Vivid Ink unloads last of nine BR area parcels at solid price

At $88.57 per square foot, Huy Tuyet Tran got a solid price on a 10,500-square-foot warehouse he recently purchased from Vivid Ink Graphics, especially considering the 6,500 square feet of warehouse space in the building is climate controlled and has 31 tons of heating, ventilation and air conditioning.

As Daily Report first reported, Vivid Ink sold the building at 11670 Cedar Park Ave. for $930,000 in a deal that closed last week.

Mark Hebert with Kurz & Hebert Commercial Real Estate, who brokered the transaction, says this building was the last of nine total properties he has sold for Vivid Ink since the Baton Rouge-based sign maker and print shop bought the 31,000-square-foot building at the Florida Boulevard and Airline Highway intersection last year and consolidated its operations there.

“We had the building under contract with another purchaser for $950,000. That didn’t close, but we had a lot of interest from other purchasers and had a backup agreement for $930,000 from Tran relatively quickly and he closed on the deal,” Hebert says. “The building was not but about six or seven years old and worked perfectly for what the new owners were going to use it.”

Tran imports LED lights and signs from China. Joe Cashio with Cashio Realty, who represented the buyer, says Tran should be able to move in within the next few weeks without needing any renovations.

“We had been looking for some climate controlled space and it is scarce, so when Mark called to let me know the building was available we jumped on it,” Cashio says.

D’Iberville Apartments in Addis sell for $1.56M

The D’Iberville Apartments at 7520 Chad Ave. in Addis have sold for $1,562,500, or about $32,500 for each of the complex’s mix of 48 two- and three-bedroom apartments. The seller, Patricia Hidalgo Amoroso, owns other multifamily holdings in the Baton Rouge area, but this property was the only apartment she had on the west side of the Mississippi River.

Sources close to the transaction say Amoroso wanted to sell the West Baton Rouge Parish property so she could concentrate on properties on the east side of the river. The deal closed Wednesday; Amoroso was represented by real estate brokers Will Adams and Bobby Box of Property One Commercial Real Estate.

Sunrise Land LLC, represented by broker Lacy Howe with Clay Companies, bought the complex, which fetches monthly rents ranging from $500 to $650 per month.

“The project was attractive because there is very little competition for Class B product in Addis. You either have upscale apartments or trailers, and apartments in this price range are hard to find” Adams say.

The complex has some minor deferred maintenance issues, but no major repairs are required. Sunrise Land plans to complete some minor repairs and continue to operate the complex as is.

“The purchasers had sold another piece of property in north Louisiana and were looking for a stable investment, and this property fit their investment criteria,” Howe says, adding some of the tenants have been in the complex since 1994.

Delta Tech has room to grow even further with St. Gabriel purchase

Chemical plant cleaning firm Delta Tech Services looked for a new spot for its headquarters for more than four months before settling on a 2.5-acre site in St. Gabriel. The site includes three buildings totalling roughly 17,500 square feet, as well as yard storage.

“They had been renting a building in Ascension (Parish) and were looking to own something,” says Joe Moore with RE/Max First, who represented the firm in the purchase. “The three buildings were designed for industrial manufacturing so they fit perfectly with Delta Tech’s service industrial cleaning operation.”

As first reported by Daily Report, the sale closed on Jan. 9 for $990,000. The sales price works out to about $56.50 per square foot. Delta Tech bought the property and warehouse buildings at 3525 Delta Drive from Petrous Properties. The buildings include overhead cranes and a three-phase heavy electric system.

“We did not market the property for more than about six months, and we had pretty strong interest,” says Chris Gremillion of NAI/Latter & Blum Commercial Real Estate, who represented the seller in the deal.

With the buy, Delta Tech has purchased more real estate than the company currently needs, and the additional square footage will allow it to expand operations even further. The cleaning firm, which hopes to move into the new location by May, intends to renovate the office and upgrade the yard storage area.

Hardee’s buys former Best Boilers Building on S. Sherwood for Second BR restaurant

Hardee’s has acquired a building on South Sherwood Forest Boulevard for its second Baton Rouge restaurant. The fast food chain bought land on O’Neal Lane a few months ago for its first restaurant in the city.

Best Boilers most recently occupied the location on South Sherwood, which Hardee’s has purchased for $665,000, but the structure was originally built for Schlotzsky’s Deli. The sale closed on Dec. 18.

At 2,613 square feet, the building’s purchase price works out to about $255 per square foot. Hank Saurage and Edward Rotenberg represented the seller, Sherwood Pointe LLC. Ken Jacobsmeyer with Saurage Rotenberg Commercial Real Estate brokered the transaction.

The purchaser, Forest Justice BTS LLC, is a preferred developer for Paradigm Investment Group, one of the largest franchisees for Hardee’s.

Paradigm will begin renovations in March, and Hardee’s should occupy the building shortly after the work is complete. I’m looking forward to having a fried bologna and velveeta cheese biscuit as soon as the restaurant opens.

18 Condos off Airline sell for $925K, to be Converted to Corporate Housing

A few years ago, Allen Walsh bought the 18 duplex units in the South Park Apartments, located just off Airline Highway near the intersection of Jefferson Highway, then converted them into condos and changed the name to Live Oak Circle.

Now the complex, which consists of two-, three- and four-bedroom units, has been sold to Elf Oaks LLC, a California investor, for $925,000. The property was purchased from IberiaBank.  Carmen Austin and Hank Saurage with Saurage Rotenberg Commercial Real Estate brokered the transaction, which closed Dec. 30.

Elf Oaks plans to renovate the 18 units into short- and long-term corporate housing catering to movie industry employees and to workers relocated to the Baton Rouge area. At the time the property was purchased, 13 units were occupied. Renovations should begin shortly.

Benny’s buys Siegen Lane site for Seventh Car Wash

Well-known carwash operator Benny Alford has purchased a tract on Siegen Lane just north of Perkins Road for the construction of his next automated tunnel car wash facility. Alford purchased the roughly 2.1-acre site on Oct. 8 for $775,345.20, or exactly $6 per square foot. The property was purchased from the estate of Jerome Winfield, with the deal brokered by Jim Walsh at Jim Walsh Real Estate.

The site includes about 170 feet of frontage on Siegen Lane, and it’s zoned HC1 for heavy commercial development. Alford has been the leader in the automated tunnel carwash industry for several years, with six locations in the area.

“Benny recognized this as a high-traffic corner that would be advantageous for his automated car wash operation,” says Walsh. Construction on the car wash is expected to begin within the next four months.

Circle K acquires more property at Highland & Staring for a New Prototype Store

Circle K, which owns and operates the Exxon gas station at the northwest corner of Highland Road and Staring Lane, recently acquired a portion of the adjoining shopping center to expand for a new prototype location. Circle K closed on the 23,000-square-foot site on Oct. 1 from Starring Retail LLC for $694,000, or just over $30 per square foot. The site includes a 6,000-square-foot retail building that will be razed—along with the existing gas station—to make way for a new 4,000-square-foot convenience store. The sale was brokered by Mark Hebert at Kurz & Hebert Commercial Real Estate. “The corner site is prime for a retail convenience store,” says Hebert. “The deal took about 18 months to close, but Circle K recognized the high traffic counts and surrounding residential development, and knew this would be an excellent location for a new modern store.” Circle K will begin clearing the site to construct a new store in the next few months.

Level Construction, Walk-On’s complete deal for downtown property

A very complicated transaction involving a downtown property on Main Street and two prominent local companies has been completed for $650,000. As Daily Report first reported in May, the transaction was facilitated by Walk-On’s Enterprises, which had outgrown its 4,500-square-foot property at 460 Main St. that it had rented for years from H & E Properties. Walk-On’s has since moved its headquarters to a more than 7,000-square-foot space at 232 Third St. Level Construction, meanwhile, has also outgrown its 3,500-square-foot space at 450 Main St., which is next door to the former Walk-On’s headquarters. Level has now purchased the former Walk-On’s headquarters for $650,000, or about $154 per square foot, according to Mike Stinson with Saurage Rotenberg Real Estate, who brokered the transaction. “There were a lot of moving parts, trying to get more space for both Walk-On’s and Level Construction, both of which wanting to be downtown, but we were able to work it out to everyone’s satisfaction,” says Stinson. The building has been renovated, but Level Construction will do additional improvements to accommodate its rapidly-expanding construction company, Stinson says. The purchase does not include any off-street parking. “It was a very good quality building that met Level’s need to expand,” says Stinson.

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.

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.