This Week's Chicago Deal Sheet

The Palmer House Hilton is the crown jewel in Thor Equities’ Chicago portfolio. Last week, the New York-based firm completed three retail leases totaling over 21K SF at the landmark hotel.

New York & Co. secured 19K SF on the ground and second levels. The lease marks a return to State Street for the women’s fashion retailer after several years away. The company will be joined by women’s shoe company Naturalizer, which signed a 1,900 SF lease, and Luxe Barber and Shave Lounge, which agreed to a 560 SF lease.

The Palmer House’s retail component totals 60K SF on two levels and includes stores like Kay Jewelers, Merz Apothecary, Skechers, Aldo and Sugar Bliss Patisserie.

SALES

Interra Realty completed the following transactions:

• Joe Smazal represented the buyer, while Patrick Kennelly and Paul Waterloo represented the 222-240 Asbury Condominium Association in the $4.8M deconversion sale of a three-story, 34-unit multifamily building at 222-240 Asbury Ave. in Evanston.
• Smazal was the sole broker in the $3.1M sale of a 23-unit apartment building at 3149 North Springfield in Avondale.
• Smazal was the sole broker in the $2.2M sale of a four-story, 19-unit apartment building at 7735-57 North Sheridan Road.

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Kiser Group completed the following transactions:

• Danny Logarakis represented the seller, KMA Holdings, and Stevens Haen represented buyer NJT Holdings in the $1.9M sale of a 19-unit building at 7417 North Clark.
• Aaron Sklar and Danny Logarakis represented the seller in the $1.3M sale of a seven-unit building at 5130 South Greenwood Ave. in Hyde Park.

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Lee & Associates completed the following transactions:

• Jeff Galante and Terry Grapenthin represented Lakeview Realty Investors in the $8.9M purchase of a 111K SF industrial building at 101 Paragon Drive in Romeoville. Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, Opus Development.
• Jay Farnam and Terry Grapenthin represented the seller, VJW Investments, in the $5M sale of a 74K SF multi-tenant industrial building at 100-300 Devon Ave. in Bensenville.
• Walter Murphy was the sole broker in the $17M sale of a two-building, 600K SF industrial complex at 6600-20 River Road in Hodgkins. The buyer, Midwest Industrial Funds, is planning a $15M renovation plan for both buildings.

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Entre Commercial Realty’s Brian Bocci represented Amerco Real Estate Co. (U-Haul) in the acquisition of a 48K SF industrial building at 14045 Rockland Road in Libertyville, and a 12K SF building at 14121 Rockland Road in Libertyville. Avison Young’s John Hauser represented the seller in the first transaction. The seller in the second transaction was represented by JLL.

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Bottleneck Management sold Trace, a two-story tavern at 3714 North Clark St., to Last Call Tavern Group. The buyer will operate Trace until the end of the baseball season, after which they will close the space to remodel and rebrand, with plans to reopen before 2019.

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Millennium Properties’ Greg Block was the sole broker in the $2.7M sale of a 14K SF commercial condo at 9 West Washington to Rent24. This will be Rent24’s third location in Chicago since it entered the market in May.

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NAI Hiffman’s Jason Wurtz, Terry Herlihy and Shane Murphy represented the seller, Randall Metals Corp., while Joe Bronson and Brian Chandler represented the buyer, YMI Group, in the sale of a 51K SF industrial building at 2483 Greenleaf Ave. in Elk Grove Village.

LEASES

Cushman & Wakefield completed the following transactions:

• Scott Goldman and Josh Feldman represented Crowe in a lease extension and expansion at 225 West Wacker Drive. Once the expansion is completed, Crowe will occupy 51K SF overlooking the Riverwalk.
• Adam McCostlin and Jordan Decker represented Snap36, while CBRE’s Mitch Adams represented ownership in a 42K SF headquarters lease at 219 North Paulina in Fulton Market. Snap36 expanded its occupancy footprint from 7K SF to its current footprint in three years.

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EnTrust Realty Advisors completed a 13K SF lease with Rush-Copley Medical Center at 1320 Highland Ave. in Aurora.

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First Western Properties completed the following transactions:

• Gene Hart completed a lease at 126 East Garfield Blvd.
• Marion Abramiuk represented a staffing agency in a 6K SF lease at 6969 West Grand Ave. in Elmwood Park.

FINANCING

HFF’s Stephen Skok secured $150M in financing on behalf of Mansueto Properties for the acquisition of the Wrigley Building.

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ASC’s Igor Zhizhin secured a $3.5M bridge loan for a five-story, 25K SF office building in River North.

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Arriba Capital completed the following transactions:

• Arriba closed a $17M conventional loan for the Tundra Lodge in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The hotel features 162 rooms, 18K SF of flexible function space and a 30K SF waterpark.
• Arriba closed on an $8.5M loan for the Crowne Plaza in Northbrook.

HIRES/PROMOTIONS

Bradford Allen Agency Services hired Norm Murdoch as managing director. Murdoch joins the firm from JLL, where he was a senior vice president and represented over 1.5M SF of office in the northwest suburbs and along the East-West Corridor.

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Opus Development hired Michael Robinson as a senior director. He was most recently a vice president at DCT Industrial, where he leased and managed the Chicago market portfolio.

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Lee & Associates promoted Steve Bass to executive vice president. He joined the firm in 2007 and specializes in landlord and tenant representation.

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Principle Construction hired Matthew Cotherman as project manager.

CONSTRUCTION

Skender broke ground on North Shore Place, a senior lifestyle assisted living facility in Northbrook. The two-story, 74K SF building will offer 38 memory care units. Once the new building is complete, Skender will convert the former memory care wing into 30 assisted living units. All work is being performed adjacent to a fully operational, 24/7 facility and requires shutdown of the main access drive for building deliveries and exit. Skender is working in collaboration with design firm SAS Architects & Planners, civil engineering firm Manhard Consulting and structural engineering firm Bowman, Barrett & Associates to successfully complete the project in 10 months followed by a four-month conversion of the existing North Shore Place facility from memory care to assisted living.

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Krusinski Construction Co. was awarded the construction assignment of Avidor Glenview, an age-restricted apartment development for High Street Residential at 650 Waukegan Road in Glenview. Krusinski will work alongside ESG Architecture & Design as architect; Meyer Borgman Johnson as structural engineer; and Kimley-Horn as civil engineer. The building will seek LEED certification and will include 168 adult residential units, 64 surface-parking spaces and an additional 168 garage parking spaces. Project completion is slated for fall 2019.

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Dayton Street Partners will develop a 132K SF speculative distribution center at 1731 Wall St. in Mount Prospect for an investment platform sponsored by Black Creek Group. Completion is slated for spring 2019.

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Wight & Co. broke ground on four campus building projects across the Chicago area:

• Wight launched a performing arts center renovation project for Catalyst Circle Rock, a charter school in Austin on the Far West Side. Wight's assignment is to transform an auditorium that has been mothballed since 1973 into the new Kehrein Center for The Arts. The new space will seat 1,000 for performances by student groups, including the largest African-American elementary school orchestra in the U.S. The building is slated for completion in late 2018.
• Wight launched an athletic fields renovation project at De La Salle Institute, three blocks from Guaranteed Rate Field. Wight will design and provide construction management services to create a multipurpose turf field and spectator seating for this historic Catholic high school. The project is scheduled for completion in August.
• Wight broke ground for an addition at Downers Grove Grade School District 58's Lester School. The addition will create three classrooms, ADA-compliant bathrooms and a flexible resource space at the elementary school, which has been at capacity for several years. The project is slated for completion in time for the upcoming school year.
• Wight is renovating Hadley Junior High School in Chicago's Glen Ellyn. This project will provide much-needed additional classroom space for music programs and flexible learning spaces. The district has accommodated overflow by using portable classrooms for many years. The expanded school will open its doors to students for the 2019-20 school year.

KUDOS

Related Midwest started pre-leasing at One Bennett Park, the firm’s 70-story apartment tower in Streeterville. The building’s 279 apartments range from 905 SF to 3,323 SF, including penthouses on the 37th through 39th floors, with pricing starting at $3,395/month for one bedroom, $4,395/month for two bedrooms, $7,895/month for three bedrooms and $17,500/month for four-bedroom penthouses. One Bennett Park also includes 69 condominiums on floors 41 through 66 that are priced from $2M.

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Avison Young was awarded the exclusive sale listing for the Illinois Medical Center, a 100K SF, fully leased medical office building at 1001 Main St. in Peoria. The firm’s Mike Wilson and Erik Foster are representing the owners. Pat Wilson, Jim Ryan and Jim Kornick will assist in the transaction.

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Interforum Holdings and its exclusive sales and marketing firm, @properties, announced that the Promenade River Forest, a new-construction townhome community in River Forest, is now 50% sold. The Promenade features 29 two- and three-bedroom residences with floor plans offering more than 2,500 SF. Pricing starts from $499K.