This Week's Chicago Deal Sheet
Newport Capital Partners has acquired Edens Plaza in suburban Wilmette from Edens Plaza LLC in an off-market transaction.
The $72M acquisition was on behalf of Newport Capital Partners Fund II. Located just east of the Edens Expressway at the intersection of Skokie Boulevard and Lake Avenue, the 183K SF center was initially developed in 1956, and redeveloped to its current configuration in 1994.
Edens Plaza illustrates many of the challenges faced by retail landlords, as it sits adjacent to a vacant Carson’s department store, which shut down last year after the bankruptcy of its parent company, Bon-Ton Stores.
That did not deter Chicago-based Newport Capital, which has not shied away from shopping centers that face challenges. In 2017, it acquired Lincoln Village Shopping Center and Kedzie Plaza, two value-add assets in Chicago, for a combined $40M. At the time, Lincoln Village was 65% occupied.
The firm’s newest acquisition, which company officials said has a strong tenant roster and historically high occupancy rate, is in much better shape.
Current tenants, which lease 92% of Edens Plaza, include Fresh Market, an upscale grocery, Starbucks, Walgreens, Bed Bath & Beyond, The Great Escape and Big Blue Swim School.
And even though the rapidly changing retail environment has taken down many major retailers, other users have risen to take their place. In 2019, for example, a state-of-the-art pediatric care center, jointly run by NorthShore University HealthSystem and Advocate Health Care, will open in a 35K SF space on the north side of Edens Plaza.
“The addition of the NorthShore/Advocate new pediatric care center later this year is the perfect example of the property’s versatility in this ever-evolving asset class, and opens a number of doors to further exciting changes,” Newport Director of Transactions Ben Andrews said.
Debt financing for the transaction was provided by LoanCore Capital and was arranged by Newmark Knight Frank's Ben Greazel and Joel Simmons.
EXECS
Marisa Murillo, a former regional president of the Hispanic National Bar Association, has joined Locke Lord’s Chicago office as a partner in its debt finance practice group. She joined the firm from Schiff Hardin LLP where she was a partner. Murillo focuses her practice on senior and junior capital financings, asset-based loans and secured acquisition. She received her law degree from the University of Southern California and previously served as an in-house corporate transactions lawyer at General Motors.
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The Counselors of Real Estate, a Chicago-based global invitation-only professional association for prominent commercial real estate advisers, has announced its 2019 leadership roster. Julie Melander, a Clearwater, Florida-based real estate counselor who specializes in strategy and portfolio management for private equity investors, was elected 2019 chair of the board of directors. Marilee Utter will serve as 2019 second vice chair of the organization. The president of Denver-based Citiventure Associates, she has developed solutions for land-use problems in more than 40 U.S. cities.
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Illinois Realtors has named Young Brockhouse as vice president of professional development. Brockhouse replaces Kristen Butcher, who was recently named executive vice president of the organization. He has more than 20 years of experience with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, including 15 years in the Division of Real Estate, where he served in a variety of roles, including acting real estate director, Real Estate Administration and Disciplinary Board acting chairperson, licensing and education manager, and chief testing officer.
LEASES
The American Association of Diabetes Educators signed an 18K SF lease at 125 South Wacker in Chicago and will move from 200 West Madison in January of 2020. CBRE's Gregg Witt represented AADE, and CBRE’s Sara Spicklemire, Kelsey Scheive and Kerry Middleton represented the landlord. The association will occupy a full floor in the 31-story, 566K SF office tower, which ownership recently began upgrading. Its new set of amenities will feature a tenant lounge, conference space, a fitness center and a meditation studio.
SALES
Marcus & Millichap completed the sale of West Ridge Apartments, a 156-unit apartment property in DeKalb, Illinois, a small city 64 miles west of Chicago. Eric Bell marketed the property on behalf of the seller and represented the buyer. The property is at 919 Ridge Drive near Northern Illinois University, and consists of 13 three-story, 12-unit buildings and one additional building on-site that includes the leasing office, laundry facilities and maintenance shed.
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First Western Properties arranged the sale of a 4-acre site at 2811 Mannheim Roa in suburban Des Plaines to a developer. The site is close to the Allstate Arena and O’Hare Airport, and will become a new retail center. Lease negotiations are underway for several national brands, according to First Western President Paul Tsakiris. Cook County property records show the price was just over $2M.
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Healthcap Partners purchased the Eyecare Service Partners Surgery Center and Medical Facility in Chicago’s south suburban market. A national physician group, Dallas-based Eyecare Service Partners leases the entire 21K SF building at 1700 East West Road in Calumet City. The price was undisclosed, but Cook County records show the property sold for $6.6M. Avison Young's Mike Wilson, Erik Foster, Pat Wilson, Chip Ryan and Jim Kornick represented the seller, Midwest Eyecare Center.
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Marcus & Millichap's Andrean Angelov and Ryan Engle completed the $3.2M sale of Alpine Apartments, a three-building, 48-unit apartment property in Alsip. The property consists of two 12-unit buildings at 12543 South Alpine Drive and 12535 South Central Ave., as well as one 24-unit building at 12551 South Alpine Drive.
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Chicago Real Estate Resources' Steven Rapoport brokered a $3.7M sale in the booming West Loop neighborhood of Chicago. The sale included an eight-unit mixed-use building at 324 South Racine, which sold for $2.5M, and a 12.5K SF site offering potential for development. The property is one block from the train and the Eisenhower Expressway.
FINANCING
HFF secured $61.8M in joint venture equity for the development of 845 West Madison, a 586-unit, luxury apartment project in Chicago’s Fulton Market neighborhood. Its two 17-story towers, totaling about 720K SF of residential space and 10K SF of ground-floor retail, will encompass an entire city block. The HFF team of Danny Kaufman, Christopher Knight and Mary Dooley worked on behalf of the developers, Lendlease and The John Buck Co., to arrange the joint venture equity partnership with Intercontinental Real Estate Corp. The developers will welcome their first move-ins in the summer of 2020. Located on the former H20+ Cosmetics site and designed by GREC Architects, the project’s facade will pay homage to Fulton Market’s industrial history by incorporating classic masonry details at street level.
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Wool Finance Partners' Martin Siegel arranged $6.5M in acquisition and construction financing for a proposed 12.5-acre, monthly overnight truck parking facility in Melrose Park. The borrower will acquire and demolish an existing 300K SF industrial facility to create a lighted monthly parking facility for 277 tractor-trailers.
THIS AND THAT
181 West Madison, a 1M SF office building owned by MB Real Estate in Chicago’s central business district, earned LEED Gold recertification for energy and resource efficiency. The U.S. Green Building Council gave the property a perfect score of 60 points.
