This Week's Chicago Deal Sheet

After a record-setting 2016, multifamily sales have been quieter through the midway point of 2017, but there are owners seeking buyers for their assets. One South Loop building may pose an irresistible investment opportunity.

Kiser Group is marketing Millennium Lofts, a 38-unit building at 1900 South Clark, to prospective buyers. The building, near where the South Loop and Chinatown meet, was built in 1940 as a pillow factory and has an average apartment size of 1,302 SF. The asset is being marketed as a value-add opportunity, while an adjacent parking lot offers the possibility of being rezoned to build an additional 74K SF building. Millennium Lofts’ proximity to the Chinatown Red Line ‘L’ station qualifies it for development bonuses through Chicago’s TOD ordinance. Aaron Sklar and Michael Feldstein are the brokers for the building.

SALES

Kiser Group’s Noah Birk and Aaron Sklar were the sole brokers in the $4.8M sale of a 97-unit multifamily portfolio in the Chatham neighborhood on the South Side. The portfolio consisted of five buildings at 8016 South Evans, 7942 South Champlain, 7953 South Saint Lawrence, 7851 South Indiana and 8157 South Martin Luther King Drive. The buildings feature a mix of four retail spaces, 13 studios, 59 one-bedroom and 21 two-bedroom units.

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Interra Realty’s Brad Feldman and Adam Saxon were the sole brokers in the $3.9M sale of 4408-14 South Drexel Blvd. in Kenwood.

LEASES

First Western Properties’ Marion Abramiuk and Laryssa Moros completed a 1,200 SF, 10-year lease with 10 Fortune Nail Salon at 4700 North Kimball.

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Darwin Realty’s Richard Daly and Adam Haefner repped the landlord in a 104K SF, full-building lease to Marketplace Brands at 951 Fargo Ave. in Elk Grove Village.

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Hansen Realty’s Brett Berlin repped ownership in an 11K SF lease with The Goddard School at Bradley Business Center, 2500 West Bradley Place. This brings the occupancy rate to 97%, with no vacant square footage in the single-story portion of the building. Berlin brought the tenant in without a broker.

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RFK’s Ross Modjeska repped Sushi Taku in a 2,300 SF lease at 1904 West Division St. in Wicker Park. The landlord, Horizon Realty, was represented by Baum Realty Group’s Doug Renner.

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CBRE’s Todd Siegel, Phil Golding and Kim Wisku repped Equity Office, and CBRE’s Scott Muller and Katie Braeden repped Shake Shack in a 3K SF lease at Willis Tower. The shop is expected to open in 2019.

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Bradford Allen’s Ben Azulay completed a 10-year lease for the Mosaic Financial Group at 303 East Wacker Drive in Chicago. Mosaic Financial Group will occupy 7,513 SF on the 16th floor, relocating from 330 North Wabash Ave. Cushman & Wakefield’s Andrea Saewitz represented the landlord.

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NAI Hiffman Eric Tresslar completed four leases in the O’Hare submarket:

• GCR Corp. leased 77K SF at 1501 Nicholas St. in Elk Grove Village.
• Associated Global Systems relocated from Elk Grove Village to a 34K SF facility at 500 Thorndale Ave. in Wood Dale.
• Atrend USA, the world’s leading manufacturer of speaker enclosures, renewed 42K SF at 2701 Lively Blvd. in Elk Grove Village.
• Ludwig Dairy/Ludwig Foods renewed 23K SF at 1270-1280 Mark St. in Elk Grove Village. The transaction included significant tenant improvements allowing the dairy product provider to enhance operational efficiency.

All four buildings are owned by Prologis.

HIRES/PROMOTIONS

MB Real Estate promoted Patricia Aluisi to chief operating officer. She is responsible for overseeing operations and daily administration across all business lines, as well as helping lead the firm’s strategic initiatives for future growth.

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NAI Hiffman hired Ted Staszak as senior vice president with the capital markets team. Staszak, a 20-year industry veteran, will partner with Senior Vice President Pat Sullivan and focus on expanding the firm’s industrial capital markets platform as well as enhancing full-service solutions for its clients. Prior to joining NAI Hiffman, Staszak was an executive vice president at CBRE.

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Ware Malcomb hired Michael Cody as studio manager, Interior Architecture & Design. Cody is responsible for the operations of the firm’s Chicago Interior Architecture & Design Studio and will assist with business development.

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Quantum Real Estate Advisors hired Kush Patel as an associate/analyst. Patel worked with programs at the University of Tampa and has a degree from Harvard’s Real Estate Finance Certificate program.

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Merchandise Mart Properties made the following personnel moves:

• Vice President of Leasing Toni McIntosh will now also be responsible for overseeing the LuxeHome and Design Center businesses.
• Senior Vice President Susan McCullogh assumed the additional responsibility of overseeing marketing for LuxeHome. McCullough will manage all showroom marketing in the building to ensure consistent messaging and promotion of theMART’s showroom businesses.
• Blair Loftspring was promoted to managing director of leasing and marketing. Loftspring will assist McIntosh in the leasing of the LuxeHome business while continuing to produce and implement LuxeHome’s marketing programs.
• Beth Hicks was hired as managing director of marketing for Design Center and the Casual Market.

KUDOS

Conor Commercial Real Estate completed a 145K SF build-to-suit for AMS Mechanical Systems within its Union Pointe industrial business park. AMS has completed its relocation from Burr Ridge into the new corporate headquarters and warehouse/manufacturing facility.

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JLL President of Global Integrated Facilities Management Maureen Ehrenberg was awarded the Julie Devine Digital Impact Award at Realcomm's annual conference in San Diego. Ehrenberg won the Digie Award for her leadership in the digital transformation of JLL’s IFM services and in the facilities management industry, most recently as global chair of the board of the International Facility Management Association. At JLL, Ehrenberg provides leadership, strategic direction and expertise to a team of more than 30,000 professionals managing more than 1B SF of client facilities globally.

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Landmarks Illinois awarded $31.5K in grant funding for a dozen historic preservation projects in Illinois through its Preservation Heritage Fund and Barbara C. and Thomas E. Donnelley II Preservation Fund grant programs. The grants were awarded between January and June of 2017 and range from $1K to $5K each. Grant recipients will use the funding for restoration and repair projects at historic sites and buildings across the state, including a nationally recognized historic carpenter shop in Bishop Hill, a garden designed by renowned landscape architect Jens Jensen in Chicago and iconic Route 66 signage in Lincoln.

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Related Midwest project manager Sarah Wick won the Young Visionary Award at the sixth annual Urban Land Institute Chicago Vision Awards, held May 31 at Morgan MFG in Chicago’s West Loop. The award honors outstanding young leaders in the land use and development fields. Since joining Related Midwest in 2014, Wick has helped finance, acquire and develop more than 2,100 affordable residences throughout Chicago and the Midwest, representing a total investment of nearly $460M. Currently, she is the day-to-day project manager for the revitalization of the Julia C. Lathrop Homes.

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Principle Construction delivered a 157K SF warehouse at 850 Asbury Drive in Buffalo Grove. Principle demolished a 55K SF vacant building on the site to build the new structure.