BRONZEVILLE, ILL. — EXP Realty Advisors, Inc. has arranged a $34 million sale of a building occupied by grocer Mariano’s in Bronzeville. The 74,000-square-foot building is located at 3857 S. Martin Luther King Drive, five miles south of Chicago. The building is triple net leased to Mariano’s, a division of Kroger. The buyer was a New York City-based real estate investor seeking a high-quality, well-positioned asset. Andrew Greenberg of EXP Realty Advisors represented the buyer.
Mixed-use projects are booming, and for good reason: the city as we know it is fundamentally changing. Millennials are flocking away from the suburbs and into the city center, driving development in walkable urban cores that incorporate everything consumers need to live, work and play. In Chicago, a dramatic increase in mixed-use development since the last recession has completely recast the way we think about how retail concepts fit into our unique urban landscape. Mixed-use buildings anchored by residential projects are well supported by the city’s political class because they increase density in a city that’s already bursting at the seams. Changes in the way the City of Chicago approaches zoning has led to an uptick in transit-oriented development, which allows for lower parking requirements in projects centered around mass transit hubs. The city’s transit-oriented development (TOD) ordinance, which was approved in 2013 and revised in 2015, has been the driver behind the massive influx of new mixed-use projects over the last four years. Mixed-use advantages From a purely economic standpoint, mixed-use projects boast a diverse tenant roster, which typically means less risk for investors. Land prices in Chicago have reached a point where in some cases standalone retail is …
LOCKPORT, ILL. — DFS Inc., a food and grains supplier, has signed a 62,598-square-foot lease at 355 Corporate Center building No. 2 in Lockport, Ill., about 35 miles southwest of Chicago. The new lease puts Panattoni Development Company’s 228,690-square-foot speculative building at 100 percent occupancy and marks the completion of Phase I, which consisted of two light industrial buildings. UPS leased the first building in its entirety immediately upon completion, and Illinois Industrial Tool took 166,092 square feet in the second building in August. Panattoni recently broke ground on Phase II of the project, a 300,158-square-foot building scheduled for completion in spring 2017. Mark Barbato and Adam Stokes of Nicolson, Porter & List represented Panattoni in the lease transaction with DFS.
CHICAGO — Mesa West Capital has provided a joint venture led by local development firm Sterling Bay with $82.6 million in debt to recapitalize 121 West Wacker Drive, a 41-story office building in downtown Chicago’s Central Loop. The financing included a first mortgage loan originated out of Mesa West’s open-ended Mesa West Core Lending Fund, and mezzanine debt provided by Pearlmark Real Estate on behalf of Pearlmark Mezzanine Realty Partners, IV, LP. The office tower recently underwent an extensive renovation, including a new lobby and retail level, updated building systems and a new tenant amenity floor overlooking the Chicago River.
SCHAUMBURG, ILL. — Ryan Companies US, Inc. is converting a former Dominick’s grocery store into an Art Van Furniture store in Schaumburg, a northwest suburb of Chicago. Dominick’s closed its operations in the Chicago area in 2013. The facility has been vacant since then. Ryan is undertaking a comprehensive renovation and modernization of the 72,000-square-foot facility, located at 1293 E. Higgins Road. The new Art Van Furniture store, the tenth in metro Chicago, will open later this fall.
WHEELING, ILL. — Lynmark Group is scheduled to break ground on Wheeling Town Center, a mixed-use development in Wheeling, this fall. The development will feature a 300-unit luxury apartment building with a modern amenity package and facilities and 100,000 square feet of retail, restaurants and entertainment venues. The apartment building will offer studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom layouts, a parking garage, courtyard, pool, bocce court, a fire pit, barbecue grills, a covered gazebo bar, putting green, pergola covered dining, lounge areas, and fitness and yoga rooms. The retail portion will be anchored a 40,000-square-foot, 10-screen CMX theater, which is a high-end, dine-in movie theater. Callison/RTKL is serving as lead designer and William A. Randolph is serving as general contractor for the project.
BLOOMINGDALE, ILL. — Brown Commercial Group represented Korpack in the lease of a 56,269-square-foot of industrial space at 290 Madsen Drive, Suite 101, in Bloomingdale. Korpack is a single-source supplier of standard and custom packaging, as well as packaging machinery and automation solutions. Additionally, the company subleased its original 18,252-square-foot headquarters at 1232 Hardt Circle in Bartlett, Ill., to an undisclosed subtenant. Dan Brown and Jim Peitrarosso of Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based Brown Commercial represented Korpack in the lease and sublease, respectively. Al Caruana of Cushman & Wakefield and Aaron Rosdal of Prologis represented the landlord, ProLogis, in the new headquarters lease.
WHEATON, ILL. — Mid-America Real Estate Corp. has brokered the sale of Danada Square East, a retail center located at the corner of Butterfield and Naperville roads in Wheaton. LaSalle Investment Management purchased the property for $63.2 million. Whole Foods, Sierra Trading Post, Charter Fitness and Petco anchor the 199,080-square-foot center. Joe Girardi and Ben Wineman of Mid-America Real Estate Corp. represented the seller, Chicago-based Newport Capital Partners, in the deal.
SKOKIE, ILL. — Matrix Financial Partnership has completed the sale of a 38,500-square-foot commercial property located at 3721 Chase Ave. in Skokie. R2 Companies acquired the building for an undisclosed price. The buyer plans to redevelop the building along with others in the area into a mix of retail and industrial uses. Dan Prendergast of Darwin Realty represented the seller, while Aaron Kaplan of Vandon Forbes represented the buyer in the deal.
Chicago’s diverse economy and ample employment opportunities are driving growth metrowide, which bodes well for apartment owners and managers. Encouraged by the positive economic outlook, developers are expected to deliver nearly 7,500 new units this year, the largest supply increase since 2000. That said, high levels of construction will not be at the expense of other performance metrics such as occupancy, rent and price growth. Job growth is accelerant In the first half of the year, Chicago-area employers added 34,500 workers to their payrolls. Hiring was led by the leisure and hospitality sector and the construction industry, which expanded 4.2 percent and 5.3 percent respectively over the 12-month period that ended in June. Consistent employment expansion has also boosted household incomes, with the median household income reaching $65,300 at the end of the second quarter. With the median income above the nationwide average, demand for luxury rental units is rising tremendously. These factors, in addition to the Millennials and Empty Nesters flocking to the area, will support rental affordability and demand even as rents continue to increase. This is a positive indicator of the overall health of Chicago’s economy. Employers in metro Chicago remain on track to hire a total …