Just Sold: New Trader Joe’s in Shoreview sells for $3.7M

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Editor’s note: “Just Sold” is a Finance & Commerce feature based on certificates of real estate value (CRVs) recently filed for commercial transactions and significant residential transactions in Hennepin, Ramsey and Anoka counties as well as in counties using the state’s eCRV system. Additional details in the transactions come from Plat Research, the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office, company documents, online real estate listings, F&C archives, CoStar and other research. Some purchase prices and per-unit calculations have been rounded; precise purchase prices can be found on the CRVs, available here.

1041 Red Fox Road, Shoreview

The new Trader Joe’s grocery in Shoreview doesn’t open its doors until October, but the developers of the popular California retailer’s seventh Twin Cities outlet had no trouble finding a landlord for the 17,600-square-foot store.

Shoreview Retail LLC, an entity related to The Blackhawk Investors Group of Minneapolis, acquired the new store at 1041 Red Fox Road for $3.741 million in cash from Shoreview Partners LLC, an entity related to Venture Pass Partners LLC of Shorewood.

The price in the Aug. 29 deal works out to $212.56 per square foot.

Blackhawk, a 5-year-old commercial real estate group, now has a portfolio worth about $50 million, said Brian Hara, managing partner at Blackhawk. The properties are split between the Twin Cities and Chicago, where Blackhawk opened an office about eight months ago, Hara said.

The Shoreview deal drew Blackhawk’s attention because the company had worked with Venture Pass on other deals. Hara said. Trader Joe’s, based in Monrovia, Calif., also is considered a strong tenant, he said.

There was another draw as well, he said.

“We’re a kind of buy-and-hold buyer, and we thought there was long-term potential in the site.”

The site is in the heart of a major redevelopment area surrounding the intersection of Lexington Avenue and Red Fox Road, just south of Interstate 694.

As Finance & Commerce has reported, the Trader Joe’s store is a project of partners Jim Ottenstein, Dave Carland and Randy Rauwerdink of the newly formed Venture Pass Partners LLC. It’s the second of three buildings completed in a planned unit development on the north side of Red Fox Road, along the north edge of the SuperTarget store at 3800 Lexington Ave. N.

Minnetonka-based Stonehenge USA built the first building, a new 10,000-square-foot retail center that houses Chipotle, Leann Chin, Five Guys Burgers & Fries, Sports Clips and Massage Retreat & Spa. The Venture Pass partners worked for Stonehenge at the time, but formed their own company for the Trader Joe’s project.

The third building is a proposed 3,800-square-foot branch of the City and County Employee Credit Union, which owned the entire site. The credit union hasn’t started construction.

Purchase price: $3.741 million (cash)

Price per square foot: $212.56

Property ID: 26-30-23-23-0015

Date of deed: 8-29-13

ECRV released: 9-19-13

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2427 Henry Road NW, Stewartville

Description: 63,398-square-foot FedEx distribution center

Buyer: MREIC Rochester MN LLC, an entity related to Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corp., Freehold, N.J.

Seller: Rochester FXG LLC, an entity related to Jones Development Co., Kansas City, Mo.

Purchase price: $5.265 million; $1.995 million down payment

Price per square foot: $83.05

The transaction: In what is becoming a familiar milestone, FedEx  has signed the lease and moved into a new distribution facility, this time just outside Rochester.

Jones Development Co., based in Kansas City, Mo., built the 63,398-square-foot structure for the Memphis, Tenn.-based shipping giant at 2427 Henry Road NW in Stewartville. The FedEx Ground center opened in July, and an entity related to Jones closed Sept. 20 on the sale of the site for $5.625 million to Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corp., a public equity real estate investment trust, or REIT, based in Freehold, N.J.

Stewartville is a city of about 7,000, about 12 miles south of Rochester. The new center has access to Interstate 90 and U.S. 63. The sale price works out to $88.73 per square foot. Jones bought the 7.5-acre site from the city of Stewartville for $895,158 in 2012. FedEx has a 10-year lease on the site, according to a Monmouth press release announcing the acquisition.

Jones has built 55 centers for FedEx Ground since 2000, according to a company spokesperson. Add in the centers the company has built for the FedEx Express brand and the number jumps to more than 100 projects in more than two decades.

FedEx Ground has been working with Indianapolis-based Scannell Properties Inc. on a number of new centers around the Twin Cities. The newest project is a proposed distribution center in Rogers. Scannell is building a 276,000-square-foot distribution center in Maple Grove and expanding a distribution center in Shakopee. Last year FedEx consolidated some local operations into a new 130,000-square-foot building at 2275 Walnut St. in Roseville.

Last sale: N/A

Property ID: 54-27-21-080258

Date of deed: 9-12-13

ECRV released: 9-23-13

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4105 S. Robert Trail, Eagan

Description: 6-acre site of Eagan Peak Car Club, a garage condo project set to open in 2014

Buyer: Hunter Emerson LLC, Eden Prairie

Seller: Thomas Finn Co., Mendota Heights

Purchase price: $261,360

Price per acre: $43,560

The transaction: The garage at home might be good enough for the family minivan, or maybe it’s already packed with enough bikes and hockey gear to keep any vehicles on the asphalt outside.

Two entrepreneurs are hoping owners of classic Corvettes, new Lamborghinis and other prized vehicles will give up on the Spartan spaces available at local self-storage facilities and buy one of 76 tricked out “garage condos” planned at the more than $4 million Eagan Peak Car Club project at 4105 S. Robert Trail in Eagan.

Scott Carlston and Kurt Manley of Hunter Emerson LLC, an Eden Prairie-based development company building a reputation for residential development, have paid $261,360 to finalize the acquisition of a 6-acre site that includes seven lots on Moto Drive and Classic Court. The first building — the centerpiece of the complex — is under construction.

Think of it as a clubhouse with a network of six buildings with private 1,152-square-foot man caves that can be personalized with everything from kitchen and bathroom spaces to in-floor heat, fireplaces and a place to sleep.

“We’ve had a great response,” Carlston said of early inquiries about space.

The Eagan club is inspired by AutoMotorPlex, with locations in Chicago, Kansas City, Mo., and since 2008 in Chanhassen. With more than 40 acres, the Chanhassen center includes 120 garages and room to expand.

Last sale: N/A

Property ID: Seven parcels involved; IDs are listed on the CRV.

Date of deed: 4-26-13

ECRV released: 9-19-13

CRVs for these transactions are available here.