Is Goose Island the Next Tech Capital? The Deal Sheet: Part II
Like Silicon Valley, the hottest tech meccas are visible from outer space (i.e. Google Earth). CONLON Commercial prez Steve Horvath says Goose Island, with its identifiable geographic boundaries, will be the next to explode. (Nobody tell the geese, they'll want stock options.)
Steve, above, repped Goose Island Boat Yard owner Michael Heltzer in the $8.3M sale of 934 N Branch, a three-acre property along the Chicago River to South Street Capital. The boat yard will continue to operate and lease back the space, but the timing was right for office development, Steve says, with hot projects like UI Labs and the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute nearby. With its physically defined neighborhood identity (below) and proximity to Millennial 'hoods, Goose Island should build some serious momentum in the next 18 months as South Street starts work on its pair of large office developments and secures some key pioneer tenants, Steve says.
Goose Island hasn’t had its “Google moment” yet like the West Loop has, Steve says, but he thinks it's coming and will lead to similar exponential growth. An up-and-coming neighborhood is certainly a risk for investors, but there are enough savvy, capital-backed sharks investing in the Goose Island waters to make these deals pencil and offer tenants creative incentives, he adds. A die-hard Cubs fan, Steve just re-upped his season tickets and believes (shocker) that a world championship is in our near future.
SALES
In a sale/leaseback, Israeli firm Clal Insurance Group paid $112M for Harper Court, a new 12-story office building in Hyde Park (above, including 224k SF of office space, retail, and parking), completed in July 2013 and leased to UChicago for 20 years. UChicago will have an average annual rent of $6.7M with an option to extend the lease for another 20 years. Clal bought the property without any bank financing.
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CBRE’s Christian Williams and George Good (along with Phoenix-based Jesse Goldsmith and Newport Beach-based Gleb Lvovich) repped ownership, Phillips-Edison Fund IV Portfolio, in the sale of a nine-property, 1.4M SF retail portfolio (spanning six states) to NewQuest Epic Investments. The nine sites are grocery store locations in neighborhood and community centers. The deal allowed Phillips Edison to close out its Fund IV.
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Varin/Pleasant Prairie I, repped by CBRE’s Ryan Bain, Keith Puritz, Brett Kroner, and Zach Graham, sold 44k SF at 8201 104th St in Pleasant Prairie, Wis. (just north of the Illinois/Wisconsin border) to Quest Products. Cushman & Wakefield’s Whit Heitman, Brad Weiner, and Sam Badger repped the buyer.
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@properties Commercial senior broker Mike Levin brokered the sale of a 9,287 SF retail property at 300 N Lake St in Mundelein on behalf of a private seller. The buyer is the owner of the adjacent restaurant, Hong Kong Chop Suey, which plans to use the surface parking lot for additional parking and the existing building for storage. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices KoenigRubloff Realty Group’s DeShaun Cox repped the buyer.
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Entre Commercial Realty’s Dan Benassi and Mike Gazzola repped the developer, Reiche Construction, in the construction and sale of a new 40k SF industrial building within the 240-acre Huntley Corporate Park at 13700 George Bush Ct in Huntley. NAI Hiffman’s Bruce Granger repped the buyer, Cargo Equipment, which will relocate from 640 Church Rd in Elgin.
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Essex Realty Group’s Jim Darrow and Jordan Gottlieb completed the $4.7M sale of 3355 N Clark (above), a newer-construction, mixed-use elevator building in Wrigleyville. The property features eight condo-quality apartments, two 1,200 SF street retail spaces and four garage and four exterior parking spaces in the rear of the building.
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Austin Weisenbeck and Sean Sharko, investment specialists in Marcus & Millichap’s Chicago Oak Brook office, repped the seller, an LLC, and the buyer, a national shopping center owner, in the $6M sale of 18k SF Shops at Lily Cache Creek (an outlot to Meijer) at 741-769 E Boughton Rd in Bolingbrook. The property is almost 93% net-leased.
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@properties Commercial senior broker Robert Sadoff completed the sale of 7,500 SF of industrial space at 3616 N Cicero Ave in Portage Park. He repped the seller, Chicago Title and Trust. The building was acquired by a private buyer who intends to open a family-owned business in the space.
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Essex Realty Group’s Doug Imber and Kate Varde repped the seller and Essex’s Jim Darrow and Jordan Gottlieb repped the buyer in the $2.6M sale of 3301 N Clark in Lakeview. The seven-unit, mixed-used property is on the NE corner of Clark and Aldine.
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Jameson Commercial SVP Mark Kishtow repped the buyer in the $1.3M sale of the six-unit multifamily condo property at 831 W Wolfram in Lincoln Park. Mark also repped the buyer in the sale of four-unit 447 W Oakdale. Each renovated floor is 2,700 SF and includes parking.
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@properties Commercial senior brokers Michael Weber and Ian Feinerman repped Jaybird Enterprises in the sale of 2,200 SF The Bluebird bar and restaurant at 1749 N Damen in Bucktown/Wicker Park. @properties Commercial broker Josh Kahan repped the buyer, Patrick Cullen, who plans to open a neighborhood bar with a focus on craft beer and cocktails.
LEASING
NAI Hiffman EVP Mike Van Zandt and VP Brian Edgerton repped Travelers Insurance in its new lease with Veolia Water Solutions, repped by CBRE’s David Tropp and Jon Springer, at 700 E Butterfield Rd (above). Veolia will occupy 17k SF within Butterfield Centre, two Class A buildings totaling 281k SF, in Lombard.
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Darwin Realty & Development Corp VP Adam Haefner repped MWD Logistics in a 115k SF lease within a 260k SF building at 1480-1540 E 97th Pl. MWD leased this space as part of an expansion of its business within the Calumet Business Center where it already leases 91k SF in an adjacent building. NAI Hiffman’s Chris Gary repped the landlord, Ashley Capital.
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Colliers EVPs Tom Volini and Sven Sykes repped Weaver Boos Consultants North Central and Cabrera Capital Markets in their recent CBD lease extensions and expansions. Weaver is extending and expanding to 11k SF within 560k SF 35 E Wacker Dr (DUS Management repped ownership, TDC Canada Corp and Wacker GP) and Cabrera is extending and expanding to 11k SF within 733k SF 10 S LaSalle (JF McKinney repped ownership, Madison LaSalle Partners).
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Regus signed a long-term, 21k SF lease at 55 E Monroe, commencing in January 2015. 55 E Monroe, owned by GlenStar Properties and Walton Street Capital, was repped by GlenStar’s Christian Domin and the property is now 88% leased. 55 has signed more than 140k SF of new deals in the past year.
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Ajinomoto Heartland signed a 16k SF lease renewal, extension, and expansion (from 11k SF) at 8430 W Bryn Mawr Ave (ownership repped by Colliers’ Francis Prock and Jason Simon) in US Cellular Plaza. Bradford Allen senior managing director Craig Nadborne, the firm’s broker for 22 years, repped Ajinimoto.
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Northbrook-based Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide is expanding into downtown with a new Chicago office on the fifth floor of 10 W Hubbard St in River North, space formerly occupied by Steve Soute and Jay-Z’s New York-based Translation Marketing. The open workstation office accommodates 25 employees.
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American Realty Capital Partners leased 7,300 SF in 92k SF Stearns Crossing at the SE corner of Route 59 and Stearns Road in Bartlett to Auto Zone. Hallmark formerly occupied the space. CBRE’s Marisa Roussel and Marcy Wood repped ARCP in the deal and Doug Gow Real Estate’s Doug Gow repped the tenant.
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First Western Properties Kellen Duggan and Paul Tsakiris completed three leases: a lease of lower level office space to an emerging marketing company at 1727 S Indiana Ave in the South Loop; a lease to Dollar Store (completed in one month) at 7150 N Harlem Ave; and a lease completed in one week at 960 Harlem Ave in Glenview.
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American Realty Capital Partners leased 3,000 SF in 235k SF South Elgin Crossing (anchored by The Home Depot, Best Buy, Staples, and PetSmart) at 440 Randall Rd in South Elgin to Mattress Firm. American Mattress formerly occupied the space. CBRE’s Marisa Roussel and Marcy Wood repped ARCP in the deal and Bialow’s Marlon Stone repped the tenant.
FINANCING
HFF closed on the sale and arranged financing for Hunter’s Glen (above), a 320-unit, Class-A, garden-style multifamily community at 245 N Oakhurst Dr in Aurora. HFF managing directors Sean Fogarty and Marty O’Connell, along with associate director Wick Kirby and executive managing director Matthew Lawton, repped the seller, Levin Realty Advisors. L3C Partners purchased the property free and clear of existing debt. HFF managing director Matthew Schoenfeldt and associate director Jason Bond secured a seven-year, 3.64% interest acquisition loan on behalf of he buyer through M&T Realty Capital Corp.
CONSTRUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
Venture One Real Estate completed the sale of 27 acres in the Rock 39 Industrial Park in Cherry Valley to Ruedebusch Development & Construction, based in Madison, Wis. Reudebusch is building a 186k SF distribution facility for FedEx’s ground operations. FedEx will be joining Con-Way Freight in the 323-acre business park, which is being marketed by JLL’s Trevor Ragsdale, Steve Tramp, Kelly Grey, and Michael Connor.
EXECUTIVE MOVES
Ryan Cos US tapped Gregory Nelson as senior project manager in its Great Lakes region, based out of the firm’s Milwaukee office. Greg began his career at Ryan in ’97 in Cedar Rapids. As a member of Ryan’s Milwaukee project management team, he’ll oversee the entire construction process from initial conception through completion. Greg obtained a BS and an MS in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
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Alter Asset Management promoted Judith Privett to VP – western region. The 30-year industry vet, with Alter for 17 years, previously worked for The Symington Co. She has her CPM and RPA designations, and studied to be a paralegal and court reporter at the Minnesota School of Business. Judith is also a designated, licensed broker for Alter.
