REJournals - News

Stan Johnson Co. completes $62.7M retail portfolio sale

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 10:58:00 CST

Stan Johnson Company has completed the sale of a 20 property retail portfolio, 100 percent occupied by CVS/pharmacies, to a Texas-based private investor for $62.7 million. Encompassing more than 248,000 square feet, the retail properties are located in Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia. Brandon Duff with Stan Johnson Company' Chicago office along with Jeff Hughes of the company's Tulsa, OK office represented the buyer and the seller, both of which were Texas-based. "The buyer was attracted to this deal because the properties were highly leveraged and well suited to meet their unique needs for this transaction" said Hughes. "We have several comparable transactions in the pipeline exceeding $150 million. These properties have long term, bond style leases with investment grade tenants, providing highly leveraged assumable loans in place. This transaction type is perfectly suited for owners needing to replace debt from 1031 or 1033 exchanges."

Cooper Commercial facilitates sale of corporate centers in Ohio

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 09:31:00 CST

The Cooper Commercial Investment Group recently facilitated the sale of Brecksville Corporate Centers I & II in Brecksville, Ohio. Cooper found the buyers of the property, and helped negotiate the terms between buyer and seller, after the property spent just 16 days on the market. The Brecksville Corporate Centers consist of Brecksville Corporate Center I, a 78,320-square-foot building, and Brecksville Corporate Center II, a 39,600-square-foot building. Triple net leases make up the property, while its tenants are mostly national or international publicly traded tenants. The property sold for $7.3 million, which represented a CAP rate of 8.64 percent. Dan Cooper represented the local owners in the transaction.

Louisville's Harry K. Moore joins Cassidy Turley

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 09:28:00 CST

Cassidy Turley in April announced that Louisville's Harry K. Moore, a real estate brokerage formerly affiliated with Colliers International, will officially join the newly integrated company on May 13. Harry K. Moore will operate as Cassidy Turley Harry K. Moore while transitioning to Cassidy Turley. Locally owned and operated since 1948, Harry K. Moore specializes in the sales and leasing of industrial and commercial properties in Louisville and southern Indiana as well as many surrounding cities in Kentucky. The company has consistently ranked as a leading commercial real estate services firm by Business First � the weekly business newspaper of the Louisville region. Since 2000, Harry K. Moore has completed 2,042 transactions consisting of 53 million square feet valued at more than $1.275 billion. "Harry K. Moore's dedication to professionalism, excellence and superior market knowledge go hand-in-hand with Cassidy Turley's commitment to offering our clients world class expertise," said Mark Burkhart, chief executive officer of Cassidy Turley. "The company's relationship-driven approach is a natural fit for our organization." Harry K. Moore offers a full range of services including office and industrial brokerage, investment services, retail services and landlord and tenant representation.

NAI NP Dodge completes lease for Omaha strip center

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 09:22:00 CST

The economy may be down, but that doesn't mean that commercial real estate deals aren't getting done across the Midwest. NAI NP Dodge, in Omaha, is proof of this. Tom Failla, senior vice president of Omaha-based NAI NP Dodge, recently completed a 1,500-square-foot lease for the Shoppes of Tregaron, a strip center in Omaha. The center is now 100-percent occupied. Within the last year alone, Failla has leased about two-thirds of the shop's 18,300 square feet. "In a down economy you need to be creative in order to fill vacancies," Failla said, "but you've also got to be realistic. The owners realized there were things we needed to do in order to fill the center." The Shoppes at Tregaron now have nine tenants, including Scooters, Ferrell's Extreme Body Shaping, State Farm Insurance and Dunlow Orthodontics. "These businesses do well here because of the void of services in the area," Failla said. Failla said the 100-percent occupancy at the Shoppes shows that there is still activity in the commercial real estate market and that "it's not all doom and gloom." "You just have to be willing to [get creative]," he said. "If you don't, you're not doing justice to your clients or to yourself."

HFF secures refinancing for office properties in Indianapolis suburb

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 09:20:00 CST

The Indianapolis office of HFF (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P.) announced in April that it had secured a $2.1 million refinancing for Crosspoint Corner V & VI, adjacent suburban office properties totaling 27,965 square feet. The properties are both 100-percent occupied and located in Fishers, Ind., a suburb of Indianapolis. Working on behalf of Shamrock Builders, HFF managing director Jon Everson placed the non-recourse, fixed-rate loan with a correspondent life insurance company. Loan proceeds were used to refinance the existing debt, which was approximately two years from maturity. The borrower had entered a flexible prepayment window and opted to manage their near-term refinance and interest rate risk by refinancing early. The loan will be serviced by HFF.

NAI MLG Commercial brokers multiple leases at Wisconsin strip center

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 09:19:00 CST

Adam Connor and Brian Vanevenhoven of Milwaukee's NAI MLG Commercial recently brokered multiple leases in the Hales Corners Plaza strip center in Hales Corners, Wis. The following tenants have leased space: Gemma Rae's Home Style Cheesecake, LLC has leased 1,650 square feet. John McCardle represented Gemma Rae's in the transaction. Bethesda Thrift Shop has leased 15,176 square feet. Bruce Westling of NAI MLG Commercial represented Bethesda Thrift Shop in this transaction. Great Clips has leased 1,246 square feet, while Milwaukee T-Shirt Vendors, Inc. has leased 15,294. Dad Tobacco, LLC has leased an additional 1,312 square feet.

Vibes Media leases nearly 22,000 sq. ft. at 300 West Adams

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:00:00 CST

Jones Lang LaSalle has represented Vibes Media in a 21,620-square-foot, long-term lease at 300 West Adams in Chicago. The national expert on mobile media will move from 205 W. Wacker in the third quarter of 2010. Matt Carolan, managing director, Jones Lang LaSalle represented Vibes Media. Chris Cassata from CB Richard Ellis represented building ownership. "We were able to negotiate a strong package that enabled Vibes Media to upgrade their current space," said Carolan. "The landlord was in tune with the market conditions and made an aggressive deal to attract a great tenant." Since launching the first mobile marketing campaign in the U.S. in 1998, Vibes Media has been helping marketers and publishers maximize their marketing dollars through the acquisition and retention of customers and the generation of new revenue streams.

CoreNet sets long-term goals

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 13:47:00 CST

At the April meeting of CoreNet, Karla Rotondo Simmions, corporate account manager for Allsteel, assumed the duties of chapter president from Stephanie Pater of Tribune Co. The Chicago chapter boasts 354 members and is the third largest CoreNet Chapter in the country. When did you first get involved with CoreNet? Five years ago I started with Allsteel and I felt that I really needed to get involved with an organization. I went to a bunch of different events put on by a bunch of different organizations in our industry and CoreNet really resonated with me. It felt very inclusive. I walked away knowing that I would attend another luncheon. I got involved and chaired the special events committee. I had no idea what I was getting involved in. It was baptism by fire. I served on that board twice, then, I moved to treasurer, then president elect and now president. What are some goals you have set for yourself? At the beginning of March we have new board member orientation. We have a strategy meeting with the new board and the outgoing board where we walk through our strategic goals. Generally speaking, I think that our goals were always short-term oriented. They focused on one year. The executive committee sat down before the strategy meeting and decided to have bigger, loftier goals with more of a long-term vision. We are calling it Vision 2013. We took the process a bit further this year and asked each committee for its 2010 business plan as well as the 2011, 2012, and 2013 business plan. We may not have all of the finances to enact everything this year, but we will next year. We want to be able to map out the course of the next three years. The first goal is to increase membership to 500. One way we can increase membership is by embracing our members in places like Wisconsin, Indiana and Iowa and bringing programs to them. We can bring more networking and educational programs to the surrounding collar counties and states. Hopefully, through more participation we can increase membership as well. We can't always expect those members to come to us. Do you think that people see Corenet as a downtown Chicago group? Yes. We do one suburban program, but we want to bring more programs to sister states and more evening and morning programs to the suburbs. We have a lot of members we don't see at our luncheons (in Chicago). You mentioned the group has matured a lot in the last few years...do you attribute this to leadership or lessons learned navigating a difficult market? We have matured as a business. We all have full time jobs, it's a volunteer organization, but the amount of work involved is enormous. We hired an administrative team (Glatz Management Services), which takes some of the weight off of our shoulders. Stephanie Paiter (formery with Tribune Co., now with Catalyst Group) came to us from the Atlanta chapter and she brought with her a financial skill set. She helped change our sponsorship process into an annual program rather than event-based. Our financial viability wasn't contingent on the events we were holding, but on the value we were brining to members and those who wanted to be sponsors. From a financial standpoint we have been able to do more and put on events in venues people want to go to. What are the benefits do local members receive with the global network? There are a ton of connections. We want to increase global connectivity with fellow chapter members. The summits (this year's summit was held in New Orleans) are two and a half days and there is a lot packed into those two and a half days. The networking and the social aspect is a big draw and it is probably some of the best networking available in our industry. You can be in a room with a director of real estate for XYZ company along with their general contractor partner who happens to have an office in Chicago. It also provides a platform for

Taurus negotiates 70,000 sq-ft. lease

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 14:00:00 CST

Taurus Realty Partners has announced a 69,056-square-foot lease to American Science & Surplus at 7410 N. Lehigh Ave. in Niles, Ill. This lease is a long-term extension. The landlord, Mirvac Industrial Trust, was represented by Rich LeBrun of NAI Hiffman. Marat Safir of Taurus represented American Science & Surplus. Upon review of the competitive marketplace, American Science Surplus decided the existing location provided the most cost-effective solution. In addition, this facility allows a centralized location to American Science & Surplus' retail stores, as well as functional building.

Bro Trust purchases industrial building to move corporate headquarters

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:55:00 CST

CB Richard Ellis' Keith Puritz, Brett Kroner, Ryan Bain and Zach Graham were the sole brokers in the sale of 5900 Ami Drive, Richmond, Ill. Intermatic, a leader in time-based energy control products, sold the 240,158-sq.-ft. industrial building to Bro Trust. Asking price was $5.9 million. Bro Trust, is a leader in the automotive aftermarket accessory marketplace, including interior and exterior car accessories, battery care, sunshades and countless other car care categories. Bro Trust will be relocating from Niles and will take occupancy of the new space May 1st. Built in 1990 and situated on 14.35 acres, 5900 Ami Drive features 11,069 sq. ft. of office space, 30'-32' clear height, visibility from US Route 12, metal halide lighting, and expandable trailer parking.