Just Sold: Davids acquires former EJM Pipe HQ in Columbus

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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, CoStar and other research.

Davids Hydro Vac, a growing St. Paul excavation company looking for a home with more space, has found one in Columbus.

Loyal Oak Management LLC of White Bear Lake, an entity related to Davids, has paid $7.35 million for a 7,700-square-foot corporate headquarters and 33,000-square-foot warehouse at 14461 Lake Drive NE, Columbus. The office is designed as an upscale log cabin, complete with a fireplace. The warehouse includes six drive-thru doors and 26 feet of clear height.

The seller was Montgomery Family Partnership LLP in Lino Lakes, an entity related to EJM Pipe Services Inc., which moved its operations to the Madison, Wisconsin, area.

Davids uses high-pressure water and vacuum instead of trenches to install pipes and complete other excavation projects.

The sale closed March 1.

Marty Fisher of Premier Commercial Properties in Coon Rapids represented the seller.

Date: 3-1-21

Place: 14461 Lake Drive NE, Columbus

Price: $7.35 million

Buyer: Loyal Oak Management LLC, White Bear Lake

Seller: Montgomery Family Partnership LLP, Lino Lakes

Date: 3-1-21

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Spirit Mountain hotel sells for $3.925 million

An entity related to hotel veteran Ted Kavajecz has sold the 69-room Best Western Plus Spirit Mountain at 9330 W. Skyline Parkway in Proctor to a private investor for $3.925  million. Maplewood Hospitality LLC in Duluth closed March 31 on the sale to Hariom Hospitality Seven LLC in Aitkin. The price works out to $56,884 per room.

The private buyer declined to identify herself, but confirmed the acquisition and shared that it’s one of nine hotel properties the investors own in northern Minnesota.

The hotel, formerly a Country Inn & Suites Duluth South was built in 1996 and renovated in 2001 on 1.97 acres along Interstate 35, at the entry to Duluth 7 miles from downtown. It serves the Spirit Mountain Ski area.

The seller bought the property in 2006 for $3.835 million.

Best Western Hotels & Resorts, which is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, is part of the BWH Hotel Group global network, which includes 18 brands and approximately 4,700 hotels in more than 100 countries and territories worldwide.

Over many years, Kavajecz and his son, Rocky Kavajecz, have been involved in the ownership of a number of hotels in Duluth, on the Iron Range, in St. Cloud and in northwest Wisconsin.

Place: 9330 W. Skyline Parkway Proctor

Price: $3.925 million; $735,000 down payment; new mortgage; 1031 exchange; $56,884 per room

Buyer: Hariom Hospitality Seven LLC, Aitkin

Seller: Maplewood Hospitality LLC, Duluth

Date: 3-31-21

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Monticello apartments draw $8.4 million

An entity related to Big Lake-based Briggs Cos. has closed on the $8.4 million sale of its recently completed 47-unit Rivertown Residential Suites in Monticello to a buyer group related to Granite City Real Estate in St. Cloud.

GCRE-Rivertown LLC closed April 9 on the acquisition from Rivertown Residential Suites LLC, an entity related to Patrick Briggs of Briggs Cos., which developed and built the apartment building at 212 Locust St. to bring more apartments to the downtown of the Mississippi River town of about 5,000, located 35 miles northwest of Minneapolis.

The infill project was approved for an extra floor to fit the site, said Mike Bobick of Granite City. The result is a four-story building with underground parking and screened balconies.

“It may be the tallest building in Monticello,” Bobick said of the project.

The building includes three studios, 27 one-bedroom units and 17 two-bedroom units, ranging in size from 480 square feet to 1,016 square feet and rents ranging from $1,050 to $1,288 per month.

The price works out to $178,723 per unit. The average sales price per unit for apartments in the Twin Cities metro area is $139,587 according to the Finance & Commerce Apartment Sales Tracker at finance-commerce.com. The tracker has recorded the sale of 62,188 apartment units since Aug. 31, 2011.

“The buyer is a fund that we’ve put together,” Bobick said of the Granite City entity.

And while some apartment sellers are marketing to buyers all over the country, Bobick said he has the most success with old-fashioned outreach to owners of other properties in the area.

“It’s people who live right there and know the market,” he said of the typical buyer.

The same Granite City Fund closed March 31 on the $2 million acquisition of the 36-unit Elk River Lodge and Residential Suites at 17432 Zane St. NW in Elk River. Briggs converted the property from a boutique hotel to apartments.

Place: 212 Locust St., Monticello

Price: $8.4 million; no down payment; new mortgage; $178,723 per unit

Buyer: GCRE-Rivertown LLC, St. Cloud

Seller: Rivertown Residential Suites LLC, Big Lake

Date: 4-9-21

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