This Week's Chicago Deal Sheet

A group of institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management bought from CenterPoint Properties a 1.75M SF trucking terminal portfolio with properties in core logistics markets across the U.S. The portfolio includes 53 truck terminals in several industrial markets, including Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas and New Jersey.

Investor demand is strong in the industrial sector, prompting investors to look to many niche segments for assets, Avison Young principal Erik Foster stated in a press release. Foster and colleague Mike Wilson represented CenterPoint in the sale.

Due to limited supply and highly fragmented ownership, trucking terminals are underinvested in by institutional players.

“Transload facilities are a niche segment within the industrial sector and are an integral part of the infrastructure that supports e-commerce,” Foster added in the release. “They operate as national, regional and local hubs to provide the linkage that allows goods to reach their final destination.”

The Midwest contains nearly 20% of the portfolio’s properties, including 2300 Landmeier Road in Elk Grove Village, 5827 Green Valley Court in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and 909 West Carpenter Ave. in Milwaukee.

EXECS

Adam Mitchell joined Tishman Speyer as managing director of leasing for the Midwest region. He will help oversee the firm’s 7M SF office portfolio in Chicago, including 320 North Sangamon St. in Fulton Market, currently under development, and the planned 1.3M SF office tower at 130 North Franklin St. Mitchell joins Tishman Speyer after 20 years at Savills, where he focused on major markets throughout the Midwest.

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Marina Zelenkova joined Colliers International Chicago as a vice president with the firm’s Downtown Chicago agency leasing team. Zelenkova was most recently a senior associate with CBRE’s leasing and asset services group.

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Gregg Witt joined Cresa as a principal with the Chicago office. Witt will lead the firm’s local nonprofit practice group. He was most recently a senior vice president with CBRE, where he co-founded the firm’s nonprofit practice group.

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Skender promoted several executives to new positions. Andy Halik, Brian Bukowski and Brian Simons were promoted to vice president. Clay Edwards was promoted to senior vice president, Joy Perryman to director of risk management, Mike Muehring to senior project manager and Todd Andrlik to senior vice president. 

SALES

Chicago-based The Equitable Funds bought Remington Office Court, an office complex at 1305-1375 Remington Road in northwest suburban Schaumburg. The price was not disclosed. Olivia Czyzynski, Nathalie Fisher and Jennifer Hopkins of SVN | Chicago Commercial represented the seller. NAI Hiffman’s Steve Chrastka and Jason Wurtz represented the buyer.

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San Diego-based Westcore acquired a 4M SF industrial real estate portfolio with assets across nine U.S. markets. The firm purchased the portfolio from San Antonio-based USAA Real Estate for an undisclosed amount. The portfolio consists of 17 Class-A buildings constructed between 2016 and 2020. It includes 600K SF in the Chicago metro area, including Mokena Logistics I and II, as well as the Rockwell Logistics Center.

The portfolio is 71% leased, and the average building size is 240K SF. CBRE’s Jack Fraker and Ryan Thorton represented USAA Real Estate in the transaction, while Westcore represented itself. Val Achtemeier and Mark McGovern at CBRE led placement of new debt for the deal.

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DAG Vine Place purchased Vine Place Apartments at 400 Talcott Road in Park Ridge, a newly constructed 22-unit luxury apartment community, for $9M as part of a 1031 exchange. Interra Realty’s Craig Martin and Brian DiBasilio represented the buyer and seller in the off-market transaction.

LEASES

Sports fashion brand BOGNER opened a winter pop-up boutique within Oakbrook Center. The firm also opened winter boutiques on Bloor Street in Toronto and at The Mall in Short Hills in New Jersey last month.

CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT

J.C. Anderson completed an office renovation for Near North Title Group at 222 North LaSalle St. in Chicago. The build-out to the 26-story property’s sixth floor included a new reception entry and features exposed ceilings with sound insulation, decorative lighting and concrete. The title group has occupied space in 222 North LaSalle for more than 30 years, and will relocate from the first floor.

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James McHugh Construction Co. completed the ground-up construction of two apartment developments in Chicago: the 11-story Westerly by Fifield Cos. in the River West neighborhood, and NEMA Chicago by Crescent Heights in the South Loop. Westerly is a mixed-use development designed by FitzGerald Associates Architects that offers 188 apartments and more than 2K SF of ground-floor retail space. McHugh broke ground on the project in July 2019 and completed the building in October. McHugh broke ground in 2016 for the 76-story NEMA Chicago and topped it off in 2018. Residents began moving into the building in May 2019.

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Lendlease, along with Magellan Development Group, topped off Cirrus, a 47-story, 350-unit luxury condominium tower at 211 North Harbor Drive, and Cascade, a 37-story, 503-unit luxury apartment tower at 455 East Waterside Drive, together representing one of the final phases of the Lakeshore East master plan. The buildings, designed by bKL Architecture, are two of three towers planned on the lakefront site. The first Cirrus residences will be delivered in the fall. Pre-leasing will begin at Cascade in the spring, with the first move-ins expected this summer.

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Ryan Cos., LCS and Harrison Street secured financing and started construction on Clarendale Six Corners, a senior living community at the corner of Irving Park Road and Milwaukee Avenue that will cover 1.25 acres of the 4-acre land parcel known as The Point at Six Corners. The 10-story, $117M mixed-use, retail and senior living property will include 258 residential units made up of independent living, assisted living and memory care units, and 11 affordable independent living units. Located on a triangular corner, the property will include 18K SF of street-level retail space. The south half of the site will be an Aldi grocery store.

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Cannabis Facility Construction completed construction on a 3K SF Mission Dispensaries recreational and medical dispensary for 4Front Ventures Corp. in south suburban Calumet City. The dispensary at 1330 Torrence Ave. opened to the public on Dec. 15.

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Kinzie Builders completed construction on Elm Street Place, a two-building, seven-unit rental townhome development in north suburban Deerfield. Both buildings are fully occupied, and the developer, Elm Street Place, has put the property on the market for $4.97M.

THIS AND THAT

EQ Office on Tuesday revealed Atmospheric wave wall, the first public art installation in Chicago by artist Olafur Eliasson, a piece created specifically for Willis Tower and displayed on its exterior Jackson Boulevard wall. The piece measures roughly 30 feet by 60 feet and covers the wall with a pattern of 1,963 metal tiles.

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Greenstone Partners hired Bradford Allen to lease its six-story, 75K SF brick-and-timber loft building at 180 North Wacker Drive in Chicago. Andy DeMoss and Alex Gordon of Bradford Allen will lease the property.