a swimming pool, complimentary Wi-Fi and fitness centers.

Midas Hospitality will oversee management operations for the property.

At the beginning of 2018, Choice Hotels International opened a dual-branded Sleep Inn and MainStay Suites near St. Louis’ international airport.

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Corporate Hill IV

Franklin Partners has acquired a Class A office building in the St. Louis metro area from Scottrade Financial Services. After The Plaza in Clayton, which the company bought in fall 2017, Corporate Hill IV represents Franklin’s second office acquisition in the area.

CBRE’s Vice President TJ Redmond represented the seller in the deal, while Senior Vice President Mark Palmer and Vice President Artie Kerckhoff worked on behalf of the buyer. According to the brokers, “this was the only quality Class A option for a large corporate user of around 100,000 square feet or more” available in the West County submarket.

Corporate Hill IV is a six-story, 175,000-square-foot building located at 12800 Corporate Hill Drive, off Interstate 270 and near the West County Mall. Completed in 1984, the asset has been renovated twice since, with the latest upgrades being added in 2015. The property features a number of amenities which include a full-service cafeteria on the second floor, executive parking, fiber connection, one loading dock and exterior balconies. 

According to real estate data provider Yardi Matrix, the glossy mid-rise was part of Scottrade’s portfolio for more than 14 years, having been bought in 2004 from LaSalle for $26.3 million.

Image courtesy of Franklin Partners

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6315 Delmar Blvd.

BarFly Ventures and general contractor Knoebel Construction have delivered a new retail property in St. Louis, which will host a HopCat restaurant and craft beer bar. The development is located in the Delmar Loop neighborhood and spans 8,580 square feet. Cuhaci & Peterson was the architect of the $2 million project, which marks HopCat’s 17th location nationwide. Founded in Michigan in 2008, the brand features more than 40 Missouri-made craft beers and ciders daily. 

The restaurant will operate within a historic building located at 6315 Delmar Blvd. and will be able to provide indoor seating for as many as 250 guests, while the outdoor beer garden provides space for an additional 100 clients. The property had to be completely renovated in order to become functional for a dining business. As much as possible, Knoebel and Cuhaci & Peterson tried to preserve the original structure, including the wood beams and exposed brick, but they also rebuilt the entire roof structure, removed the windows on the second floor to make room for the kitchen equipment and upgraded the utilities. Just like all the other HopCat restaurants, the St. Louis location will also feature a custom interior design.

Koebel completed the development less than a year after it delivered The Shoppes at Mid Rivers, the largest mall to be built in St. Charles County since 2008. The company’s retail development portfolio includes several other restaurant projects such as Mellow Mushroom and Burger King. 

Image courtesy of Koebel Construction

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Pierre Laclede Center II at 7733 Forsyth Blvd.

KBS Realty Advisors has signed Harbour Group to a 24,000-square-foot lease at Pierre Laclede Center, a two-building, Class A office complex in Clayton, Mo.

The space is part of the KBS Real Estate Investment Trust II investment portfolio.

“Pierre Laclede Center has proven to be an optimal location for tenants like Harbour Group,” Dan Park, KBS’ senior vice president & asset manager for the property, said in a prepared statement. “Harbour Group has been a tenant in the Pierre Laclede Center for over 30 years, and we’re pleased to continue our relationship with them.”

Pierre Laclede Center I at 7701 Forsyth Blvd.

In January, KBS REIT II signed two leases totaling 62,729 square feet at the Pierre Laclede Center. The Saint Louis Club, an existing tenant, renewed its lease and will continue to operate its private business and dining club across 47,572 square feet on the top three floors in the smaller of the two buildings. KBS also signed a lease with the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, which will now occupy 15,190 square feet of office space within the larger of the two buildings.

Situated on 5.1 acres, PLC I and PLC II represent 579,846 square feet of rentable space. The smaller of the two buildings, PLC I offers 217,957 square feet on 16 floors. The larger, 24-story PLC II features 361,889 square feet of space.

Amenity-rich properties

Amenities at the properties located at 7701 and 7733 Forsyth Blvd. include a fitness center, a conference center, a cafeteria and garage parking. There’s also a car wash on-site.

Originally constructed in 1964 and 1970, the two buildings were renovated extensively in 2014. KBS acquired the complex from Equus Capital Partners in early 2010 for $74.3 million, according to Yardi Matrix. The tenant roster also includes Northwestern Mutual, Morgan Stanley, the Consulate of Sweden and St. Louis Title.

The Pierre Laclede Center is located in a rising area, resting on the corner of Hanley Road and Forsyth Boulevard. Building tenants have strong access to the Inner Belt Expressway and Forest Park Parkway. Public transportation is also nearby.

KBS Realty Advisors and its affiliated companies have a portfolio of more than $38 billion via 16 separate accounts, six commingled funds, five sovereign wealth funds and eight REITs.

Image courtesy of Yardi Matrix

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Chesterfield Mall

Hull Property Group has acquired the 1.3 million-square-foot Chesterfield Mall near St. Louis, Mo. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the asset traded for $13 million. The seller, C-III Capital Partners, took control of the retail property following a foreclosure action in 2017 against the prior owner, CBL & Associates Properties. 

Located at 291 Chesterfield Mall in Chesterfield, Mo., the retail asset is just west of the intersection between Interstate 64 and Missouri Route 340. Positioned 20 miles west of downtown St. Louis, the property is anchored by Sears, Macy’s and an AMC cinema.

Reinventing the asset

Sears closed numerous stores during the past year. In late May, the retailer announced it would shutter 63 more later this year, including the Chesterfield Mall location, according to St. Louis’ FOX 2 News. Dillard’s, a former anchor tenant, shut its doors in 2016 and has no concrete plans to re-open.

The new owner plans to reposition and redevelop the asset. The firm’s managing principal, Jim Hull, noted that the company will meet with community leaders, nearby property owners and other stakeholders to decide how best to proceed with reinventing the shopping mall.

“We believe that it is important for a community to have a vibrant retail corridor and a first-class enclosed mall, but it is clear the Chesterfield Mall is not succeeding in its current state,” said Hull in a prepared statement. “Due to changing shopping habits and the exodus of retailers, a great amount of time, capital and effort is needed to determine how to reinvent this property into the best use that the Chesterfield community will embrace.”

Image via Google Maps

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Marc Connor, CxO, Midas Hospitality

The Midas organization has hired Marc Connor as the new chief experience officer, in charge of homogenizing and advancing the group’s culture. Connor will lead the planning, marketing and branding, as well as charitable efforts. He will also be responsible for hiring and retaining key employees.  

Prior to joining Midas, Connor was managing director with Build-A-Bear Workshop, where he was responsible for marketing operations, brand management, media and communications. His overall career spans more than 20 years, during which he also worked for global advertising agency Possible, Bevology and Pure Digital Technologies. A graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, Connor will be based in the Saint Louis metro area.

The Midas group consists of four affiliated companies: Midas Hospitality, Midas Capital, Midas Development and MC Hotel Construction. Midas Hospitality, which manages more than 40 hotels in 14 states—including the dual-branded Courtyard and Residence Inn hotel in Charlotte, N.C.—was founded in 2006, being the one to pave the way for the other companies. The latest one was Midas Capital, which started to raise capital for hotel investment in 2018.

Image courtesy of Midas Hospitality

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World Wide Technology project, Gateway Commerce Center, Edwardsville, Ill.

PCCP LLC and TriStar Properties continue their partnership at Gateway Commerce Center in Edwardsville, Ill., with the establishment of a joint venture for the development of a build-to-suit industrial project on 160 acres within the 2,300-acre suburban St. Louis park. The real estate companies will develop two warehouse and distribution facilities, totaling 2 million square feet, to be fully occupied by World Wide Technology.

Gateway Commerce Center, where the joint venture will erect the two industrial facilities, is located in the thriving Metro East submarket. The development is a prominent undertaking, as the build-to-suit lease agreement TriStar inked with WWT for the project in the first quarter of 2018 marked the largest industrial lease, by square feet, ever completed in metropolitan St. Louis. Industry experts anticipate that new industrial buildings, super-size and otherwise, will continue to pop up in the area for the foreseeable future. 

“Speculative construction starts, build-to-suit offerings and significant leasing and sales activity will continue across the metro, as new deliveries to the market are either pre-leased or swiftly leased by the area’s constant demand,” according to a first quarter 2018 report by commercial real estate services firm Newmark Grubb Zimmer.

PCCP and TriStar are on schedule to complete the two Gateway facilities in the second quarter of 2019. WWT will consolidate operations from other locations in the area at the new buildings, which will be utilized as the company’s U.S. distribution center.

The power of partnership

With the completion of the WWT build-to-suit, PCCP and TriStar will have partnered on the development of seven industrial facilities totaling 5.1 million square feet at Gateway. One of the partners’ earlier projects was Gateway 717, a 717,000-square-foot speculative warehouse now leased to Amazon. Earlier this year, they completed a 594,000-square-foot facility, the partners’ fifth and most recent speculative development at the park. 

 Image courtesy of PCCP LLC

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2851 Homer M Adams Parkway, Alton, Ill.

U-Haul is set to acquire and repurpose a former Kmart store in Alton, Ill. The company, which has been leasing the property since May, will complete the transaction in August. According to the plans, the 84,180-square-foot building will be transformed into a self-storage facility. U-Haul Moving & Storage of Alton currently operates from a temporary showroom and offers a full line of moving supplies.

Positioned at 2851 Homer M Adams Parkway, the property is near Freeway 3, approximately 30 miles from downtown St. Louis. Around 63,000 people live within a five-mile radius, with an average income of roughly $44,000. The adaptive reuse development, situated on 27.8 acres, will comprise 700 storage units featuring climate-controlled spaces with high-tech security at an affordable price. Additional features of the property include truck and trailer sharing, towing equipment, propane, U-Box portable moving, storage containers and hitch installation.

“The Kmart portion of this property, where U-Haul will be operating, was vacant for about eight months,” said Mike White, president of U-Haul Company of Missouri Northeast, in a prepared statement. “No one was serious about occupying this building and the community was beginning to worry it would suffer the same fate as other large box stores. We didn’t want to see this building go dark and fall into disrepair. Our adaptive reuse of this site will benefit U-Haul, the environment and the community.”

Earlier this year, the company opened 372 indoor, climate-controlled units in Waco, Texas. 

Image courtesy of U-Haul

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Brian Kelley, Avison Young

Avison Young has expanded its St. Louis office with the hiring of Brian Kelley as the firm’s principal of operations. Kelley possesses approximately 13 years of commercial real estate experience and will be tasked with landlord and tenant representation for the firm’s retail listings and will additionally advise on multifamily transactions.

Prior to the move, Kelley worked as a director of leasing with Savoy Properties, a position he achieved during nine years with the firm. Before his transition to Savoy, Kelley handled retail and office leasing transactions for Cushman & Wakefield and Koman Properties. He holds an MBA from St. Louis’ Webster University and a bachelor’s degree in finance from Arizona State University.

“Brian is a highly regarded real estate professional with a proven track record in the St. Louis marketplace,” Tim Convy, principal of St. Louis operations for Avison Young, said in a prepared statement. “His long-term, positive client relationships will help us build on our service platform and expand our retail and multifamily footprints throughout the region.”

Image courtesy of Avison Young

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Tom Brooks

Western Specialty Contractors has promoted Tom Brooks as its new COO, replacing Jim Rechtin, who retired from Western after 46 years of service. In his previous role, Brooks acted as the the specialty contractor‘s senior vice president of operations.

With more than 20 years of industry experience, Brooks will oversee all aspects of day-to-day operations, while also implementing strategies for continued bottom-line growth. Along with Jeff Kelley, president of Western Specialty Contractors, he will also focus on developing new programs.

“Tom has demonstrated strong business acumen, along with the ability to lead and mentor others,” said Kelley in a prepared statement. 

Brooks has a degree in Building Construction Management from Purdue University – North Central Campus and an AAS in Electrical Engineering Technology from Southern Illinois University. He is also a member of the Construction Management Association of America, Construction Users Round Table and U.S. Green Building Council.

Image courtesy of Western Specialty Contractors

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Employee picking at eighth generation FC

Amazon has made public its plans to build its first Missouri fulfillment center, which will be located in St. Peters. The upcoming 800,000-square-foot facility  will follow the model used for the online retailer’s newest Baltimore fulfillment center. The estimated date of completion is the fall of 2019.  

In order to run the center, Amazon expects to hire more than 1,500 people who will pick, pack and ship small items including books, electronics and toys. The facility will be some 20 miles from the sortation center the company opened in Hazelwood, Mo. 

“Amazon’s choice to locate in Missouri speaks to our strength as North America’s logistics center,” said Rob Dixon, director of Missouri’s Department of Economic Development, in a prepared statement. “Our central location, international airports, and extensive highway, rail and river networks position Missouri as an ideal location for this new facility.”

City officials have expressed their support for the project. According to the Greater St. Charles County Chamber of Commerce, the development will benefit from the city’s FasTrac process, which has boosted several other developments in the area.

Image courtesy of Amazon.com Inc.

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Art Van Furniture at 2101 E. Terra Lane in O’Fallon, Mo.

Art Van Furniture has opened four new stores, following KAI Design & Build’s project to renovate the St. Louis retail assets. Rothman Furniture operated in the space until last year, when it closed all its stores in order to reopen them as a franchise of the Art Van brand. The owner funded the conversion work with a $3.5 million loan held by Enterprise Bank & Trust, according to public records.

The four converted properties include:

• 5711 S. Lindbergh Blvd. in St. Louis
• 2101 E. Terra Lane in O’Fallon, Mo.
• 925 Northwest Plaza in St. Ann, Mo.
• 1776 W. U.S. Highway 50 in O’Fallon, Ill.

KAI completed the renovation work on the four buildings in approximately four weeks. The firm utilized The UP Cos. to provide electrical and carpentry services on the project. The upgrading work included updates to lighting and finishes and the addition of new office space, with a focus on retaining as much showroom space as possible. A fifth store was converted to an Art Van Design Studio late last year, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Image courtesy of KAI Design & Build

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One Metropolitan Square in St. Louis

The Eatery has opened its doors on the ground floor of One Metropolitan Square in downtown St. Louis. The opening follows the completion of a $2.5 million renovation project to convert part of the building’s ground-floor common areas and a closed restaurant into a large, food court-style dining area. The property owner, Gotham Realty, acquired the tower for $165.8 million from Trizec Properties in 2005, according to Yardi Matrix.

The three initial tenants, Arista Gourmet, Dino’s Deli and Kimcheese Asian Fusion, are launching their first downtown-area restaurants in The Eatery. The hall totals 9,628 square feet, plus a 1,000-square-foot outdoor patio. The area features high ceilings, a variety of seating types and complimentary Wi-Fi for its customers. A JLL team led by Rick Spector is marketing the two remaining restaurant spaces. JLL also handles office leasing and management for the property.

Located at 211 N. Broadway, One Metropolitan Square is a 49-story, 1 million-square-foot office tower in the center of St. Louis’ downtown area, neighboring The Dome at America’s Center and Busch Stadium. Three blocks from the iconic Gateway Arch, the building sits near interstates 44 and 64, offering convenient access throughout the city and across the river into Illinois.

Mass dining venues are an increasingly common method for adding both value and utility to office properties. Last year, Mack-Cali revealed plans to add a full-service food hall to Harborside, the firm’s mixed-use development in Jersey City, N.J.

Image courtesy of Yardi Matrix

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11960 Westline Industrial Drive

Bamboo Equity Partners’ Bamboo Micro Opportunity Fund I LP has acquired an office property in Maryland Heights, Mo. This acquisition marks the first purchase for the fund in Maryland Heights and the second overall. 

Located at 11960 Westline Industrial Drive, the building features 93,000 square feet across three stories. Built in 1971, the asset is currently 72 percent occupied to tenants including Lindenwood University, Kantar Health and professional staffing service YOH. The company plans to attract new tenants and upgrade the property to make it more energy efficient. The building is within close proximity to interstates 270 and 70, the Page Extension, Highway 141 and Lindbergh Boulevard. The asset is also located near Westport Plaza, formerly a restaurant and entertainment spot in St. Louis County, which was revitalized and includes a new $75 million World Wide Technology headquarters.

“Bamboo is very excited about this acquisition in the Westport Plaza area,” said Dan Dokovic, principal of Bamboo, in prepared remarks. “With its proximity to highways and the airport, and considering the surge in investment we’ve seen in Maryland Heights, the building on Westline represents a great opportunity for our fund and for potential tenants.”

Last year the fund acquired 10777 Sunset Office Drive, a medical office building in Sunset Hills, Mo., and a third acquisition for the Micro Opportunity Fund is expected for next month. 

Image courtesy of Yardi Matrix 

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6358 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis

Joe Edwards, a developer of the Delmar Loop in St. Louis, has tapped Avison Young to lease several office spaces, ranging from 600 to 10,000 square feet, on Delmar Boulevard. Layouts as large as 10,000 square feet have not been available for lease in the area for nearly two decades.  

The largest office suite is located at 6633 Delmar Blvd. and consists of two floors of 5,000 square feet each, which can be leased separately. Adjacent to the building is a free parking lot accommodating more than 400 cars.

The second-largest space encompasses the entire third floor of the iconic 1924 Tivoli Theater Building at 6358 Delmar Blvd. The available 7,500 square feet, which was occupied by the Riverfront Times, can be divided into two separate floor plans of 3,500 and 4,000 square feet.

The Delmar Loop offers six blocks of retail and entertainment venues, restaurants, art galleries and hotels, as well as commercial space including the music club Blueberry Hill, the restored 1920s Tivoli Movie Theater, The Pageant and Delmar Hall concert nightclubs, Moonrise Hotel and Peacock Diner—all of them part of Joe Edwards’ portfolio.

Principals George Convy and Susan Finney, both specialists in St. Louis-area office leasing, will lead the leasing efforts.

Image courtesy of Avison Young

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Pierre Laclede Center

KBS REIT II has signed two leases totaling 62,729 square feet at its Pierre Laclede Center in Clayton, Mo. The Saint Louis Club, an existing tenant, has renewed its lease and will continue to operate its private business and dining club across 47,572 square feet on the top three floors in the smaller of the two buildings. KBS also signed a lease with the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, which will occupy 15,190 square feet of office space within the larger building.

Located at 7701 and 7733 Forsyth Blvd., the Pierre Laclede Center is comprised of two buildings, 16 and 24 stories in height, totaling 579,846 square feet. Originally built in 1964 and 1970, the buildings were extensively renovated in 2014. KBS acquired the property from Equus Capital Partners in early 2010 at a price tag of $74.3 million, according to Yardi Matrix. Tenants in the two towers include Northwestern Mutual, Morgan Stanley, the Consulate of Sweden and St. Louis Title.

A CBRE team led by Marc Palmer and Artie Kerckhoff represented KBS in the transactions.

“We are pleased to maintain our relationships with long-lasting tenants such as The Saint Louis Club and St. Louis Economic Development Partnership,” said Brett Merz, senior vice president at KBS, in a prepared statement. “We remain confident in the amenities at and around Pierre Laclede Center as the property maintains its reputation as an iconic asset in Clayton.”

Last year, KBS sold a mixed-use development located two blocks away to a joint venture between Franklin Partners and Bixby Bridge Capital.

Image via Google Maps

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Sleep Inn and MainStay Suites at St. Louis Airport

Choice Hotels International has opened a new dual-branded Sleep Inn and MainStay Suites hotel close to St. Louis’ Lambert International Airport. This marks the company’s 10th property under both flags, and another 70 similar properties are underway nationwide. The three-story hotel is owned by Sam Ursani, a local investor based in Ballwin, Mo. Construction began in the fall of 2016, and was financed by Live Oak Bank.

Located at 11225 Lone Eagle Drive in Bridgeton, on the northwest side of St. Louis, the property is some two miles from the airport via Interstate 70 and sits next door to Embassy Suites and Crowne Plaza hotels. Guest amenities include a fitness center, complimentary Wi-Fi, laundry services, a business center and free transportation to the airport. Two meeting rooms totaling 768 square feet are also available for guests.

“Choice has been a great collaborator and offers all of the resources to bring this unique concept to life. The combination of two well-established brands and the efficiency of construction and operations have contributed to our success,” said Ursani in a prepared statement.

The dual-branded hotel concept is popping up across the nation, with another asset breaking ground last summer in Charlotte, N.C.. It is expected to open under Hilton’s Tru and Hampton flags by the end of the year.

Image courtesy of Choice Hotels International

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The Shoppes at Mid Rivers in St. Charles, Mo.

Knoebel Construction Inc. has completed construction of a $54 million retail center in St. Peters, Mo.

Roughly 50 subcontractor companies worked on this project which broke ground in March 2017. Moreover, an average of 75 construction workers a day were employed at St. Peters’ site. Developer GBT Realty Corp. estimates the shopping center will employ approximately 750 full and part time employees. The 270,000-square-foot property includes 14 buildings spread across a 28-acre site. The Shoppes at Mid Rivers is the largest mall to be built in St. Charles County since 2008. Interstate 70 is easily accessible from the property.

Sports + Outdoor, Burlington, Marshalls, Home Goods, Ulta Beauty, Carter’s-OshKosh B’gosh, Five Below, Famous Footwear and Aspen Dental are just some of the center’s tenants. Ross Dress for Less, Sleep Number, Sprint and World Financial will also open in the first part of 2018. A few smaller storefronts are still available for lease.

Last month, Knoebel Construction has finished work on the 50th store it has constructed for Altar’d State, a shopping center in the southern Denver suburb of Lone Tree, Colo.

Image courtesy of Knoebel Construction

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Palladian Healthcare has sold a 90-bed skilled nursing facility in Greenville, Ill. CareTrust REIT procured the offering free and clear of any debt. HFF Senior Director David Fasano, Managing Directors Ryan Maconachy and Chad Lavender and Director Sarah Anderson led the team that arranged the sale.

The post-acute, core-plus facility is the only nursing home within a 20-mile radius offering skilled-nursing services, including neuromuscular disorders care, amputation care, cardiac care, nutritional support, advanced wound care and enteral nutrition. Additionally, the facility also provides rehabilitation/restorative services and long-term care.

Helia Healthcare of Greenville is located at 400 East Hillview Ave. in Greenville, Ill., approximately 50 miles southeast of St. Louis via Interstate 70.

In August, HFF closed the sale of three Class A medical-office buildings totaling 137,686 square feet in Dallas–Fort Worth and Austin, Texas.

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Ballpark Village – Exterior Rendering

The St. Louis Cardinals and The Cordish Companies have broken ground on the second phase of their Ballpark Village development. The 700,000-square-foot mixed-use project will cost an estimated $260 million and is scheduled to be finished by 2020.

Situated between S. 8th St. and S. Broadway, across the street from Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis, the second phase will include four new buildings located next to the completed first phase. The second phase of the development will feature apartments, office space, a new hotel and street-level retail.

Class A office space

St. Louis’ first new downtown office building in almost thirty years is set to rise to the west of the development site, near the intersection of 8th and Walnut Streets. The 10-story, 120,000-square-foot structure will be anchored by PwC. The office will include retail on the first floor, along with approximately 500 structured parking spaces for office tenants. A 216-key upscale hotel operated by Loews Hotels is to be built adjacent to the office development, with an estimated opening date in 2019. A three-story retail pavilion is meant to link both new and existing buildings together, anchored by a 31,000-square-foot Onelife Fitness health club.

“This is a tremendous project that will bring hundreds of new residents and over a thousand new jobs to our city,” said St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson in prepared remarks. “I am excited to see a world-class hometown company like the Cardinals and their development partners, The Cordish Companies, expanding their investment in St. Louis and bringing the first new, Class A office building downtown in nearly three decades.”

There has been an historic increase in demand both for office space and high-quality urban apartments in the city, according to a recent Yardi Matrix report.

Luxury apartments

Ballpark Village – Interior Rendering

On the east side of the first phase, the developers plan to erect a 29-story luxury residential building known as One Cardinal Way. The apartment community will include a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom and penthouse apartments with parking located inside the building. Approximately 10,000 square feet of retail space will be located on the ground floor. Community amenities include on-site dry cleaning, a building sommelier, full concierge services and a fitness center with an infinity-edge pool.

“This second phase is more than seven times the scale of the first phase of Ballpark Village, bringing our total investment in new construction downtown to well over $750 million since 2005,” said Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals, in a prepared release.

Images courtesy of Arnold Imaging

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Rendering of U.S. Paint’s Warehouse, St. Louis

McGrath & Associates Inc. will design and build a 33,000-square-foot warehouse at U.S. Paint’s facility in downtown St. Louis. The $5 million project will be conducted in two phases so that the existing manufacturing facility can remain operational.  

During phase one, McGrath will set up the new pre-engineered metal building, which will provide space for new offices, a maintenance shop, battery charging area and storage. It will be linked to the existing facility in order to provide access for forklift truck traffic. During the next phase, the company will demolish the existing warehouse, replacing it with a new one that will host the quality control lab and liquid materials storage space.

U.S. Paint’s headquarters is located at 831 S. 21st St., minutes from interstates 64 and 44. The area is home to several other distribution facilities, five of which have been recently acquired by Transwestern.   

Rendering courtesy of McGrath & Associates Inc.

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New Albany Medical Center, 2125 State St. in Louisville, Ky.

Everhealth Properties LP—a subsidiary of Everest Healthcare Properties LLC—has acquired the New Albany Medical Center. The company purchased the property as its initial investment in the market-leading, tax-deferred IRS Section 721 program. The program offers investors access to high-quality medical office real estate with the potential of long-term capital appreciation, within a diversified portfolio with an attractive target distribution of 6.5 percent annually.

Located at 2125 State St. in Louisville, Ky., the property comprises a total of 60,000 square feet. The asset is 95 percent occupied, with a weighted average lease term of almost six years and investment-grade tenancy representing 64 percent of total rentable square feet.

“The Everhealth Properties program is a compelling alternative to sellers who desire deferral of taxable capital gains, access to a diversified medical office portfolio and professional asset management,” said David Lynn, president & CEO of Everest Healthcare Properties, in prepared remarks.

Image courtesy of Everest Healthcare Properties

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Michael Hein, KAI Design & Build

KAI Design & Build recently added Michael Hein as its new chief integration officer. In his new role, Hein will focus on driving the firm’s strategic initiatives. Based in the firm’s St. Louis headquarters, he will also be responsible for incorporating new communication and operating systems within the company.

Specializing in operations, design and engineering management, program and project management, construction management and business development, Hein has a Master of Urban Design/Architecture from The City University of New York and a Bachelor of Science in Geography from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire. He is a registered architect in Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan, and is currently a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

“Michael focused on delivering technical facilities to clients, requiring multi-disciplined design services, system integration and document coordination,” said Michael Kennedy, Jr., president of KAI Design & Build, in prepared remarks.

Late last year, KAI Design & Build appointed Adam Jones as its new project engineer.

Image courtesy of KAI Design & Build

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1430 S. Third St. in St. Louis

Transwestern Investment Group has acquired a nine-building industrial portfolio in St. Louis and Indianapolis, totaling more than 2.5 million square feet, expanding its Midwestern portfolio to more than 10 million square feet.

Jay Borzi, Steve Silk and Josh McArtor of Eastdil Secured brokered the transaction on behalf of the seller. 

All the properties are situated along the Interstate 70 transportation corridor that bisects the country.

“We were attracted to this portfolio because of its strong in-place cash flow with tenant and market diversity, staggered rollover and limited near-term capital expenditures,” John Higgins, TIG’s director of acquisitions, said in a prepared release. “We believe tenant demand and vacancy in St. Louis and Indianapolis are favorable for industrial landlords, and e-commerce will further drive demand in Midwest cities with well-developed transportation networks, access to skilled labor and proximity to the majority of the nation’s population.”

The portfolio consists of seven St. Louis-based properties: The 500,000-square-foot 28 W. Gateway Commerce; the 494,333-square-foot 4702 Park 370 Blvd.; the 319,184-square-foot 1600—4774 Park 370 Place; the 248,635-square-foot 1010 Turner Road; the 248,635-square-foot 1602—1620 Park; the 215,935-square-foot 370 Court; the 155,700-square-foot 22 W. Gateway Commerce; and the 125,712-square-foot 1430 S. Third St.

Two properties are in Indianapolis—the 274,530-square-foot 6030 Gateway Drive and the 193,055-square-foot 5345 Decatur Blvd.

Attributes of the buildings in the portfolio include modern bulk designs with low office finishes, ample truck courts and clear heights ranging from 22 to 39 feet.

Growing Markets

The portfolio was 92 percent leased at the time of sale.

According to Colliers’ most recent Indianapolis Industrial Report, the city’s vacancy rate stands at 5.2 percent, an increase of 0.3 percent from the last quarter. The report noted that new construction, heavily weighted towards speculative projects, is growing the inventory base.

Colliers’ 2017 Q3 St Louis Industrial Market Report noted that year-to-date, speculative construction and absorption has been strong, though it projects the St. Louis industrial market to experience significantly lower leasing activity in the large user category—those requiring 200,000+ square feet.

Earlier this week, Transwestern expanded its portfolio with the acquisition of two industrial buildings in Sanford, Fla.

Image courtesy of Transwestern Investment Group

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10777 Sunset Office Drive, Sunset Hills, Mo.

Bamboo Equity Partners’ Bamboo Micro Opportunity Fund I LP has acquired a medical office building in Sunset Hills, Mo. Currently 91 percent occupied, tenants include Mercy Hospitals, SSM and Sisters of St. Joseph.

Once closing is completed, Bamboo will immediately start renovations on the 52,000-square-foot property to improve common areas used by patients and healthcare providers. The asset, located at 10777 Sunset Office Drive, will undergo a significant revamp to modernize the 1978-built asset and bring it up to Class A standards.

“Renovations will include aesthetic upgrades to the common areas including the lobby, hallways, and restrooms. Upgraded building systems such as HVAC and lighting will improve building efficiency,” said Alice Benner, managing director of Bamboo, in prepared remarks. “Approximately 30 percent of the population within a one-mile radius of the property is 60 or older, which accounts for the highest per capita healthcare spending,” added Dan Dokovic, CEO of Bamboo.

Bamboo Micro Opportunity Fund I LP acquires under-valued properties with potential for growth. The micro-fund intends to invest $55 million to $60 million by acquiring office and industrial buildings throughout the St. Louis Metro area.

Image courtesy of Yardi Matrix 

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The Plaza at Clayton, St. Louis

A joint venture between Franklin Partners and Bixby, an affiliate of Bixby Bridge Capital, made its first purchase in the St. Louis area. The property, which was part of KBS REIT’s office portfolio, is The Plaza at Clayton. The 16-story office tower makes up one of the most desirable mixed-use developments in Clayton, Mo., and St. Louis.

“The Plaza is in a desired location in one of the premier submarkets in the Midwest.  The classic design and surrounding amenities make it an undeniable trophy office building,” said Ray Warner, one of Franklin’s founding partners, in prepared remarks.

A brick and stone project

The 325,172-square-foot asset is located at 190 Carondelet Plaza, approximately 10 miles from downtown St. Louis. It also includes more than 10,000 square feet of retail space and an expansive underground parking which provides space for approximately 1,100 vehicles. The building features a state-of-the-art lobby using a mix of curved Makore paneling, Italian marble for flooring and wood.

The project, which also includes a residential and retail component, was designed by Atlanta-based Smallwood, Reynolds, Steward, Steward and developed by St. Louis-based THF Realty in 2001. It is considered to be the largest brick project built in the history of the city.

A team of brokers from CBRE made up of Executive Vice President Paul Lundstedt, Senior Vice President Dan Deuter, Office Properties Specialist Mark Palmer, Vice Presidents Artie Kerckhoff and TJ Redmond represented KBS in the transaction. 

Image courtesy of CBRE

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Susan Finney, Principal, Avison Young

Following three new appointments in Washington, D.C., Avison Young welcomed Susan Finney as the new principal of operations within its St. Louis office. Finney, who is a leasing specialist, will focus on landlord and tenant representation and on expanding the company’s presence in the city’s metropolitan area.

“Susan’s skill at integrating all aspects of portfolio management, including lease negotiation, tenant retention, marketing and budget forecasting, will be invaluable. Through her specialized knowledge, she offers clients the key advantage of streamlining the real estate process as it intersects with property management, architectural services and construction management,” said Tim Convy, principal & managing director with Avison Young St. Louis, in a prepared statement.

Finney is a 30-year industry veteran, having negotiated leasing transactions spanning more than 10 million square feet of office space. She has worked with clients such as ASB Capital, Credit Suisse, Olymbec, Mastercard and more. Half of her carrier was spent with The Siteman Org., where she served as vice president overseeing the company’s office portfolio in the Clayton business district. Finney also worked for Insignia/ESG and Colliers International.

Image courtesy of Avison Young

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CBRE is representing a group of six owners in the sale of Chouteau’s Landing, a 19-property redevelopment portfolio situated on 11.8 acres in St. Louis. Matt Bukhshtaber and Will Mura of CBRE’s St. Louis office will arrange the sale.

Mixed-use opportunities

The 19-property portfolio features 869,821 square feet of space. Located south of the Gateway Arch, along the St. Louis riverfront, the property is in close proximity to Arch and Busch Stadium, offering convenient access to transportation and to interstates 64 and 44. The portfolio could support multifamily, office, industrial and retail space.

The portfolio includes:

• 800-12 S. 2nd St.
• 818-826 S. St.
• 101-121 Chouteau Ave.
• 920-922 S.2^nd
• 200-10 Chouteau Ave.
• 1017 S. 2^nd
• 211-213 Chouteau Ave.
• 225 Chouteau Ave.
• 760 S.2^nd
• 741 S.2^nd
• 215-219 Lombard St.
• 221-231 Lombard St.
• 800-802 S. 3^rd
• 806-810 S. 3^rd
• 200-224 Lombard St.
• 1023 S 2^nd
• 109 Cedar St.
• 719-727 S. 1^st
• 711-717 S. 1^st

“I cannot emphasize enough what a unique opportunity this portfolio represents,” Bukhshtaber, executive vice president, said in a statement. “Parcels from six owners were assembled by our team to bring Chouteau’s Landing to market, and grants a developer the opportunity to redevelop an entire district. The revitalization of downtown sectors and the visibility of this site from all sides create an environment for a new development to become a landmark in St. Louis.”

CBRE also recently marketed a redevelopment opportunity in Los Angeles, in which Trammell Crow Co. and Clarion Partners nabbed 54 acres to develop a new business park. 

Image courtesy of CBRE

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Jefferson Arms

Alterra Worldwide has acquired Jefferson Arms, a 520,000-square-foot historical building located in downtown St. Louis. The company plans a $104 million renovation strategy to include 240 apartments, a 220-key AC Marriott-brand hotel, and commercial space with restaurants, retail and office spaces. Airmbridge Hospitality will serve as the hotel operator and Merriman Anderson Architects will design the project.

Located at 401-15 N. Tucker, Jefferson Arms development is in close proximity to Cardinals Busch Stadium, America’s Center Convention Complex, Keiner Plaza and the newly renovated Arch Grounds. The 240-units coming online are a mix between old and new, combining original flooring and exposed brick to imported tiles and mosaics, cabinetry and quartz countertops.

Myriad amenities

Common area amenities will include:

• fitness center
• yoga studio
• art room
• music room
• cinema room
• karaoke room
• game room
• tanning salon
• business center

“Given the historic building’s extensive environmental remediation and rehabilitation costs, the execution of $20 million in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) was essential to successfully fund the development of this transformative project,” Alterra CIO Jose Quesada said in a statement. “We appreciate St. Louis’ support in our effort to redevelop such an iconic building in the downtown area.” 

The renovated development will include tenants such as Koleksiyon, a European furniture manufacturer, which will be opening its fourth U.S. location at Jefferson Arms, and Linea Décor, a kitchen cabinet producer from Europe, which will open its largest U.S. showroom.

Image via Google Maps

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St. Louis rent evolution, click to enlarge

Despite a slowly declining population, St. Louis continues to see positive economic trends, driven by job gains in education and health services, leisure and hospitality, and professional and business services. Demand for apartments remains elevated, and rents are growing moderately.

The metro’s universities and medical institutions produce a skilled workforce that attracts health-care and technology firms. World Wide Technology and Lodging Hospitality Management partnered to anchor a $95 million revitalization effort at Westport Plaza, a 42-acre mixed-use development that will ultimately accommodate more than 1,200 employees. St. Louis also has a strong manufacturing base, led by Boeing and General Motors. One bright spot is Boeing’s new information technology center, which is expected to create more tech jobs.

Developers ramped up apartment deliveries in 2016, when 1,370 units came online. Upcoming supply is significant, with more than 13,600 units in the pipeline, of which roughly 4,000 were under construction as of April. Investment activity continues its upward trajectory, after having reached a cycle peak in 2016, when more than $488 million worth of multifamily properties changed hands. With continued demand expected to outpace deliveries, we anticipate rents will rise moderately, reaching a 2.6 percent growth rate by the end of 2017.

Read the full Yardi Matrix report.

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Kraft Heinz Cuts Ribbon on Kirksville, Mo., Plant Expansion

Kraft Heinz Co. recently announced the opening of its recently expanded facility located in Kirksville, Mo. The company announced it was moving its production from this facility in late 2014, but decided a year later to keep its local plant and invest $250 million in an expansion of the property instead.

The firm invested in a massive renovation of the existing facility, adding nearly 262,000 square feet to its previous 188,000-square-foot facility, and adding state-of-the-art food processing equipment. The company will add about 200 new jobs by the end of the year and seven new production lines for Oscar Mayer meats as part of the new expansion project.

Open since 1985, the Kraft Heinz facility currently produces ham products. The expansion will allow the company to begin producing additional products like turkey, bologna and salami. The additional jobs will bring the plant’s total employment up to about 550, with 100 more than when the company announced in late 2014 it was moving their production line from Kirksville, Mo. to Coshocton, Ohio, as reported by Ktvo.com.

“This has been more than a year-long process of expansion, but well worth it. The capital investment, jobs, and additional taxes have added and will continue to give a boom to our community,” Carolyn Chrisman, executive director said in prepared remarks.

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Sandra Moore, Advantage Capital’s managing director

Sandra Moore has joined Advantage Capital as a managing director. She will be based in the firm’s St. Louis office with nationwide chief impact officer responsibilities, in states such as Louisiana, Florida, Illinois and more. 

Moore brings over 30 years of experience in urban planning, economic development and community revitalization efforts. Former president of Urban Strategies, she was a team leader of more than 80 professionals working in communities across the United States and former CEO of the Missouri Family Investment Trust. Moore held responsibilities such as developing, implementing and evaluating strategies to improve education, health, mental health, human resources and economic development outcomes for Missouri families.

Earlier in her career, Moore served in Governor Mel Carnahan’s cabinet as director of the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, overseeing and coordinating all efforts of the department. A graduated of Washington University in St. Louis, Moore received her J.D. in 1979. She also holds a B.A degree in urban studies.

Image via LinkedIn

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National Asset Services (NAS) has increased its nationwide portfolio with the addition of two medical office buildings located in the St. Louis-area. KB Exchange Trust, a commercial real estate investment firm headquartered in Las Vegas, has selected NAS as the property management company and asset manager of both locations.

Fresenius Medical Care, St. Louis, managed by NAS

One of the buildings is located in the northern St. Louis County, near interstate 270 and the New Ferry Road exit. The 7,700-square-foot asset has only one tenant, Fresenius Medical Care, an integrated provider of products and services for individuals undergoing dialysis.

The second property features 8,052 square feet of space. The entire building is leased to DaVita HealthCare Partners., a leading provider of kidney care in the U.S. The medical building is located in the northern suburban village of Bel-Ridge, Mo., in close proximity to Bel-Nor, Mo. and Bellerive, Mo. Recently, DaVita Medical Group opened a medical clinic in Albuquerque.

NAS has a nationwide commercial property management portfolio of more than 60 properties in 23 states, including 27 medical office properties.

Image courtesy of NAS

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Rendering of Tru by Hilton hotel

St. Louis—Kinseth Hospitality Cos. announced the beginning of construction on a Tru by Hilton in St. Charles, Mo. The 87-key hotel is owned by St. Charles Hotel Associates LLC owns the hotel and Kinseth Hospitality Cos. will manage the property.

The hotel will be located in the 27-acre, mixed-use development Streets of St. Charles. The development offers retail, dining, residential and office spaces, and is situated along Interstate 70 just across the river from Hollywood Casino

Tru by Hilton is a newly launched Hilton brand unveiled in 2016, with nearly 200 Tru by Hilton locations currently in the works. Located at 333 Camelback Rd., the planned five-story building will offer modern guest rooms and cross-functional public spaces with areas for working, socializing and dining.

Other recent tenants to announce new locations at Streets of St. Charles include Mission Taco Joint, currently under construction and expected to open in spring 2017, and RCSBank, which will occupy more than 3,100 square feet of space on Beale Street this spring.

Rendering courtesy of Kinseth Hospitality Cos.

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Lincoln Place

St. Louis—HFF has closed on the $35.4 million sale of and arranged $23.1 million in acquisition financing for Lincoln Place, a retail center located in Fairview Heights, Ill. HFF represented the seller, Spirit Realty Capital, which sold the asset to Acadia Strategic Opportunity Fund IV.

Located at 5905-6109 N. Illinois St., on 17 acres, the 272,060-square-foot shopping center is 14 miles east of downtown St. Louis. At the time of the deal, the asset was at almost 100 percent occupancy, with a tenant mix including Kohl’s, Ross Dress for Less, Old Navy, Marshalls, Famous Footwear and Five Below. Lincoln Place was completed in 1999, and refurbished in 2005.

Directors Amy Sands and Clinton Mitchell led the HFF investment sales team representing the seller. Managing Director Timothy Joyce led the HFF debt placement team on behalf of the new owners, arranging the five-year, fixed-rate acquisition loan with a national bank.

Image via Google Maps

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Hilton St. Louis Frontenac Hotel

St. Louis—HFF recently arranged a financing loan for the acquisition of the Hilton St. Louis Frontenac and Le Chateau, a mixed-use hotel, office and outparcel asset located in the St. Louis-area community of Frontenac. The amount secured for the 325,000-square-foot asset remained undisclosed.

Managing Director Danny Kaufman and Director Jeff Bucaro led the debt team to place the four-year, fixed-rate loan through Ladder Capital on behalf of the borrower, Bucksbaum Retail Properties.

The 92.2 percent leased asset encompasses the 263-key Hilton St. Louis Frontenac hotel, Le Chateau, an 80,000-square-foot office building, a 7,132-square-foot Triad Bank outparcel lease and two Wells Fargo ground leases that total 60,078 square feet.

Located at 1335 S. Lindbergh Blvd., Hilton St. Louis Frontenac was originally completed in 1974 and underwent renovations between 2012 and 2016, including enhancements and updates to the common areas and guest rooms. The hotel features 25,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, a fitness center, seasonal outdoor pool, 24/7 business center and a full-service restaurant.

Le Chateau is situated at 10403 Clayton Road and was completed in 1983. The French village architecture is aided by 100-year-old bricks that are part of the building’s exterior. The two buildings that are occupied by Wells Fargo are located at 10401 and 10369 Clayton Road.

The portfolio is situated on an 16.5-acre site approximately 10 miles from both downtown St. Louis and Lambert – St. Louis International Airport. Plaza Frontenac, a luxury shopping center anchored by Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus is also in close proximity to the properties.

Images courtesy of Hilton Hotels and Le Chateau

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Scott Sealy Jr., vice president of business development, Sealy & Co.

St. Louis—Sealy & Co. acquired a three building, Class A distribution portfolio in the Earth City submarket of St. Louis. The purchase was made on behalf of Sealy Strategic Equity Partners to expand its footprint and provide further diversification for the growing portfolio.

The three buildings, totaling 926,287 square feet, are situated in a master-planned business park in Earth City with convenient access to interstates 70 and 270. The buildings are 94.6 percent leased to eight tenants, which occupy 20,000 to 500,000-square-foot spaces.

“Sealy is pleased to see SSEP adding high quality assets in St. Louis, setting the stage for future growth,” Scott Sealy, Jr., vice president of business development for Sealy & Co., said in a prepared statement “As the SSEP portfolio continues to expand, Sealy will target acquisitions offering geographical diversification and functional assets meeting our Portfolio By Design Strategy.”

Image courtesy of Sealy & Co. 

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St. Louis—RobertDouglas has advised on a $57 million refinancing of the Marriott St. Louis Grand Hotel, a 917-key hotel in St. Louis, Mo., on behalf of its owner, an affiliate of Haberhill LLC.

Marriott St. Louis Grand Hotel

“It’s a newly renovated hotel with strong brand affiliation and a dominant location for corporate and convention business,” Douglas Hercher, RobertDouglas’ principal & managing director, told Commercial Property Executive. “Lenders were attracted to the quality of the property and the strong, growing cash flow.”

The Haberhill affiliate acquired the property in 2014 and converted it from a Renaissance-branded hotel to the Marriott Grand following the completion of a comprehensive, top-to-bottom renovation in 2015.

The five-year, floating rate financing was provided by a debt fund managed by Apollo Global Management.

“Apollo was thoughtful in their approach to the financing, helping to meet ownership’s goals for the property while delivering highly-competitive terms and pricing as well as being responsive throughout the process,” Hercher said.

The hotel is situated directly opposite the America’s Center convention complex and is a short walk from St. Louis’s famed Gateway National Park and the city’s beloved Cardinal Stadium.

“The property is on Washington Street, and in the heart of a district that is seeing extensive new residential, retail, restaurant and office development,” Hercher said.

The Marriott St. Louis Grand offers the Greatroom, a place to connect with free Wi-Fi or over hand-crafted cocktails, and is home to Zenia Bar & Grille, offering microbrews alongside chef-crafted cuisine.

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8319 Jennings Station Rd., St. Louis

St. Louis—Store Here Self Storage recently announced the acquisition of a multi-story indoor self-storage facility located at 8319 Jennings Station Road,  in Jennings, Mo.

According to Yardi Matrix data, RHW Capital Management Group bought the property for roughly $51 million in January.

The property is situated on the corner of Jennings Station Road and West Florissant Avenue. The building was formerly a Schnuck’s grocery store before being converted into a self storage facility in 2016.

The 600-unit building consists of two high loading docks for easy movement of goods, an elevator, a freight lift and indoor climate control. The size of the units varies from s five-foot by five-foot with eight-foot-high ceilings, to large units that are 10 feet wide and 20 feet long with nine foot ceilings. Every unit is equipped with a roll-up door.

The investment in Jennings, Mo., marks the company’s first site in the Metro St. Louis market.

Image courtesy of Store Here Self Storage

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Brian Stoffers, CBRE

Los Angeles—CBRE Group Inc. is enhancing its debt and structured finance service offerings and boosting its Midwest presence with the acquisition of Capstone Financial Services LLC, a national boutique commercial real estate finance and consulting firm based outside of St. Louis. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Capstone, which provides financing for all property types, including single tenant, retail, hospitality and multifamily projects, also has offices in Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Dallas, Kansas City, Mo., and Tampa, Fla. The firm has a proprietary work-flow technology platform that enables it to sharply reduce processing times for commercial loans. The firm, which has been rebranded CBRE|Capstone, is led by Jon Faulkenberg and Shawn Givens and has a total of 13 CRE professionals. Faulkenberg and Givens, both principals at Capstone Financial, join CBRE as executive vice presidents.

“Capstone Financial’s processes for quickly closing commercial loans will be a valuable asset to CBRE,” Brian Stoffers, global president, debt & structured finance, CBRE Capital Markets, said in a prepared statement. “We intend to leverage its proprietary technology platform and process to more efficiently serve our clients on their acquisition financing needs.”

“We are very excited about the increased opportunities we will have by being part of CBRE. The same high level of service our clients have come to expect will be enhanced by the products and services we will be able to offer as we grow our national team as part of CBRE,” Givens said in a prepared statement. “We look forward to the future and growth of CBRE|Capstone.”

Faulkenberg agreed, calling the deal an “ideal situation for us and our clients” that will now be able to “have a one-stop shop for all of their commercial real estate needs.”

Jeff Majewski, chief operating officer, debt & structured finance, CBRE Capital Markets, credited Givens and Faulkenberg’s leadership in growing a national platform at Capstone Financial.

“Capstone was attractive to us because of its national reach in the triple net lease and non-institutional commercial debt intermediary space,” Majewski told Commercial Property Executive.

Majewski said CBRE learned about Capstone Financial from its local market leader in St. Louis.

“They have a great reputation in the local market and it was suggested by our investment sales brokers in St. Louis that we should reach out to them,” Majewski said. “Their platform and approach to the business caught the attention of CBRE and we pursued the opportunity.”

CBRE, the world’s largest CRE services and investment firm based on 2016 revenues, has more than 75,000 employees and serves investors and occupiers through approximately 450 offices worldwide (excluding affiliates). The company offers a broad range of integrated services and has been adding to its offerings and services lines in recent years through acquisitions like that of Capstone Financial. It is the second acquisition so far in 2017 and about the sixth since January 2016.

Last month, CBRE purchased Floored Inc., a leading producer of SaaS (Software as a Service solutions), including scalable, interactive 3D graphics technology for the global CRE industry. In December, CBRE acquired Skye Group, a leading provider of retail project management, shopping center development and tenant coordination services in the U. S. and Canada. Skye Group’s list of prominent retail real estate investment clients includes Simon, Howard Hughes, Westfield, LaSalle Investment Management, Vornado Realty Trust, New England Development, Ivanhoe Cambridge and Steiner & Associates.

Image courtesy of CBRE

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St. Louis rent evolution, click to enlarge

St. Louis is enjoying a spell of solid employment and rent growth, which has pushed investor activity to cycle highs. Both transaction volume and per-unit prices increased in 2016, as the high acquisition yields of assets and low barriers to entry facilitated interest from investors priced out of larger core and secondary markets.

Driven by growth in hospitality, trade, transportation and construction, St. Louis is also focusing on increasing its number of technology- and information-related jobs. The Cortex Innovation community is a project meant to improve the metro’s standing with tech companies, continuing the push for the addition of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) jobs in the area. The expansion of Southwest Airlines at Lambert Airport bodes well for mobility to and from the city.

More than 3,000 apartment units are under construction, the bulk of which will be added to the market’s core. High rents and proximity to Washington University have helped the University City/Maplewood submarket lead the metro for both rent growth (21.7 percent) and actual rent ($1,724) in 2016. The submarket also boasts the most intense development activity, with more than 800 units underway. As occupancy is trending below 95 percent and multifamily stock continues to expand, we expect moderate rent growth to continue, producing a 3.1 percent gain for 2017.

Read the full Yardi Matrix report.

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Fulton, Ky.—Kayser Automotive Systems USA recently announced its plans to expand in Fulton, Ky. The company will move into a 60,000-square-foot building, currently occupied by MVP Group International, a designer and manufacturer of branded candles. Kayser’s expansion costs will add up to $26 million.

Kayser’s headquarters in Germany

Located at 910 Kentucky Ave. since 2013, Kayser Automotive Systems U.S. plans to hire 100 additional employees as it expands into a facility next door to its current plant in Fulton. The new building will allow Kayser to increase manufacturing and warehousing space for a variety of mechanical and passenger-cabin automotive parts. The facility is expected to open this spring.

“Due to fast increasing business, we outgrew our current facility and needed space to meet our customer’s demands. Expanding in Fulton not only enables us to be efficient using existing infrastructure, but also capitalizing on one of our most treasured assets, our dedicated employees,” said Stefan Schutte, Kayser Automotive Systems’ CEO, in a prepared statement.

Currently, the Fulton facility employs nearly 60 people to manufacture and assemble plastic injection-molded and metal parts. Products include fuel tank components, engine and under-hood parts as well vehicle interior components. In order to facilitate Kayser’s expansion, Charleston-based MVP will relocate its 69 employees to its nearby plant in Mayfield, where it will consolidate its manufacturing of scented candles. By moving its production resources to Mayfield, the company expects to increase efficiency while preserving jobs.

“This is a potential win for everyone involved. Having all of our resources under one roof will enable us to be more efficient and cost competitive, which is key in today’s environment,” said Rodney Bohannon, vice president & general manager of MVP Group.

To encourage investment and job growth in the region, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority preliminarily approved Kayser for tax incentives up to $3 million through the Kentucky Business Investment program in July 2013. The authority also approved up to $40,000 in tax incentives through the Kentucky Enterprise Initiative Act.

Image courtesy of Kayser Automotive Systems GmbH

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Helix Center Biotech Incubator, St. Louis

St. Louis—AgIdea, a contract research and development company based in Argentina is expanding its footprint in St. Louis. The company selected Helix Center Biotech Incubator to serve as their new headquarters in North America.

AgIdea provides scientific support to R&D and regulatory projects in biotechnology, seed and crop protection industries. They assist companies with project design, management, trials, data analysis and product deregulation.

The firm first entered Missouri one year ago, and began conducting field and laboratory experiments in Marshall, Mo. Following a series of successful trials, the company chose St. Louis County for its North American headquarters due to its proximity to customers and the agtech ecosystem, and its rapid access to the Marshall Research Station.

“The help and support we have received from Missouri Partnership and Marshall-Saline Development Corporation (MSDC) have been critical to our company. We have found a very dynamic ecosystem with talented human resources and ideal infrastructure to match our current and future needs,” Mariano Battista, CEO of AgIdea, said in a statement.

Image via Google Street View

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2528 Texas Ave. in south St. Louis

St. Louis—Two private, non-profit organizations, DeSales Community Development and St. Louis Makes, have teamed up to transform a historic industrial building into a center for growing manufacturers. Plans for Brick City Makes: The Hub for Growing Manufacturers include renovating a six-level, 87,000-square-foot, 105-year-old manufacturing building located at 2528 Texas Ave. in south St. Louis, creating production space for small to mid-sized manufacturers. Brick City Makes will also offer business development support services and a collaborative environment to help these companies thrive. Unlike other similar business development entities, the $11 million Brick City Makes will be privately owned.

“Brick City Makes will create a one-of-a-kind concept: two acres, under roof, in the city, completely dedicated to helping manufacturers succeed…this is a private-sector solution for growing the region’s economy. We will serve manufacturers that need affordable space that can grow with them”, St. Louis Makes Executive Director Marc Bowers said in a statement.

Renovations for the new building will include a new, automatic 5,000-pound-capacity freight elevator, updated electrical and mechanical systems, two dock-high overhead doors, dock upgrades enabling service for 53-foot truck trailers, 24-hour secure access, a parking lot for tenants and visitors, and the addition of a community room available to tenants for meetings and events.

The proposed plan creates up to 37 rentable units ranging from a 1,300-square-foot suite to an entire 12,000-square-foot floor. Each unit will feature natural light and offer individually metered electric service. Each floor will have new common restrooms and an industrial sink.

Initial occupancy is projected for January 2018.

Image via Google Street View

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CliqStudios’s Headquarter at 5801 Clearwater Drive Minnetonka, Minn.

St.Louis—CliqStudios, an online retailer of semi-custom kitchen cabinets, recently announced that it will invest over $1.9 million for a new cabinet design center in St. Louis. The company is currently working through the lease for the new location.

The Minnesota-based company will open its new St. Louis design center to accommodate its quickly growing customer base in the area. CliqStudios cited that Missouri’s workforce, labor cost, available real estate, overall cost and incentives are key reasons why Missouri was selected. The firm plans to hire 98 associates at the new facility, and The Missouri Department of Economic Development offered CliqStudios a strategic economic incentive package if the company meets its job creation criteria.

“This is great news for the St. Louis region and another concrete example of the economic progress we’re seeing all across our state,” said Governor Jay Nixon in prepared remarks.

Image via Google Street View

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Peabody Plaza, 701 Market St.

St. Louis—Peabody Energy renewed its commitment to downtown St. Louis by extending its lease agreement at Peabody Plaza through 2023.

Built in 1986, the 15-story high-rise located at 701 Market St. comprises 427,000 square feet of office space with 29,472-square-foot floor plates, according to data provided by Yardi Matrix. The property underwent cosmetic renovation in 2004 and 2011, and features a fitness center, common area Wi-Fi, a backup power generator and 515 parking spaces. In addition, it includes 15,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.

“We are proud to continue as a major employer and economic driver in downtown St. Louis, contributing to the city’s revenue base and supporting local businesses and downtown organizations that benefit all of us,” said Glenn Kellow, Peabody Energy president & CEO, in prepared remarks.

Peabody employs more than 380 people at its headquarters and nearly 7,000 worldwide. In the past year, the company established a St. Louis-based shared business services group to serve core global business functions including sales accounting, payroll, procurement and service management. In 2015, the firm paid about $90 million in payroll and benefits to its St. Louis employees. The company generated more than $17 billion in direct and indirect economic benefits globally.

Peabody has supported multiple major St. Louis projects and partnerships including the United Way of Greater St. Louis, CityArchRiver, the Saint Louis Zoo and Washington University’s Consortium for Clean Coal Utilization.

Image courtesy of Yardi Matrix

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Marcus Theatre

Milwaukee, Wis.—Marcus Theatres recently announced that it has closed the acquisition of 197 screens at 14 Wehrenberg Theatres locations in Missouri, Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota. Financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.

Marcus Theatres is a division of The Marcus Corp., a leader in the lodging and entertainment industries with significant company-owned real estate assets. The acquisition expands the company’s footprint by 29 percent to 885 screens at 68 locations in eight Midwestern states.

Nine of the theaters are located in the greater St. Louis area, while the others are situated in Cape Girardeau, Miss.; Lake Ozark, Miss.; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Rochester, Minn.; and Bloomington, Ill.

“We plan to further enhance the entertainment experience at select theatres with new features and amenities including DreamLounger recliner seating, premium large-format screens and our signature food and beverage concepts,” said Rolando Rodriguez, president & CEO of Marcus Theatres, in a prepared statement.

Image courtesy of Marcus Theatres

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Homewood Suites by Hilton Houston Near the Galleria

Orlando, Fla.—Xenia Hotels & Resorts Inc. has sold four hotels to an undisclosed buyer, for a combined $119 million, which is an 11.0x multiple on the hotels’ combined 2016 projected EBITDA.

The properties in the transaction consisted of the 162-key Homewood Suites by Hilton Houston Near the Galleria, the 148-key Hampton Inn & Suites Denver Downtown, the 178-key Hilton Garden Inn Chicago North Shore/Evanston and the 195-key Hilton St. Louis Downtown.

Xenia retained nearly $1.5 million in capital reserve funds related to the properties.

“We are pleased with the dispositions of these non-core assets, as well as the pricing we were able to achieve,” Marcel Verbaas, Xenia’s president & CEO, said in a prepared release. “While we remain bullish on the long-term prospects of our remaining higher-quality hotels in Houston, Denver and Chicago, the sale of these select service assets allowed us to reduce our overall exposure in these markets.”

Proceeds from the sale will be utilized for general corporate purposes, which may include debt repayments, potential acquisitions consistent with the company’s long-term strategy, and share repurchases under the Xenia’s existing authorization.

“The continued enhancement of our portfolio is exemplified by the fact that these four hotels were projected to achieve a combined RevPAR of approximately $115 and EBITDA per key of approximately $16,000 in 2016, with both measures significantly lagging the remainder of our portfolio,” Verbaas said.

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Stephen Jacquemin

St. Louis—Sperry Commercial Global Affiliates LLC, a network of real estate brokerage affiliates, has announced the addition of S.J. Financial Group Inc., its first affiliate in St. Louis. Under the direction of its president, Stephen Jacquemin, the firm focuses on multifamily, industrial, retail and office investment sales.

“Stephen has a great deal of financial experience that brings a whole new level of valued service to clients, beyond brokerage services. We look forward to working with him as part of the affiliate program and will gain from his broad background,” Rich Enderlin, COO of Sperry CGA, said in prepared remarks.

Jacquemin started S.J. Financial Group in 1990, receiving his CCIM designation in 2001, and SIOR designation in 2007. He has served on his local CCIM board since 2006, also serving as CCIM chapter president in 2012 and earning CCIM Member of the Year in 2013. He is now the regional vice president of the CCIM Institute.

“Sperry is a strong supporter of CCIM and SIOR, which further adds to my interest in joining as an affiliate and gaining from the tools and relationships that will benefit my firm’s further growth,” Jacquemin said in a statement.

Image via LinkedIn

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Theodore Jacobs, Vice President, KAI Design & Build

St. Louis—KAI Design & Build recently announced its new addition to the team, Theodore Jacobs as vice president. Jacobs will have project management and sales responsibilities within KAI’s architectural group, as well as operation oversight duties within the architecture and engineering departments.

Jacobs brings more than 30 years of experience in management, master planning and design. His extensive portfolio includes projects within healthcare, education, retail as well as corporate industries. Prior to joining KAI, Jacobs was a principal/architect/COO with Springfield, MO-based Bates Architects and former principal with Clayton, MO-based Christner Inc. He has a Bachelor of Science in Architecture and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Kansas State University.

“Todd brings an abundant amount of value and expertise to KAI’s design groups,” Marcus Moomey, KAI director of architecture, said in a statement. “Not to mention to our clients and partners who will reap the benefits of his 30-plus years of experience, which includes everything from programming and facility master planning, to design and construction administration, and of course architectural design.”

Image courtesy of KAI Design & Build

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500 Research Drive in St. Charles, Mo., one of Pfizer’s current St. Louis-area locations

St. Louis—Pfizer Inc. will lease a new $200 million, state-of-the-art production and operations center in Chesterfield, Mo. CRG together with Clayco will be the developer and owner of the new facility.

Pfizer will use the campus to house its bioprocess, analytical and formulation development, non-GMP processing, as well as GMP cell banking operations, and cell bank storage necessary to support both its R&D and commercial biologic and vaccine products.

“Missouri is an important part of Pfizer’s R&D network, and we’re proud of the world-class employee base we’ve built here,” John Ludwig, Pfizer’s senior vice president of biotherapeutics research, said in a prepared release. “Thanks to the support we’ve received from the state of Missouri, St. Louis County and Chesterfield, our new St. Louis laboratory facility will provide the right location and space as we continue to evolve our business over the coming years.”

Pfizer has been located in the state for more than 13 years and currently employs more than 450 scientists and other professionals. This new campus will create another 80 jobs.

The state has offered a strategic economic incentive package that the company can receive if it meets strict job creation criteria. The expansion is also being made possible through local incentives offered by St. Louis County.

“From startups on the brink of discovery to global companies moving the needle on advanced medicine and solutions, Missouri continues to garner expansions and job creation, further solidifying its position as the epicenter of bioscience and tech innovation,” Missouri Governor Jay Nixon said. “Our education and research institutions are shaping the brightest minds that are eager to get into the lab and make a difference in the world. Companies like Pfizer benefit from this growing talent pool and the natural synergy that comes with being part of the region’s burgeoning bioscience community.”

Construction is expected to begin in mid-2017 and be completed by 2020.

Image courtesy of Yardi Matrix

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Marcus Cinema, Addison, Ill.

St. Louis—Marcus Theatres recently announced an agreement to acquire the assets of Wehrenberg Theatres, based in St. Louis, Missouri. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Wehrenberg Theatres has 197 screens at 14 locations in Missouri, Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota. Upon completion of the transaction, Marcus Theatres will increase its number of screens by 29 percent, operating 885 screens at 68 locations in eight states.

“Acquisitions are an important component of our growth strategy and we are pleased to add the Wehrenberg Theatres locations to our circuit. The acquisition demonstrates our continued confidence in our theatre business. It will expand our presence in Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota and extends our footprint into Missouri,” Gregory Marcus, president & chief executive officer of The Marcus Corporation, said in prepared statements. “We anticipate a smooth integration of Wehrenberg Theatres into our circuit and expect the acquisition will be accretive to both earnings and cash flow.”

The 14 Wehrenberg Theatres locations include nine in the Greater St. Louis area. In conjunction with the acquisition, Marcus Theatres will acquire the underlying real estate for six of the theatre locations, as well as Ronnie’s Plaza, an 84,000-square-foot retail center located at 5320 S. Lindbergh Blvd. in St. Louis.

Marcus Theatres was assisted in the transaction by Peter Solomon Company, while advisors for Wehrenberg Theatres were The Fortune Group. The transaction is targeted for completion in December 2016, subject to customary closing conditions, consents and approvals.

Image courtesy of Marcus Theatre

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Felipe Manriquez

St.Louis—McCarthy Holdings recently announced that Felipe Manriquez will begin his activity as the firm’s first Corporate Lean Manager. In this role, Manriquez will be responsible for overseeing McCarthy’s comprehensive Lean program for the family of McCarthy companies. He is based in McCarthy’s Southern California regional headquarters in Newport Beach, Calif. Currently, McCarthy is implementing Lean principles on nearly 100 active projects.

With 15 years of experience in the construction industry, Manriquez joined McCarthy in 2008 as an assistant project manager. Since then he has helped deliver a variety of projects in the healthcare, education and entertainment markets. In 2014, he was promoted to project manager to help oversee the construction of the $82 million Chapman University Musco Center for the Arts, implementing Lean construction practices to maximize efficiency and deliver increased owner value.

“Starting to implement Lean early in the design phase helps us deliver greater certainty for clients throughout the entire process. Streamlining the best of what works, eliminating what doesn’t, and doing so in a collaborative way that respects the people pulling it all together is what makes Lean so powerful. I’m looking forward to working with client and project teams to put the power of Lean to work,” Felipe Manriquez said in a statement.

Image courtesy of LinkedIn

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Hampton Inn & Suites By Hilton

St. Louis—Hilton’s Hampton by Hilton brand has announced the opening of its newest property, the Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton St. Louis/Alton. Located in Alton, Ill., in the St. Louis metro area, the new asset will be managed by Champion Hotels.

The 85-key hotel offers amenities such as free Wi-Fi, 24-hour business center with complimentary printing, meeting space that can accommodate up to 80 people, and a fitness center, among others. The new hotel also features the Perfect Mix Lobby, designed as an extension of the guestroom with a variety of seating and lighting options for both leisure and business travelers.

“Located less than five miles from the Mississippi River, Alton is a perfect location for a new Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton hotel, (…), our hotel will provide our brand’s signature friendly customer service while providing amenities that will make our guests’ stay an enjoyable one,” Jack Leonard, general manager, said in a statement.

Located at 1904 Homer M. Adams Parkway, Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton St. Louis/Alton is situated next to the local Amtrak train station, the National Great Rivers Museum, Alton Antique District, Lincoln Douglas Square and the Liberty Bank Amphitheater.

Image courtesy of Hampton Inn & Suites By Hilton

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The Shoppes at Mid Rivers, courtesy of GBT Realty Corp.

St. Louis—There’s something big coming to suburban St. Louis, and GBT Realty Corp. is behind it. The commercial development company just completed the acquisition of a 28-acre site in St. Peters, Mo., paving the way for construction of the 270,000-square-foot The Shoppes at Mid Rivers, the largest retail development to sprout up in the St. Louis MSA since 2008.

The Shoppes, which will reportedly cost approximately $54 million to complete, is already receiving a warm welcome. The city of St. Peters provided GBT with a bundle of incentives valued at as much as $10 million, and a series of national retailers have staked a claim to space at the three-anchor power center in advance of the start of construction. Businesses on the tenant roster will include Academy Sports + Outdoor Burlington, Ross Dress for Less, Marshalls, Home Goods, Ulta Beauty, and the list goes on, leaving just 30,000 square feet and four outparcels to be snapped up.

As for bringing in the shoppers, The Shoppes has on its side one of the most important attributes of any commercial real estate project: location. “Immediately north of Interstate 70 and facing the only regional mall in the county, the center will have unparalleled frontage, access and visibility to the more than 138,000 cars passing the site on a daily basis,” Jeff Pape, managing director of GBT Realty Corp.’s shopping center division, said in a prepared statement. The property is in the middle of it all, positioned at the mouth of St. Charles County’s leading retail corridor.

The climate is also right for The Shoppes. In the third quarter, the area’s retail vacancy rate continued on the downswing, dropping to 5.8 percent in St. Charles County and 6.3 percent in metropolitan St. Louis, according to a report by commercial real estate services firm Newmark Grubb Zimmer. “With decreasing vacancy rates, substantial net absorption and increasing rental rates, the metropolitan St. Louis retail market continues to show signs of improvement and is well-positioned going into the fall shopping season,” per the report. “Limited available space in active retail corridors and shopping centers will continue to drive vacancy lower and begin to force retail rates higher.”

GBT will commence construction of The Shoppes immediately, with plans of delivering the project in late 2017.

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Adam Jones

St. Louis—KAI Design & Build, a St. Louis architecture, engineering and construction management company, has appointed Adam Jones as project engineer.

With more than four years of engineering experience, Jones will serve as a liaison between clients and KAI’s team, ensuring the successful execution of construction-related projects. Working from the firm’s headquarters in St. Louis, as well as its affiliate offices in Texas, Nebraska and Georgia, he will also be in charge of overseeing the entire life cycle of a project, including compliance with scope, budget and schedule. Prior to this, Jones worked as construction estimator at Ahrens Contracting Inc.

Jones is OSHA 10 Certified and a member of the American Concrete Institute. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management with a Business Administration minor from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

Image courtesy of KAI Design & Build

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MLK Plaza in St. Louis

by Csilla Borsos

St. Louis—Denver-based Baceline Investments LLC, a privately held boutique real estate investment and management company, has recently purchased a 46,648-square-foot neighborhood shopping center in St. Louis, Mo., for $6.35 million.

MLK Plaza is the second property in the company’s High Yield Income Fund portfolio, a fund that opened in January.

The asset, completed in 2003, is situated at N. Grand and Page Boulevard, in close proximity to Saint Louis University. It is currently 94 percent leased to tenants such as Save-a-Lot, Subway and H&R Block. The center serves a heavily populated residential district, being anchored by the only grocery store in the area.

“MLK Plaza is well-located near Saint Louis University and an expanding arts district,” David Puchi, Baceline’s managing partner, said in prepared remarks “It is a neighborhood retail center that has a track record of producing steady income. Our real estate investment experience in St. Louis has been extremely positive, a trend that we are confident will continue with MLK Plaza.”

Image via Google Maps

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