This Week's Chicago Deal Sheet
Invesco Real Estate sold 1717, a 175-unit mid-rise apartment building at 1717 Ridge Ave. in north suburban Evanston, for $71M to CBRE Investment Management, which acquired the asset on behalf of the CBRE Strategic Partners U.S. Value 9 fund.
It is one of several significant apartment sales closed this year in Evanston, one of the suburbs targeted in 2021 by investors seeking markets with strong rent growth.
“Evanston as a market has experienced extraordinary rent growth due to outsized demand and unique qualities, with urban/suburban amenities, proximity to Northwestern University, Lake Michigan, and both Metra and CTA train lines,” JLL’s Kevin Girard said in a statement.
He was part of a team representing Invesco. The team also included Matthew Lawton and Mark Stern.
Other recent Evanston apartment sales include Evanston-based GDS Development’s $17.1M sale of its 828 Lofts, located at 828 Noyes St., near Northwestern University.
“Renter demand for recently built apartment communities remains high in Chicago’s popular inner-ring suburbs, which in turn is driving strong investor interest in areas like Evanston,” Interra Realty’s Paul Waterloo, who helped represent GDS in the transaction, said in a statement. “After just a 60-day marketing campaign, we had six competitive offers, allowing us to close this deal quickly and successfully for both the seller and buyer.”
EXECS
New York City-based Convene brought Chicago-based Rachel Levy on board as its sales team’s senior strategic account executive. Convene provides virtual and hybrid events within venues and office locations, as well as amenity spaces in buildings such as Chicago’s Willis Tower.
SALES
First Street Development sold its 1st Street Development, a mixed-used development in the heart of west suburban St. Charles, to Tabani Group, which owns several similar projects in Chicagoland. The project took 15 years to complete and is the center of the city’s master-planned downtown. It consists of approximately 92K SF of retail and office space and a 16-unit apartment complex across five buildings. Tenants include Kilwin’s, Gia Mia, Alter Brewing, XSport Fitness and Coldwell Banker, among others. It is 97% leased. Colliers Chicago’s Peter Block, Tyler Hague and Lauren Stoliar represented First Street.
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DMG Capital, the multifamily investment affiliate of Chicago-based Daniel Management Group, acquired a three-property multifamily portfolio in north suburban Winnetka and Wilmette. The $12M deal was closed in a joint venture with private equity real estate firm JDI Realty. DMG will rebrand the collection as Trevian Townhomes. The portfolio comprises five townhomes at 601-617 Park Ave. in Wilmette, 10 townhomes at 3115-3119 Lake Ave. in Wilmette, and 12 townhomes at 700-708 and 726-738 Green Bay Road in Winnetka.
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General Capital bought from Palumbo Bros. a 3.77-acre site at 231 Wheeling Road in northwest suburban Wheeling. The site, near Wheeling Town Center, will be used for a new four-story, L-shaped apartment building called Union Apartments. The apartments will be considered affordable housing. Lee & Associates’ A. Rick Scardino represented the seller, and David Erickson of CBRE represented the buyer.
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The Laramar Group acquired Covey at Fox Valley, a 216-unit multifamily community at 2160 Walcott Road in west suburban Aurora. Laramar purchased the property as a value-add opportunity and plans to enhance the property with both interior and exterior renovations.
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Chicago-based Mavrek Development sold for $16.9M a two-building multifamily portfolio in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. The Mondrian at 4714 North Sheridan Road and 843 West Agatite Ave. comprise a total of 50 apartments that were developed by Mavrek in 2021 and 2019, respectively. Interra Realty’s Jon Morgan, David Goss and Joe Smazal represented Mavrek. Interra’s Colin O’Malley represented the private buyer. Combined, the two buildings were 96% occupied at the time of sale.
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A West Palm Beach-based investor bought in a 1031 exchange Valli Fresh Market, a 61K SF net-leased property at 850 North Roselle Road in northwest suburban Hoffman Estates, for $8M. According to Cook County property records, the seller was Forte Investments and the buyer was Nico Valli LLC. Adrian Mendoza, Sean Sharko and Austin Weisenbeck of Marcus & Millichap’s Chicago Oak Brook office represented the seller. Financing was obtained on behalf of the buyer by Brian Stulak of Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp. Valli also signed a 10-year ground lease to remain at the property through 2031.
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A local investor bought 858 North Franklin St., a 23-unit luxury apartment building in River North adjacent to the proposed Moody Bible Institute Redevelopment Plan, for $12.4M in an off-market transaction. Essex Realty Group’s Jim Darrow, Jordan Gottlieb, Steve Livaditis and Matt Feo represented the buyer.
LEASES
Rewards Network signed on as the latest tenant at 540 West Madison. The dining rewards program will occupy 25K SF in the 1.1M SF office building in the West Loop. Landlord Third Millennium Group renovated the entire asset with a new lobby, 20K SF rooftop park and garden, private ground-floor park, health club, tenant-only lounge and other amenities. Jamey Dix and Colton Riemenschneider of The Telos Group represented Third Millennium Group, and David Miller of JLL represented Rewards Network.
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Echo Real Estate Capital, formerly known as Echo Development Group, sold a fully leased Chicago office building to AT&T for $16.2M. The 94K SF building at 2401 West Grace St. is used as a national call center and training facility. Echo acquired the asset in 2018. AT&T signed a lease extension earlier this year, according to a statement by Echo officials. Echo’s capital partners on the deal included First Midwest Bank and T2 Capital Management. The buyer is an international investor.
FINANCING
Co-developers Time Equities, JK Equities and Oak Capitals closed on a $304M construction loan from Goldman Sachs Bank USA and Deutsche Bank Wealth Management for its 1000M project at 1000 South Michigan Ave. in the South Loop. Construction of what was first planned as a condo tower stalled at the start of the coronavirus pandemic but will restart this month as a rental building. The developers now expect to complete the Helmut Jahn-designed tower within 36 months.
Jahn was killed in a May 21 accident, but his company, Jahn, remains the architectural firm of record for 1000M. Jahn’s longtime colleague and partner, Philip Castillo, continues to oversee the day-to-day responsibilities for the project. Chicago-based interior designer Kara Mann led the interior redesign. Chicago-based McHugh Construction will serve as the construction manager for 1000M.
CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
Developer LMC completed The Fynn, an eight-story, 212-unit multifamily development at 183 North Addison Ave. in west suburban Elmhurst. BKV Group provided planning and pre-development services and led all engineering, architecture, interior design and landscape architecture. The builders used light gauge steel construction, according to a statement from LMC, allowing for a more vertical design of the building while minimizing costs, shortening the construction timeline and lessening environmental impacts. It is one of 80 projects across the country designed by BKV Group using light gauge steel construction.
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Scannell Properties’ 595 Innovation Drive in DuPage Business Center broke ground on Nov. 30. Peak Construction Corp. will build the 250K SF speculative warehouse distribution facility, which will have a 32-foot clear height. Earlier this year, Peak completed Scannell Properties’ 555 Innovation Drive in the DuPage Business Park, a 250K SF facility, including a full-building tenant improvement for Shorr Packaging Corp.
