This Week's Chicago Deal Sheet

Ingersoll Machine Tools broke ground on an expansion that will add 40K SF to its 500K SF campus in Rockford, Illinois. The manufacturer creates machine tools for the aerospace and other industries and will use the new space to help build a mount weighing nearly 2,000 tons for the Giant Magellan Telescope under construction in Chile.

The project is a collaboration between German manufacturer OHB SE and Rockford-based Ingersoll, a division of the Camozzi Machine Tool Group. The mount will hold seven mirrors, each about 27 feet in diameter. Ingersoll officials expect it will be completed and delivered to the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile's Atacama Desert by the end of 2025.

“Ingersoll’s latest investment in Illinois will pave the way to one of the largest and most powerful telescopes in the world, rivaling that of the Hubble,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a statement. “Investing in cutting edge technology that’s manufactured here will expand new jobs opportunities for our state.”

Ingersoll employed about 2,000 workers in the 1960s but went bankrupt in 2003, according to the Rockford Register Star. It was then purchased by Camozzi and today employs about 200 people.

“This expansion of Ingersoll’s Illinois campus builds on our long history of manufacturing being a key pillar of the state’s economy,” acting Director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Sylvia Garcia said in a statement.

EXECS

Kathryn Ditmars joined Cresa as general counsel and chief human resources officer. The Chicago-based Ditmars was a managing director at JLL, where she spent the majority of her career. Prior to joining JLL, she was a litigation attorney focused on employment counseling and claims resolution.

***

Brandon Honey joined Chicago-based Blue Vista Capital Management, a real estate investment firm, as senior vice president of capital markets. Previously, Honey was vice president of capital markets at Green Courte Partners. He also spent seven years in various commercial real estate lending roles at Wells Fargo in the U.S. and Canada.

SALES

Cincinnati-based Midland Atlantic Properties sold for $4.3M a new 10K SF retail property in Bradley Commons, a Walmart Supercenter-anchored shopping center at 2070 North State Route 50 in suburban Bourbonnais. Jeff Lefko and Bill Asher of Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors, along with ParaSell Inc., represented Midland Atlantic in the transaction. The buyer was a private investor from Des Moines, Iowa. The four-tenant pad building houses Jersey Mike’s Subs, Midwest Express Clinic, AT&T and uBreakiFix.

***

Exeter Property Group bought a 116K SF industrial building at 921 Ardmore Ave. in west suburban Itasca for an undisclosed price. Mark Baumhart and Jeff Janda of Lee & Associates’ Illinois office were the sole brokers in the sale. The Lee team also brokered a lease renewal for the building’s tenant, 4C Logistics. 

***

A private developer purchased 60 acres of family-owned agricultural land at Route 31 and Blake Road in north suburban McHenry. The new owner plans to rezone and convert the land into a residential development. Paul Montes of Inland Real Estate Commercial Brokerage negotiated the sale.

***

The Village of Westchester bought from a private investor nearly 3 acres of land at 1107 South Mannheim Road in west suburban Westchester for $1.8M. The purchase expands a site the village wants transformed into either retail or a mixed-use development. Richard Kozarits, Tammy Saia and Tami Andrew of Marcus & Millichap’s Chicago-Oak Brook office marketed the property on behalf of the seller. Kozarits also represented the village.

LEASES

Glen Una Management, an Austin, Texas-based real estate investment and management firm, named JBS Commercial Real Estate as its leasing agent for 1400 North 25th Ave., a 456K SF industrial building in west suburban Melrose Park. Glen Una acquired the property in late 2020. The previous owner renovated the structure in 2019. According to JBS, there are four spaces totaling 44K SF available for lease.

CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT 

NorthPoint Development chose Peak Construction Corp. to build its Heartland 94 Logistics Center Building 1 at 8311 38th St. in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Peak will start construction this spring on the 757K SF building, which will feature 40-foot clear heights. The builder plans to complete the structure by January 2022.

***

McShane Construction Co. began building the 651K SF Industry Center at Melrose Park on behalf of LBA Logistics. The 44-acre development at 2065 George St. in west suburban Melrose Park will consist of three speculative buildings, including one with 350K SF. All three will have 36-foot clear heights. Prior to beginning construction, McShane demolished an existing building on the site and worked with project architect Harris Architects to determine the site’s layout and what building features to include.

THIS AND THAT

Developers will deliver 1.4M SF of new office space in Chicago this year, making it the nation’s 18th-most-active market in terms of office construction, according to CommercialCafé’s 2021 Office Pipeline Report.

***

Architectural firm KTGY acquired Simeone Deary Design Group, a Chicago-based interior design and branding firm co-founded by Lisa Simeone and Gina Deary in 2002.