Just Sold: Harbor Freight Tools store sells for $4.15 million

Submitted photo: CoStar / A new Harbor Freight Tools store at 11727 Ulysses Lane NE in Blaine has sold for $4.15 million in cash to a private buyer making a 1031 exchange investment.

Editor’s note: “Just Sold” is a Finance & Commerce feature based on certificates of real estate value recently filed for commercial transactions and significant residential transactions in Twin Cities counties. Additional details in the transactions come from 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.

By Anne Bretts
Special to Finance & Commerce

Plymouth-based HJ Development has completed a Harbor Freight Tools retail store in Blaine and sold it for $4.15 million in cash to a private buyer seeking a 1031 exchange investment.

Campbell Properties LP of Minneapolis closed Aug. 20 on the acquisition from Blaine HFT 2018 LLC, an HJ Development entity. The 16,225-square-foot building, which opened in April, is located at 11727 Ulysses Lane NE. The 1.45-acre site is part of North Central Commons, a retail area around the intersection of Highway 65 and 117th Avenue. The area includes a Lowe’s and a Walmart Supercenter. The seller bought the site for $600,000 in 2018. The store opened in April, making it the retailer’s 11th location in the state.

Tom Fritz of Stan Johnson Co. in Chicago listed the property for $4.42 million, with a 6 percent cap rate. The final sale price works out to $255.78 per square foot. Keith Sturm of Upland Real Estate Group Inc. in Minneapolis represented the buyer.

“We had multiple offers,” said Chris Moe, vice president of leasing & development and one of the HJ Development’s owners. The company has a Twin Cities portfolio of more than 1.6 million square feet of retail, office and industrial properties, but this is the company’s first project for Harbor Freight, Moe said.

Harbor Freight was founded in 1977 in Calabasas, California, as a mail-order hardware company. Today, Harbor Freight is a discount tool and equipment retailer with more than 1,000 stores and 17,000 employees.

Keith Sturm said his client was attracted to the store’s highly visible location and its 15-year net lease.

Purchase price: $4.15 million cash, part of a 1031 exchange

Price per square foot: $255.78

Last sale: Lot acquired for $600,000 in 2018

Date of deed: 8-20-19

ECRV released: 8-22-19

Submitted photo: CoStar / 10801 France Ave. S., Bloomington

Glacier Yellowstone Apartments sell for $3.45 million

Description: Glacier Yellowstone Apartments, with 30 Class C units in two low-rise buildings built in 1964 on 2.24 acres at 10801 France Ave. S. in Bloomington

Buyer: Akins Glacier Yellowstone LLC, an entity with the same address as Premier Properties, Edina

Seller: Alouise Associates LLP, Lakeville

Purchase price: $3.45 million with no down payment listed and a new mortgage

Price per unit: $115,000

The transaction: An entity whose address is the same as Edina-based Premier Properties in Edina has paid $3.45 million for the 30-unit Glacier Yellowstone Apartments at 10801 France Ave. S. in Bloomington. Akins Glacier Yellowstone LLC closed July 26 on the acquisition from Alouise Associates, a private owner in Lakeville, according to CoStar.

The building is a mix of one studio, 12 one-bedroom units and 17 two-bedroom units, from 578 to 825 square feet in size, with rents from $595 to $1,050 per month, according to CoStar.
The price works out to $115,000 per unit.

The average sales price per unit for apartments in the Twin Cities metro area is $123,586, according to the Finance & Commerce Apartment Sales Tracker at finance-commerce.com. The tracker has recorded the sale of 54,734 apartment units since Aug. 31, 2011

Last sale: N/A

Date of deed: 7-26-19

ECRV released: 8-12-19

Submitted photo: CoStar / 1515-1549 S. Fifth Ave., South St. Paul

New owner revives South St. Paul retail center 

Description: 5th Ave Plaza, a 41,846-square-foot neighborhood retail center built in 1960 on 2.77 acres at 1515-1549 S. Fifth Ave. in South St. Paul

Buyer: Lodge Properties LLC, Stillwater

Seller: Fifth Ave Shopping Ctr LP, Hopkins

Purchase price: $1.375 million

Price per square foot: $32.86

The transaction: When Tony Lodge signed a $1.375 million contract for deed in 2018 for 5th Ave Plaza, vacancies totaled 75 percent of the 59-year-old retail strip center at 1515-1549 S. Fifth Ave. in South St. Paul.

Lodge Properties LLC in Stillwater made the acquisition from Fifth Ave Shopping Ctr LP, an investor in Hopkins.

At first, luring tenants was tough, Lodge said.

“I had buckets catching rainwater as we were walking through,” he said.

When Lodge paid off the $1.375 million contract Aug. 19, however, he had 75 percent of the space leased.

It was the first time Lodge, a general contractor, had taken on a commercial property of his own, but he soon found a day care operator to take a vacant 10,000-square-foot day care for a new facility for 150 kids. A dance company took 7,000 square feet. An outpatient treatment program took a spot.
Peking Café and Vicki’s hair salon, both of whom have been there for decades, agreed to stay.

“Somehow, they saw my vision,” he said.

Today, the buckets are gone, the roof is fixed, the contract is paid off, and Lodge is working on filling the final spaces in the center.

Last sale: N/A

Date of deed: 8-19-19

ECRV released: 8-22-19