The owners of Monochrome Contemporary Furniture have purchased an 18,500-square-foot warehouse at 1010 Nicholson Drive—formerly home to St. Vincent de Paul—for $600,000 or about $32.50 per square foot. Monochrome, which bought the building from Brickyard Properties LLC, will renovate it for a new location. The business sells high-end contemporary furniture and currently occupies space in the Southdowns Shopping Center on Perkins Road. Ryan Greene and Walt Ketchings with NAI/Latter & Blum Commercial Real Estate brokered the transaction. According to Greene, Monochrome will renovate about half the building for their furniture and interior design store and lease the remaining space. “They hope to get a restaurant for a portion of it, and with the announcement of the Water Campus and all of the other proposed development on Nicholson Drive, this seemed to be a good place to retrofit some good quality retail,” Greene says. The renderings of the project show a large front entrance and walk-up area, taking advantage of the character and age of the building. This stretch of Nicholson Drive, between downtown and LSU, has new owners getting more and more excited about the possibility of gentrification, especially with the announcement of the Water Campus.
California hedge fund buys B.R. apartment complex for $1.2 million
A California hedge fund known as Newport Holdings LCC has acquired the 94-unit apartment complex known as Newport Villas—located at 1737 La Annie Drive, just north of Florida Boulevard near Belaire High School—from Black Warrior Holdings LLC, which had only recently acquired it from the bank for nonpayment. The purchase price was $1.2 million, or about $12,765 per apartment. According to CJ Johnson with 3Chix Realty, who brokered the transaction and represented both the buyer and seller, the property was 90% occupied at the time of sale. “Black Warrior had done some rehabilitation prior to the sale. There were some capital outlays that were required like redoing sewer service and fixing the parking, but the units were in fairly good condition,” says Johnson. The property was originally listed for $1.8 million, and Johnson says within 30 days of it hitting the market she had a contract in place with the California hedge fund and three back up offers from other interested parties. “There were some management problems prior to Black Warrior acquiring the property. After Black Warrior acquired the complex, they hired Reliant Property Management, who specializes in managing this type asset,” Johnson explains. “Reliant got the bookkeeping straight, and when everyone realized what a cash cow it was, we got offers very quickly.” If the income projections given to me are correct, the capitalization rate (a rate of return used by Realtors and investors to determine the value of an asset) was around 14%, while most other similar complexes have sold in the 7% range. That makes it an excellent buy for the new owner.
Geaux Clean purchases Siegen Lane site for Carwash
I can’t tell you how happy I am that 2013 is over, because a lot did not go well for me last year. But 2014 is heating up, and if the beginning of the year is any indication what the rest of it will be like, I am excited. LSU and the Saints are winning and Alabama is losing. All is right with world. The local real estate market appears to be showing some signs of continued recovery, too, with more activity taking place in almost all segments of the market. A recent sale of note is that of a Siegen Lane site to Geaux Clean Express Car Wash, which closed on Dec. 30 for just under $702,400, or about $14.50 per square foot for the roughly 1.1-acre site. The property is situated on the east side of Siegen Lane, just south of Cloverland Avenue. “The sale price at $14.50 per square foot was an excellent deal,” says Mark Hebert of Kurz & Hebert Commercial Real Estate, who brokered the transaction. “Another site across Siegen Lane from this property is under contract for $25.00 per square foot. I asked the owners of Geaux Clean, Norman Neal and Stuart Carter, if they would be interested in flipping the site, but they recognized they had a great deal.” Instead of flipping the property, Hebert says the new owners plan to develop the site with a state-of-the-art automatic car wash similar to the Geaux Clean facility on Highland Road. Construction is expected to begin early this year.
Pinnacle Warehousing purchases Airline Highway site for $1.8M
Pinnacle Warehousing LLC has purchased a site comprising about 7.75 developable acres on Airline Highway, adjoining Bayou Manchac, from Airline-Manchac LLC for $1.8 million, or about $5.40 per square foot. Brent Garrett with Beau Box Commercial Real Estate, who brokered the transaction, says the property is part of a planned unit development whose developers recently sold a 12-acre site to Area Tire Distributers, which is building a 125,000-square-foot warehouse distribution facility on-site. This purchase by Pinnacle will allow for an additional 80,000 square feet of space to be developed along the Airline Highway frontage. According to Garrett, Pinnacle has a build-to-suit contract for a portion of the potential 80,000 square feet but does not yet want to reveal who the tenant will be. Construction on the new warehouse distribution facility should begin early next year.
Livingston Shopping Center sells for $725K
A 6,500-square-foot shopping center recently built at 29565 La. 63 in Livingston, located between U.S. 190 and Interstate 12, was sold on Dec. 10 by Marty and Lana Aubin. At $725,000, the sales price works out to roughly $110 per square foot. The property was 60% leased when the sale closed. According to Brent Struthers with Beau Box Commercial Real Estate, the buyer—Livingston Frost LLC—liked the fact that it was recently constructed and partially leased; tenants include the Livingston Family Health Clinic and Java Deaux Café. There are two spaces available to lease, one of which includes a drive-thru window. The sellers were represented by Struthers and Jordan Johnson of Beau Box Commercial Real Estate.
Office Building on North Boulevard sells for $3 Million
The 45,200-square-foot office building at 400 North Blvd. formerly occupied by Baton Rouge Savings and Loan was sold on Dec. 5 for $3 million, or $66.37 per square foot. According to Jim Allen with Saurage Rotenberg Commercial Real Estate, the building is situated on a 22,144-square-foot site, which includes enough parking spaces for about 18 vehicles. The seller was 400 North Boulevard LLC, represented by Bob Dean. The purchaser was Super Hospitality Owners LLC, represented by Allen. The property was recently approved for a TIF deal and State Historical Tax Credits. According to Allen, the new owner also plans to apply for additional federal tax credits. Allen says the city-parish had at one time considered buying the property for a potential parking garage. The new owners haven’t revealed their plans for the property, but their group name indicates there’s potential for a hotel project.
—Another recent sale of note is a $300,000 deal for a roughly 4,000-square-foot office building at 14858 South Harrell’s Ferry Road, formerly home to TMC Shipping Co. It was purchased by Ryco Enterprises LLC on Dec. 5. The approximately 1.5-acre site had been listed with Andy Batson of Beau Box Commercial Real Estate for as much as $399,000. Tim Smith and Ty Gose with NAI/Latter & Blum Commercial Properties represented the buyer. The sales price on the office space works out to about $75 per square foot. The new owner plans to rehabilitate the office building and offer it for lease, and construct an office warehouse on the excess land on site.
—Crawfish Aquatics has now assembled a 7.2-acre tract off Siegen Lane with the recent closing of a 2.4-acre parcel for $732,294, or approximately $6.95 per square foot. The purchase, which closed last week, comes on the heels of a $1,446,316 deal Crawfish Aquatics made in August for an adjoining 4.8 acres. Mark Hebert of Kurz & Hebert Commercial Real Estate brokered both transactions. Crawfish Aquatics is planning to develop a 40,000-square-foot swimming and recreational facility on the property.
Ascension Commercial Market Improving
A&D Medical has sold a 4.82-acre tract that’s situated one block off the intersection of La. 30 and La. 44 in Park Eastbank Subdivision in Gonzales. The property is located at the dead end of West Eastbank Street (Map it). The sale closed on Oct. 29 for $530,000, or about $2.50 per square foot. A&D Medical had purchased the property in August 2009 for about $1.40 per square foot. The sale was brokered by David Vercher with KW Commercial Real Estate, who represented the seller, and Joe Moore with Re/Max First, who represented the buyer. According to Vercher, interest in the property was fairly strong, reflecting an improving market in Ascension Parish. “I see inventory being absorbed at a tremendous rate in comparison to just one year ago,” he says. “I believe land and warehouse properties in the Gonzales area will become limited in the months to come.” The new owner, RRL Holdings LLC, represented by Marcel Lemoine and John Robert, has not announced plans for the property.
Coastal Bridge buy in WBR reflects increased industrial interest
It seems that most of the region’s commercial land sales these days are taking place in the industrial sector, the most recent of which being the Nov. 21 sale of an 8.35-acre parcel in West Baton Rouge Parish by Teche Federal Bank. The buyer is Costal Bridge Company. Situated on Safe Energy Drive off La. 1 between Airline Highway and Rosedale Road, the property was listed at $280,000—and it sold within 30 days. Teche, which had acquired the site from Rural Properties LLC, sold it for $275,000, or about $32,934 per acre. Mathew Laborde and Branon Pesnell of Beau Box Commercial Real Estate represented the seller, while Andy Batson—also with Beau Box—represented the buyer. “Within the last 18 months a similar property on the same street sold for around $20,000 per acre, so it looks like property values are increasing,” Laborde says. Costal Bridge has no immediate plans to develop the property.
Denham Springs Retail Center Sells
The Denham Springs retail strip center at 419 S. Range Ave. that’s home to AT&T, Allied Cash and Harrison Finance was sold on Oct. 28 for $815,000. At 6,045 square feet, the sales price for the building—which sits on a site measuring about 34,225 square feet—works out to just below $135 per square foot. The seller was M.G. Stevens Corp., and the buyer was 2620 Metairie Lawn LLC, both based in New Orleans. Larry Dietz with Saurage Rotenberg Commercial Real Estate brokered the transaction. A 1,300-square-foot space in the center formerly occupied by Papa John’s is being offered for lease at $15 per square foot. “The return with the existing tenants in place was good for the purchaser, and will improve when we lease the Papa John’s space,” Dietz says.
New Activity in Commerce Point Subdivision
Bobby Smith with NAI/Latter & Blum Commercial Real Estate recently sold two lots in Commerce Point, the industrial use subdivision he’s developing off La. 30, near the Ciba Geigy Access Road, in Ascension Parish. That’s encouraging news for Smith, who likes to say that the financial crisis started on Aug. 16, 2008—the day parish officials approved the subdivision. “After that, everything stopped,” says Smith, who at one point was reduced to listing the lots for around $4 per square foot because sales were so slow. The recent sales in the development indicate that market conditions have improved. Each of the deals worked out to about $5.52 per square foot. Smith sold Bayou Safety and TWE Engineering Group each a 38,060-square-foot lot; each lot sold for $210,00. Both lots measure 110-by-350-feet and will be improved with industrial use buildings. Bayou Safety is planning a 7,000-square-foot, air-conditioned metal building in which to conduct industrial safety training, while TWE will build an office warehouse on its site. “A couple of years makes a big difference. We have closed on six lots this year and only have three lots left to sell,” Smith says.
