Renovation Of Historic Rogers Park Building Nabs Key Financing: The Chicago Deal Sheet
Developers that have long angled to redevelop the historic Werner Brothers Storage Building in Rogers Park secured a crucial piece of state funding that will enable them to start construction next year.
The building at 7613 N. Paulina St. was built in the 1920s and designed by George S. Kingsley. It was named on Preservation Chicago's list of most endangered buildings in 2023.
Housing For All, Visionary Ventures NFP and JTE Real Estate are developing The Werner at Howard & Paulina, a $56M affordable housing project, and the team was awarded more than $1.6M in low-income housing tax credits, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. The project will include the demolition of a one-story building next to the Werner Brothers structure to make way for an eight-story residential building.
The new property and the Werner Brothers building will provide 80 affordable housing units combined for households earning between 30% and 80% of the area median income. Developers aim to start construction in summer 2026 and have the first move-ins in the second half of 2027.
SALES
Dallas-based MedProperties Realty Advisors acquired Millennium Medical Center, a 42K SF medical outpatient building at 10604 Southwest Highway in Chicago Ridge, for an undisclosed price. The two-story building was built in 2018 by a group of local physicians, who sold the property to MedProperties. The building's lead tenant is an affiliate of US Oncology.
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A developer purchased 6844 N. Western Ave., a development site in West Ridge that was formerly home to Harley-Davidson, for an undisclosed sum. The 0.7-acre site is zoned as a community shopping district, which allows for a mix of commercial and residential uses. Greenstone Partners represented the seller.
LEASES
Seefried Industrial Properties fully preleased O’Hare Logistics Center 16, a 190K SF distribution facility at 1305 E. Algonquin Road in Mount Prospect. Accelerated Global Solutions will expand its operations into the new facility. Colliers' Jonathan Kohn and John D’Orazio represented the tenant in the deal, while CBRE's Jason Lev, John Suerth and Jimmy Kowalczyk represented Seefried.
CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
McHugh Construction, together with Nacional Group, started preconstruction work on the 127K SF Wagner Community Center in Elmhurst. The new facility will replace the 32K SF community center at 615 N. West Ave. Demolition is set for this fall, ahead of construction breaking ground in December. A grand opening is planned for fall 2027.
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Skender Construction broke ground on Poupard Place, a 48-unit affordable housing development in Northbrook. Housing Opportunity Development Corp. is developing the project, which was designed by Cordogan, Clark & Associates. The development is expected to be completed next summer.
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The Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation opened its doors at 5500 W. Madison St. in Austin following a six-year design and adaptive reuse project from Lamar Johnson Collaborative. The new center repurposes the former Robert Emmet Elementary School, one of 50 Chicago public schools closed in 2013, into an anchor for workforce training, education, healthcare support and economic development.
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Chicago State University, in partnership with CBRE, opened a request for proposals for University Village 95, a mixed-use development opportunity on the South Side. The RFP process is the next step in the university's plan to expand student housing and catalyze economic revitalization along the 95th Street corridor. The site allows for about 232K SF of new construction on 2 acres, and the initial phase of development could deliver up to 528 student beds and 25K SF of retail, with occupancy targeted for 2027.
FINANCING
Canyon Partners Real Estate provided a $106.3M senior loan to a joint venture controlled by Mavrek Development to refinance The Saint Grand in Streeterville. The property is a newly built, 21-story mixed-use tower featuring 248 market-rate apartment units, a 103-stall parking garage and 47K SF of retail. The transaction was facilitated by JLL Capital Markets.
THIS AND THAT
Clune Construction is partnering with Generis Collective in support of Tecovas’ nationwide retail rollout. Construction finished on a location in Pittsburgh and has begun in Cleveland, New York City, Knoxville, Minneapolis and Chicago.
