This Week's Chicago Deal Sheet

Chicagoland’s position as a key distribution market served it well as the coronavirus spread throughout much of the U.S., allowing landlords to continue signing big leases. Bridge Development Partners, one of the region’s largest developers, secured more than 1.1M SF of leases in the market during the first half of 2020.

The leases for six tenants at five Bridge properties are all long-term and range between 42K SF and 576K SF. The tenants work in a variety of sectors, including e-commerce, international freight forwarding, global supply chain logistics, manufacturing and retail distribution.

“The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic has altered the fabric of nearly every area of commercial real estate and thrown tremendous uncertainty into our economy and everyday lives,” Bridge CEO Steve Poulos said. “It has also accelerated a number of market dynamics that were already in motion, including consumers’ mounting shift toward e-commerce, that are helping to fuel the tailwinds bolstering the industrial sector.”

To satisfy that demand, Chicago-area developers had 52 local projects totaling 27.2M SF under construction in Q2, a historic high for the region. Bridge has more than 2M SF under construction in Chicagoland, including Bridge Point I-355, a future 133K SF Class-A industrial development in Lombard.

EXECS

The Marshall Bennett Institute of Real Estate at Roosevelt University added six new instructors to its master of science in real estate and its real estate development/finance and investment certification programs. The school now has 13 instructors, including 12 working real estate professionals.

The new instructors are CBRE’s Linda Kanoski, who will teach project and construction management online this summer; Draper and Kramer’s Timothy Kramer, who this fall will teach property management and marketing; JLL Capital Markets’ Jeffrey Bramson, who will co-teach the real estate process with Court Ventures’ Gary Cowen; Heitman’s Daniel Vickerman, who will teach financial modeling; and SB Friedman Development Advisors’ Steve Friedman, who will teach public-private partnerships.

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Multifamily brokerage firm Kiser Group named Aaron Sklar its second partner, following Noah Birk, after co-founders Lee Kiser and Estella Kiser created equity positions in the company. Since 2015, Sklar completed transactions that encompass 123 properties, more than 2,900 units and a total value of more than $165M.

SALES

Brett Anthony Foods completed a 15-year sale-leaseback transaction with Chicago-based Clear Height Properties. The $16M deal will eventually allow the Northbrook, Illinois-based commercial kitchen to more than double the size of its Elk Grove Village operations, company officials said. Clear Height acquired a 53K SF building BAF owned and occupied at 1350 Greenleaf and also acquired the 50K SF 1250 Greenleaf, an adjacent property.

In addition, plans call for the development of a roughly 10K SF structure that will connect the two properties, creating a larger, customized Safe Quality Food facility. CBRE’s Jason Lev represented BAF in the sale of 1350 Greenleaf to Clear Height. Brian Colson of Avison Young represented the seller of 1250 Greenleaf.

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Recon Properties acquired 943 North Crosby St., a 27-unit rental community in Chicago’s River North neighborhood. It paid $9.58M, or $342K per unit. Interra Realty’s Joe Smazal represented Recon, owned by Michael Arrington, who was seeking a replacement property as part of a 1031 exchange.

Smazal identified this off-market asset and represented the seller, Bryan Schroeder, owner of Metro Park LLC. Built in 2018, the property offers 21 one-bedroom and six two-bedroom units. The property is the first middle-market multifamily asset to trade hands in the River North submarket in nearly three years, according to CoStar Group.

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IBT Group LLC purchased for $8.25M a 250K SF, multiple-building property on 6.5 acres at 1334, 1330 and 1030 North Kostner Ave. in Chicago. SVN | Chicago Commercial’s Jennifer Hopkins and Olivia Czyzynski represented the buyer, and colleague John McDermott represented the seller along with outside broker Amy Van Hook. The property is in an opportunity zone, and the new owner plans to launch an office redevelopment project.

LEASES

Clear Height Properties signed six office leases totaling almost 45K SF at 26TWENTYFIVE Butterfield, a 45-unit office building at 2625 Butterfield Road in suburban Oak Brook. NAI Hiffman’s Ryan Maher, along with Dan O’Neill and Adam Johnson, represented Clear Height in the negotiations. The six tenants are Apple Recovery Services Corp., The Centers for Family Change, Quattro Business Services, Medulla, Re-Direct Financial Services Inc. and MedOP Solutions.

Built in 1972, the three-story, 214K SF property includes 10 acres of green space. Clear Height acquired the building in 2018 and has since upgraded its common areas, which include a conference room, lobby, deli and fitness center, as well as an outdoor space with a lounge area and on-site property management.

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First American Properties signed a new lease with Water Quality Association for 37K SF at 2375 Cabot Drive in Lisle. WQA will occupy the entire two-story property, known as the Courtyards of Lisle. It will relocate and expand from 18K SF at 4151 Naperville Road in Lisle. Ryan Moen and Norm Murdoch of Bradford Allen represented First American Properties. WQA was represented by Cushman & Wakefield’s Eric Sorensen, Colin Rowe and Jordan Rovito.

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Nut and candy manufacturer Georgia Nut Co. renewed its lease for 123K SF at 7500 Linder Ave. in Skokie. Less than a mile from the Touhy/I-94 interchange, the industrial food processing facility features a 23-foot clear ceiling height. Colliers International | Chicago’s Chris Volkert represented Georgia Nut. Colliers’ Ned Frank and Pat Hake represented the owner, LINK. 

FINANCING

Mag Mile Capital completed an interest-only bridge loan for The Ghoman Group’s acquisition of the Chicago Marriott Northwest at 4800 Hoffman Blvd. off I-90 in Hoffman Estates. The deal’s terms were not disclosed, but Indianapolis-based Ghoman was able to purchase the 295-room hotel at a significant discount due to a seller dispute and pandemic concerns, Mag Mile Capital officials said. They arranged an interest-only, 24-month bridge loan with a 65% loan-to-value ratio. CBRE Hotels’ John Karver and Eric Belfrage were the seller's exclusive agents.

CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT

Englewood Construction completed a Windy City Cannabis dispensary at 923 West Weed St. Camburas & Theodore Ltd. was the architect for the dispensary, located in an existing commercial building. The Englewood team also started work on a second Windy City Cannabis outlet at 1413 West North Ave. in Melrose Park, a western suburb of Chicago. This dispensary is in an existing stand-alone retail store and slated to open in September. Camburas & Theodore was also the architect for this project.

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J.C. Anderson will complete a 150K SF office renovation for West Monroe Partners at 311 West Monroe St. in Chicago. The construction team includes J.C. Anderson’s John Angelovich, Matt Kantro, Kayla McKinney, Darrel Panfil and Steve Perry. Garnett is providing architectural services. West Monroe Partners, a national consulting firm, will relocate from 222 West Adams St. The contractor will add offices, open office areas, phone rooms, conference rooms and collaborative work areas. It expects to complete the multiple-floor build-out in October.

THIS AND THAT

The Cannabis Equity Illinois Coalition signed a community benefits agreement with dispensary operator Zen Leaf for a proposed adult-use dispensary at 1720 North Damen Ave. in Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood. The agreement ensures the dispensary will provide economic opportunities for communities disproportionately harmed by drug criminalization, coalition activists said, a goal of Illinois’ adult-use cannabis law. As part of the agreement, Zen Leaf Bucktown pledged to hire and buy from individuals and organizations in the state’s disproportionally impacted areas or who would qualify as a social equity applicant, among other promises.

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Chicago-based developer Fifield Cos. announced the name Westerly for its development at 740 North Aberdeen St. in Chicago’s River West neighborhood. Opening this fall, the 11-story building will include 188 apartments, more than 2K SF of ground-floor retail and a public park. General contractor McHugh Construction continued work on the building throughout the spring and has almost completed the unit finishes. Fifield Cos. hired Greystar to manage the building.

Contact Brian Rogal at brian.rogal@bisnow.com.