This Week's Chicago Deal Sheet

A Canadian manufacturer last week chose the Chicago region to host its first U.S. facility. Lion Electric Co. will manufacture its all-electric medium- and heavy-duty urban vehicles at a 906K SF facility under construction at 3835 Youngs Road in southwest suburban Joliet. Gov. J.B. Pritzker, along with many other state and municipal officials, joined the company’s leaders on Friday to announce the $70M project.

“The new Joliet facility will put Illinois at the forefront of a national movement to transition to zero-emission vehicle use, advancing our own goals of putting 1 million of these cars on the road by 2030,” Pritzker said Friday. “In Illinois, we know that a clean energy economy is about more than just vehicles — it’s about healthier communities and jobs for those who live there.”

Officials from the Quebec-based Lion Electric said they expected the facility, part of the Clarius Park Joliet business park, to start building vehicles in the second half of 2022 and employ nearly 800 people. It will have the capacity to produce about 20,000 zero-emission vehicles every year.    

"We're bringing green jobs, selling a product that creates a healthier environment for workers, for students, for passengers and communities across this great country," Lion Electric Vice President of Sales Nate Baguio said at the event Friday.

The company received nearly $8M in incentives from the state.

EXECS

McKissack & McKissack, an architecture, engineering and construction management firm, hired Sam Boye as operations manager for the Midwest and West regions of the country and promoted Girard Jenkins to project executive for the Midwest. Both are based in the firm’s Chicago office. Before joining McKissack, Boye was project management director at Cushman & Wakefield. Prior to that, he was capital projects director at Golub & Co. Boye will help McKissack oversee the design and construction of the Obama Presidential Center, now underway on Chicago’s South Side.

A Tuskegee University alumnus, Jenkins was formerly a senior project manager for Chicago Public Schools’ reopening.

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CA Student Living hired Robert Saunders as chief financial officer and promoted Steve Boyack, a three-year veteran of the firm, to chief operating officer. Prior to joining the firm, Saunders was president of Kaufman Jacobs, a real estate investment manager, where he served as the firm’s managing principal.

Since joining the firm in 2018, Boyack helped launch its European student operating platform, a global sustainability initiative, a wellness program and an innovation department.

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Northbrook, Illinois-based Pine Tree hired Michael Slusky as senior vice president and director of leasing. Prior to joining Pine Tree, Slusky served for 23 years as senior director of real estate for Kimco Realty Corp., an owner and operator of open-air shopping centers. He will lead Pine Tree’s national leasing team.

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Industrial Outdoor Ventures added two professionals to its growing staff. The Schaumburg, Illinois-based firm named John Kraft its manager of construction and properties. He most recently served as a project manager with Bulley & Andrews’ education and institutional division. Prior to that, he worked at William A. Randolph & Co. where he led construction and heavy civil projects across the U.S.

Nate King joined IOV as acquisitions associate and will lead channel sourcing strategy, acquisition analysis and due diligence.

SALES

Golub & Co. and Petiole Asset Management AG completed a joint venture acquisition of Lakehaven Apartments at 732 Bluff St. in suburban Carol Stream. It is the first residential joint venture between the two firms and the third overall. Golub & Co. now provides property management and leasing services. The 492-unit development was built in 1984 and is surrounded by about 100 acres of park land and lakes. The acquisition was handled by Golub & Co.’s Adam Short, Ania Naider and Kristin Nason, along with Chris Lord of Petiole Asset Management. The seller, Lakehaven Apartments LLC, was represented by JLL’s Marty O’Connell, Danny Kaufman, Wick Kirby and Kevin Girard.

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Union Building Corp. sold for $4M a 25K SF office building at 680 Barclay Blvd. in suburban Lincolnshire to Relevant Radio, a radio network that provides religious programming to approximately 100 stations across the country. The property will serve as its headquarters. Brown Commercial Group’s Mason Hezner represented the seller, and Rawly Lantz of Cawley Chicago represented the buyer.

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Foxford Communities and @properties Developer Services completed the sales for Foxford Station, a 28-unit, new-construction luxury condominium building in suburban Western Springs that @properties was hired to market in late 2019. At the time, 18 out of the 28 units were still available, but @properties sold the remaining 18 units in 13 months, with 10 sales in the final three months.

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Jackson Square Properties sold Riverstone Apartments, an affordable housing community at 308 Woodcreek Drive in southwest suburban Bolingbrook, for $93.5M to Alliant Strategic Investments and Nuveen Real Estate. JLL Capital Markets helped the buyers secure through Freddie Mac more than $60M of acquisition financing. The 789-unit Riverstone Apartments underwent a redevelopment between 2005 and 2007 that used Low-Income Housing Tax Credit equity. The new owners must maintain the affordability requirements on all units through 2036.

LEASES

Goosehead Insurance signed an 18K SF lease at 6300 North River Road in Rosemont. The Dallas-based insurance company more than triples its space with the lease. A joint venture between Farpoint Development and Greco/DeRosa Investment Group owns the 130K SF, seven-story boutique loft office redevelopment. It features amenities such as a fitness center, Zen garden, golf simulator, on-site café, lounge and conference center. Colliers International Chicago’s Jonathon Connor and Jason Simon represented the joint venture partners. CBRE’s Andrew Kaplan and Ryan Buchanan represented Goosehead Insurance.

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Chicago-based developer Fifield Cos. hit several leasing milestones with its two newest Chicago apartment buildings. Logan Apartments, its 220-unit development in Logan Square at 2480-2522 North Milwaukee Ave., reached full lease-up, and Westerly, a 188-unit mixed-use apartment building at 740 North Aberdeen St. in River West, is two-thirds leased.

CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT

Clune Construction completed Sterling Bay’s new headquarters at 333 North Green St., a Sterling Bay property in Fulton Market. Construction on the 25K SF space began in February 2020 and continued through the coronavirus pandemic with no job site shutdowns.

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Peak Construction Corp. was chosen to build IDI Logistics’ Gateway Romeoville Building A, a speculative, 351K SF industrial facility at Route 53 and Joliet Road in southwest suburban Romeoville. The building, which will have 36-foot clear heights, is expected to be completed in January. Peak is teaming with Macgregor Associates Architects and civil engineer Jacob & Hefner Associates to complete the development.

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The Chicago office of Duke Realty will construct a 300K SF speculative development at 110 North 25th Ave. in suburban Bellwood. The facility will have 36-foot clear heights, and Duke officials expect to complete it by December. The listing brokers are Jason Lev and John Suerth with CBRE. 

THIS AND THAT

E-commerce demand continues to absorb significant industrial space in Chicago, according to a new report from JLL. Two 1M SF leases were signed in Q1, driving leasing volume up to 13.7M SF. Wayfair signed with Duke Realty Group for a 1.2M SF bulk distribution facility in southwest suburban Lockport, while an unnamed firm leased a 1.1M SF speculative facility from CenterPoint Properties at Intermodal Center Joliet. In addition, the metro area’s vacancy rate continues to fall and now stands at 5.4%.

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Brokerage firm Chicago Real Estate Resources Inc. joined TCN Worldwide Real Estate Services, an alliance of top independent brokerage firms.