This Week's Chicago Deal Sheet

Demand for life sciences laboratory space is growing across the Chicago region, and American Landmark Properties is preparing its Illinois Science + Technology Park in north suburban Skokie for that future.

ISTP will invest nearly $18M into a new three-story, 135K SF building that will be ready for tenant improvements in Q4 2021, according to company officials. In addition, four build-to-suit sites already zoned for laboratory and research and development use or pharma-grade manufacturing totaling 1.3M SF of buildable space are available.

American Landmark Properties has chosen JLL to lease the 22-acre research campus at 4901 Searle Parkway, which already has more than 500K SF of laboratory and office space.

“As the most established, longest-standing and largest science park in the region, ISTP is perfectly positioned to continue to grow as the state’s premier life sciences facility,” JLL Managing Director Scott Brandwein said.

“The state-of-the-art campus is strategically located within proximity of major universities including Northwestern University, a variety of life science research hospitals, and leading companies in the pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device and diagnostic, clean energy, food science, chemical, material technology and nanotech fields,” he added. “Together, this science cluster and the park’s amenities provide an unparalleled opportunity for research and collaboration in the area.”

Brandwein will spearhead JLL’s leasing assignment, along with Jake Ehrenberg and Max Zwolan. They will work with American Landmark Properties’ Barbara Carley and John Roeser.

“We have brought numerous startups from Northwestern University and prestigious research institutions into the ISTP,” Carley said. “The campus has become a prosperous hub for innovation and discovery where businesses can grow and thrive. With its upcoming facilities and key amenities that are crucial to scientific research, we know that tenants will find what they need to be successful here.”

EXECS

CA expanded its new medical office and life sciences division, launched earlier this year, by hiring Jimmy Hwang as executive vice president of investments and Jesse Ostrow as senior vice president of investments. Prior to joining CA, Hwang served as a director in the equity advisory team at JLL. Ostrow was previously chief investment officer at MedProperties Group, a medical real estate investment, development and operating platform. CA officials say the medical office and life sciences division will make about $500M of investments per year through development and value-add acquisitions across the U.S.

***

Essex Realty Group promoted associates Derek Kaptanoglu and Anthony Citriglia to director. They both joined the firm in early 2019 and have worked together since April 2019, concentrating on the acquisition and disposition of multifamily and mixed-use investment real estate. Prior to joining Essex, Kaptanoglu worked as a sales and leasing associate for Starboard Commercial Real Estate in San Francisco. Citriglia formerly worked as a commercial real estate broker for @properties in Chicago.

***

Mark Stern joined JLL Capital Markets as a managing director in its Chicago office. Stern will be a part of a multi-housing team that focuses on investment advisory transactions across the Midwest region. He joins JLL from a private investment advisory firm where he led the real estate acquisitions team.

***

Douglas King joined Project Management Advisors as vice president of healthcare. King previously served as a healthcare principal at Stantec Architecture Inc., joining the firm in 2016 when his previous company affiliation of 25 years, VOA Associates, was acquired. He has managed large-scale healthcare projects during his architectural and project management career, including Chicago’s 2.1M SF, $732M Northwestern Memorial Hospital Feinberg/Galter Pavilion and the 945K SF Prentice Women’s Hospital.

SALES

A Mexican investor represented by Miami-based EXAN Group acquired a single-tenant CVS Pharmacy at 520 South State St. in downtown Chicago for almost $5M. The nearly 9K SF property occupies the ground floor of a 180-unit condo building on the corner of State Street and Congress Parkway. Randy Blankstein and Jimmy Goodman of The Boulder Group represented both sides in the transaction. CVS Pharmacy has more than 10 years remaining on its lease, Blankstein said.

***

An undisclosed investor paid more than $5.5M in the off-market sale of 2020-36 West Montrose Ave., a 31-unit mixed-use property in Chicago’s Ravenswood neighborhood. The price per unit was more than $180K, and the total price was the most paid for a vintage mixed-use building in Ravenswood in four years, according to CoStar data. The property includes 22 apartments over nine street-level retail spaces. Interra Realty’s Joe Smazal represented the seller and buyer.

LEASES

Kansas City-based NorthPoint Development selected Cushman & Wakefield’s Larry Goldwasser, Jason West and Colin Green to market the remaining three sites at its Commerce Park Chicago, offering up to an additional 1.9M SF of industrial spec and build-to-suit space. The 2.4M SF park is in Chicago’s Hegewisch neighborhood on the former Republic Steel Site at 12200 South Avenue O. In addition to a recently completed and leased 360K SF building, the developer will deliver in summer 2021 a 299K SF building, as well as a 580K SF building. Another 64 acres can be developed for a big-box distribution building totaling more than 1M SF.

FINANCING

Mesirow Financial’s public finance and credit tenant lease and structured debt products teams acted as the financing arm of the development team assembled by the University of Illinois’ Board of Trustees that won the assignment for the university’s new Outpatient Surgery Center and Specialty Clinics building. School officials expect the 200K SF clinical building will be completed by fall 2022.

CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT 

Optima completed the build-out of Guidepost Montessori at Magnificent Mile’s new elementary school at Optima Signature, the firm’s mixed-use development at 220 East Illinois St. in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood. Completed in three months, the 14K SF addition, which will serve Grades 1-6, is now accepting registrations for in-person learning.

***

James McHugh Construction Co. began construction of a 7K SF Haidilao Hot Pot restaurant at 107 East Cermak Road, on the second floor of Hiltons at McCormick Place in Chicago’s South Loop neighborhood. Scheduled to open this December, the project marks the China-based global chain’s entry into the Midwest market. Chicago-based Antunovich Associates is the project architect. 

***

McShane Construction Co. completed The Elaine, a 304-unit luxury apartment residence at 1000 Skokie Blvd. in north suburban Northbrook. Finger Cos. selected McShane to provide general construction services for the development. The five-story residence features wood frame construction wrapped around a six-story, 642-vehicle parking deck. The architect of record is Niles Bolton Associates.

***

Chicago-based developer Focus and its sales and marketing firm, @properties Developer Services, announced the opening of a new condominium model at Kelmscott Park, a luxury, maintenance-free community at 100 Morris Lane in downtown Lake Forest. It offers 42 condominiums and 12 single-family homes. Prices for remaining condominiums range from $665K to $924K. Chicago-based Booth Hansen provided architectural services. Lake Bluff-based Mariani Landscape designed the project’s greenways, gardens and tree-lined boulevards.