CHICAGO — The Boulder Group has arranged the sale of a PNC Bank ground lease in Chicago for $4 million. The single-tenant property is located at 8700 S. Cottage Grove Ave. near I-94. There are 22 years remaining on the original 30-year PNC Bank ground lease. Randy Blankstein and Jimmy Goodman of The Boulder Group represented the seller, an East Coast-based real estate partnership. Jon Busse of Colliers International represented the buyer, Burlingame Midland LLC. The new owner completed a 1031 exchange for the recent sale of a retail property occupied by Home Depot in Midland, Mich.
Illinois
GREEN OAKS, ILL. — Colliers International has brokered the sale of Green Oaks Business Center in Green Oaks, about 40 miles north of Chicago. The sales price was not disclosed. The three-building industrial portfolio totals 462,300 square feet. The facilities feature clear heights of 24 to 28 feet, ESFR sprinkler systems, 48 docks and parking for 270 autos. At the time of sale, the portfolio was 86 percent occupied by five tenants. Jeff Devine and Steve Disse of Colliers represented the seller, New York Life Investment. A comingled fund managed by Dermody Properties was the buyer.
CHICAGO — Newmark Knight Frank has been tasked with completing the lease-up of 625 West Adams, a new 438,184-square-foot speculative office building in Chicago’s West Loop. A joint venture between White Oak Realty Partners, Vanderbilt Partners, CA Office and USAA Real Estate Co. owns the property, which is slated to open in April. Amenities include a fitness center, 1,000-person auditorium, tenant lounge, conference center and 400-car parking garage. Jon Cordell, Bill Rolander and Jason Houze of NKF will lead the brokerage team. Martin Wolf of Solomon Cordwell Buenz & Associates designed the property. Power Construction was the general contractor.
DOWNERS GROVE, ILL. — Bianco Properties has acquired Main Street Square in Downers Grove for an undisclosed price. The 56,000-square-foot shopping center is located at the intersection of Butterfield and Finley roads near I-355. Tenants include Duluth Trading Co., H&R Block and Subway. This is Bianco’s fifth acquisition in the Chicago metro. Mid-America Real Estate Corp. brokered the sale on behalf of a Denver-based private investor, according to the Daily Herald.
ITASCA, ILL. — The Opus Group has completed a new corporate headquarters for the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in Itasca. The 183,000-square-foot building will be home to 455 employees and serve as a national hub for the organization’s 66,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical sub-specialists and pediatric surgical specialists. The build-to-suit property is located within the Hamilton Lakes Business Park and features 81 rooms for meeting space. Eric Kunkel and Schott Ohlander of JLL began assisting AAP with locating property for the project in 2014. Opus Design Build was the design-builder for the project, while Stantec was the architect of record. Opus Development Co. provided development support services.
CHICAGO — Hilco Redevelopment Partners, a unit of Hilco Global, has acquired the Crawford Power Generating Station site in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood for an undisclosed price. NRG Energy sold the site, which had previously operated as a coal-fired power plant beginning in the late 1920s before being decommissioned in 2012. Hilco plans to demolish the facility and replace it with up to 1 million square feet of warehouse space as part of a $100 million project, according to the Chicago Tribune. Remediation work is slated to begin soon and may take anywhere from 14 to 24 months, depending on site conditions.
LAKE ZURICH, ILL. — JLL has arranged the sale of a 117,000-square-foot industrial facility in Lake Zurich, about 40 miles northwest of Chicago. The sales price was not disclosed. The facility is located on a 9.9-acre site at 800 N. Church St. The property features a clear height of 24 feet, 275 auto parking spaces, eight docks, fully air-conditioned warehouse space and 19,000 square feet of office space. Steve Trapp and Steve Steinmeyer represented the buyer, an affiliated entity of Midwest Industrial Funds (MIF). Nick Panarese of Van Vlissingen and Co. represented the undisclosed seller. The deal comes just months after MIF announced that the company had raised a new real estate investment fund, MIF Value Fund II LP, to purchase over $150 million of industrial properties over the next few years, according to JLL.
Back in mid-2017, in a piece that was published right here in Heartland Real Estate Business, I talked about what might be in store for the remainder of the year. Specifically, I wrote that while “concerns about oversupply will likely persist in many [Midwestern] markets,” the outlook was not as grim as some industry analysts had been forecasting — a “second wind in the hotel sector” was “helping to calm the waters.” The general sense was that we would continue to see moderate growth. Happily for hoteliers across the Midwest, the market has played out fairly close to those predictions. A generally better-than-expected second half of the year didn’t allay everyone’s concerns, of course. I participated in an investor call recently with some of our lenders and their local analysts, and they were still talking about the threat of oversupply. They expressed some concerns about the prospect of the hotel boom in my home market of Chicago turning into a bust. Oversupply is a valid concern. From where I stand, however, the pattern over the past six to 12 months is not showing any real sign of changing. While the rate of growth has slowed slightly, the demand side of …
SCHAUMBURG, ILL. — Associated Bank has provided a $14.5 million refinancing and construction loan for a multi-tenant retail project in Schaumburg. Known as Woodfield Gatherings, the three-building project is located near Woodfield Mall. The 30,074-square-foot retail property was formerly home to a parking lot for a J.C. Penney store. Chuy’s, Naf Naf Grill, Mod Pizza and Honey Grow have all signed leases at the new development. Chuy’s is currently open for business, while the remaining tenants will open in April. Daniel Barrins of Associated Bank originated the loan on behalf of the borrower, Shorewood Development Group.
CHICAGO — National Express LLC has signed a 98,840-square-foot industrial lease on Chicago’s South Side. The transportation company will occupy the space at 2005 W. 43rd St. starting in the second quarter of this year. The company is relocating from the Fulton Market neighborhood in order to have more parking options. Mitch Adams and Nicole Mentone of CBRE represented the landlord, Avgeris & Associates, in the lease transaction. Chris Gary of NAI Hiffman represented the tenant.