CHICAGO — SVN has brokered the $5 million sale of a three-story office building located in Chicago’s Fulton Market district. The 18,000-square-foot building is located at 170 N. Halsted St. Scott R. Maesel of SVN represented the buyer, Shapack Partners and Focus Development. The site, along with an adjacent north parcel, will encompass a future 250,000-square-foot office building. The seller was an owner-user who operated Aaron’s Machinery at the location for more than 40 years.
At a time when the development of new retail power centers across metro Chicago has been at a record low since chain store proliferation first started back in the early 1980s, south suburban Cook County has suddenly seen a turnaround with the addition of two new freestanding Walmart stores and one new Meijer store. These three openings occurred within months of each other in 2016 and represent approximately 560,000 square feet of the 1.36 million square feet of new retail construction that opened across the greater Chicago market last year. The historical challenges for retailers attempting to operate stores in south suburban Cook County are no secret: out of control property taxes, often double or triple that of locations in DuPage or Will counties; a high sales tax; a shrinking population base; and a shift in retail spending to other markets. The cumulative effect was the January of 2015 closure of the Lincoln Mall in Matteson, located about 30 miles south of downtown Chicago, and increased retail vacancy rates in the area. Full-service grocery stores in the Matteson area also have been on the decline following the closure of Jewel, Dominick’s, Cub Foods and Walmart all within five years starting …
EAST MOLINE, ILL. — Newmark Grubb Knight Frank (NGKF) has arranged the sale of a 95,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in East Moline, part of the Quad Cities area. The Quad Cities includes Rock Island and Moline, Ill., and Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa. The acquisition was valued at more than $5 million. The building is located at 500 36th St., and comprises 87,320 square feet of warehouse space and 7,680 square feet of office space. The property features eight dock doors, two drive-in doors and 16-foot clear heights. The facility is 100 percent leased to JMF Co., a subsidiary of Zheijiang Hailiang Co. LTD. Jeffrey Miller of NGKF and Ben Yeggy of Gomez May LLP represented the undisclosed buyer in the acquisition. Chris Wilkins of NAI Ruhl Commercial Co. and Dick Davidson of Lane & Waterman LLP represented the seller, Bears in Bettendorf LC.
CHICAGO — Cushman & Wakefield has brokered the sale of a 1.2-acre retail site on Chicago’s southwest side for $2 million. The buyer, a private investor and developer, plans to redevelop the site into a retail shopping center. The property, located at 5501 S. Kedzie Ave. in Chicago’s Gage Park, was most recently home to a Bank of America branch. The area is traveled by more than 54,000 vehicles per day, and more than 62,000 people live within a mile of the site. Nicholas Kanich of Cushman & Wakefield represented both the buyer and the seller, 5501 S. Kedzie LLC. The buyer plans to break ground on the shopping center this spring.
ROMEOVILLE, ILL. — The Opus Group has unveiled plans to construct a 111,345-square-foot, speculative industrial building in Romeoville. 101 Paragon will be the second and final phase of the company’s project at Paragon Business Park. Two other speculative industrial developments were constructed in 2016. 101 Paragon will feature 30-foot clear heights, 12 loading docks and 16 trailer parking positions. Completion is slated for August 2017. Opus Development Co. LLC is the developer, Opus Design Build LLC is the design-builder and Opus AE Group LLC is the architect and structural engineer. Jason West and Sean Henrick of Cushman & Wakefield will market the property for lease.
CHICAGO — Home Chef has signed a 29,095-square-foot office lease at the Wrigley Building in Chicago. The site will serve as the weekly meal delivery service’s new headquarters. Home Chef previously occupied headquarters space at 225 West Ohio St. The company will occupy the 14th floor of both the North and South Wrigley Towers, which are connected by a sky bridge. John Skalla and Craig Nadborne of Bradford Allen competed the lease transaction on behalf of Home Chef. The transaction is a sublease between Home Chef and Extreme Reach, which was represented by John Ziesmer and Kevin Moore of Avison Young.
JOLIET, ILL. — Peak Construction Corp. has broken ground on a new 80,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution center for Blue Ribbon Product Co. in Joliet, south of Naperville. The seven-acre site is located in IDI Gazeley’s Rock Run Business Park. The warehouse and distribution center will include 6,000 square feet of corporate office space, a custom-designed training/tasting room, two break rooms, a 4,500-square-foot cooler, a 500-square-foot repacking room, four dock positions and three drive-through loading lanes with possible expansion into a fourth. The project is slated for completion at the end of June. Mike Fonda, Hugh Williams, Matt Knafel and Anne McGrath of Avison Young represented the tenant. Peak has teamed up with Partners in Design Architects Inc. and Jacob & Hefner Associates on the project.
AURORA, ILL. — Evergreen Real Estate Group has opened Aurora St. Charles Senior Living in Aurora. The 60-unit independent living facility is located at 400 E. New York St. Formerly St. Charles Hospital, the historic building was transformed into a residential community as part of a $24 million redevelopment that began in December 2015. The community includes a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom floor plans. Amenities include a large community room, fitness room, walking paths and community gardens. The building had been vacant since 2010. Evergreen Real Estate Group collaborated with Invest Aurora, Northern Lights Development Corp., the City of Aurora, Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) and Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, along with several private lenders and investors, to secure the financing and tax credits needed to fund the $24 million rehabilitation. Approximately $3 million was obtained through the River Edge Redevelopment Zone program, which was created in 2006 to incentivize riverfront development in Aurora and other Illinois cities. The balance of the project’s development cost was covered by a combination of federal historic tax credits, low-income housing tax credits allocated by IHDA and private financing.
BOLINGBROOK, ILL. — Hengli America LLC, an hydraulic manufacturer based in China, has purchased its new U.S. headquarters in Bolingbrook. The 46,289-square-foot facility is located at 580 Crossroads. The building will also serve as a testing and distribution facility. The property includes 12,000 square feet of office space, five dock doors and two drive-in doors. Perry Higa of NAI Hiffman represented Hengli, while Traci Buckingham Payette and Jeff Kapcheck of CBRE represented the undisclosed seller.
SKOKIE, ILL. — American Landmark Properties has purchased the Illinois Science + Technology Park (ISTP) in Skokie, a suburb of Chicago, for $77 million. The 24-acre campus is located at 4901 Searle Parkway. The property includes 556,650 square feet of office, laboratory and amenity space. The buildings are 86 percent leased to tenants such as NorthShore University HealthSystem, Astellas Pharma, LanzaTech, Vetter Development Services USA and Fresenius Kabi. Included in the acquisition is the 136,000-square-foot 8030 Lamon Ave. building shell, which is suitable for a build-to-suit tenant. Additional development opportunities include up to 1.3 million square feet of new office and lab facilities on the ISTP campus and a 500,000-square-foot, mixed-use retail and residential project directly on Oakton Street. Forest City Realty Trust, which purchased the property in 2005, was the seller. Scott Brandwein and David Saad of CBRE have been retained as the leasing agents for the ISTP property. Cohen Financial secured a $73.5 million loan with Prime Finance Partners of Chicago for the borrower.
