CICERO, ILL. — Associated Bank has provided a $3.8 million loan for the acquisition of two industrial buildings in Cicero. The borrower, JSM Venture Inc., plans to convert a 115,379-square-foot building into a 693-unit self-storage facility. The property, located at 1309 S. Cicero Ave., was formerly home to Brad Foote Gear Works. The self-storage facility will be climate-controlled and span 63,587 net rentable square feet. JSM’s acquisition also includes a 28,000-square-foot building that will either be demolished and paved for parking or improved and leased at a market rate. JSM is a Northfield, Ill.-based self-storage development company headed by John S. Mengel. Daniel Barrins of Associated Bank originated the loan, terms of which were not disclosed.
OAK LAWN, ILL. — The Boulder Group has arranged the $16 million sale of a single-tenant property net leased to Jewel-Osco in Oak Lawn, a southwest suburb of Chicago. The 47,370-square-foot property is situated on 3.6 acres at 4650 W. 103rd St. Randy Blankstein and Jimmy Goodman of Boulder represented both parties in the sale. A Southwest-based private real estate investment company sold the asset to an investor based in Australia.
CHICAGO — Puratos, a Belgium-based international food science company, has signed a 6,668-square-foot lease to occupy space at Mural Park. The office will operate as an innovation center to expand the company’s U.S. footprint and service its Midwest clients. Jeff Dowdell, Katie Steele and William Briggs of Transwestern represented the landlord, Condor Partners, in the lease transaction with Puratos. Mural Park is a 200,000-square-foot creative office project in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood that involves the transformation of two existing industrial buildings from the early 1900s. The project is now 18 percent pre-leased. Anchor tenant 5 Rabbit Cerveceria is slated to open in early 2019. Maverick Commercial Mortgage Inc. arranged $33.7 million in construction financing. An East Coast-based mortgage REIT provided the financing.
SKOKIE, ILL. — Meridian Capital Group has arranged a $6.3 million loan for the refinancing of Fairway Executive Building, a 64,000-square-foot office building in Skokie. Located at 8707 Skokie Blvd., the Class A property rises four stories. Features include an indoor parking garage, a redesigned lobby and a conference room. Weiss Properties purchased the asset as a distressed property in 2010 and invested significant funds to remodel and re-tenant the property. Gershon Friedman of Meridian arranged the 10-year CMBS loan, which features a 4.84 percent rate.
BENSENVILLE, ILL. — Colliers International has negotiated the sale of United Business Mail’s industrial facility in Bensenville for $4.9 million. The 81,084-square-foot warehouse is situated on 3.2 acres at 1001 Foster Ave. The building features a clear height of 22 feet, parking for 68 cars, three interior docks and three exterior docks. Steve Kohn of Colliers represented United Business Mail in the transaction. Doug Pilcher of Cushman & Wakefield represented the buyer, Midwest Distribution, which plans to move its headquarters to the facility.
CHICAGO — Kiser Group has brokered the $4.5 million condo deconversion sale of a 20-unit property in Chicago’s East Lincoln Park neighborhood. Originally built in the late 1950s as a condominium development, the property features four studio, 14 one- and two two-bedroom units. The units range from 550 to 1,200 square feet. The property is located at 512 W. Wrightwood Ave. An affiliate of Horizon Realty Group purchased the property from 512 Wrightwood Condominium Association. 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.
BOLINGBROOK, ILL. — Bridge Development Partners has purchased Fountain Square Commerce Center, a four-building industrial business park in Bolingbrook, for $73.5 million. Jeff Devine and Steve Disse of Colliers International represented the seller, Conor Commercial and partner LaSalle Investment Management. The buildings span 741,586 square feet. At the time of sale, two of the buildings were fully leased. The remaining 439,099 square feet are available for lease. Completed in 2016, the buildings feature a clear height of 32 feet. Bridge Development plans to develop a 216,320-square-foot speculative facility on the adjoining 12 vacant acres, which were also included in the sale.
LOCKPORT, ILL. — Gruma Corp. has signed a 61,163-square-foot industrial lease at 14407 S. Gougar Road in Lockport, 30 miles southwest of Chicago. Dan Leahy, Mark Moran and John Whitehead of NAI Hiffman represented the landlord, ML Realty Partners, in the lease transaction. Britt Casey and Al Caruana of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant. Gruma is a food company most known for the production of Mission tortillas.
NAPERVILLE, ILL. — Franklin Partners has unveiled its redevelopment plans for the former OfficeMax headquarters in Naperville. Known as The Shuman, the five-story office building, located at 263 Shuman Blvd., will include a 30,000-square-foot amenity space. This includes a dining hall, in-house barista, game room, golf simulator and bike room. Franklin Partners acquired the 350,000-square-foot building in a joint venture with Bixby Bridge Capital in April. The building had been vacant since 2014 when OfficeMax, now a subsidiary of Office Depot, moved its headquarters to Boca Raton, Fla. Francis Prock and David Florent of Colliers International will market the renovated property for lease. Wright Heerema Architects is the project architect. Construction is underway, but a timeline for completion was not disclosed.
PLAINFIELD, ILL. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of Lincolnshire Court Apartments in Plainfield for $7.5 million. The property consists of four buildings on South Wood Farm Road. Built in 2002, the property features balconies, in-unit washers and dryers, garage parking and off-street parking. Andrean Angelov and Ryan Engle of Marcus & Millichap marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a private investor. The team also procured the California-based buyer.