This Week's Chicago Deal Sheet
Chicago-based Aries Capital affiliate Urban Development Fund was awarded an allocation totaling $50M under the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Federal New Markets Tax Credit Program. This is the eighth award UDF has received for a total of $432.5M since the program began in 2000, making it one of only a handful of Community Development Entities to receive more than seven allocations.
The NMTC program was created to stimulate economic activity in low-income communities. It permits individual and corporate taxpayers to receive a credit against federal income taxes for making qualified investments in intermediary vehicles certified as CDEs.
“With the NMTC allocations, UDF has invested over $1.1B in redevelopment projects across the country and has provided significant economic improvement to the local communities,” UDF President Neil Freeman said in a statement.
“UDF has invested in important entities, enriching the lives and hopes of children, improving medical care for trauma victims and dialysis patients and providing better mental health care for juveniles. It has also funded food banks to combat hunger and invested in businesses and hotels that create thousands of jobs and train executives from lower income communities.”
UDF’s previous investments have supported community facilities across the nation, including the Tarrant Area Food Bank, Texas; Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Miami; Goodwill Easter Seals in Mobile, Alabama; the Downtown Rescue Mission in Huntsville, Alabama; and the Houston Food Bank in Houston.
In this year’s round, the Federal NMTC’s Program awarded a total of $3.5B in New Market Tax Credits to 73 CDEs, including UDF, bringing the total amount awarded through the NMTC Program to $57.5B.
EXECS
HOK promoted three interior design leaders in its Chicago studio. Sarah Oppenhuizen, who has been with HOK for more than a decade, was named director of interiors. Mike Goetz, who has been with HOK since 2008, joined HOK’s Chicago interiors practice as a senior project designer after transferring from the firm’s Los Angeles studio. Javier Buscaglia-Pesquera, who has managed a wide variety of projects since joining HOK in 2015, has been promoted to director of operations, interiors.
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Kiser Group, a multifamily brokerage firm, promoted Aaron Sklar from director to senior director. Sklar began his career in brokerage four years ago and completed transactions in excess of $110M, including the sale of more than 1,900 units, many in South Side Chicago neighborhoods including South Shore, Jackson Park and East Woodlawn.
FINANCING
Alpha Capital CRE’s Trisha Connolly and Matthew Stearns procured $14.3M in preferred equity for the development of the Superior House Condominiums at 366 West Superior St. on behalf of Ascend Real Estate Group. The 12-story project will encompass 123K SF, including 34 luxury residences, with four homes per floor.
LEASES
CBRE’s Joe Parrott represented three separate landlords in Chicago’s northwest suburbs in leases to Planet Fitness for a combined 60K SF. At the Shops at Schaumburg Court, located at Barrington and Schaumburg roads in Schaumburg, Planet Fitness leased 20K SF. Schaumburg Court Ltd. Partnership owns the property, anchored by tenants such as Home Depot and PetSmart. Planet Fitness also leased 21K SF from PJR Properties at The Oaks in Des Plaines, and another 19K SF from a Palatine owner.
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EQ Office, the U.S. office portfolio company wholly owned by Blackstone’s real estate funds, signed a deal that will bring Do-Rite Donuts & Chicken to Willis Tower. The artisanal doughnut shop will open in Catalog, the 300K SF, five-story dining, retail and entertainment experience under construction at the base of the iconic skyscraper. The grab-and-go site, scheduled to open in late summer, will be the company’s sixth location. It joins other Catalog tenants Brown Bag Seafood Co., Convene, Urbanspace, Shake Shack, Sweetgreen, Starbucks and Market Creations.
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Lee & Associates closed a 25K SF lease transaction for an industrial unit at 230 Gerry Drive in suburban Wood Dale. Jeff Janda and Jeff Galante of Lee & Associates’ Illinois office represented the owner, DRA Advisors. John Cassidy and Ken Franzese, also of the Illinois office, represented the tenant, Topgolf. This is the second renewal Janda and Galante negotiated in this building in the last several weeks. The previous renewal was for the adjacent 25K SF unit at 226 Gerry Drive.
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B.GOOD, a farm-to-table restaurant chain with 69 North American locations, including three in the Chicago suburbs, opened within a Kitchen United facility at 825 North Sedgwick St. in Chicago’s River North neighborhood, and began serving downtown consumers. The Los Angeles-based Kitchen United’s “kitchen centers” can help 10 to 15 established restaurant brands enter new markets.
SALES
Colliers International | Chicago’s John D’Orazio represented a private seller in the sale of an industrial facility at 1291 Humbracht Circle in suburban Bartlett’s Brewster Creek Business Park. Cabot Properties purchased the 50K SF warehouse. Bremskerl, a German producer of abrasives for industrial applications, has its North American headquarters in the facility, which sits on 2.85 acres. The pre-cast warehouse was built in 2003 and features 24-foot clear heights.
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ML Realty Partners acquired a fully leased industrial building at 7750 Industrial Drive in suburban Forest Park. The 77K SF facility, home to warehousing and fulfillment firm Partners Fulfillment, features 12 exterior docks, 24-foot clear height and a 1-acre parking lot. Tom Rodeno and Matthew Stauber of Colliers International were the sole brokers.
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Marcus & Millichap completed the sale of Store More on Route 34, a 49K SF, 395-unit self-storage facility at 3980 Turner Ave. in suburban Plano. Jeffrey Herrmann and Sean Delaney of Marcus & Millichap’s Chicago Oak Brook office marketed the property on behalf of the seller and represented the buyer. The property consists of nine buildings, including 17 climate-controlled units, 97 boat/RV parking spaces, and 280 drive-up units.
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Aboretta LLC, a Montessori school, purchased a 17K SF building at 110 Hillcrest Blvd. in Schaumburg. Lee & Associates’ Rick Anesi represented the seller. Crosstown Real Estate Advisors’ Stuart Eng and Matt Baumann represented the buyer.
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Chicago-based Syndicated Equities Group, a commercial real estate investment firm, completed its preferred equity investment for the acquisition of the Hilton DoubleTree and Embassy Suites hotels in suburban Rosemont. The properties, located along River Road, are approximately 1 mile from O’Hare International Airport. As part of the acquisition, new franchise agreements were secured with Hilton. Syndicated Equities acquired the property in a joint venture alongside Nath Cos., a Minneapolis-based owner and operator of hotels, restaurants and multifamily assets throughout the Midwest. Nath will serve as the property and asset manager.
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Marcus & Millichap’s Adrian Mendoza, Austin Weisenbeck and Sean Sharko completed the $6.1M sale of Roosevelt Plaza, a 27K SF retail property at 5630 West Roosevelt Road in Chicago. A mix of national and local tenants occupy 100% of the property.
CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
Chicago-based design firm Wight & Co. completed the new headquarters for Legacy.com, an online publisher of life memorials and end-of-life resources. The 18K SF space at 230 West Monroe St. in Chicago’s Loop consolidates 100 of Legacy’s employees from two different suburban locations. The Wight design team was led by Janet Lougée, and provided a variety of workspace options, including open desks and common areas along the perimeter of the office with smaller meeting rooms and private phone booths at its center.
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ML Capital broke ground on Roslyn Meadows, a maintenance-free community of 16 new-construction townhomes in suburban Barrington. Located 35 miles northwest of downtown Chicago at the corner of Roslyn Road and Cumnor Avenue, the property will feature three-bedroom, two and a half bath residences with floor plans offering more than 2K SF of living space. Base prices range from $470K to $570K. Kinzie Builders, a Chicago-area residential construction firm, will build the homes, set to deliver late fall 2019.
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The Opus Group completed The Marke of Elmhurst, a luxury mixed-use development at 100 North Addison Ave. in downtown suburban Elmhurst. The six-story, 164-unit development includes one-, two- and three-bedroom units, and 7,600 SF of available Class-A retail space. Available amenities include covered parking, a fitness center, a yoga room, a pet spa, a dog-walking area, an outdoor amenity deck, a pool, cabanas and a grilling area. Opus is the developer, design-builder and the architect and structural engineer of record. Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture is the design architect and ESG Architects is the interior designer. The project was a joint venture with Principal Real Estate Investors.
