HIGHWOOD, ILL. — Interra Realty has brokered the $16.9 million sale of Station440 in Highwood, a North Shore suburb of Chicago. The 48-unit luxury apartment complex is located at 440 Green Bay Road. Constructed in 2022, the community features amenities such as covered parking, a fitness center, community room, lounge and roof deck. Craig Martin of Interra represented the seller, Benchmark Developers, and the buyer, Chicago-based HP Ventures Group.
DEERFIELD, ILL. — Bradford Allen has negotiated two leases totaling 35,000 square feet at 570 Lake Cook Road, a five-story office building in the northern Chicago suburb of Deerfield. The 138,000-square-foot office building was renovated last year. Venture X signed a 19,000-square-foot lease to open a new coworking location. Expected to open later this year, the location will be the company’s second within Chicagoland. Joel Berger of Bradford Allen represented ownership, while Vic Sanmiguel of Bespoke Commercial Real Estate represented the tenant. Planning and design consulting firm Kimley-Horn signed a long-term extension and expanded its footprint to 16,000 square feet. Berger represented ownership, while Hayden Rasmussen and Jon Azulay of Savills represented the tenant.
BEDFORD PARK, ILL. — Atlanta-based MDH Partners has completed the lease-up of 7447 S. Central Ave., a 118,218-square-foot industrial facility in the Chicago suburb of Bedford Park. Better Earth, a sustainable food service packaging company, has leased 55,718 square feet. Calvin Gunn of Lee & Associates represented the tenant, while Steve Connolly and Chris Gary of NAI Hiffman represented MDH. The property features four interior truck docks, 1,517 square feet of office space and a clear height of 21 feet. The building is one of six in the Chicago Infill Net Lease Portfolio, which MDH purchased in October 2021.
ROMEOVILLE, ILL. — Schwab Paper Products has renewed its 55,000-square-foot industrial lease at 636 Schwab Circle in the Chicago suburb of Romeoville. The manufacturer and converter of packaging materials previously owned the building, so the new five-year lease was structured in a sale-leaseback transaction. Terri Alexander of Transwestern Real Estate Services represented Schwab. Ryan Earley of Lee & Associates represented the buyer, Link Logistics.
CHICAGO — Knickpoint Ventures has topped off construction of The Fields Studios, Chicago’s first purpose-built film studio. Project costs total $250 million, according to Crain’s Chicago Business. Completion is slated for the first quarter of 2024. Plans call for nine sound stages totaling 132,000 square feet and more than 350,000 square feet of creative and production offices. The project is part of the larger redevelopment of the 1.5 million-square-foot, former Marshall Fields warehouse on the city’s Northwest side. Gov. J.B. Pritzker introduced a development subsidy to spur the growth of additional sound stage infrastructure such as The Fields Studios. In March, he signed a 10-year extension of the state’s long-standing production tax credit for filmmakers. At capacity, The Fields Studios is expected to impact the local economy by driving nearly 12,000 production-related jobs with about $1.3 billion of economic impact in its first five years. The Marshall Fields warehouse was originally built in 1928. In addition to the film studio component, the redevelopment project also includes retail, residential and office space. Cermak Fresh Market is already operating onsite and 123 new apartment units have opened.
CHICAGO — Marquette Cos. has opened The Lydian, a 279-unit luxury apartment tower located at 513 S. Damen Ave. in Chicago’s Illinois Medical District. Rising 22 stories, The Lydian is the second building constructed in a three-phase development by Marquette Cos. The firm completed the first phase in 2021 with the 18-story, 272-unit Atrio. Plans for the third phase are not yet finalized. Managed by Marquette Management, The Lydian is currently 42 percent leased. Units measure from 446 to 1,234 square feet, and monthly rents start around $1,900. Amenities include a 24-hour doorman, fitness center, yoga studio, pet spa, sundeck, outdoor pool and rooftop lounge. Marquette says it selected the name The Lydian because it is a type of yellow Mediterranean flower; it reflects the natural finishes and elements in some of the interiors; and it sounds like a destination or congregating spot.
GLENVIEW, ILL. — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of a 75,649-square-foot retail center in the Chicago suburb of Glenview for $18.1 million. Anchored by Advocate Medical, the property is 97 percent leased, with 21 of the tenants operating at the center for 16 to 30 years. Sean Sharko and Austin Weisenbeck of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, a private investor based in Chicagoland. Adrian Mendoza of Marcus & Millichap secured and represented the buyer, a Chicagoland-based limited liability company.
CHICAGO — KCB Real Estate has acquired a 26-unit multifamily property in Chicago’s Fulton Market district for an undisclosed price. Built in 2016, the asset is located at 914 W. Hubbard St. KCB plans to implement a value-add program to update the building façade and units. KCB intends to optimize operations to increase rents, which are substantially below market, according to the company. The anticipated hold period is 10 years.
BARTLETT, ILL. — Entre Commercial Realty has brokered the sale of a 3.7-acre industrial site for a build-to-suit project in Brewster Creek Business Park in the Chicago suburb of Bartlett. The corporate headquarters facility will be home to a printing and packaging company relocating from Kane County. Mike DeSerto, Cory Kay and Mike Berkowitz of Entre represented the developer, Triumph Construction. JLL represented the buyer. The deal marks the fourth build-to-suit transaction that Entre has completed in Brewster Creek Business Park on behalf of Triumph.
CHICAGO — Sam Zell, the founder and chairman of Chicago-based Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR), has died at the age of 81. An active investor in real estate since the 1960s, Zell helped revolutionize the industry through the popularization of the real estate investment trust (REIT) structure in the 1990s. Zell founded the predecessor company to Equity Residential while a student at the University of Michigan and took it public in August 1993. Under his leadership, Equity Residential grew into a $31 billion apartment owner, developer and operator. Over the years, he invested in and grew businesses in multiple industries, including real estate, manufacturing, retail, travel, healthcare and energy. Zell was an active philanthropist with a focus on entrepreneurial education. He established several entrepreneurship programs, including the Zell Lurie Institute at the University of Michigan, the Zell Fellows Program for entrepreneurship at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, the Samuel Zell & Robert Lurie Real Estate Center at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and the Zell Entrepreneurship Program at Reichman University. “The world has lost one of its greatest investors and entrepreneurs,” says Mark Parrell, Equity Residential’s president and CEO. “Sam’s insatiable intellectual curiosity and passion for dealmaking created some …
