12/10/2004 - LA firm buys half of Vanderbilt plant
Graham & Co. and Graham Investment Partnership sold a 50 percent interest in the Vanderbilt Distribution Center to R&H Investments of Los Angeles for $2.4 million. The 161,000-square-foot warehouse and manufacturing plant is located at 3340 Vanderbilt Road.
Graham redeveloped the facility, which has a 77,000-square-foot lease to Bridgestone/Firestone company GCR Tire Centers and the remainder available for lease. Graham broker Jack Key represented the seller in the transaction.
Key was also in charge of land acquisition for MB Vance LLC's purchase of 45 acres in Vance. The site will be home to a 515,000-square-foot Mercedes-Benz Service Parts warehouse across Interstate 20/59 from the automaker's plant.
Graham's Mike Graham will oversee development. Graham broker Sonny Culp handled lease negotiations. DesignForm Inc. is architect and Cooper Construction Inc. is building the facility, scheduled to open in November 2005.
Graham broker Claude Tindle recently sold the 103,752-square-foot former Square D warehouse facility in Montevallo to an investment group for $700,000. Tindle leased the two buildings that make up the complex to Summer Classics and Woodgrain MillSource in June.
Accounting firm Ernst & Young has renewed its lease at the AmSouth-Harbert building and will consolidate its Birmingham offices to the entire 19,492-square-foot 12th floor. Dan Lovell and Walter Brown of Graham along with Grubb & Ellis represented E&Y in the transaction. The landlord was represented by Harbert Realty Services.
Brown also represented the landlord in Medmined Inc.'s expansion into 12,300 square feet in Highpoint Office Center, taking up the entire third floor of the Walker Building.
Graham's Ogden Deaton brokered Modular Connections' lease of 72,000 square feet and 13 acres in the Pine Valley Industrial Park for its corporate office and an assembly and distribution warehouse.
Other recent construction deals include:
Doster Construction Co. is building $18.5 million, 101,000-square-foot UAB Research Support Building with research laboratories, offices, holding and procedure suites and building support spaces. Site work includes sidewalks, paving, landscaping and an irrigation system.
Gary C. Wyatt Inc. has won a $30 million contract to build the new 250,000-square-foot Gadsden High School. The project includes an 800-seat auditorium and numerous sports facilities as part of the 53-acre campus.
Cooper Construction Co. is nearing completion of the 50,000-square-foot third phase of construction on the New South Express building in Talladega County. Another 50,000-square-foot fourth phase should be done by April 2005. Cooper built the original 230,000-square-foot facility in 2000 and added 220,000 square feet in 2003 for the company, which sequences parts for the Honda plant in Lincoln. FormWorks Architects designed the project.
Designform Inc. designed a new corporate campus for Birmingham-based Imaging Business Machines being built in Irondale. The project includes renovating an existing 37,000-square-foot building; constructing a new 10,000-square-foot, two-story executive office building; building a 1,800-square-foot entrance lobby, museum and gathering space; adding a 6,000-square-foot training center; and a 6,000-square-foot engineering wing expansion. Landscaping and walking trails are also part of the plan, which calls for construction to begin in early 2005.
Southeastern Interior Concepts Inc. has won a $1.9 million flooring and ceramic tile contract for military housing at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, N.C.
AUM Properties LLC has broken ground on a new 75-room Fairfield Inn & Suites hotel on Morris Avenue and Walker Chapel Road in Fultondale. It is set to be completed by July 2005 and will feature an indoor heated pool, spa, meeting facilities and fitness center.
Advance Auto Parts has opened a 7,000-square-foot store at 301 Fieldstown Road in Gardendale.
