This Week's Chicago Deal Sheet
Sterling Bay unveiled plans to create Prysm Life Sciences, a new life science community in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. Officials from the developer said Prysm will help recruit major life science and healthcare institutions to Chicago.
Sterling Bay purchased 2430 North Halsted, formerly the Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute, in October from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. The price was not listed in Cook County records, but the developer took out a $32M mortgage on the five-floor, 120K SF property.
“While Chicago already has a great reputation in healthcare and innovation — housing many world-class hospitals and global pharmaceutical companies — there is still a critical shortage of actual lab space here,” Sterling Bay Managing Principal and CEO Andy Gloor said in a statement. “We want to help fill this gap and help more life science start-up companies come to Chicago and stay here long term by providing the infrastructure and space.”
The developer has begun renovating the building, and, with its partner, CBRE, already started recruiting established companies to occupy it.
The property includes a 20K SF life science incubator, which will provide up to 30 startups with shared programming, equipment, services and networking opportunities. Prysm’s member companies will also have access to capital through a network of investors.
“Fueled by an influx of investment, the increase of startup activity in the Illinois life sciences ecosystem is leading to a lack of space and infrastructure to sustain the community’s growth,” the Illinois Biotechnology and Innovation Organization President and CEO John Conrad said in a release. “Sterling Bay’s approach has a lot of promise in that it will include the scalable lab space, funding and programs needed to retain and attract companies.”
EXECS
Robert Fernandez joined Latham & Watkins LLP’s Chicago office as partner. Fernandez, formerly of Dentons, represents clients on a range of real estate transactions, with a focus on financings, acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures, commercial leasing and development.
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Structural Engineers Association of Illinois selected Michelle Ryland, an architect and structural engineer with Klein & Hoffman, as the 2019 recipient of its Outstanding Young Engineer Award. Ryland serves as co-chair of the SEAOI Young Engineers Committee and was recently nominated to serve on the SEAOI board of directors.
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Industrial Outdoor Ventures, a two-year-old Schaumburg-based firm that acquires and develops industrial services facilities, doubled in size by adding five new staff members. Eric Johnson, formerly of CenterPoint Properties, was named vice president of development and acquisitions. Ray Michaelsen joined as senior manager of construction and property management, James Georgalas as acquisitions officer, Anthony DeLaurentis as acquisitions associate and Tina Torossian as marketing coordinator.
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Cresa grew its Chicago brokerage ranks by adding Juliette Lane and Sean Murphy as senior vice presidents and Michael Heaney as vice president. Lane joined Cresa from Bradford Allen, and manages national portfolios for consumer goods, warehouse, distribution and data centers. Murphy focuses on office and retail leasing in downtown Chicago, and joined Cresa from JMIC Corp.
Cicero's Development Corp. appointed Lauren Cicero as client development manager, the third generation employed at the family-owned general contractor and construction business. Her grandfather Sam Cicero Sr. launched the business in 1971. She previously worked at software developer Reynolds & Reynolds, and as a sales executive at Kraft Heinz.
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Morgan / Harbour Construction promoted Craig Tolan to senior vice president and added Kevin Kasten as senior vice president. Tolan has led industrial, office, healthcare, senior living, multifamily and higher educational projects, while Kasten spent more than 15 years managing construction projects in the commercial, healthcare, retail and industrial sectors.
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Ari Glass, co-managing director of Zeller Realty Group and president of Zeller Realty Corp., will leave both positions and join Mansueto Office Inc. as head of real estate. Glass will continue collaborating with ZRG, which manages and operates The Wrigley Building for Joe Mansueto, who purchased the property in June 2018.
Chris Baker, currently head of asset management for ZRC, will replace Glass as president, and Bill Rogalla takes over as managing director of ZRG.
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Clayco, a full-service turnkey real estate, architecture, engineering, design-build and construction firm, named James Havel as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Clayco Enterprise. Havel previously served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Express Scripts, a pharmacy benefits management company.
LEASES
Newmark Knight Frank advised Kitchen United on its new 13K SF lease at 201 North Elizabeth St., its second Chicago location. The Los Angeles-based firm’s “kitchen centers” help 10 to 15 established restaurant brands enter new markets. Kitchen United recently secured $10M in funding from GV, previously Google Ventures, Alphabet’s venture-capital group, and selected NKF to identify and secure suitable facilities in Chicago and several other markets. NKF’s Geoffrey Kasselman and Chris Hill represented the firm in its Chicago site selection, analyses and lease negotiations.
SALES
Best Foods bought from Hackman Capital the 188K SF refrigerated distribution property at 4801 South California Ave. in Chicago. The amount paid was undisclosed, but Cook County records show a sale price of nearly $6.4M. CBRE’s Steve Livaditis and Pete Roberson represented Hackman, and Matt Cowie of Cushman & Wakefied represented Best Foods, a condiment provider.
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The 49-unit condo property at 918 West Winona St. in Chicago sold for $7M. The out-of-town buyer, which will deconvert the condos into rental apartments, made the building’s association an all-cash offer at asking price. Planned upgrades include renovating kitchens and baths, and adding a rooftop deck. 33 Realty’s Sean Connelly and Mark Kurgan represented the seller, and Marcus & Millichap’s James Ziegler represented the buyer.
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Cornerstone Commercial Partners completed the sale to Conor Commercial Real Estate of a 10-acre development site owned by the city of Prospect Heights. Cornerstone's Peter Karlis and Ron Reese marketed the property, situated across from Chicago Executive Airport. Denise Chaimovitz and Sean Sloan of Paine Wetzel Commercial Real Estate represented Conor, which has sought approval from the city for a roughly 150K SF industrial development.
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Newmark Knight Frank’s Adam Marshall, Brian Carroll and Mark Deady represented Logistics Property Co. in its acquisition of a 28-acre site at Brewster Creek Business Park in suburban Bartlett that will eventually contain two 207K SF distribution facilities. The NKF team was also hired to market and lease the facilities, which have target completion dates in January.
FINANCING
CBRE represented RDG Funds in the financing of 156 North Jefferson St., a 32K SF, Class-A creative loft office building in the West Loop. John Parrett, Molly Green and Harrison Addy led the CBRE team in securing the $8.3M, long-term, fixed-rate financing with a life company lender.
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JLL Capital Markets’ Keith Largay, Brian Walsh and Patrick Healy arranged an $84M loan on behalf of Sterling Bay and institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management for 210 North Carpenter, a new, 12-story, 206K SF office building in Chicago’s Fulton Market district. Bank of America provided the financing. Sterling Bay developed the building, and Chicago-based Solomon Cordwell Buenz led the design. Leopardo, one of the building’s first tenants, completed construction earlier this year. Google plans to grow its Chicago presence by moving more than 1,000 employees into the building this fall.
CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
Willis Tower’s construction team put the finishing touches on a 240-window glass skylight that will fill Catalog, a five-story dining, retail and entertainment space, with natural light and offer a view of the iconic building from below.
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After making way for the Lincoln Common mixed-use project, the historic Dental Professional Building at 2358 North Lincoln Ave. in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood no longer exists, but working with the city’s Landmarks Division, project architect Antunovich Associates and Western Specialty Contractors – Chicago Masonry branch just finished 15 months of work incorporating its facade into the new structure. The general contractor was Chicago-based W.E. O’Neil Construction.
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Clarion Construction recently completed a 6K SF tenant improvement project for the local Ware Malcomb office in Oak Brook. The scope of work included many special features such as custom reclaimed wood shelving and a solid surface countertop with waterfall edge in the office’s town hall.
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Skender, serving as base building and interior construction manager, broke ground on Residences of Crystal Lake, a Turnstone Development-owned senior living facility with three stories and 63K SF in Crystal Lake, Illinois. Skender is collaborating with Chicago-based design firm UrbanWorks, civil engineering firm GroundWork, and the owner’s representative, DKI Inc., to complete the project by March.
THIS AND THAT
More than 110 Chicago brokers, developers and property managers attended the second annual Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Real Estate Games Chicago on May 16. Teams met at the Fitness Formula Club Union Station, and raised more than $245K, surpassing last year’s record of $157K, to help find a cure for Type 1 diabetes. Savills’ Rich Plonsker and Matt Cohen co-chaired the games committee.
After sweating through seven events — dodgeball, quarterback challenge, basketball, tower power, spinning, cup stacking and physical education 101 — the HFF team emerged as the winners for the second year in a row.
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April rents in Chicago reached $1,913, the fifth-highest among large U.S. renter hubs, according to RentCafé's latest monthly rent report. Chicago renters pay $58 more per month than they did in April 2018.
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Pullman and Roseland residents joined Alderman Anthony Beale on May 16 to celebrate the opening of One Eleven Food Hall, located in the 111th Street Gateway Retail Center at 756 East 111th St. The city of Chicago and developer Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, a nonprofit seeking to revive the historic Pullman community, partnered on the project, which has three restaurants: Laine’s Bake Shop, Exquisite Catering and Events, and Majani Soulful Vegan Cuisine. JPMorgan Chase provided microloans, and other funding came from the National Community Investment Fund and U.S. Bank.
