This Week's Chicago Deal Sheet
The University of Chicago has opened the Green Line Performing Arts Center, providing a theater venue and rehearsal space in the Washington Park neighborhood and Chicago’s South Side.
Housed in four renovated storefront buildings, the location at various points in history has been home to jazz and entertainment venues, including a restaurant with a live orchestra, a series of music clubs and most famously Rhumboogie Cafe, a nightclub owned by boxing great Joe Louis in the 1940s.
The 6,600 SF center includes the E&A Theatre, a black-box venue with seating for more than 80 people; the Harris Studio, a separate rehearsal and performance space; and a lobby and outdoor courtyard for public programs and exhibitions, including outdoor film screenings.
Designed by Morris Architects Planners in collaboration with Theaster Gates, a UChicago faculty member and former director of Arts + Public Life, the center continues the growth of the Arts Block, a collection of cultural and commercial spaces on Garfield Boulevard across from the Green Line’s Garfield stop in Washington Park.
The center also establishes a new professional theater space on the South Side, providing support to performing artists and theater ensembles, along with programming to train residents with interests in theater design and production. It is the first new theater to open in the Hyde Park/Washington Park/Woodlawn communities in more than a generation.
“The Green Line Performing Arts Center is an important University of Chicago initiative, done in partnership with the South Side community, that will create a wide range of artistic opportunities on the South Side for small and community-based theater companies," University of Chicago President Robert Zimmer said in a statement.
EXECS
SomerCor, a Small Business Administration certified development company, has tapped Manny Flores as its new president and CEO. He takes the reins at SomerCor after serving for two years as a member of the nonprofit lender’s board of directors. Flores has served on the Chicago City Council as alderman of the 1st Ward and later headed the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation as director and acting secretary, where he regulated and supervised state-chartered banks and credit unions.
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Chicago-based Interra Realty has promoted Craig Martin to managing partner from director. Since joining Interra in 2012, Martin has been involved in $100M worth of transactions, including the recent $16.5M sale of the 44-unit Broadway Apartments and an adjacent property in Uptown. The firm also has hired Eric Biel as office manager.
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Paine Wetzel-TCN has hired Jim Cummings as vice president. Prior to joining Paine Wetzel, Cummings spent several years with Newmark Knight Frank and at Grubb and Ellis, where he specialized in industrial real estate in south and west suburban Chicago.
LEASING
Collegis, a company that helps colleges and universities maximize enrollment through data-rich marketing, engagement and retention services, has leased 27K SF at Oak Brook Regency Towers. Also at that property, On Point Technology renewed its lease in the west tower for 12K SF. NAI Hiffman represented landlord American Realty Advisors in both deals.
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Retail-as-a-service specialist Leap has launched a platform to enable digital brands to launch experiential retail stores more quickly and without the typical risks of physical store development. Leap unveiled the platform as it announced its first store opening in Chicago for sneaker company Koio. Leap also has obtained $3M in seed funding, led by Costanoa Ventures, with the participation of Equal Ventures and Brand Foundry Ventures.
SALES
Kiser Group recently brokered the deconversion of 512 West Wrightwood, a 20-unit condo property in East Lincoln Park, for $4.5M. The seller, 512 Wrightwood Condominium Association, reached a unanimous decision to sell to an affiliate of Horizon Realty Group. Originally built in the late 1950s as condominiums, the property features four studios, 14 one-bedroom and two two-bedroom units.
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A 6,170 SF property at the SE corner of Chicago Avenue and LaSalle Drive in River North (123 West Chicago Ave./777 North LaSalle Drive) recently traded hands for $4.2M. A currency exchange has operated at the location for decades. Michael Weber and Ian Feinerman, senior brokers for @properties Commercial, represented the private seller in the transaction. A private developer acquired the property with plans to redevelop it into a mixed-use residential and retail building.
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Midwest Distribution has acquired United Business Mail’s 81K SF warehouse at 1001 Foster Ave. in Bensenville for $4.9M and will move its HQ there. On 3.2 acres, 1001 Foster Ave. is a recently modernized facility with 22-foot clear ceiling height, car parking for 68 and three interior and three exterior docks. Colliers International’s Steven Kohn represented the seller, while Doug Pilcher of Cushman & Wakefield represented the buyer.
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Essex Realty Group has brokered the $4.4M sale of 5110 North Glenwood Ave., a 22-unit walk-up building in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood, to a private buyer. The seller was a family who had owned the property since its original construction in 1922. Essex's Steve Livaditis and Joe Scheck marketed the property for sale on behalf of the family.
FINANCING
Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp. has arranged a $13.6M nonrecourse loan to acquire an 82K SF Schnucks-anchored retail center in Peoria. Robert Bhat, Marcus & Millichap vice president of capital markets, arranged the financing, while Marcus & Millichap’s Brett Chetek, Chris Garavaglia and Alex Perez represented the seller and procured the buyer. The sale price was $18.2M.
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Perkins Coie represented Optima Inc., a residential development firm, in the negotiation of its $215M term loan for its Optima Signature project, refinancing previous construction debt on the property. Perkins Coie had previously represented Optima in the negotiation for the original construction financing. Optima Signature is a 57-story residential community in the Streeterville neighborhood of Chicago.
THIS AND THAT
John Buck Co.'s 3Eleven is the first multifamily Fitwel certified development in the city of Chicago. The property received a Fitwel 1 Star Rating Certification for incorporating a number of evidence-based design and policy strategies to support the physical, mental and social health of its residents.
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MB employees will be at the MB Ice Arena-Chicago Blackhawks Community Rink this week distributing new coats to students from William H. Brown STEM Magnet School, a local Chicago public school whose student body is primarily low-income. MB employees will help kids select and go home with a new coat.
