LANSING, ILL. — Hunt Mortgage Group has provided a $26 million Fannie Mae loan for the refinancing of Riverwood Apartments in Lansing, a southern suburb of Chicago. The 354-unit apartment property is located at 3649 173rd Court. Built in 1964, the community is comprised of 10 buildings on 16 acres. Amenities include a sport court, playground, laundry area, fitness center, pool and clubhouse. The 15-year loan features a 30-year amortization schedule. The borrower, Riverwood Apartments LLC, will use the loan to pay off existing debt and facilitate a buy-out of the remaining partners.
CHICAGO — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the $10.3 million sale of 227 East Walton Place in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood. The buyers, a group of California-based private investors, plan to convert the property’s 25 condos into rental units. Built in 1956, the property is located at 227 E. Walton St. Kyle Stengle, Austin Weisenbeck, Sean Sharko and Brewster Hague of Marcus & Millichap brokered the transaction. The sale price equates to $412,000 per unit. Under the Condominium Property Act in Illinois, condo unit owners can elect to sell a condo property if 75 percent or more are in agreement. Sellers then have the option to either move out of their units or lease them back from the new owner.
CHICAGO — Planet Granite has signed a 40,000-square-foot lease to open a climbing gym at The Shops at Big Deahl in Chicago’s Lincoln Park. The freestanding facility, which will be located at the corner of Blackhawk and Dayton streets, is scheduled to open in spring 2020. The three-level gym will feature climbing walls as high as 55 feet. The facility will include roped climbing, bouldering, yoga and a retail shop. Groundbreaking is slated for spring 2019. The Shops at Big Deahl, from developer Structured Development, is slated to include 150,000 square feet of retail and commercial space.
It’s an exciting time to be part of the action in Chicago’s real estate market. While Illinois remains an “outflow” state, construction cranes dot the Chicago skyline and the city’s inflow numbers remain positive. Large employers are considering Chicago for campus-like headquarters operations and exciting markets are continuing to grow. In particular, west side blight continues to be replaced by residential growth in the West Loop, with retail services finally gaining momentum despite slow adoption by soft goods merchants. The West Loop’s immediate neighbor to the north, Fulton Market, maintains its buzz as the popular new kid in town, demonstrated by its ability to attract office tenants. Yes, office tenants. Transportation for workers, the primary objection to Fulton Market that has previously knocked it out of contention, will continue to be a challenge as public options slowly catch up to the development in the area. Employers will have to be creative in providing alternatives for new talent not within reasonable cycling or ride-sharing range. How did this happen when a decade ago the notion of office space west of the expressway was thought to be an absurd one? Because Chicago is not landlocked to the west by any natural barriers, …
SKOKIE, ILL. — HFF has arranged a $59.6 million refinancing for Old Orchard Towers in Skokie in suburban Chicago. The 349,814-square-foot Class A office complex consists of two seven-story towers. Located at 5202 and 5250 Old Orchard Road, the property is approximately 13 miles from Chicago O’Hare International Airport. The towers are 91 percent leased to 16 tenants, including National Louis University, healthcare consultant Sg2 and management consulting firm Kaufman, Hall & Associates. The property also includes a vacant 2.5-acre parcel for future development. Christopher Carroll of HFF represented the borrower, Zeller Realty Group. Ares Commercial Real Estate Corp. provided the three-year loan.
MARION, ILL. — Binswanger has brokered the sale of a 1 million-square-foot distribution center in Marion in southern Illinois. The sales price was not disclosed. The Class A facility is located on 72 acres at 1100 Glen Clarida Drive. The building, originally constructed in 1999, underwent an expansion in 2004 and a renovation in 2013. Clear heights range from 32 to 37 feet. Zach Binswanger of Binswanger represented the seller in the transaction. Neither the buyer nor the seller was disclosed.
Construction Begins at Innovation and Research Park at Rosalind Franklin University in North Chicago
NORTH CHICAGO, ILL. — Construction is underway at the new Innovation and Research Park at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in North Chicago. Academic and industry scientists and entrepreneurs will use the property to translate the university’s biomedical research into new treatments for disease. The university hired Cushman & Wakefield to attract international and national bioscience companies to the new science park. The four-story, 100,000-square-foot addition to the campus will feature laboratories as well as conferencing and office space for faculty, commercial startups, and healthcare and life science companies. The University Finance Foundation and Gateway Development completed the $53 million financing for the expansion late last year. Completion is expected by summer 2019.
SHILOH, ILL. — Contegra Construction Co. has broken ground on a $26 million apartment development in Shiloh, about 20 miles east of St. Louis. Known as Thirteen01 at Hartman Lakes, the property will include 216 units on 17 acres. The first of nine apartment buildings in Phase I is scheduled to be available for lease by November. The entire community is slated for completion in July 2019. Community amenities will include a fitness room, pool, fire pit, walking trail and two lakes. One-bedroom apartment rents will start at $950 per month and two-bedroom units at $1,250 per month. Greenmount Retail Center LLC is the developer.
EVANSTON, ILL. — Investcorp has sold its ownership stake in Orrington Plaza, a 20-story office tower in downtown Evanston. The sales price was not disclosed. Golub & Co., which purchased the asset with Investcorp in 2013, will maintain an ownership stake in the building by co-investing with a new institutional capital partner and will continue to operate, manage and lease the property. Located at 1603 Orrington Ave., the property features 309,000 square feet of office space and 30,000 square feet of retail space. Next of Kinship restaurant and café as well as a full-service JP Morgan Chase branch occupy the retail portion. Paul Lundstedt and Dan Deuter of CBRE represented the sellers. The new capital partner is GEM Realty, according to local media reports.
CHICAGO — Wintrust Bank has provided a $21 million loan for the acquisition of a five-property industrial portfolio totaling 665,903 square feet in metro Chicago. The portfolio includes: 550-600 North Commons in Aurora; 710-854 Foster Ave. in Bensenville; 1400-1538 Elmhurst Road in Elk Grove Village; 3456 North Ridge Ave. in Arlington Heights; and 8220 North Austin Ave. in Morton Grove. Christopher Carroll and Jason Bond of HFF arranged the financing on behalf of the borrower, Clear Height Properties. The seller was not disclosed.