FRANKLIN PARK, ILL. — CRG has sold The Cubes at ORD, a newly constructed industrial building totaling 66,552 square feet in Franklin Park, located immediately southeast of the Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Developed on a speculative basis in 2025, the facility is fully leased to Worldwide Flight Services. The infill development offers direct access to I-294 and features 20 exterior dock doors, two drive-in doors, 11 trailer storage spaces and parking for 70 vehicles. Erik Foster, Mike Wilson, Brian Colson and Brian Pomorski of Avison Young represented CRG in the transaction. Matt Mulvihill of CBRE represented the tenant. The buyer and sales price were undisclosed. CRG integrated partner LJC designed The Cubes at ORD, while parent company Clayco served as general contractor.
Midwest
CHICAGO — Greenstone Partners has brokered the $5.6 million sale of a retail and medical property located at 1455 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. The urban infill asset sold for 98 percent of the list price to a New York-based buyer. The two-story property features 11,370 rentable square feet, roughly 125 feet of frontage along North Milwaukee Avenue and a private surface parking lot with 23 dedicated spaces. Barry’s Bootcamp occupies the ground floor. The upper level is leased to medical services provider Kindbody, formerly Vios Fertility Institute. Danny Spitz and Brewster Hague of Greenstone represented the seller, a Chicago-based investment and development company, and procured the buyer.
By Ryan Brittain, Colliers Speculative construction has always carried a certain boldness in industrial real estate. Building without a tenant can either signal visionary thinking or a bold bet on future demand. In metro Detroit, that confidence was on full display during the post-COVID boom. To meet the surge in tenant demand, highly respected industrial developers raced to deliver modern distribution space across the region. At the height, preleasing was not always necessary but often occurred. Developers pushed forward on new Class A warehouses, confident that tenant requirements would catch up and, for a time, they did. Yet here we are in 2026, and speculative development is not an idea of the past. It is returning, this time with more discipline. This is not another Resurgit cineribus Detroit comeback story, but rather a thoughtful recalibration. The “Return of the Spec” reflects a market that has matured and learned, not one that has overheated. To understand it today, it helps to revisit how we arrived. As a wave of newly completed speculative projects delivered (at one point, the market saw 12 million square feet under construction), availability expanded. Shortly thereafter, the automotive industry hit an uncertain patch in late 2023. Vacancy …
COLUMBUS, OHIO — Nationwide Realty Investors has unveiled plans to redevelop the 18-story office tower at 280 High, formerly known as Two Nationwide Plaza, in downtown Columbus. In celebration of Nationwide’s 100-year anniversary, the building will be renamed The Centennial on High. Residential plans call for 148 upscale units across 15 floors, including a newly created penthouse level. Each residential floor will feature five balcony-adorned units. Amenities will include a fitness center, lounge, clubroom and a courtyard along High Street positioned 15 feet below plaza level. The project will also preserve and enhance the building’s office component, with approximately 75,000 square feet of dedicated office space. Anchor tenants include Carpenter Lipps LLP and the Ohio Farm Bureau. Nationwide began 100 years ago as the Farm Bureau Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. serving Ohio farmers. The commercial spaces are operational today, and Nationwide Realty Investors anticipates completing the first residences by mid-2027.
PLEASANT PRAIRIE, WIS. — Berkadia has arranged the sale and $69 million in acquisition financing for Cobblestone Creek and Fountain Ridge, two multifamily properties in Pleasant Prairie within Kenosha County. Pete Evans and Richard Evans of Berkadia represented the undisclosed seller, while Laura Cathlina, Chris Blechschmidt and Emily Stang of Berkadia arranged Freddie Mac financing on behalf of the buyer, Illinois-based Santefort Real Estate Group. Cobblestone Creek is a four-building, 164-unit community built from 2013 to 2015. Fountain Ridge consists of 262 units across 13 buildings and was built from 2017 to 2019. Both properties have been consistently fully occupied and present value-add upside, according to Berkadia.
DETROIT — This April, Michigan Central will open The Michigan Central Mezz, a new work and collaboration space that expands access to the innovation district in Detroit. The Mezz spans 17,000 square feet on the mezzanine level of Michigan Central Station. The workspace offers a variety of desks and work setups, meeting rooms, quiet zones, a kitchen and private wellness rooms. Access to The Mezz requires Michigan Central membership. The network at Michigan Central includes founding partners Ford Motor Co., Google, the State of Michigan, the City of Detroit, Henry Ford Health and Newlab, a venture platform that partners with Michigan Central to support the mobility, energy and manufacturing startups that are part of the district. More than 2,000 professionals and 240 companies work across the 30-acre Michigan Central.
CHICAGO — Fine dining restaurant and bar concept Espiritu has signed a lease to open a roughly 10,000-square-foot ground-floor space at One East Wacker, a Chicago office building owned by AmTrustRE. Espiritu comes from the restaurateurs behind Chicago Cut Steakhouse and Cerdito Muerto, Matt Moore and Emidio Oceguera. The dining concept blends classic Chicago dishes with a modern Mexican flair. In addition to 10,000 square feet of indoor space, the restaurant will include 2,200 square feet of adjoining outdoor patio area along Wacker Drive. Dana Moyles of Dana Moyles Real Estate Services represented Espiritu in the lease, while John Vance and Will Winter of Stone Real Estate represented the landlord. AmTrustRE has also secured three new office leases at the property, including Flight Centre Travel Group (USA) Inc., the Trade Commission of Spain in Chicago and the Consulate General of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Chicago. Signed to 7,216 square feet of office space on the 13th floor, Flight Centre Travel Group is one of the world’s largest global travel agencies. JLL’s Sarah Silva and Bess Cooney represented the tenant. The Trade Commission Office of Spain, of the Government of the Kingdom of Spain, will occupy 4,326 square feet on the …
BLOOMINGTON, ILL. — JLL Capital Markets has arranged the $28.4 million sale of Empire Crossing, a 229,971-square-foot retail power center in Bloomington. Anchor tenants include Dick’s Sporting Goods, HomeGoods, Ashley Furniture HomeStore and DSW. The seller, BET Investments, completed a redevelopment that converted the long-vacant Kmart anchor store into multi-tenant space. Currently 85 percent occupied, the property offers value-add potential through 33,000 square feet of vacancy across eight suites. Michael Nieder and Brian Page of JLL represented the seller. Chase Properties was the buyer.
CHICAGO — Chicago-based investment and development firm Friedman Properties has completed an 80,000-square-foot office lease renewal and expansion with Bartlit Beck LLP at Court House Place in Chicago’s River North neighborhood. The lease increased the law firm’s footprint by more than 20 percent. Headquartered at Court House Place since 1993, Bartlit Beck is a national law firm with expertise in high-stakes commercial litigation, intellectual property, antitrust and unfair trade practices, breach of contract, shareholder disputes and product liability. Renovations will begin soon on the additional 15,000 square feet. Designed by architect Otto Matz and constructed in 1893, the Romanesque-style Court House Place formerly served as the Cook County criminal court. After acquiring the seven-story, 107,000-square-foot property in 1985, Friedman Properties executed a full redevelopment, transforming the building into modern office space. A renovation in 2018 added a rooftop deck. The property is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and has been designated a Chicago landmark.
MUKWONAGO, WIS. — McShane Construction Co. has completed Azura Mukwonago, a 72-unit assisted living and memory care community in Mukwonago, about 30 miles southwest of Milwaukee. Azura Living was the developer. Designed by EUA, Azura Mukwonago integrates two assisted living buildings and one memory care building on a 6.4-acre site. A 35-foot barn serves as a storage facility. Amenities include community rooms, dining rooms, kitchens, sunrooms, a fitness area, spa, salon, community garden, walking paths, a putting green, bocce ball courts and courtyards.