This Week's Chicago Deal Sheet
Kirkland & Ellis will move its Chicago office and 1,700 employees from 300 North LaSalle St. to the 60-story Salesforce Tower, currently under construction at 333 Wolf Point in River North.
“We will miss 300 North LaSalle as it has been a terrific home with first-class management,” Jon Ballis, chairman of Kirkland’s executive committee, said in a statement. “But if we were to stay, we would need to completely renovate our practice floors to create more collaborative workspaces and therefore the resulting multi-year construction disruption to our personnel made moving the clear choice for us.”
Software company Salesforce is the anchor tenant of the 1.2M SF tower, developed by Hines and designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects. The building is the last of three towers at Hines' Wolf Point development, with the first two devoted to residences.
Newmark Group's Bob Chodos and Savills' Joe Learner were Kirkland's lead brokers and handled site selection and lease negotiations.
EXECS
Felix Widjaja joined Newmark as Chicago-based vice president of product operations for the company’s information technology platform. Previously, Widjaja served as global head of digital operations for JLL’s Capital Markets group. Widjaja has also held consulting roles at other firms, including Deloitte Consulting.
SALES
KBS sold Edens Corporate Center, a two-building office property at 630-650 Dundee Road in north suburban Northbrook to Bradford Allen Investment Advisors. The four-story, 188K SF buildings were built in 1987 and 1988 and renovated between 2016 and 2019. Patrick Shields, Sam DiFrancesca, Jaime Fink, Jeff Bramson and Bruce Miller of JLL worked on behalf of KBS to complete the sale. Bradford Allen Realty Services will now handle leasing, and Bradford Allen Management Services will manage the property.
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Lakepointe Properties bought 29 condominium units in 850 West Margate Terrace, a 37-unit property in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood, from an unnamed family trust. Kiser Group's Andy Friedman and Jake Parker represented both the buyer and seller in the transaction.
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Venture One Real Estate, through its acquisition fund, VK Industrial V, a partnership between Venture One and Kovitz Investment Group, closed on the acquisition of a 29K SF industrial building at 3545-3555 Stern Ave. in west suburban St. Charles. The seller, Enginuity Communications Corp., will lease back approximately 15K SF. The remaining 14K SF is leased. John Hamilton of CBRE represented the seller in the transaction.
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Brennan Investment Group acquired more than 50 acres along Interstate 55, west of Cicero Avenue and east of Harlem Avenue. ITS ConGlobal operates the container yard under a long-term lease agreement with Brennan, which acquired this site in an off-market transaction.
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Gator Chef, a supplier of new and used restaurant equipment, bought a 20K SF industrial/flex building at 1808 Ogden Ave. in west suburban Lisle's retail district. Mike Antonelli of Brown Commercial Group represented the seller, a private trust. The buyer was represented by Anthony Ciaravino of Cushman & Wakefield.
LEASES
Vocel signed a five-year lease for space in The Auxiliary Building at 1550 West Carroll Ave., a brick and heavy timber building in Chicago’s Kinzie Corridor. Its owners completed a renovation, including a new facade, landscaping, a rooftop deck and a tenant lounge. Larry Serota and Daye Williams of Transwestern represented the tenant. Cawley Chicago's Zach Pruitt and Nicholas Schaefer represented ownership.
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FourKites signed a lease for 28K SF in the West Loop's 23-story 300 South Riverside. Jamey Dix and Colton Riemenschneider of the Telos Group represented ownership in the transaction. Brad Serot and Tony Coglianese at CBRE represented FourKites.
CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
General contractor Skender completed construction on Cleland Place, a three-story, 16-unit affordable housing development at 1925 Wilmette Ave. in north suburban Wilmette. Housing Opportunity Development Corp. will operate the new development, which will provide housing for families, seniors and veterans. Skender collaborated with developer HODC and architect Cordogan Clark & Associates on this project.
