WOODRIDGE, ILL. — JLL Capital Markets has arranged a $13.2 million loan for the acquisition of Woodridge Commerce Center in the Chicago suburb of Woodridge. The three-building industrial property spans 148,012 square feet and was 97 percent leased at the time of sale to 21 tenants. Situated on nearly 12 acres along Werch Avenue, Woodridge Commerce Center is situated within the master-planned International Centre Business Park. Jeff Sause and Brian Walsh of JLL represented the borrower, a joint venture between Unilev Capital and real estate investor Nitin Chexal, who is the co-founder and CEO of Palladius Capital Management. JLL placed the three-year, floating-rate loan with Wells Fargo Bank. Unilev’s investment team of Raymond Levy, Ian Konowitch and Peter Berges led acquisition efforts.
CHICAGO — Datassential has leased 13,806 square feet of office space at 1201 W. Lake St. in Chicago’s Fulton Market district. The company helps food and beverage users develop, launch and sell new concepts by leveraging data. Datassential will move from 18 S. Michigan Ave. when the new lease commences in January. McCaffery and New York Life owns the 135,000-square-foot building, which was constructed in 2019. Dougal Jeppe of Colliers Chicago represented the tenant in the lease transaction. JLL’s Craig Coupe, Brad Despot and Mike Curran represented building ownership.
CHICAGO — Interra Realty has negotiated the $5.2 million sale of 3546 N. Southport Ave., a property in the Southport Corridor of Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood that includes 21 apartment units and two commercial spaces. Built in 1930, the building includes 12 studios and nine one-bedroom units that were 97 percent leased at the time of sale. Real Good Juice Co. and The Denim Lounge fully lease the commercial space. Brad Feldman of Interra represented the seller, a family trust that had owned the building for nearly 50 years. Feldman also represented the buyer, which plans to renovate the units, update hallways and add a bike room.
OSCEOLA, IOWA — Mumford Co. has brokered the sale of the 35-room Relax Inn hotel property in Osceola, about 45 miles south of Des Moines. The sales price was undisclosed. The hotel was formerly branded as Americas Best Value Inn until May of this year. David Mumford and George Arvanitis of Mumford represented the seller, Rikita LLC. Iowa-based Silverado Farms LLC was the buyer.
NEW YORK CITY — Locally based general contractor Archstone Builders is underway on renovations of the McGraw-Hill Building, a historic property at 330 W. 42nd St. in Manhattan. Since its original construction in 1931, the 35-story, 700,000-square-foot building has served as the headquarters of both the namesake publishing giant and Marvel Comics. Capital improvements include a restoration of the original design of the façade, a window replacement program and an upgrade of the entryways and storefront. MdeAs is the project architect, and New York-based Resolution Real Estate Partners owns the building.
EASTON, PA. — JLL has negotiated the $63.2 million sale of a 307,290-square-foot industrial building in Easton, located on the eastern edge of the Lehigh Valley region. Built on 28.4 acres in 1983 and expanded in 2013, the single-tenant property is fully leased to Phillips Pet Food & Supplies, which uses the space as its corporate headquarters and primary distribution facility. John Plower, Ryan Cottone, Zach Maguire and Jeff Lockard of JLL represented the seller, an affiliate of Pennsylvania-based development and investment firm Endurance Real Estate, in the transaction. The buyer was not disclosed.
NEW YORK CITY — Locally based investment firm A&E Real Estate has acquired a 19-story apartment building located at 400 E. 57th St. in Manhattan’s Sutton Place neighborhood. The property features a mix of 263 rent-stabilized and market-rate units. SL Green sold the property to A&E Real Estate for an undisclosed price. The two firms also traded a multifamily property at 400 E. 58th St. earlier this year.
NEW YORK CITY — A partnership between Simi Capital Group, an investment firm with offices in New York City and Miami, global asset management firm Cerberus Capital Management and Atlanta-based Stonemont Financial has purchased a self-storage facility in Staten Island. The sales price was $19 million. The partnership plans to demolish the building at 2577 Forest Ave. and convert the site into an outdoor storage facility that will feature industrial parking space. Construction is expected to begin early next year.
PENNSVILLE, N.J. — New Jersey-based brokerage firm The Kislak Co. Inc. has arranged the $16 million sale of Orchard Court Apartments, a 156-unit community located in Pennsville, located in the southern part of the Garden State. The property was built on 14.2 acres in 1963 and consists of four studios, 96 one-bedroom units and 56 two-bedroom units. Jason Pucci and Justin Lupo of Kislak represented the seller, an affiliate of New Jersey-based investment firm Kamson Corp., in the off-market deal. Barry Waisbrod, also of Kislak, procured the buyer, an entity doing business as Orchard Court Apartments LLC.
If we consider that 2017 was the year that deconversion sales in Chicago began in earnest, we are now four years into the cycle. I’m frequently asked my opinion of how much longer this cycle will last, and what it will look like going forward. To me, that comes down mainly to supply and demand, with an eye on change in the relevant state and city statutes governing these sales. The supply of condominiums in Chicago is still plentiful, especially condominiums that were converted from apartment buildings. While there was a bit of a condo-buying frenzy in the early part of 2021 as the world opened back up, that frenzy has dissipated. Condominiums that would typically take a couple of months to sell sold in days, and often at asking price. With that said, there was little meaningful price appreciation. The factors that hinder appreciation of these condominiums did not change: high amounts of rental units in the association; lack of amenities; and aging buildings that are either behind on maintenance or expensive to keep up. Those factors are unlikely to ever change. The current demand for multifamily properties is quite strong. Most investors sat on the sidelines in 2020, …