This Week's Chicago Deal Sheet

The Howard Hughes Corp. and Riverside Investment & Development opened their new 55-story office tower at 110 North Wacker Drive. It is the culmination of three years of work, and at 1.5M SF, it’s the second-largest Chicago office building delivered in three decades. 

The project was a collaboration with the leasing, design and construction teams of CBRE, Goettsch Partners and Clark Construction. 

“Through our collaboration with Riverside Investment & Development and Goettsch Partners, we’ve delivered on our vision to add to the iconic Chicago skyline with a building located on a historic site that incorporates the best of every aspect of the tenant experience, including health and wellness elements that people are demanding today,” The Howard Hughes Corp. interim CEO David O’Reilly said.

The building was a hit with office users. Bank of America was secured as the anchor tenant and took 17 floors, totaling more than 536K SF. Other leases were signed by Heitman, global investment bank Lincoln International, and law firms Jones Day and Morgan Lewis.

Although the property is officially open, the coronavirus pandemic will keep it sparsely populated for now. But Bank of America officials say they are in for the long haul.  

“While the majority of our team members will continue to work from home, we look forward to the day we welcome them to our new home base on Wacker Drive," Bank of America Chicago market President Paul Lambert said.

EXECS

Bridge Development Partners hired Jared Sullivan as its vice president, head of research. Sullivan will support capital raising and investor relations efforts and spearhead market research to guide the firm’s expansion to new markets. He was previously vice president, head of research at CA.

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Chicago-based CA appointed Joe Trinkle and Steve Rowley as senior vice presidents and market officers in its industrial division. They will be responsible for the Southwest/West and Southeast regions, respectively. Prior to CA, Trinkle spent over two decades at Liberty Property Trust and served as a senior vice president and regional director. Rowley also previously served as vice president at Liberty Property Trust, where he led its industrial practice group.

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Kevin Scott joined CRG, the real estate development and investment arm of Chicago-based Clayco, as vice president of investments and developments. He will lead acquisition and fund management activities for CRG’s build-to-core investment vehicle, U.S. Logistics Fund I. Prior to joining CRG, Scott spent three years as vice president at Molto.

SALES

The GSI Family Office, along with Greco/DeRosa Investment Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Greco Family, sold a three-building industrial portfolio to a discretionary fund managed by CBRE Global Investors. The properties are at 1323 Brewster Creek Blvd. and 1550 Hecht Drive in Bartlett, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, and 4450 North 45th Ave. in Phoenix.

GSI and Greco/DeRosa were represented by NAI Hiffman’s Pat Sullivan, Ryan Chambers and Jeff Fischer. Tony Lydon and John Lydon of JLL assisted in the Phoenix sale.

Built in 2017, 1323 Brewster Creek is a 421K SF building with 32-foot clear heights. Built in 2006, the 209K SF 1550 Hecht is Greco Foods’ headquarters. Built in 2017, the Phoenix property is a 368K SF multi-tenant warehouse that includes a freezer/cooler component.

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Inland Private Capital Corp. sold for $17.84M a 70K SF grocery property at 2820 South Green Bay Road in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, about 60 miles north of Chicago. Kroger Co. leases and operates the store under the Pick ‘n Save banner. The Pick ‘n Save was one of three contiguous parcels offered in the Mt. Pleasant Retail Venture DST program, but the other two parcels were not part of the sale. IPC represented the seller, Mt. Pleasant Retail Venture DST, one of IPC’s 1031 investment programs.

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Officials from Chicago-based Belgravia Group said its latest condominium development, CA6 West Loop, is 35% sold. The firm plans to break ground on the 72-unit, seven-story building at 305-323 South Racine Ave. later this fall.

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Atlanta-based Bauman & Co. expanded into Illinois by purchasing three medical office buildings in suburban Chicago. Two are on the AMITA Health Saint Joseph Hospital Elgin campus, and the third is on the AMITA Health Mercy Medical Center Aurora campus. The facilities total 125K SF, and construction will start in Q4 on renovations to the common areas. Bauman & Co. took over as property manager, and O’Donnell Commercial Real Estate will handle leasing.

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Glazier Corp., a local Chicago developer, sold for $2.7M a 5K SF retail building at 549-559 East 162nd St. in south suburban South Holland to a private investor out of Southern California. All three tenants, including a Chipotle and a JJ Fish & Chicken, were deemed essential and allowed to stay open during the pandemic. A JLL Capital Markets team led by Alex Sharrin, Alex Geanakos and Eric Cline marketed the property on behalf of Glazier.

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LaSalle Investment Management sold the Samsung I-55 Distribution Center at 160 Southcreek Parkway in southwest suburban Romeoville to Exeter Property Group for an undisclosed sum. Colliers International | Chicago’s Jeff Devine and Steve Disse represented LaSalle. Samsung has occupied the Pinnacle Business Center building since 2012 and recently signed a lease extension.  

LEASES

Simplex Investments signed a new long-term lease at the Federal Reserve at 230 South LaSalle St. It will move from 19K SF on the fourth floor to 26K SF on the eighth floor, where it will build a new trading space. David Knight and Craig Braham of Advocate Commercial Real Estate Advisors represented the firm.

CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT 

Chicago-based North Wells Capital and Urban Innovations completed the interior build-out for North Shore Healthcare at HUB640 in Milwaukee’s Westown. The company moved into 23K SF at 640 North Vel R. Phillips Ave. on Oct. 5. North Wells Capital acquired HUB640 in 2017 and began transforming the late 1800s building into a mixed-use development with retail, office and loft apartments.

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J.C. Anderson completed an office renovation for The Jordan Co. at One North Wacker Drive in Chicago. The middle-market private equity firm is relocating from 1751 Lake Cook Road in north suburban Deerfield. The build-out to the Central Loop building’s 41st floor included new private offices, open work areas, a café, reception area, boardroom, meeting rooms, pantry and copy/print room. The construction team was led by J.C. Anderson’s Jason Hawkins and Jose Verduzco. IA Interior Architects provided the architectural services, and JLL represented the owners.

THIS AND THAT

U.S. Bank and its subsidiary U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corp. published a case study on the company’s investments since 2009 in the historic Pullman community on the South Side of Chicago. U.S. Bank also just made a $1M donation to Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, the nonprofit that coordinates economic development in Pullman. 

“We believe banks are in business to do three things: economic development, workforce development and community development,” USBCDC CEO Zack Boyers said. “U.S. Bank and the USBCDC have brought the resources of the entire company to invest more than $120M driving a total of $400M in investments in the Pullman community and created nearly 1,500 new jobs over the past decade.”

Key findings from the study include:

• Invest big – no drops in the bucket: Making an impact requires a long-term investment strategy instead of supporting one-off projects.

• Build community engagement and buy-in: Listen to community members at every step and deliver what they need. CNI’s board reflects Pullman’s demographics and includes community leaders, and the group created its plans with community advice.

• Structure how the community will benefit into the planning: CNI mandated hiring from the local ZIP code, required on-site employment centers and ran workshops so local contractors and businesses knew how to bid on opportunities.

U.S. Bank began the investments after acquiring First Bank of Oak Park in 2009 and with it the company’s subsidiary Park National Bank in Pullman. FBOP had launched and funded the nonprofit Park Bank Initiatives, which then became CNI.

The community saw an 8% decline in unemployment between 2010 and 2018, nearly double Chicago’s 4.7% decrease in unemployment over the period, according to U.S. Census data. Its population grew 5% as nearby neighborhoods lost residents.

“The impact of these investments in partnership with CNI and other private and public commitments have created lasting change in this historic community,” Boyers said. “It is an example of what we are striving to do in other communities across the country.” 

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Millennials still have a soft spot for big-city life, according to RentCafe, which analyzed 13 million anonymized rental applications nationwide. In the last five years, Chicago was the 10th most sought-after city by Gen Yers. But the city’s popularity is rising among young renters. Chicago went from being the 10th most sought-after millennial city to the eighth, RentCafe said. In the last five years, the share of millennial rental requests in Chicago went from 41.2% to 46.4%.