Cushman & Wakefield recently reported that US industrial markets absorbed 63.6 million square feet of space in the final quarter of 2016, which propelled net absorption for the year to a record-setting 282.9 million square feet. The current industrial expansion is one for the record books. As of January 2017, the industrial sector has registered 27 consecutive quarters of net occupancy gains, placing this expansion among the longest ever. It is also among the strongest, with net absorption for the past three years (825.5 million square feet) surpassing the strongest period of occupancy growth in the prior cycle, 726.8 million square feet from 1997 to 1999. The national industrial vacancy rate for all product types continued to decline in the fourth quarter, falling 30 basis points from the prior quarter and 100 basis points from the prior year to 5.5%. During the past year, logistics-related warehouse vacancy has declined 130 basis points, from 6.9% to 5.6%, despite the delivery of 156.8 million square feet of new speculative product.—Lisa Brown

NEWS AND NOTABLES

AUSTIN, TX—AQUILA Commercial has named Jon Wheless as partner. Wheless joined AQUILA in 2008 and celebrated his eighth year with the firm last June. He specializes in tenant representation and is the leader of AQUILA's corporate services department. Wheless works with a broad range of clients, from up-and-coming gaming and technology firms to established local institutions.

DEAL TRACKER

DENVER—JCR Capital closed more than $242 million investments during 2016, including nearly $95 million during the fourth quarter alone. The closings represent JCR's growth through its strategic investments in middle market properties (those with valuations under $50 million), which has driven its total assets under management to more than $700 million. In addition, JCR had a record year in realizations, round tripping approximately $150 million at attractive returns.

DENVER—JLL recently secured a seven-year lease on a 7,586-square-foot space for Denver Scholarship Foundation's new headquarters at 789 Sherman St. in the Golden Triangle neighborhood of Denver. The move will allow the organization to operate in a larger space with higher cost-savings compared to its current location near Downtown Denver.

DENVER—Avison Young reported the sale of 1350 Elati, a 0.68-acre site located at 13th Avenue and Elati Street in the heart of downtown Denver's Golden Triangle neighborhood. Avison Young principal Rick Egitto represented the seller, 1350 Elati LLC, in the transaction. 1350 Elati LLC, a private entity, sold the site for $3.6 million to Elati Hotel LLC.

DENVER—Urban Renaissance Group purchased the 100 Speer building near downtown Denver's central business district for $23 million. The seller was a subsidiary of Tribune Media Company.

BOULDER, CO—Pathfinder Partners has acquired two adjacent multifamily communities totaling 82 units for $24 million. Pathfinder's acquisition includes Villa Del Prado, a 50-unit apartment community with three two- and three-story buildings built in 1974 at 635 Mohawk Dr. and Chateau at Villa Del Prado, a 32-unit apartment community with four two-story buildings constructed in 1968 and located at 565 Mohawk Dr. Villa Del Prado has a parking garage, indoor pool, spa, sauna and clubhouse, while Chateau has parking and a covered pool.

LONGMONT, CO—CBRE Capital Markets has arranged the sale of the General Electric building, a 152,218-square-foot single tenant, office/flex facility located at 1844 Nelson Rd. for $12.5 million. Jim Bolt of CBRE's Denver office represented the buyer, an affiliate of Anchorage, Alaska-based Pacific Acquisitions, in the purchase. CBRE's Tyler Carner, Jeremy Ballenger and Geoff Baukol represented the seller, Crescent Real Estate Holdings LLC (formerly Goff Capital Partners LP) of Fort Worth. The purchase represents the buyer's fifth acquisition in the Denver region since 2013, totaling more than $56.5 million.

IRVING, TX—Transwestern managing director Steve Simon and Principal Matt Hurlbut represented MLMT 2005-LC1 Freeway Offices LLC in the sale of DFW West. The 85,900-square-foot office building at 4001 W. Airport Freeway sold at an undisclosed price.

DALLAS—Transwestern principal Clint Riley represented Texas Pine H in the sale of 4809 S. Westmoreland Rd. The 47,124-square-foot industrial building, part of Redbird Industrial Park, was purchased by Quartz Place LLC for an undisclosed amount.

GRAND PRAIRIE, TX—Transwestern principal Bill De La Chapelle and associate Ben Phillips represented B.P.T. Investments LLC in the sale of 1039–1041 Avenue M, a 26,400-square-foot industrial building. The building was purchased by undisclosed buyer, represented by Hanes Chatham with Stream Realty.

IRVING, TX—Springleaf has signed a 25,000-square-foot new lease at 125 E. John Carpenter Freeway. Transwestern principals Fletcher Cordell, Matt Hurlbut and Nathan Durham represented the building owner, Brookwood. Russell Cosby and Torrey Littlejohn of Jones Lang LaSalle represented the tenant.

BUILDING BLOCKS

FORT WORTH—With help from the brokers at NAI Robert Lynn, LifeGift recently took an exciting step in the expansion of its Fort Worth office. The brokers were able to find an ideal location for the organ procurement organization to add a first tissue recovery suite, which recently led to a recent groundbreaking ceremony for the new facility.

DENVER—H&A Development, a joint-venture between Alliance Investments and H&H Hotels, is planning a 157-room Element hotel at 1350 Elati. H&A Developments plans to break ground in April 2017 and the hotel is expected to be delivered by September 2018.

NEWS AND NOTABLES

DEAL TRACKER

DENVER—Urban Renaissance Group purchased the 100 Speer building near downtown Denver's central business district for $23 million. The seller was a subsidiary of Tribune Media Company.

BUILDING BLOCKS

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