This Week's Chicago Deal Sheet
The Howard Hughes Corp. and Riverside Investment & Development hit a milestone for their 110 North Wacker Drive project by signing up a fourth tenant, and bringing the 1.5M SF tower up to 1M SF leased.
Global law firm Jones Day agreed to occupy four floors in the upper high-rise portion of the building beginning in the second half of 2022. Since signing Bank of America as its anchor tenant in 2017, the developers have leased 67% of 110 North Wacker 15 months prior to opening. The 55-story Class-A building will be Chicago’s tallest office tower built in three decades.
“Between the Chicago riverfront location, great views on all sides of every floor, stunning architecture and best-in-class amenities, 110 North Wacker is an exceptional opportunity as demonstrated by the overwhelming market demand,” The Howard Hughes Corp. President of the Central Region Paul Layne said.
Other upcoming West Loop towers have also had success with tenants. Riverside Investment & Development will begin construction on its Union Station development, The BMO Tower at 310 South Canal St., later this year. This new office tower will add 1.4M SF of Class-A space to the submarket. The building is 34% pre-leased with BMO as the anchor tenant.
EXECS
Alter promoted Scott Latter to senior vice president of capital markets and asset management. He will focus on capitalizing Alter-owned and developed projects. His responsibilities will include raising debt and equity for ground-up developments, refinancing the existing portfolio and structuring joint ventures. Prior to joining Alter, he was vice president of EnTrust Realty Advisors.
SALES
Marcus & Millichap’s Parker Bell and Kyle Stengle completed the $6.2M sale of 1364 West Estes Ave., a 49-unit mixed-use property in East Rogers Park. The property consists of 40 one-bedroom units, three two-bedroom units and six commercial spaces.
LEASES
Barnett Capital Ltd. and Domus Special Situations Group completed a lease with WeWork for nearly 90K SF at 1155 West Fulton St., taking up all of the available office space in the building. The new tenant will occupy the entire second, third and fourth floors. The Barnett/Domus joint venture earlier this year acquired the building, which is now in the final stages of a modernizing and repositioning effort. As originally developed, 1133 and 1155 Fulton were separate, three-story buildings, but have been combined to create larger floor plates, and a fourth floor is being added. In total, the building features approximately 100K SF of commercial space.
Including 1155 Fulton, WeWork has 13 locations open or announced in Chicago, including ones in Fulton Market, West Loop, The Loop and River North.
CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
J.C. Anderson completed a 29K SF renovation project in the Aon Center at 200 East Randolph St. Property owner 601W Cos. hired J.C. Anderson to add several new amenities to the building’s 70th floor, including a new fitness center with complete locker rooms, featuring showers, a cardio and weights area, and a sound-isolated room for group fitness classes. J.C. Anderson also completed a conference center with multiple rooms, a meeting room equipped with video conferencing, a bar and lounge, a new eatery and many other features. Joe Maguire, Mike Dunn and Joe Rojas led the construction team. Gary Lee Partners provided architectural services and JLL provided project management services.
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Chicago-based Vermilion Development started construction on Alcove Wicker Park, a development of 43 condominiums and 12 townhomes located between Division Street and Milwaukee Avenue. Vermilion officials said the units will be ready for delivery in summer or fall 2020. Hirsch MPG Architecture designed the seven-story building, which will feature a masonry exterior with metal accent panels. Condominiums prices will range from $600K to more than $1.1M. The four-story townhomes will include three bedrooms, with prices ranging from $1.1M to $1.3M.
THIS AND THAT
The concrete wall of a parking garage at developer John Buck’s new skyscraper at 151 North Franklin, now officially called the CNA Center, has been transformed into a work of art. A 95-foot by 25 ¾-foot light-art installation, titled Sensing Change and designed by ESI Design, now creates abstract light patterns based on local weather data that mimics sunlight, rain and clouds. It is composed of 390 vertical light bars that will also support the growth of ivy.
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Waterton and Angelo Gordon will reveal the renovations at their River North Park apartment on Thursday. Waterton renovated the 1980s-era property at 320 West Illinois St. with a new lobby, library, lounge, renovated residences and a new rooftop deck.
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Apartment prices are starting to lose steam, according to a RENTCafé report on the rent trends in Cook County’s largest cities. In Cook County, only one of the 15 cities analyzed saw month-over-month growth of more than 1%. Oak Park, at $1,876, and Northbrook, at $1,580, saw the most notable rent decreases year over year, by $17 and $25, respectively. Evanston, at $2,034, and Chicago, at $1,998, led the county in terms of rent growth with year-over-year price gains of $107 and $105, respectively. Glenview, at $1,959, was the only city where rents inched up more than 1% month over month.
