This Week's Chicago Deal Sheet
Chicago-based Waterton is ready to jump into one of the hottest housing sectors in the U.S. It will begin investing in single-family rental homes across Southeastern and Southwestern markets in partnership with Second Avenue Group, an established operator in the niche sector.
“As demand continues to outstrip supply of rental housing in certain markets, we identified an emerging need for single family rental housing that suits the preferences of a shifting demographic and a need for responsible stakeholders to fill a void left by absentee landlords,” Waterton CEO David Schwartz said in a statement.
The partners will acquire existing homes as well as develop their own, including new rental communities, and take advantage of a pair of trends. There is a national housing shortage, and renting has become far more popular, especially among younger consumers who can't afford to purchase homes.
“Housing is a need-based product and, while traditional multifamily rentals meet many of those needs, single family rentals are an important part of the equation for the next generation of renters,” Schwartz said.
EXECS
Alliant Credit Union promoted Charles Krawitz to senior vice president, chief capital markets officer and head of commercial lending. Krawitz led Alliant’s commercial mortgage portfolio, now in excess of $1.2B, since 2017 and has held positions at ABN AMRO, KeyBank and Fifth Third Bank.
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Patricia Liston joined Darwin Realty/CORFAC International as a property manager. She will also continue pursuing an MBA at DePaul University. Darwin Realty/CORFAC International also promoted Nick Krejci to vice president. Krejci joined Darwin in 2016 and will stay active in the Central DuPage, O’Hare and Interstate 88 submarkets, as well as with clients in Texas, California, Florida and Michigan.
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Dan Hrankowsky joined national real estate investor and developer CRG's residential team as vice president of development and construction. He will oversee all aspects of new multifamily and student housing development in several markets. Hrankowsky has been an architect at Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture, a development executive at CA Ventures’ Student Living business and, most recently, a senior vice president at Akara Partners.
SALES
The owners of a Hyde Park condominium building at 5124-32 South Kimbark Ave. agreed to sell their 44 units to a private buyer for $8.7M. Interra Realty’s Lucas Fryman, Patrick Kennelly and Paul Waterloo represented both the buyer and sellers. The group helped the building’s association navigate the deconversion process, through which condominiums are sold to a single buyer and converted to rentals.
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Luke Brands sold to Canyon Park Capital a 55K SF retail center at 1105 Fifth Ave. in Hammond, Indiana, for $8M. Constructed in 2016, the retail center is adjacent to a Walmart Supercenter, less than a mile from Horseshoe Hammond Casino and minutes from the Chicago Skyway. Anchored by Dollar Tree and Ross Dress For Less, the four-store center was fully occupied at the time of sale. Nicholas Kanich and Mitchell Kiven of Marcus & Millichap’s Chicago Downtown office represented Luke Brands. Canyon Park Capital was represented by Friedman Real Estate.
FINANCING
PGIM Real Estate provided $101M in floating-rate bridge financing to Asana Partners for the acquisition and lease-up of a four-property, 168K SF retail and office portfolio comprising 18 tenants and located in the Fulton Market neighborhood of Chicago.
CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
Chicago-based Pacific Construction launched $40M in medical projects in 2021 and 2022, including two new ground-up hospital buildings now under construction. The projects include a hospital primary care clinic for the Minneapolis VA Health System, with procedure rooms, exam rooms and infection controls. In addition, the company renovated University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System in Chicago, including a renovation of medical suites, classrooms and lab spaces, while keeping the hospital fully functional during the coronavirus.
THIS AND THAT
The John Buck Co. was selected to manage the office tower at 35 West Wacker Drive in Chicago, known as the Leo Burnett Building. The 50-story, 1.1M SF property was purchased by New York-based investor Opal Holdings on Feb. 2, and the management contract was effective immediately. The John Buck Co. built the tower in 1989.
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PropertyShark released a report ranking the top 100 U.S. office submarkets by average 2021 sale prices, and a Chicago neighborhood cracked the top 10. The most expensive office submarkets were split between Boston, Los Angeles, New York City, the Bay Area and Chicago's West Loop, which ranked 10th. Three office properties sold there for an average of $804 per SF. The sale of the smallest property of the three, 1100 West Fulton St., had a price per SF of $935. The national average price per SF was $237 in 2021, up from $233 in 2019.
