Each Friday, we’ll look at five commercial real estate stories you should know about in the Midwest.
Here’s what going on around the region this week:
In Omaha:
Clancy’s Pub in Omaha, a fixture in the community for more than 40 years, has one more St. Patrick’s Day to celebrate. The retail plaza in which Clancy’s sits will be demolished, and become the home of a new convenience store and gas station. The new Kum & Go is expected to open in the fall of 2018.
Clancy’s will disappear once demolition starts. But the good news for the owners of the Irish pub at 72nd and Pacific Streets is that they won’t be asked to leave the space until after March 17 of 2018, St. Patrick’s Day.
This gives the owners the chance to hold one last St. Patrick’s Day bash as a goodbye celebration.
Read more about Clancy’s here
In Kansas City:
SubTroplis in Kansas City, Missouri – the underground industrial park – has always enjoyed strong support from automakers. Earlier this month, a 14th auto industry-related tenant moved into what is known as the Automotive Alley section of the park.
The Kansas City Business Journal reported that Dejana Truck & Utility Equipment has leased 90,000 square feet in Hunt Midwest’s SubTropolis. The company will be running a Ford Transit and Ford F-150 upfttingn operation here. Hunt Midwest said that the company will also lease two additional acres for staging vehicles.
Read more on this story here.
In Indianapolis:
Every city wants Amazon to choose it for the online giant’s second headquarters. But is every city lobbying for the retail giant actually able to support such a major facility?
James Briggs, a columnist at the Indianapolis Star, argues that at least one key Midwest city, Indianapolis, isn’t.
Briggs said that Amazon simply requires too much space, and that Indianapolis isn’t prepared to take on the sort of building boom that would be necessary to support the online retailer’s second campus. Briggs also worries that an influx of tens of thousands of Amazon workers would destabilize Indianapolis’ housing market, and lead to a sharp increase in housing prices, something that could hurt residents.
Read more here
In Detroit:
When you think of rejuvenation efforts in Detroit, it’s natural to think of Quicken Loans’ Dan Gilbert, who has poured plenty of money into the city’s downtown. But a recent story by Fortune Magazine points to JPMorgan as another powerhouse behind efforts to turn several Detroit neighborhoods into “20-minute” communities, places where residents can find shopping, restaurants and jobs just a short walk from their homes.
JPMorgan is the largest bank in Detroit, with Fortune reporting that it boasts a 65 percent market share in consumer banking here. The bank is now running a program known as Invested in Detroit with the goal of reviving local real estate, launching small businesses and training residents for jobs.
To read more about JPMorgan’s efforts to boost Detroit, check out the Fortune story here.
In Cedar Rapids:
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, needs more retail options in its downtown. But before it’ll get that, the city needs more people to move into its downtown core.
That’s the takeaway from a breakfast meeting sponsored by the Cedar Rapids Gazette. The Gazette reported that Cedar Rapids only has 1,500 residential units in its downtown. To attract retailers – especially a coveted grocery store – the Iowa city needs an influx of both new housing units and residents in its downtown area.
As one panelist at the meeting said, retail always follows the people. And the people – at least not in sufficient numbers – aren’t in downtown Cedar Rapids just yet.
Read more here.