Thursday, September 02, 1999
INDUSTRY NOTES: REAL ESTATE
Cincinnati faces fight for 6 acres
BY JOHN J. BYCZKOWSKI
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cincinnati's planning commission has taken the first steps toward eminent domain to move forward with a planned office-retail development in Columbia Tusculum.
The commissioners had better bring lunch, though, because this looks like a fight.
The commission last week approved a resolution to start the process. The city wants to acquire more than 6 acres at Columbia Parkway and Delta Avenue for the development. Al Neyer Inc. is the preferred developer, and the project is expected to cost more than $18 million.
Most of the land, however, is owned by an out-of-town partnership called Delta-Columbia Associates.
“We're looking for fair market value, and the city is offering a pittance,” the partnership's local attorney, Edmund Adams, said. As for eminent domain: “We think this is the taking of private property to hand over to a private developer. We think that's improper and illegal, and we will challenge it.”
An office building is planned for the northwest corner, with retail space on the southeast corner, behind a YMCA
The resolution next goes to committee, and if approved, will go to a vote of City Council. It could be approved in about a month. The city will continue to negotiate with the partnership to buy the land, and if those negotiations fail, the eminent domain process begins.
City Economic Development Director Andi Udris did not respond to a request for an interview. Other city officials declined to comment.
Miller-Valentine sells 7 Wilmington warehouses
The Miller-Valentine Group has sold seven warehouses in Wilmington to the Easton Group for $28.5 million.
Miller-Valentine developed the warehouses in the early 1990s to service the growing Airborne Express overnight delivery hub there. The warehouses hold 716,000 square feet, and tenants include Technicolor Entertainment Services and Micro Warehouse.
The company retains management and leasing of the facilities, said Bob Gallinis, president of Miller-Valentine Realty. “It's a nice sale. We're happy to do it,” he said. He would not disclose what it cost the company to develop the warehouses. It's safe to say it didn't cost Miller-Valentine $28.5 million to build seven warehouses, one local broker said.
The deal was brokered by Chuck McCosh of Miller-Valentine and Darrell Betts of Grubb & Ellis. The Eas ton Group oversees 4.5 million square feet of commercial real estate in South Florida.
Wireless call center opens in Springdale
Metro One Telecommunications, which claims to be the nation's largest provider of enhanced directory assistance, has taken 10,599 square feet at the Tri-County Office Park on East Kemper Road, Springdale.
The Portland, Ore.-based company has about two dozen call centers in the country, and this one will service wireless phone services, said Nate Sprong of Grubb & Ellis, who brokered the deal.
Metro One's lease is five years and $530,000.
The company “enhances” directory assistance with advanced-search capabilities and the ability to connect callers. It also offers services such as lottery results, movie listings and sports scores.
Sub-lease tenant sought for Blue Ash building
This is how one deal becomes three:
• The former Spring Air Mattress building at 5480 Creek Road in Blue Ash is sold for $1.9 million to Green Realty Corp., also of Blue Ash. Bob Bunton of CB Richard Ellis brokers the deal.
• Green Realty gives Mr. Bunton the go-ahead to find a tenant for the 82,000-square-foot building. He finds bar-coder Raco Industries, also of Blue Ash, which leases the building for five years at about $1 million.
• But Raco doesn't need all the space — yet. It signs Mr. Bunton to find a sub-lease tenant for 30,000 square feet or more in the building. There's a fair amount of activity in that area, he said, so there could be more news soon.
Marketing firm expands its Springdale office
The marketing communications firm Hensley Segal Rentschler has expanded for the third time in three years, taking an additional 2,000 square feet of space at the Century Building in Springdale. The company now occupies 16,000 square feet. The additional space is for general office use.
Got news? Contact the Enquirer's John Byczkowski at 768-8377, or e-mail him at johnb@enquirer.com.
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