This Week's Chicago Deal Sheet
COVID-19 suppressed construction activity in the Chicago metro area throughout 2020, and the decline in new starts got even steeper as the weather cooled. Construction starts totaled $624M in November, compared to $996M in November 2019, a 37% decline, according to a Dec. 22 report from Dodge Data & Analytics.
The decline was especially steep in the nonresidential sector. New monthly activity totaled $272M, compared to $528M in November 2019, a 47% drop, according to Dodge.
The residential sector saw a more modest 26% decline. Starts totaled $351M, compared to $477M one year earlier.
The firm tracked construction activity throughout Cook County and in 12 other counties across Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana. Nonresidential buildings include office, retail, hotels, warehouses, manufacturing, educational, health care, religious, government and recreational buildings. Residential buildings include single-family and multifamily housing.
New construction totaled $9.7B in the first 11 months of 2020, a 23% decline from the $12.6B recorded in the same time period in 2019, according to Dodge. There was a 28% decline in residential construction, which totaled $3.7B in 2020 through November, compared to $5.2B over the same time in 2019.
EXECS
JLL added Jackie Shropshire to its Chicago team. As senior vice president, Shropshire will represent office and industrial clients. He has more than 16 years of sales experience with multinational pharmaceutical companies including Stryker Corp., Zimmer Biomet and Sanofi.
SALES
Clarius Partners and Wanxiang America Real Estate Group sold their new, 99K SF industrial facility at 9300 King Ave. in northwest suburban Franklin Park. Brookfield Property Group purchased the unoccupied property, which was constructed on a speculative basis, for an undisclosed price. Colliers International Chicago’s Jeff Devine and Steve Disse worked together with Colliers’ Tom Rodeno to represent Clarius and Wanxiang. Brookfield retained Colliers as the building's leasing agent.
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A buyer in a 1031 exchange purchased DUET, an apartment complex on both corners of Lincoln Avenue and Montana Street in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, for $11.7M. Kyle Stengle and Steve Rachman of Marcus & Millichap marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a local partnership. The pair also secured the buyer. DUET, constructed in 2018, was vertically subdivided prior to closing, with the buyer purchasing only the residences and the seller continuing to own the commercial portion.
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A limited liability company bought a 3K SF net-leased Popeye's at 1800 North Richmond Road in north suburban McHenry for $2M. Marcus & Millichap’s Dominic Sulo and Sean Delaney marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a developer. The buyer was secured and represented by Alan Cafiero and Ben Sgambati of Marcus & Millichap’s New Jersey office.
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The Pierini Iron Works Building at 6200 South Sayre Ave. in Chicago was sold to an unnamed purchaser for an undisclosed amount. The 35K SF industrial building sits on about 2 acres on Chicago’s South Side. Beverly Hayes and Daniel Vanchieri of SVN Chicago Commercial were the sole brokers in the transaction.
LEASES
Dynamic 3PL signed a long-term lease for a 500K SF build-to-suit at 30260 Graaskamp Blvd. in southwest suburban Wilmington. The new building will be part of the 2,500-acre Elion Logistics Park 55. Walter Murphy of Lee & Associates’ Illinois office represented Dynamic. CBRE’s Jeffrey Kapcheck and Jason Lev represented the owner/developer, Elion Logistics Partners.
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Lee & Associates' Walter Murphy closed a short-term sublease transaction and a subsequent long-term direct lease for 276K SF at 6755 West 65th St. in southwest suburban Bedford Park. He represented the new tenant, United Furniture Import & Export. Jim Estus of Colliers International represented the current tenant on the sublease. NAI Hiffman’s Larry Much and Steve Connelly represented the owner in the long-term direct lease.
FINANCING
Chicago-based Alpha Capital CRE secured an $8M bridge loan for Frontline Real Estate Partners for the Meadowbrook Shopping Center in suburban Downers Grove. The borrower will use the loan, originated and closed by Alpha Capital’s Anthony Longo, for tenant improvements and leasing commissions.
THIS AND THAT
Chicago saw 16% fewer renter applications this year compared to 2019, the second-fastest activity decline among U.S. markets, according to RENTCafé, which analyzed 5.8 million renter applications nationwide. The decline was mostly driven by fewer Chicago residents applying for apartments in the city. Since last year, 24% fewer tenants in Chicago moved within the city’s boundaries. Chicago also saw more people leave the city. Compared to 2019, 4% more renters decided to relocate to a different city, while requests for Chicago apartments dropped by 3%.
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Chicago real estate development firm Sterling Bay will allow local fitness startup BOLD to place training pods at 1000 West Carroll Ave. in Fulton Market. Gym-goers and fitness professionals can reserve BOLD's shipping container pods in 60-minute increments. Each 320 SF pod features kettlebell sets, medicine balls, stationary bikes, indoor rowing machines and other fitness equipment, as well as high-definition screens for streaming guided workouts. Founded by Jake Goldstein, BOLD allows its users to maintain fitness in the COVID-19 era without compromising safety standards, Sterling Bay officials said in a press release.
