CHICAGO — MB Real Estate (MBRE) has won the assignment to manage and lease the Illinois Tollway Oases, six properties servicing commuters and travelers along the Illinois Tollway system. The tollway oases offer patrons a variety of convenient food options, a wide range of services and are directly accessible from the tollway with on-off ramps. Properties include the Belvidere Oasis along I-90; the Lake Forest Oasis on I-94; the DeKalb Oasis on I-88; the Chicago Southland Lincoln Oasis along I-80/I-294; the Hinsdale Oasis on I-294; and the O’Hare Oasis, also on I-294. Current tenants of the oases include the Illinois Tollway, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Best Buy Express, Subway, Illinois Lottery and Sbarro, among others. Kathleen Bertrand of MBRE will serve as the leasing representative for the six properties, which offer a variety of spaces available for lease.
WEST BEND, WIS. — The Dickman Company Inc./CORFAC International has brokered a 160,000-square-foot industrial lease for Gardner Pet Group Inc. in West Bend, about 38 miles northwest of Milwaukee. A pet food distributor, Gardner is moving its manufacturing operations and up to 60 jobs from China to West Bend, according to the Milwaukee Business Journal. The property is located at 2845 Wingate St. The landlord is Wingate Ventures LLC, care of Phoenix Investors LLC. Gardner selected the location in West Bend to add to its current operations in Juneau, Wis. Nick Keys, Samuel M. Dickman Jr. and Samuel D. Dickman negotiated the lease.
BRADLEY, ILL. — Mid-America Real Estate Corp. has brokered the sale of Village Square Shopping Center in Bradley, 57 miles south of Chicago. A private California-based buyer purchased the 85,002-square-foot center for an undisclosed price. Village Square Shopping Center is located at the northwest corner of Illinois Route 50 and East North St. The retail center is leased to a diverse mix of both national and local retailers, including Jo-Ann Fabrics, Dollar Tree, Premier Rental, Advance America and Carquest. Carly Gallagher and Ben Wineman of Mid-America Real Estate brokered the transaction on behalf of the seller.
CHICAGO — Geller Investment Co. has closed on its acquisition of the iconic Waldorf Astoria hotel on Chicago’s Gold Coast. Sam Zell’s Zell Equity Group Investments completed the sale, but will maintain a minority stake in Waldorf. The 189-room hotel at 11 E. Walton St. sold for a record-breaking $111.9 million, according to a Cook County transfer tax form. The purchase equals just over $592,000 per room, well above the previously held record of $505,000 per room paid by Zell for the Elysian hotel. Geller plans to add 26 hotel rooms in the 60-story tower, which also features 52 private residences. The new owners also plan changes to the hotel’s food, drink and public areas.
RIVERWOODS, ILL. — Milton Podolsky, founder of Podolsky|Circle CORFAC International, passed away this past weekend at the age of 94. Born in 1921, Podolsky attended DePaul University and studied at John Marshall Law School before serving in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1946. He first considered a career in commercial real estate in 1957 when a frequent customer of his family’s drug store encouraged him to do so. Over the next five years, he worked at two commercial real estate firms in the Chicago market doing primarily industrial brokerage. Then he began developing and managing buildings in what later became known as the O’Hare market. In 1962, Podolsky co-founded his first entrepreneurial firm. In 1971, he established Podolsky and Associates Ltd., which evolved into the company now known as Podolsky|Circle CORFAC International based in Riverwoods. His accomplishments include the development of seven industrial parks and myriad individual industrial and office buildings, as well as Westbrook Corporate Center, a 1.1 million-square-foot office complex in Westchester, Ill. He is survived by his wife, Lois; his brother, Jerry; his three children, Steven, Bonnie and Randy; and seven grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
TROY, MICH. — Institutional Property Advisors (IPA), a division of Marcus & Millichap, has completed the sale of Somerset Park Apartments, a 2,226-unit, garden-style apartment community, for an undisclosed price. The apartment complex is located at 1911 Golfview Drive in Troy and is adjacent to Somerset Collection, a 1.4 million million-square-foot mall with more than 180 specialty stores. Major employers in the area include Bank of America, Delphi Corp., and ThyssenKrupp. All the apartments feature spacious kitchens with frost-free refrigerators and dishwashers, ceramic-tiled baths, large closets, window treatments, private patios/balconies, air-conditioning and individual alarm systems. Steve Witten and Victor Nolletti of IPA Northeast and Florida, along with Paul Davis and Andrew Daitch of Marcus & Millichap’s Detroit office, represented the seller and procured the buyer.
ALBANY, MINN. — Marcus & Millichap (NYSE: MMI) has arranged the sale of Norwood Inn & Suites, a 48-room hospitality property located in Albany, 22 miles northwest of St. Cloud, for $945,000. Norwood Inn & Suites is a two-story building built in 1998 and is located at 820 Shamrock Lane in Albany. It features 48 guestrooms and an indoor swimming pool and hot tub. Jon Ruzicka of Marcus & Millichap’s Minneapolis office represented the seller, an individual/personal trust. Ruzicka also represented the buyer, a limited liability company.
SOUTH BEND, IND. — Oak Coast Properties and Harp Group have acquired the 80-room Residence Inn hotel in South Bend for $8 million. The new owners plan to complete approximately $2 million in extensive renovations to the property. The value-add investment strategy is aimed at maximizing revenue per available room (RevPAR). As Indiana’s fourth largest city, South Bend boasts four higher education institutions in the area. The apartment-style hotel rooms include full kitchens with ovens. The average size of the rooms is approximately 50 percent larger than traditional hotel rooms. The property appeals to both families and business travelers seeking extended-stay options. The seller was RLJ Lodging Trust.
COLUMBUS, OHIO — The Boulder Group has brokered the sale of a single-tenant net leased Walgreens property located at 4755 W. Broad St. in Columbus for $7.7 million. The 14,820-square-foot property was constructed in 2009 and is located on two acres. The triple-net lease expires in February 2034. Randy Blankstein and Jimmy Goodman of The Boulder Group represented the seller, a Midwest-based private partnership, in the transaction. The buyer was a real estate investment and property management company based in Ohio.
LAKEVILLE, MINN. — Mid-America Real Estate Corp. has brokered the sale of the Heritage Commons shopping center in Lakeville, 27 miles south of Minneapolis, for an undisclosed price. The buyer was Austin, Texas-based Epic Real Estate Partners. A Cub Foods anchors the 138,690-square-foot retail center. Other tenants include Subway, Papa Murphy’s, Great Clips and American Dental. Joe Girardi and Mark Robinson of Mid-America Real Estate were the exclusive brokers in the transaction on behalf of the seller, Sentinel Management Co. based in Edina, Minn.