Just Sold: Trautz pays $4.7 million for Blaine retail

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Editor’s note: “Just Sold” is a Finance & Commerce feature based on the newest certificates of real estate value filed with the Minnesota Department of Revenue for commercial sales throughout Minnesota and reports of sales across the country involving local parties. Research includes company and broker documents, online real estate listings, F&C archives, Catylist and other research.

Northtown Retail Center, a fully leased, 10,034-square-foot retail center on an outlot of Northtown Mall in Blaine, has sold for $4.7 million.

Edina-based Trautz Properties Inc. purchased the property from 4th Dimension Properties in Hollywood, Florida, the owner of the mall.

Northtown Retail Center, located at 599 Northtown Drive, is shadow anchored by Cub Foods. The area also is home to a Walmart Supercenter, Target, Sam’s Club, Chick-fil-A and other retailers.

The five tenants in the center are Potbelly, Chipotle, Verizon, FedEx and GameStop.

The Mid-America Real Estate investment sales team of Amy Senn, Mark Robinson (CCIM) and Bryce Thompson represented the buyer.  Marc Mandell and Greg Zimmerman of Forged Real Estate represented the seller.

“This type of property is in demand from investors all over the country,” said Senn.

Trautz Properties Inc., formed in 2010 by John Trautz, invests in single-tenant and multitenant retail properties across the Twin Cities.

 Place: 599 Northtown Drive, Blaine

Price: $4.7 million; $468.41 per square foot

Buyer: Trautz Properties Inc., Edina

Seller: 4th Dimension Properties, Hollywood, Florida

Date: 3-19-24

Vintage Stevens Square apartments draw $2.84 million

A private investor in Spring Lake Park has paid $2.84 million for the 52-unit First Avenue Apartments, a pair of vintage low-rise apartment buildings in the Stevens Square neighborhood of Minneapolis.

Stevens Square Apartments LLC closed March 14 on the cash acquisition from a trust related to Rand Management in Minneapolis.

Michael Jacobs, senior associate, and Abe Roberts, senior vice president for investments, in Marcus & Millichap’s Minneapolis office represented the seller and procured the buyer.

The companion buildings were completed in 1917 and 1919 on a combined 0.32-acre lot at 1900-1904 First Ave. S. The sale price works out to $54,615 per unit. The average sales price per unit for apartments in the Twin Cities metro area is $153,824, according to the Finance & Commerce Apartment Sales Tracker at finance-commerce.com. The tracker has recorded the sale of 84,844 apartment units since Aug. 31, 2011.

“The interest was on par with what we expected considering the property location, condition and vintage,” Jacobs said. “We hosted 20 tours and received eight offers.”

Roberts noted that that despite the interest, the price per unit was well below the market average.

“The building was nearly 50% vacant at time of sale and had a considerable amount of deferred maintenance,” he said. “We had other offers at list price, but the seller chose to go with a cash offer with a quicker close.”

Place: 1900-1904 First Ave. S., Minneapolis

Price: $2.84 million; cash; $54,615 per unit

Buyer: Stevens Square Apartments LLC, Spring Lake Park

Seller: Robert R. Helmerichs Revocable Trust dated March 19, 2015, c/o Rand Management, Minneapolis

Date: 3-14-24

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