Just Sold: Big River pays $10.5M for Rankin Business Center

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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.

Minneapolis-based Big River Real Estate has added to its third investment fund portfolio, paying veteran investor Stuart Ackerberg’s namesake company $10.5 million for the 111,190-square-foot Rankin Business Center in St. Paul.

That’s $2 million more than Ackerberg paid in 2016. The property was one of six projects in a joint venture equity fund Ackerberg launched in 2014.

In the current sale, Big River Rankin LLC closed July 28 on the acquisition from Acky-Rankin LLC. The sale included the 54-year-old multitenant industrial building and 5.5 acres at 1133 S. Rankin St., along the west bank of the Mississippi River. The price, which includes a $3,727,500 down payment and new mortgage, works out to $94.43 per square foot.

The two-story Class C building, known for its distinctive blue façade, includes four exterior docks, 16 drive-in doors and up to 14-foot ceiling height. Tenants include a storage facility for U.S. Bancorp, Road Rescue Emergency Vehicles and ACE Speech and Language Clinic LLC.

Ryan P. Mallery, Big River CEO and fund manager, said this week he bought the property directly from Ackerberg.

“They reached out to me a few months ago and we agreed to terms after a brief negotiation,” Mallery said.

The property is part of Big River’s Fund 3, which is just shy of 500,000 square feet of industrial space located across the Twin Cities metro. Big River now owns and operates about 1 million square feet of industrial space in two funds named Fund 2 and Fund 3.  Fund 1 was round-tripped and liquidated in 2018.  Mallery plans to raise a fourth fund in early 2022.

Place: 1133 S. Rankin Street, St. Paul

Price: $10.5 million; $3,727,500 down payment; new mortgage; $94.43 per square foot

Buyer: Big River Rankin LLC, Minneapolis

Seller: Acky-Rankin LLC, Minneapolis

Date: 7-28-21

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Fargo buyers take over Lake Winnibigoshish family resort

Buyers from Fargo, North Dakota have paid $3 million for Four Seasons Resort in Bena, run by Arden and Jeanette Thompson and their family members since 1976

Games By Dorks LLC closed July 28 on the purchase of the property, located at 952 River Drive NW in Bena.

David Moe, one of the broker-owners of Lake Country Resort Sales in Pequot Lakes, listed the property.

COVID-19 restrictions over past 18 months have generated new business for family resorts easily accessible by car, especially those where guests can have their own cabins and do their own cooking, he said. Interest has remained strong this summer as restrictions have eased, Moe said.

Buyers can find resort listings from Bemidji to Ely, with prices from $700,000 to $3 million and above. Prices are low enough that they often draw people changing careers in their 50s, but the combination of higher revenue, low interest rates and the options of working remotely are letting people make the transition sooner.

“We’re getting more inquiries from younger folks,” Moe said.

Four Seasons drew significant interest.

“It’s a well-run resort,” he said. The property includes 18 cabins, two pools, RV campsites, a lodge with game room and a marina on Lake Winnebigoshish.

It also has a loyal following.

Arden and Jeanette Thompson bought the resort and ran it with sons Jeff, Joe, Steve and Paul as they grew up, according to the Four Seasons website. In 1984, Joe and his wife, Tami, returned to help manage the resort, and in 1999, Joe and Tami and their kids, David, Mark and Alison, took over the operation.

While buyer interest in resorts is strong, there’s just one catch, Moe said. Some owners who have struggled through slow years are postponing sales as they enjoy the boom.

Place: 952 River Drive NW, Bena

Price: $3 million; no down payment listed; new mortgage

Buyer: Games By Dorks LLC, Fargo, North Dakota

Seller: Arden and Jeanette Thompson, Bena

Date: 7-20-21

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