Two years after paying $3.5 million for a former Nestlé Ovaltine factory in St. Louis Park, Twin Cities-based Hillcrest Development sold the bulk of the 286,000-plus-square-foot property to a Minneapolis-based partnership for $22.5 million, according to a certificate of real estate value filed last week.
When Hillcrest purchased the property, which was renamed Westside Center, in August 2014, there was approximately 246,000 square feet of rentable space. Hillcrest added another structure with about 40,000 square feet for Lyman Cos.
In November 2015, Hillcrest sold about 86,000 square feet of space on the easternmost section of the property (now called 5310 West 23rd St.) to the owners of Zerorez. That portion of the project was not included in the sale.
Hillcrest managing partner Scott Tankenoff said that when the company acquired the property there wasn’t a single tenant and that the redevelopment was focused on creating high-end offices for manufacturing, food service and building products firms. New infrastructure included parking, loading docks, stormwater management, roads and landscaping.
Tankenoff said the firm had not planned on selling the property, but the buyer is an established local owner. “I was impressed with their focus toward caring for the needs of their customers (tenants),” Tankenoff said. The buyer is Westside Partners LLP, a group of investors led by Peter Mork, a commercial broker at Colliers International.
Westside Center is now fully leased with tenants that also include the Fish Guys Inc. and Paster Properties. The warehouse/office complex is at 5320 W. 23rd St. in the southwest quadrant of Hwy. 100 and Cedar Lake Trail near the Shops at West End and Luther Westside Volkswagen.
The 22.75-acre site was home to a nearly 40-year-old building that was vacant for several years after Nestlé HealthCare Nutrition Inc., which made nutritional drinks and related products, closed in 2011.
Hennepin County values the property at $10.95 million.
The deal closed Nov. 10.
Source: StarTribune
