LIBERTYVILLE, ILL. — Summit Design + Build has completed Farm Foundation’s Innovation and Education Center in the Chicago suburb of Libertyville. The 14-acre project is situated on the Casey family farm. The development includes a 4,000-square-foot educational barn with a media room, demonstration kitchen and office space. Farm Foundation will offer various educational programs on agriculture and food systems. Kahler Slater served as the project architect, and JLL was the property manager.
By Michael Gelfman, Colliers Like many major cities across the U.S., the Minneapolis-St. Paul office market remains soft while office users continue to adjust to the shifting dynamics of work brought on by the global pandemic. The gap between performing and non-performing buildings, driven by challenging debt markets, evaporation of building owners’ equity and the impact of hybrid work on office space demand, is growing. Building owners are faced with difficult and often expensive decisions: spend what’s needed to create a highly amenitized environment (necessary to compete) that attracts tenants and draws employees back to the office or face a race to the bottom. For tenants in the market, this perfect storm has created unprecedented opportunity. Hybrid work is here to stay For the last several years, many have wondered where the office market in Minneapolis-St. Paul was heading. The pandemic fundamentally changed the way companies use office space — was hybrid work a temporary solution to a once-in-a-lifetime event or was it here to stay? Today we know the answer: hybrid work is here to stay. As a result of this seismic shift, some of which is due in part to artificial intelligence, many tenants over the last few …
The Federal Reserve’s decision to begin aggressively hiking the federal funds rate in 2022 threw the commercial real estate market into turmoil. Property investors found it difficult to refinance much cheaper short-term loans that were often used to renovate or develop properties. However, the interest rate spike greatly enhanced the viability of commercial property assessed clean energy (C-PACE) financing, a type of loan that becomes an assessment that borrowers pay along with their tax bill. The program emerged more than a decade ago and generally pays for energy, water and seismic resiliency upgrades in new construction and rehabs, including retroactively. As a result, developers embraced C-PACE as they sought ways to pay down debt to secure new financing or loan extensions and modifications. Sponsored: A smarter way to finance your next CRE project – PACE Loan Group Now that the Federal Reserve has reversed course with its 50-basis-point federal funds rate reduction in September — and with Wall Street anticipating additional rate cuts before the end of the year — will C-PACE demand start to cool? Don’t count on it, says Rafi Golberstein, founder and CEO of PACE Loan Group, a direct lender of C-PACE financing based in Minneapolis, Minn. …
SCHAUMBURG, ILL. — Bayshore Properties has received $61.6 million for the refinancing of 21 Kristen Apartments in the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg. The 357-unit multifamily property is a condo deconversion that Bayshore acquired in 2022 and has since invested over $2.5 million in capital expenditures. Of the total units, 30 percent are reserved for residents who earn 30 to 80 percent of the area median income. Amenities include a pool, fitness center and library/meeting room. Greystone provided a $55.6 million Freddie Mac loan with a five-year term, and 7Acres provided $6 million in preferred equity funds. Eric Rosenstock and Dan Sacks of Greystone structured the financing.
ELK GROVE VILLAGE, ILL. — Transportation company Midwest Express has signed a 40,320-square-foot, full-building industrial lease at 1850 Arthur Ave. in the Chicago suburb of Elk Grove Village. The property features 24 exterior docks and 29 trailer spots. Chris Nelson of Lee & Associates represented the owner, RREEF America. Calvin Gunn of Lee & Associates represented the tenant, which is relocating from Mount Prospect.
CHICAGO — SVN Chicago Commercial has brokered the sale of a historic building totaling 16,400 square feet in the city’s Wicker Park neighborhood for an undisclosed price. The property, built in 1907, is located at 1934 W. North Ave. near The Robey Hotel. Tim Rasmussen, Adam Napp and Chad Schroedl of SVN represented the undisclosed seller. The buyer, Envoi Partners LLC, plans to renovate the building and add nine rental units on the second and third floors. The property served as the filming location for MTV’s “The Real World Chicago” in 2001, and was later home to Cheetah Gym and Verge Gym.
GRAND FORKS, N.D. — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of The Current, a 40-unit affordable housing community in Grand Forks. The sales price was undisclosed. Built in 2007, the Low-Income Housing Tax Credits property features 15 one-bedroom units and 25 two-bedroom units. Matthew Whiteside of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, MDI Limited Partnership #110, and procured the buyer, Kemo Sabe Properties LLC.
COMMERCE TOWNSHIP, MICH. — Dominion Real Estate Advisors LLC has negotiated the sale of a 10,400-square-foot industrial building located at 3170 Walnut Lake Court in Commerce Township, a northwest suburb of Detroit. David Giltner of Dominion represented the undisclosed seller. David Wax of Burger & Co. represented the buyer, Valleyoak One LLC, which will operate a software company doing business as Brilliant Systems at the property. The sales price was undisclosed.
AURORA, ILL. — CyrusOne has broken ground on a two-building data center totaling 446,000 square feet in Aurora. The campus marks CyrusOne’s second in the city, the first of which is a three-building campus that opened in 2016. The new data center is part of the company’s broader investment strategy, selecting Illinois to expand its portfolio, with total capital investments in the state exceeding $1 billion.
SOUTH ELGIN, ILL. — Continental Properties has begun development of Authentix South Elgin, a garden-style apartment community with 336 units in South Elgin. Located at the northwest corner of Lancaster Road and McLean Boulevard, the property will offer studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans. Amenities will include a pool, clubhouse, outdoor grill area, fitness center and dog park. Pre-leasing will begin in spring 2025, with move-ins expected in late summer 2025. Authentix Apartments, owned and operated by Continental Properties, is a national brand of residential communities offering garden-style apartments.
