This Week's Chicago Deal Sheet
The Hearn Co. will convert four office floors in the former John Hancock building at 875 North Michigan Ave. into the Mag Mile Medical Pavilion, a 130K SF set of offices for clinical and surgical uses. Hearn, which purchased the 100-story skyscraper’s office segment in 2013, also chose Karoline Eigel, Matt Sullivan, Lindsey Groom and Jack Seher of Cushman & Wakefield to lease the new medical section.
“Though 875 North Michigan Avenue is an iconic structure, we’re always looking for ways to innovate and add value, both to the property and our surrounding community,” Hearn CEO Stephen Hearn said in a statement. “With the Mag Mile Medical Pavilion, we can successfully do both and address the needs of a rapidly growing healthcare sector.”
Hearn plans to spend more than $10M to transform floors 28 through 30, as well as the 33rd floor, with completion of the project set for Q2 2022. Patients will have a valet entrance for drop-offs and pickups on the building’s north side, along with a separate elevator.
EXECS
Morgante Wilson Architects, an Evanston-based architecture and interior design firm, promoted Siobhán Barrett from project manager to associate of architecture. Barrett will continue to oversee residential projects but will also take on some commercial work and manage the permitting and building code regulations for these projects. She joined MWA in 2016 as a project manager.
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Chicago-based developer and general contractor Focus promoted and appointed several new members to its leadership team. The appointments were: Justin Pelei to executive vice president, development and principal; Josh Stark to executive vice president, construction and principal; and Kendall Lettinga to executive vice president, operations and principal. All three were invited into ownership of Focus.
Focus also promoted Vicky Lee to senior vice president of development, David Hanner to director of pre-construction and Aisha Johnson to director of accounting.
SALES
Houston-based Hines acquired 1315 North North Branch St., a fully leased, 157K SF office building in Chicago’s Goose Island submarket. Six tenants lease the former pulverizing factory, now renovated into creative office space by developer R2. Cody Hundertmark, David Knapp and Tom Sitz of Cushman & Wakefield brokered the deal.
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Chicago-based Royal Envelope Corp. bought 43K SF of industrial space at 1500 Shore Road in west suburban Naperville. Zeke Rowan, Adam Haefner and Martin Mikaitas, all based in Avison Young’s Chicago office, represented the family-owned manufacturing and lithography company. The seller was TradeLane Properties.
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Avison Young Investment Management acquired a new 906K SF industrial facility at 3835 Youngs Road in Joliet on behalf of the Nova Scotia Pension Services Corp. Montreal-based Lion Electric plans to use the building, developed by Clarius Partners, as a production site for up to 20,000 zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles per year. John Huguenard, Sean Devaney and Peter Moriarty of JLL represented the seller, a partnership between Clarius Partners and Walton Street Capital.
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Woodard Properties purchased Forest Square, a 53K SF mixed-use property at 840 South Waukegan Road in north suburban Lake Forest, from GCP Forest Square for $19.75M. Stephen Lieberman of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller. The purchaser was unrepresented. The office and retail building, constructed in 2008, was nearly 90% occupied at the time of sale. Several healthcare tenants occupy space, including Lake Forest Family Dental, Envision Health and Physical Therapy of Lake Forest. Other tenants include LoMastro Performing Arts Academy and Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria.
LEASES
Link Logistics Real Estate secured a 15-year lease with a tenant that will occupy 284K SF in its industrial building at 425 Crossing Drive in south suburban University Park. John Joyce and Caitlin Crawford of SVN | Chicago Commercial represented the tenant, and Brian Vanosky of Lee & Associates represented Link Logistics. The tenant will occupy the space in early March.
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Burlington will occupy 27K SF in Stratford Crossing, a power center in northwestern suburban Bloomingdale that will open later this year. It is the ninth anchor tenant to sign a deal at the 385K SF center. Others include T.J. Maxx, HomeGoods, Mariano's and PetSmart. CBRE’s Joe Parrott, Sean McCourt and Riley McCarron represented Stratford Crossing’s owner, an affiliate of Newmark Merrill Cos., in the transaction.
FINANCING
Associated Bank completed a $20M acquisition and bridge loan to 3 Diamond Development for Carroll Tower Apartments, an affordable housing community at 200 North Second St. in west suburban St. Charles. The six-story property overlooks the Fox River and contains 108 one-bedroom units restricted to low-income seniors 62 years of age and older. The building is fully occupied with a waiting list of 104 names.
CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
Chicago-based HSA Commercial Real Estate will break ground this spring on a new commercial warehouse park called Bristol Highlands Commerce Center West near its existing Bristol Highlands Commerce Center East development in Bristol, Wisconsin. When complete, the 82-acre development near Interstate 94 and the Illinois-Wisconsin border will have three buildings and total 1.3M SF. The developer plans to start construction on a 550K SF building in April and complete it in July 2023. The new park will also include two additional warehouses measuring 417K SF and 357K SF.
Partners in Design Architects is the architect. Premier Design + Build Group will serve as general contractor, and Pinnacle Engineering Group will provide civil engineering services. CBRE will lease the warehouses.
