CHICAGO — Fitness club Equinox has signed a 40,000-square-foot lease at 919 West Fulton in Chicago’s Fulton Market. Fulton Street Cos. is currently under development on the 375,000-square-foot, 11-story office building. Amenities will include a conference center, tenant lounge and ground-floor retail space. Harrison Street signed a 100,000-square-foot lease to anchor the property in October 2023. Completion is slated for March 2025. Equinox currently operates 109 clubs worldwide. Equinox Fulton Market will be the group’s fifth location in downtown Chicago.
CHICAGO — Glenstar has recapitalized Presidents Plaza in Chicago with a private investor. The two-tower office complex is situated near O’Hare International Airport at 8600-8700 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. In addition to purchasing the 831,442-square-foot complex for $62 million, Glenstar and its equity partner have set aside capital to fund tenant improvements. Additionally, Glenstar has allocated nearly $16 million to build spec suites along with upgrading amenities and common areas. Initial plans call for a golf simulator and common area improvements to round out the amenities added during the property’s recent $34 million renovation. Upgrades included a redevelopment of the three-story atrium lobby, three-level health club, fully renovated lounge, café with full seating and 6,300-square-foot conference center. Dan Deuter, Tom Sitz and Cody Hundertmark of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller in the sales transaction, which closed Oct. 22. Glenstar has served as the property and asset manager of Presidents Plaza since 2006.
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Dual Appraisal Methods Improve Opportunities to Get Fair Taxation for Seniors Housing Properties
By Phil Brusk and Caleb Vahcic of Siegel Jennings Co. L.P.A. The seniors housing sector can’t seem to catch a break. Owners grappling with staffing shortages and other operational hardships lingering from the pandemic are facing new challenges related to debt and spiraling costs. High interest rates and loan maturations loom over the industry, with $19 billion in loans coming due within the next 24 months, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s “H1 2024 Market Trends and Investor Survey” on senior living and care. Factors driving high costs include wage pressures, inflation and — incredibly — rising property taxes. Despite operational challenges and declining occupancy at many facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic, property tax relief for seniors housing was mixed. Many assessors resisted downward adjustments to taxable values, maintaining that recovery was around the corner. Now, seniors housing operators face property tax assessments that equal or exceed pre-pandemic levels. As in the hospitality sector, most seniors housing owners understand that their operating properties include more value components than real property alone. In evaluating whether a tax assessment is reasonable and fair, however, owners need to realize that how an assessor addresses their real estate, personal property and intangible assets can drastically …
JOLIET, ILL. — The Boulder Group has brokered the $2.1 million sale of a 3,500-square-foot retail property net leased to Sherwin-Williams in Joliet. The single-tenant building is located along Plainfield Road. Randy Blankstein and Jimmy Goodman of Boulder represented the seller, a Midwest-based real estate company. The buyer was a Southeast-based real estate investor. There are over eight years remaining on the lease with three five-year renewal options. The lease features 10 percent rental escalations every five years.
CHICAGO, BUFFALO GROVE AND MOKENA, ILL. — JLL Capital Markets has arranged a $63 million loan for the refinancing of a five-building industrial portfolio in metro Chicago. The portfolio comprises the following properties: Asbury Drive, a 157,000-square-foot building in Buffalo Grove; Rockwell Logistics Center, a 174,262-square-foot property in Chicago; Mokena Logistics I and II, two buildings totaling 268,226 square feet in Mokena; and Halsted Pershing Business Center, a 104,008-square-foot asset in the Stockyards submarket of Chicago. The properties total 703,996 square feet with suites ranging from 25,100 to 174,262 square feet. The portfolio is home to 10 tenants spanning industries such as IT, electronics manufacturing, healthcare, construction, food distribution and government agencies. Colby Mueck, Brian Walsh and Tara Hagerty of JLL arranged the five-year, fixed-rate loan on behalf of the owner, Stream Realty Partners.
CHICAGO — Development Solutions Inc. (DSI) and Karis Cold have broken ground on Stockyards Cold, a 100,000-square-foot cold storage facility in Chicago’s McKinley Park neighborhood. The project is situated on five acres at 3815 S. Ashland Ave. Completion is slated for the third quarter of 2025. Stockyards Cold will feature technology capable of maintaining temperatures as low as minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit. The project marks the first cold storage facility in Chicago to offer a clear height of 50 feet, according to the development team. Customizable features will include blast freezing, automated racking and advanced temperature monitoring systems. John Basile of NAI Hiffman is the leasing agent.
SPRINGFIELD, ILL. — Related Midwest has completed a $46.5 million redevelopment of Poplar Place, a 100-unit affordable housing community in Springfield. The property opened in 1950. Related Midwest completed the redevelopment through a collaboration with the City of Springfield, the Springfield Housing Authority and Illinois Housing Development Authority. LR Contracting Co., Related’s in-house construction arm, spearheaded the 15-month project, reducing density and fully renovating 75 buildings. The community now comprises 50 single-family and 25 duplex homes, which are fully occupied. Related also created 2.5 acres of green space for social and recreational use. Additionally, a new community center features a kitchen, management office, outdoor playground and walking paths. Financing for the project came from the Illinois Housing Development Authority, Springfield Housing Authority, Heartland Bank and Trust Co., Red Stone Equity Partners and CVS Health. Evan Lloyd Architects designed the redevelopment. Monthly rents range from $800 to $925. Qualified incomes for the income-restricted apartments range from $44,400 to $83,640.
CHICAGO — Interra Realty has negotiated the $12 million sale of The Bel in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood. The property at 937-41 W. Belmont Ave. comprises 37 apartment units and two ground-floor commercial spaces. Built in 2019, the transit-oriented development consists of eight studios, 27 one bedrooms and two two-bedroom layouts along with two retail spaces totaling approximately 4,000 square feet. The commercial units are leased to Pedestrian Coffee and Devil Dawgs. Joe Smazal and Mark Dykstra of Interra represented the local private buyer. The duo represented the seller, a local private developer, along with colleague Lucas Fryman.
CHICAGO — Chicago-based Cresa has acquired Pacific Program Management (PPM), a project management firm based in Seattle and serving North America. The multimillion-dollar merger integrates PPM’s 180 professionals into Cresa’s existing project management group, creating a team of 280 professionals across 35 markets throughout North America. PPM CEO Clark Lindsay will assume the role of managing principal and president of project management at Cresa, while Mark Wanic, Christy McFall and Sandra Yencho will assume key leadership positions. PPM has expertise in portfolio program management, workplace consulting, capital project management and transition and relocation management. Lindsay founded PPM, then Lindsay & Associates, in 2009. The company serves owners, developers, investors and occupiers in the food and beverage, medical, life sciences, retail, e-commerce, gaming, entertainment, data center and technology industries. Cresa’s project management division, which is tenant-focused, is an integrated service that functions both as a standalone and a complement to its transaction management and workplace strategy teams. The acquisition of PPM marks Cresa’s seventh purchase in the past two years.
HILLSIDE, ILL. — Dynamic Manufacturing Inc., a family-owned and operated automotive manufacturer, has signed a 79,532-square-foot industrial lease at 4160-4190 Madison St. in Hillside, a western suburb of Chicago. The tenant will occupy the entire facility, which is part of a seven-building portfolio that EQT Exeter recently acquired. The property features a clear height of 19.5 feet, LED lighting, four dock doors, two drive-in doors and ample car parking. Corey Chase of Newmark represented the tenant.