This Week's Chicago Deal Sheet

Soundview Real Estate Partners sold Corridors I and II, a two-building, Class-A office portfolio of 301K SF at 2651 and 2655 Warrenville Road in west suburban Downers Grove, to Group RMC.

Patrick Shields, Sam DiFrancesca, Jaime Fink, Jeff Bramson and Bruce Miller of JLL Capital Markets represented Soundview. The team also procured the buyer, which it said was attracted by the fully leased property’s healthy tenant roster.

“The level of leasing volume since the onset of COVID speaks to the location and desirability of the buildings,” Shields said in a statement. “In this environment, there is a flight to credit and long-dated [weighted average lease term]; Corridors was able to offer both to the market.”

Corridors I and II are leased to investment-grade and corporate headquarters tenants, including Huntington, Oak Street Health and Citgo, Shields added. A fitness center and conferencing facility connects the five-story buildings. Additional on-site amenities include a deli with outdoor seating, a tenant lounge with table tennis and foosball tables, and a parking garage.

EXECS

Premier Design + Build Group promoted Joseph Ahrens, one of its executives, to the role of senior vice president, market leader. Ahrens has been with the design and construction firm since 2008. He most recently served as Premier’s vice president of Midwest operations. The firm has two Chicago-area offices, as well as regional division offices in New Jersey and California.  

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Essex Realty Group hired Drake Orser as a new associate. He joins the team led by directors Abe Eilian and Matt Feo.

SALES

ML Realty Partners purchased a 1M SF industrial building portfolio, plus 45 acres of industrial land sites, located across the Chicago metro area. The portfolio consists of 15 industrial buildings within the Interstate 55 Corridor, Central DuPage, Lake County and O’Hare submarkets, including 101 North Paragon in Romeoville. The acquisition also included five shovel-ready industrial land sites totaling 40 acres in the I-55 Corridor and an additional 5 acres in Lake County. Jeff Devine, Steve Disse and Mike Senner of Colliers represented the seller in this transaction.

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A New York-based private investor bought a 24-hour Walgreens drugstore located at the entrance to Carillon, a master-planned active adult retirement community on Weber Road in southwest suburban Romeoville, for $6.5M. Brian Parmacek and Mitchell Kiven of Marcus & Millichap’s Chicago Downtown office marketed the property on behalf of its developer. The buyer was secured and represented by Benjamin Kohl, also of Marcus & Millichap. Financing was obtained on behalf of the buyer by First Vice President Frank Montalto and Senior Vice President Dean Giannakopoulos of Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp.

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A Chicago-based investor bought a 68-unit portfolio in Logan Square. The portfolio included the 15-unit 3023 West Cortland St., the 24-unit 3043 West Cortland St. and the 29-unit 3048 West Cortland St. A multifamily team led by Jordan Multack and Jordan Gottlieb of Essex Realty Group was hired to market the portfolio for sale, and the properties went under contract after fewer than than 20 days on the market. 3048 West Cortland St. sold for $5.2M. Multack and Gottlieb represented the buyer. 3043 West Cortland St. and 3023 West Cortland St. sold to the same investor for a combined price of $6.3M. Gottlieb represented the buyer.

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An Israel-based real estate firm sold a single-tenant, net-leased Discovery Clothing property at 15645 South LaGrange Road in southwest suburban Orland Park for $4.2M to an East Coast-based institution. Randy Blankstein and Jimmy Goodman of Wilmette, Illinois-based The Boulder Group represented the seller. The 12K SF building was constructed in 2012.

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A confidential seller sold three multifamily properties in Oak Park, Berwyn and Forest Park, all near west suburbs of Chicago, to three different private buyers for a total of $5.97M. Interra Realty’s Patrick Kennelly and Paul Waterloo brokered the sales. The transactions were: 935 South Blvd. in Oak Park, a three-story, 31-unit apartment building that sold for $4.2M; 3522-3530 South Oak Park Ave., a two-building, 12-unit rental community in Berwyn that sold for $1.15M; and 1214 Marengo Ave., a six-unit rental property in Forest Park that sold for $620K. 

LEASES

Optima launched pre-leasing for its 198-unit Optima Lakeview rental apartment building, a transit-oriented development that includes 14K SF of street-level retail at 3478 North Broadway St., just blocks from Wrigley Field in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood. First move-ins are scheduled for April. Designed by Optima’s David Hovey Sr. and built by Optima’s in-house construction team, Optima Lakeview offers one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans. It also features 40K SF of amenities across the building, including a sky deck.

CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT

Co-developers Venture One Real Estate and CRG broke ground on an 897K SF build-to-suit facility for Central Steel and Wire, a Ryerson Holding Corp. company, at Gateway 57 Business Park in south suburban University Park. The new facility will serve as CS&W’s headquarters and operations hub. The facility is the third development at Gateway 57, a 355-acre master-planned development at the southeast corner of Steger and Central roads in University Park.

Clayco will serve as the design-builder, Lamar Johnson Collaborative will act as the architect, and Jacob and Hefner and Associates will be the civil engineer on the project. Dirk Riekse, Jordan Rovito and Sean Henrick of Cushman & Wakefield represented CS&W in the transaction. Jason West and Ryan Klink of Cushman & Wakefield represented the landlord. The facility is set to be completed in the spring of 2023.

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LBA Logistics is set to start leasing The Industry Center at Melrose Park, a three-building, 650K SF complex in west suburban Melrose Park that the Irvine, California-based company just developed on property formerly owned by Sears Holdings Corp. The buildings sit on 44 acres and feature 36-foot clear heights. Sam Durkin, Dominic Carbonari and Scott Duerkop of JLL are handling the leasing effort. Two of the three buildings are already pre-leased, leaving open 171K SF of the project.

THIS AND THAT

Peak Properties added 44 units and three commercial spaces in Evanston to its student housing property management portfolio. A Peak team led by Mike Zucker will manage and lease the properties, both steps from Northwestern University’s campus. 2146 Sherman Ave. is a three-story, 11-unit property, and 722 Clark St. has 33 studio apartments and three commercial spaces. 

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Bridge Industrial and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board established a joint venture to develop modern warehouses in urban infill locations in core markets across the U.S. Bridge, which has offices in Chicago, London and several other U.S. locations, is a privately-owned real estate operating company and investment manager. PSP is a Canadian pension fund. The groups allocated $550M in equity to the joint venture, with an option to re-up for a further $550M to bring the commitment to $1.1B.

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Despite 122K SF of positive absorption in Chicago’s Central Business District in Q4, the year-to-date negative 2.5M SF of absorption total for 2021 was the worst on record, according to MBRE. The overall direct vacancy rate in the CBD decreased by 10 basis points to 16.7% at the end of Q4 — the only decrease since 2019. The total vacancy rate, including sublease space, decreased by 17 basis points to 20.5%.