This Week's Chicago Deal Sheet
GRIT, the joint venture redeveloping the former Michael Reese Medical Campus on Chicago's South Side, has forged a partnership with JLL to market the lakefront property.
GRIT's partners — Farpoint Development, Bronzeville Community Development Partnership, Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, Draper & Kramer, Loop Capital and McLaurin Development — plan to include mixed-income housing, retail, offices and life sciences real estate on Bronzeville Lakefront’s 100 acres.
Phase 1 will include the 500K SF Bronzeville Innovation Center, which will host Chicago ARC, a life sciences accelerator that will focus on developing healthcare startups.
"This is about more than selling buildings," Farpoint Development principal Eric Helfand said in a statement. "It's about a once-in-a-generation opportunity to have positive impacts on the surrounding community, to break negative social and economic cycles and to reverse them with a healthy and vibrant Bronzeville that will set an example for inclusive development, not just in Chicago, but nationwide."
Bronzeville Lakefront will be different from Chicago’s other megadevelopments, such as Lincoln Yards and The 78, he added. They are in affluent areas near downtown, but Bronzeville is a predominantly Black community that has suffered disinvestment and population loss. Joint venture partners say the new development could reverse those trends with $8.2B in direct and indirect economic impact.
EXECS
JLL appointed Julia Georgules as the head of Americas research and strategy, succeeding Ben Breslau, who stepped into the newly established role of global chief research officer last year. Georgules will guide the Americas’ 200-person research team, which includes the U.S., Canada and Latin America. Georgules will also serve as a member of the firm’s global research executive board.
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Avison Young appointed Dave Sawdey as principal, global leader of portfolio analytics and business intelligence. Prior to joining Avison Young, he spent nine years with JLL as senior vice president, director of business intelligence.
SALES
Wise Plastics sold 3810-3820 Stern Ave., a 102K SF building in west suburban St. Charles, to a publicly traded REIT. Michael Androwich Jr. of Lee & Associates’ Illinois office represented the buyer. Jeff Holmes of Regional Realty represented the seller. Androwich also represented buyer WP Industries on its purchase of 1260 Kingsland Drive in Batavia, a 66K SF building. The seller was represented by Ellerman Commercial.
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A local buyer planning on relocating its business from Elk Grove Village to Wheeling bought 111 East Marquardt Drive, a roughly 50K SF warehouse and distribution building in northwest suburban Wheeling. Dan Tobin of SVN | Chicago Commercial represented the seller in the all-cash transaction.
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An Iowa-based limited liability company bought for $5M a 98K SF retail property at 1901 West Galena Blvd. in west suburban Aurora. Austin Weisenbeck and Sean Sharko, both of Marcus & Millichap’s Chicago Oak Brook office, marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a local fund manager. The buyer was also secured and represented by Weisenbeck and Sharko in the all-cash transaction. Rush-Copley Medical Center anchors the center. Other tenants include Anytime Fitness and Hounds Town, with more than eight and 10 years remaining on their lease terms, respectively.
LEASES
ML Realty Partners announced that with two recently signed, full-building leases, Heritage Crossing in southwest suburban Lockport is now fully occupied. The 2.5M SF business park, along Interstate 355 at 143rd Street, features eight freestanding industrial buildings with clear heights between 30 and 40 feet. LG Electronics expanded within the park by signing a new lease for 542K SF in a 40-foot-clear building at 14532 South Gougar Road. In addition, Pitney Bowes Global Logistics signed a new lease for 363K SF at 14746 South Gougar Road.
James Frank and Jason West of Cushman & Wakefield represented LG Electronics, and Mike Cook and David Prell of CBRE represented Pitney Bowes. Dan Leahy, Mark Moran and John Whitehead of NAI Hiffman represented ML Realty Partners on all eight of the properties.
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Basis Technologies, a digital advertising management company, signed a lease renewal for 70K SF in downtown’s Sullivan Center building. The 942K SF, 15-story building was built in 1903 and is undergoing a renovation that will update the lobbies and common areas. Jamey Dix and Stephen Golz of The Telos Group represented ownership in the transaction. Dougal Jeppe and Mike Senner at Colliers represented Basis Technologies.
CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
McShane Construction Co. completed a 429K SF addition to Abt Electronics’ warehouse and showroom facility in north suburban Glenview. The expansion more than doubled Abt’s warehouse space, allowing the company to expand product lines. The addition incorporates two three-story office blocks totaling 22K SF and 407K SF of warehouse space. The office build-outs include trucking offices, security offices, a break room and open office space for future build-outs.
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In west suburban Woodridge, Ryan Cos. developed, built and now serves as property manager of a new health center for tenant Edward-Elmhurst Health, a health system that recently merged with NorthShore University Health System. The two-story, 36K SF health center opened in October 2021 at the southwest corner of Route 53 and 75th Street and includes offices for primary care physicians and specialists. Other services include a walk-in clinic, behavioral health, physical therapy, laboratory and diagnostic imaging.
