ST. CHARLES, ILL. — Whole Foods Market is set to open a new 36,234-square-foot store at 300 S. 2nd St. in St. Charles, a western suburb of Chicago, on Wednesday, June 25. The location’s product assortment will feature more than 650 products from the Midwest, sourced with the help of Margie Omastiak, forager for local and emerging brands at Whole Foods. There will be a specialty department dedicated to cheesemakers and artisan producers; a full-service seafood counter; full-service meat counter; an extensive selection of craft beers, spirits and wines; a prepared foods department; bakery department; and wellness and beauty department. Whole Foods will present Chicago-based supplier Evergreen with a low-interest loan through the Whole Foods Market Lending Program to help grow its operations and support expansion to more Whole Foods locations.
AVON, IND. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of a 17,704-square-foot retail property occupied by The Learning Grove Academy in Avon, a western suburb of Indianapolis. The net-leased childcare facility was built in 2009 and is located at 7651 Beechwood Centre Road. Sam Malato and Dominic Sulo of Marcus & Millichap represented the buyer, a private coastal investor. The Learning Grove is an early education operator with 120 locations and additional acquisitions in progress.
DES PLAINES, ILL. — Des Plaines-based CORFAC International’s first-half 2025 survey of members from 75 independent commercial real estate firms across the globe shows that deal activity is on an upward trajectory. When assessing the past six months, 67 percent of respondents said that deal activity had increased, compared with 35 percent of respondents in the last survey. Industrial real estate continues to be the leading driver of CORFAC members’ business. Nearly 70 percent of respondents said it was a leading driver of business so far in 2025, and 56 percent said they expected it to be the leading sector in the second half of the year. In addition, 72 percent identified warehouse and distribution centers, continuing the trend from 2024, of those categories leading the way. Members from 40 markets around the world identified positive employment trends (55 percent), population migration into their market (48 percent), and stabilizing interest rates (38 percent) as the three key factors that are having a positive influence on transaction activity. Some economic realities that are worrying members include high costs of construction (66 percent), inflation and interest rates (60 percent), and local and national policies (40 percent). “We’re pleased to see the strong …
EAGAN, MINN. — Oppidan Investment Co. has broken ground on a 61,000-square-foot data center on Argenta Trail, south of the YMCA property in the Minneapolis suburb of Eagan. The project marks one of only two ground-up data center developments currently underway in Minnesota, according to Oppidan, which is serving as the landlord and directly financing, developing and delivering the facility in partnership with a tenant. Completion is slated for 2026. Project partners include the City of Eagan, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, Dakota County, Greater MSP, Dakota Electric Association and Great River Energy. Gardner Builders is the general contractor, ERA Associates is the structural engineer, Stantec is the civil engineer, Salas O’Brien is the architect and States Manufacturing is the electric equipment supplier.
HAWTHORN WOODS, ILL. — After holding a 20-acre land parcel for more than 15 years, a private real estate investment group led by land developer Jonathan Berger of Berger Asset Management has unveiled new zoning and development plans for Hawthorn Woods Town Center. Berger worked with the Village of Hawthorn Woods on the revised plans for the site, which is located at the intersection of Old McHenry and Midlothian roads in the northern Chicago suburb. The original zoning of the property required 300-foot setbacks. Berger secured 30-foot setbacks, which are typical in most retail properties. The village has also indicated a willingness to incentivize grocery stores, including small-store footprints. Additionally, the rerouting of traffic under railroad tracks, once complete, will serve to more directly and conveniently connect the Hawthorn Woods Town Center site to the village’s community park. Berger originally acquired 40-plus acres in two distressed 20-plus-acre land parcels in Hawthorn Woods in 2009-2010, intending to act as an opportunistic land developer. In late 2019, Berger sold the site on the south side of Old McHenry Road to K. Hovnanian, a Dallas-based residential developer that built 70 homes. While assuming the position of a traditional land developer, Berger is not …
CHAMPAIGN, ILL. — Interra Realty has arranged the sale of a 102-unit, five-building multifamily portfolio in Champaign for $5.9 million. Constructed in 1970, the apartment properties are located on West Francis Drive and North McKinley Avenue. There is also one single-family house included in the portfolio. The assets are located three miles from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus. Michael Duckler of Interra represented the confidential buyer in the off-market transaction.
COLUMBUS, OHIO — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the $3.2 million sale of a retail property occupied by Texas Roadhouse in Columbus. Texas Roadhouse has a new 10-year triple-net lease and has operated at the site for more than 20 years. Located at 5870 Carnaby Way, the 2.2-acre property sits just off I-270. Jordan Klink and Kahlil Barnard of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, Solid Ground LLC. Chris Lind, Mark Ruble and Zack House of Marcus & Millichap procured the buyer, a Delaware-based limited liability company.
LANSING, MICH. — A local nail salon and spa has leased 2,000 square feet of retail space to open a new location at Southwind Plaza in Lansing. The Kroger-anchored property is located at the southeast corner of South MLK Junior Boulevard and West Holmes Road. Michael Murphy of Gerdom Realty & Investment represented the undisclosed landlord.
ELK GROVE VILLAGE, ILL. — Greystone has provided a $58.6 million Freddie Mac Workforce Preservation loan to refinance Terraces of Elk Grove, a 427-unit multifamily property in the Chicago suburb of Elk Grove Village. Built in 1968, the garden-style community consists of nine buildings, including a clubhouse. Eric Rosenstock and Dan Sacks of Greystone originated the financing on behalf of the borrower, Bayshore Properties. The nonrecourse, fixed-rate loan, which refinances an existing Greystone bridge loan on the property, features a 10-year term, 35-year amortization and five years of interest-only payments. In accordance with Freddie Mac’s Workforce Preservation program, 30 percent of the units at the property are designated for households earning less than 80 percent of the area median income.
DETROIT — KeyBank Community Development Lending and Investment (CDLI) has provided $43.6 million in construction loans and arranged $7.6 million in permanent loans for the acquisition and rehabilitation of Lee Plaza in Detroit. The 15-story, Art Deco historical landmark will be transformed into housing for seniors and families. The property will include 182 units, of which 117 units will be restricted to individuals 55 years or older and 65 units available to families. All tenants are required to earn at or below 60 percent of the area median income. The project, which was acquired by the city and subdivided into three separate condo units, will be completed in three phases. KeyBank’s financing covers the first two phases — floors 2-5 and floors 6-10. The project received additional funding through historic tax credit equity totaling $46.7 million as well as low-income housing tax credit equity from other banks. The City of Detroit provided $27.7 million in soft financing and Invest Detroit and the Michigan State Housing and Development Agency also contributed to the project. The borrowers and developers, Ethos Development and The Roxbury Group, are Detroit-based real estate development firms. Kory Clark and Kyle Kolesar of KeyBank CDLI structured the financing.