The Deal Sheet
Believe it or not, Chicago-area industrial deals are making almost as many headlines as Solange Knowles’ infamous elevator fight with Jay-Z. That’s why our special summit on the topic (maybe we'll call warehouses ware-Hovas) is jumping off tomorrow morning. Meet some of our panelists:
Positive industrial leasing momentum means good things for spec projects as fundamentals return to healthier levels, says Trevor Ragsdale, who was appointed to lead JLL's Chicago industrial group last January. In fact, his team is bringing a 237k SF Seefried and Clarion spec building to market in Bolingbrook with over half already spoken for. His colleagues Keith Stauber, Steve Ostrowski, and Dominic Carbonari also just teamed up to rep Ridge Development in a 1.7M SF build-to-suit for Michelin at Rideport Logistics Center in Wilmington. Speaking of team, Trevor’s JLL Chicago industrial group has shot from 11 to 21 since he and his partners sold Staubach to JLL in ’08. Outside of work, Trevor’s busy chasing after his two boys (6 and 7), who are probably busy chasing each other.
Duke Realty VP Ryan O’Leary (snapped with his kids, Brody's on the left and half of Sean is on the right), an avid snowboarder who makes regular trips to Telluride, tells us the company’s local 11.5M SF portfolio hit 100% occupancy for the first time last year, and remains above 98%. Such a high-performing portfolio allows the firm to think creatively as it pursues aggressive local expansion, he tells us. Instead of Duke’s usual focus on stabilized buildings, it can take on more acquisition risk or build spec (it will kick off a 324k SF project in I-55 next month). Ryan hopes to grow the portfolio by another 1M SF over the next year on top of 1M SF in development, driven by a rebounding economy and more confident tenant base. Duke just did build-to-suits for Forsythe Technologies in O’Hare and Weber-Stephen in Huntley. Snag your event tix here!
SALES
Carter Validus Mission Critical REIT acquired Ascent’s 250k SF CH2 data center facility (above) in Northlake for $211.7M. CVMC REIT will provide fresh capital for the continued expansion of the facility, and Ascent will manage data center development, design, construction, engineering, and operational services. The site, which accommodates power requirements from less than 1 MW to up to 20 MW, is CVMC REIT’s largest single portfolio acquisition to date.
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Mid-America Real Estate Corp’s Ben Wineman repped the seller, Houston-based Situs Holdings, in the sale of The Glen Town Center in Glenview. The 268k SF lifestyle center, located at the SW corner of West Lake Avenue and Patriot Boulevard, was purchased by Dallas-based Tabani Group. It’s anchored by Dick’s Sporting Goods and Von Maur, which is separately owned.
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Brennan Investment Group and its JV partner, Westminster Capital, sold Ogden Corporate Center, two single-story office buildings at 801-815 Ogden Ave in Lisle, to a private investor. The buildings are fully leased to three tenants with the majority of the space occupied by a DuPage Medical Group affiliate in a long-term lease.
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The Boulder Group’s Randy Blankstein and Jimmy Goodman repped the seller, a Midwest-based high-net-worth individual, in the $4.3M sale of a single-tenant net-leased CITGO gas station at 200 Fabyan Pkwy in Batavia. The buyer was an East Coast-based private investment firm. There are 10 years remaining on CITGO’s absolute net lease, and the guarantor of the lease is GasMart USA.
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SVN | Chicago Commercial’s Beverly Hayes repped The Shred Authority in the $1.1M purchase of a 43k SF industrial building at 4101 W 124th Pl in Alsip. Strategic Advisors’ Robert Barr repped the seller, Praxair Surface Technologies. The Shred Authority was attracted to the building’s 6b tax provision, location, and high ceilings.
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Paine/Wetzel TCN Worldwide’s Terry Lynch and Jeff Girling repped Yonan Carpet One in its purchase of a new retail location and warehouse space, the 32k SF building at 1400 Hicks Rd in Rolling Meadows. The seller, BofA, was repped by NAI Hiffman’s Steve Connelly and Adam Marshall.
LEASING
NAI Hiffman EVPs Dan Leahy and Adam Roth repped Duke Realty in its lease expansion with Walgreens for 259k SF of industrial space at 370 Crossroads Pkwy in Bolingbrook. JLL’s Kris Bjorson repped Walgreens.
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Fast-growing Vivid Seats, repped by Advocate Commercial Real Estate Advisors' David Knight, signed a new 31k SF long-term lease at 111 N Canal. Chloe Reaumond repped ownership, Sterling Bay.
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Cresa Chicago repped Hickory Farms in its lease renewal and restructure for its Joliet facility (following a multi-state evaluation of alternatives). Managing principal Mark Montana and VP Rob Wheeler repped Hickory in the new 205k SF lease at Cherry Hill Business Park in Joliet/New Lenox. JLL’s Trevor Ragsdale repped ownership, Northern Builders.
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NAI Hiffman VP Chris Gary and associate Howard Bergdoll repped an institutional owner in a new lease with PECO Pallet for 195k SF of industrial space in the Chicago Manufacturing Campus, 2924 E 126th St. Colliers’ Jeff Heymann repped PECO, which will use the facility for the re-manufacture and distribution of pallets to grocery and consumer goods clients.
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Bradford Allen Realty Services completed a 21k SF lease for Fidelity Information Systems (FIS) at 98k SF Creekside Corporate Center, 270 Remington Blvd in Bolingbrook. Directors Ryan Moen and John Millner repped ownership, Sperry Equities. California-based Orion Realty’s Erik Ozolins repped FIS.
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NAI Hiffman EVPs Dan O’Neill and Michael Flynn repped Clingen Callow & McLean in its new lease with Piedmont Office Realty Trust for 10k SF at 2300 Cabot Dr in Lisle. The business law firm is relocating its DuPage County office to Lisle, off of Warrenville Road in the I-88 Corridor.
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The Wrigley Building signed new leases totaling 11k SF with two tech companies—Brainlab and Shazam—raising the property’s occupancy rate by 30% in eight months (new leases totaling 116k SF). Brainlab (repped by CBRE’s Perry Higa and Conner Kerr) will lease 9,379 SF in the South Tower and Shazam (repped by JLL’s Christine Bower and Tyler Hardy) is leasing 1,471 SF in the North Tower. The building’s two towers are now 53% leased. Brokers for the building are Zeller Realty Group’s Carrie Bradley and NGKF’s Karin Kraai.
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Entre Commercial Realty’s Dan Benassi, Dan Jones, and Michael DeSerto repped medical device company Medela in its new 155k SF lease of industrial space at 2768 Spectrum Dr in Elgin. Lee & Associates of Illinois’s Steve Bass and John Sharpe repped ownership, Stockbridge Capital Partners.
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Transwestern’s Michael Marconi repped Vanco in the renewal of its 44k SF lease at 506 Kingsland in Batavia. Liberty Property Trust owns the 178k SF building and repped itself.
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NAI Hiffman EVP Mike Van Zandt and VP Brian Edgerton repped General Growth Properties in five leases at the 105k SF Oak Brook North building, 1200 Harger Rd in Oak Brook. The first renewal was Personnel Staffing Group, remaining in its 2,209 SF office. TouchPoint Print Solutions renewed its 1,346 SF lease, and other renewals included RB International Import-Export renewing 941 SF, Gray Huner Stenn (repped by Tenant Advisors’ David Ven Horst) renewing and expanding to 6,438 SF, and Digital Staffing (repped by BKB Commercial’s Brian Borken) inking a new lease for an additional 1,183 SF.
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The Camden Group doubled in size by signing a new long-term 8,800 SF lease at 29 N Wacker Dr. Advocate Commercial Real Estate Advisors’ Bob Palffy and Jason Grohowski repped the tenant and JF McKinney’s Matt Learner repped ownership.
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Paine/Wetzel TCN Worldwide’s Terry Lynch and Jeff Girling repped Elite Ambulance in its lease of 17k SF at 6249 W Howard in Niles. JLL’s Robin Stolberg repped ownership, Cabot Properties. The team also repped ownership in Horn Lumber’s 10-year lease of 35k SF at 4700 W 16th St in Cicero. Coldwell Banker’s Stewart Katz repped the tenant
CONSTRUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
RMK Management Corp welcomed the first residents at 73 East Lake, a 42-story apartment building in the Loop. The building is the first new-construction apartment tower to open in 2014, and it has leased more than 20% of its 322 units. The Solomon Cordwell Buenz-designed tower includes 183 indoor parking spaces, three floors of luxury amenities, and a complimentary shared bike service for residents.
EXECUTIVE MOVES
Quentin Knights, formerly head of DTZ’s global occupier services (GOS) Americas operations, has been named to the newly created position of EVP of global operations, GOS (located at DTZ’s global HQ in Chicago). SVP of new business development in facilities management Todd Richardson will move into a new position as head of business development for GOS Americas, maintaining an office in Boston.
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Amy Lind joined Transwestern as SVP of property management, working alongside Bob DeMarke in overseeing property management across the Midwest. She was previously city leader at Cassidy Turley in Chicago and holds a bachelor’s degree in management from Missouri State University.
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Bradford Allen promoted Tom Hanrahan from research associate to research and communications director. In his new role, Tom will oversee the firm’s research policies, objectives, and initiatives, as well as its PR, social media initiatives, and corporate communications platform. He was previously a research associate at Barrington Research and graduated from Adrian College.
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SVN | Chicago Commercial tapped Jason Rabin as senior advisor, specializing in investment sales. He was most recently director of acquisitions for a national student housing investor, helping spur exponential growth in its $500M portfolio. Jason holds on MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and a BA in finance, accounting, and real estate from UPenn.
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Landmark Partners tapped Christine Hsu as senior broker. The 25-year industry rep, an active member of the Chicago area Asian American community, specializes in international businesses looking to invest, expand, or relocate into the Chicago market. She’ll be a part of the growing international real estate services division of Landmark Partners.
