The Deal Sheet

LEASING NEWS

Lawson Products has signed a long-term, 86k SF lease at 8770 Bryn Mawr Ave in Triangle Plaza for its new corporate HQ. The three-party transaction—a 17k SF direct lease from building owner CommonWealth REIT and a 69k SF sublease from Alcan Corp—makes Lawson the largest tenant in the building. The company will take the entire fifth, sixth, and ninth floors, as well as the majority of the fourth floor, about 27% of the office space. Occupancy is scheduled for March. Studley’s Joe Learner and Jon Azulay repped Lawson Products. The John Buck Co’s Howard Meyer repped Commonwealth REIT. Cushman & Wakefield’s Steven Bauer and Frank Franzese repped Alcan Corp.

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Colliers International’s James Estus represented International Airport Centers in a new 249k SF long-term lease to Navistar at 1000 N County Line Rd in Elmhurst. This transaction represents an expansion for Navistar, which will utilize the facility as a supplement to its Melrose Park operations. Navistar will move to the building next month.

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The Management Association of Illinois has completed a new lease for 12k SF of space at Highland Landmark II, 3025 Highland Pkwy in Downers Grove. Podolsky Northstar CORFAC International’s Corey Chase repped the tenant. Golub & Co’s Steve Degodny represented building ownership, GLL BVK Properties.

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Podolsky Northstar CORFAC International repped ownership in a 6,250 SF transaction that brings 2200 Ogden Ave in Lisle to 100% occupancy. The stabilized asset has now been placed on the market for sale. Vargyas Networks/Baltic Networks leased Suite 240, which had been the sole remaining vacant space in the 52k SF single-story flex building situated along Lisle’s Ogden Avenue retail corridor. Podolsky’s Adam Tarantur, and Randy Podolsky represented building ownership. Eagle Realty represented the tenant.

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Shannon Arseneau joined Cushman & Wakefield as a senior property manager in the firm’s industrial group. She comes to C&W from AMB Property Corp/Prologis where she served as property manager. Shannon brings 10 years of real estate experience to C&W and will work closely with Victoria Knudson to continue to strengthen the company’s Midwest industrial platform.

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Richard DiBernardo has joined Heartland Bank and Trust Co as SVP of commercial real estate lending needs of Western Springs and surrounding Chicago-area communities. He will be responsible for developing and underwriting new commercial real estate accounts. Most recently, he served as head of commercial real estate portfolio management with JP Morgan where he was responsible for oversight of the firm’s $38B in CRE exposure. He graduated from St Norbert College with a degree in finance.

MANAGEMENT NEWS

NAI Hiffman’s asset management group has been awarded the property management for more than 1M SF of combined industrial, office and retail product in the Chicago suburbs and Decatur. The industrial assignments include the Speedway Logistics Center, recently purchased by Molto Capital, at 3451 S Chicago in Joliet as well as two assets acquired by TA Associates Realty at 4675 Turnberry in Hanover Park and 1640 Fullerton Court in Glendale Heights. Chicago-based WH&H Realty Advisors has also assigned its Harmswood Office Center at 5750 Old Orchard Rd in Skokie to NAI Hiffman’s asset management group.

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NAI Hiffman’s special asset solutions has recently added the following to its roster of managed properties: Riley’s Point, a 15k SF shopping center located at 12371 Derby Road in Lemont; a 41k SF industrial asset at 1440 Davey Rd in Woodridge; and a 200k SF retail asset, Northgate Shopping Center in Decatur.

AWARDS

Transwestern’s Chicago office announced today that it has been named a Top Workplace by the Chicago Tribune for the second year in a row. Transwestern placed 13th in the small employer category, which included 45 companies of fewer than 250 employees.

CAPITAL MARKETS

HFF closed the sale of Regents Park, a two-tower, 1,031-unit multi-housing property with 7,591 SF of ground-floor retail space at 5020 to 5050 S Lake Shore Dr in Hyde Park. HFF marketed the property on behalf of the sellers, who are members of the Crescent Heights group of companies. RP Holdings purchased Regents Park for $159M and assumed the existing financing on the property. The HFF investment sales team representing Crescent Heights® was led by executive Matthew Lawton, Sean Fogarty, and Marty O’Connell.

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Jones Lang LaSalle’s capital market team secured $20M in JV financing for Optima Center Chicago at 200 E Illinois St from a fund sponsored by LaSalle Investment Management for the construction of Optima Center Chicago, a 325-unit, luxury high-rise located in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood. The project development cost is expected to exceed $100M. JLL’s Dave Hendrickson and Chuck Hoag led the team.

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Mid-America Real Estate Corp has brokered the sale of two lender-owned shopping centers in Indiana—Edison Park Plaza in Mishawaka, and Jefferson Centre, located in Ft. Wayne. Mid-America’s Ben Wineman and Heather Rink repped the sellers in both transactions. The 88k SF Edison Park Plaza in Mishawaka is a community shopping center that was sold for an undisclosed amount to an Indiana-based private investment group. The buyer was self-represented. The 17k SF Jefferson Centre in Ft. Wayne was a lender-owned property that sold to a Ft. Wayne-based private investment group for an undisclosed amount. The buyer was represented by NAI Harding Dahm’s Russell Jehl.

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Links Capital Advisors, in partnership with Siegel-Gallagher, has brokered the sale of Mequon Country Club in Milwaukee. Mequon Country Club, a 27-hole championship golf course and private country club, was purchased by a local investor for $1.5M. In addition to the 27 holes of golf, some of which wind along the Milwaukee River, the club also features a sizeable clubhouse and banquet facility, swimming pool, and six tennis courts. Two additional Wisconsin golf properties, the 36-hole Silver Spring Golf & Banquet Center in Menomonee Falls and the 18-hole Glen Erin Golf Club in Janesville, are currently being marketed by the team, which was led by Links’ Chris Charnas and Siegel-Gallagher’s Patrick Gallagher.

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Essex Realty Group brokered the sale of the Garfield Plaza Apartments at 4114 W Washington. The building is a 63-unit renovated apartment building in the Garfield Park neighborhood. The unit mix consists of 50 studios and four one-bedrooms. Essex’s Jim Darrow and Jordan Gottlieb were the brokers. The price was $650k.

CONSTRUCTION NEWS

Morgan / Harbour Construction completed an 8,500 SF build-out for the offices of Glenn Stearns, Chapter 13 Trustee within Arboretum Lakes in Lisle. The build-out at the new location included the construction of new private offices, conference rooms and a break room. Morgan / Harbour’s Ben Warriner and Andrew MacMillan led the construction team. Horn & Associates provided the architectural services. CresaPartners provided the project management on behalf of the tenant and Millbrook Properties is the owner of the property within Arboretum Lakes.

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Morgan / Harbour has been selected for a 3,500 SF interior renovation and expansion at 5750 Old Orchard Rd in Skokie on behalf of Fieldwork, which is expanding at the Skokie location. Renovations cover the interior including new meeting/viewing rooms with lounge areas, a new reception area and private restroom facilities. M/H's Roger Sassen is leading the construction team and VOA is providing the architectural services. The property manager is NAI Hiffman.

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Contractor CH2M Hill is moving its Chicago office to a 17k SF space at the O’Hare Plaza office complex. JLL's Rick Benoy and Dan Fernitz are the exclusive leasing agents for the four-building 700k SF complex and completed the transaction on behalf of the owner of the 8735 W Higgins building (also known as O’Hare Plaza I). The company is moving from 8501 W Higgins Rd, about three blocks to the east.