This Week's Chicago Deal Sheet

Aries Capital and Conlon Capital produced the first major Chicago merger of 2017 last month, and the newly reconstituted Conlon Capital wasted no time arranging financing for a huge hotel project.

Conlon Capital principal Neil Freeman structured a $20M, CMBS bridge loan on behalf of SB Yen Management Group, which will use the money to refinance the 259-key Evanston Best Western Hotel at 1501 Sherman Ave. and reflag the hotel as the Holiday Inn Chicago North Evanston. The property, owned by hoteliers Su-Mei Yen and Hui-Hsien Bert Yen, recently underwent a $10M renovation.

The Yens have been busy of late. They received a $36M loan to expand the Whitehall Hotel in November 2015, and broke ground on a 281-key dual-branded hotel at 1101 South Wabash last November.

SALES

Lexington Realty Trust bought a 188k SF freezer cooler facility at 1020 West Airport Road in Romeoville. CBRE’s Andrew Sandquist, J.C. Asensio, Briggs Goldberg, Chris Bosworth, Will Pike and Brian Pfohl repped the seller. The property is fully leased to Aryzta and supports the company’s adjacent baking facility.

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Millennium Properties’ Brad Thompson repped both parties in the $1.2M sale of Colonial Commons, a 15k SF retail center at 418-436 South Main St. in Lombard.

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Quantum Real Estate Advisors’ Chad Firsel repped the seller in the $4.3M sale of a multi-tenant retail center at 5111 Main St. in Mishawaka, Ind.

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Jameson Commercial Real Estate’s Emanuel Grivas brokered the $2M sale of a 14k SF, multi-tenant strip center in Skokie.

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Interra Realty completed the following transactions:

• Ted Stratman, Brad Feldman, Patrick Kennelly and Jeremy Morton brokered the $1.3M sale of 6442 North Bell Ave., a nine-unit apartment building in West Ridge.
• Ted Stratman and Jeremy Morton brokered the $1.9M sale of 7331 South Coles Ave., a 37-unit apartment building in the South Shore.

LEASES

CBRE’s Jon Springer and Gary Fazzio assisted National Express in securing a new long-term lease of a 54k SF office at the Navistar HQ campus, 2601 Navistar Drive, Building 5 in Lisle. JLL’s John Musgjerd repped the landlord.

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NAI Hiffman completed the following leases:

• Aubrey VanReken repped Streamline Healthcare Solutions in its 3,091 SF lease at TransAm Plaza in Oakbrook Terrace.
• Dan Hiffman and Jana Foreman repped Century 21 in its 6k SF lease with Anytime Fitness at Green Meadows Shopping Center, 4-140 Lake St. in Addison. Franchise Real Estate’s Rob Runyon and Jim Runyon repped the tenant.

HIRES/PROMOTIONS

CBRE made the following hires:

• Kevin Marschall joined the firm’s new Retail Partnerships business as a store-within-a-store specialist. Marschall has produced $11M in annual net income as a result of new business partnerships with various restaurants, demonstration vendors, auto service providers, financial services and travel partners.
• Sam Haddadin joined CBRE’s multifamily investment team as a vice president in Chicago to spearhead the firm’s condo deconversion practice. Haddadin previously served as condo board president for 2625 North Clark St., which recently went through the largest condo deconversion in the city to date. CBRE brokered the sale.

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The law firm of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton hired Bill Kane as a partner in its Business Trial practice group. Kane joined from Baker Hostetler and concentrates his practice on complex commercial litigation for a broad base of corporate, real estate, media and entertainment clients.

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Sterling Bay hired Kevin Donohoe and Jesse Slack as vice presidents to focus on the firm’s growing portfolio and third-party leasing assignments. The two joined from Avison Young, where they were members of the landlord representation group.

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Sitex Group promoted Nick Weisnicht to senior vice president.

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Essex Realty Group promoted Jordan Gottlieb from managing director to principal. Gottlieb joined Essex in 2008 and has brokered the sale of over $350M of investment property throughout the greater Chicago area.

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Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices KoenigRubloff Realty Group hired Julie Bradbury Miller as vice president and managing broker of the firm’s Winnetka office at 538 Chestnut St.

KUDOS

Avison Young’s Erik Foster and Mike Wilson have been awarded the exclusive sale listing for a 538 SF, three-building industrial portfolio at 1900-2020 Pratt Blvd. in Elk Grove Village. The site is 100% leased on a long-term basis. The tenants, Clear Lam and D&W Fine Pak, are national food industry businesses with specialized needs for the buildings they occupy.

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NGKF was appointed as the exclusive broker in the sale of 7601 Durand Ave., a 379k SF distribution warehouse in Sturtevant, Wis. The site consists of 23 acres and is the largest warehouse available in Racine County. Sergio Chapa, Michael Prost and Corey Chase will lead the marketing efforts.