People News

Levenfeld Pearlstein's Mark Pearlstein has been honored by the Community Associations Institute with the organization's 2010 Award of Excellence in Public Affairs. For the last five years, Mark has led an effort to protect Illinois condo owners by requiring licensing to regulate community association managers. When the Community Association Manager Act takes effect Jan. 1, no person may provide services as a community association manager unless he or she holds a current and valid manager license.

***

Adam Marshall has achieved the CCIM designation. A senior associate at NAI Hiffman specializing in industrial real estate, Adam has worked in CRE since 2003. He represents private companies, owners, institutions, investors and developers.

***

ML Realty Partners' Renee Hofman has been promoted to marketing manager. Her primary responsibilities will be marketing, advertising, public relations and event organization for the company and its CRE portfolio. Hofman joined ML Realty Partners in  2001.

***

Eric Johnstone has been promoted at Sperry Van Ness to senior advisor. Prior to joining SVN he was a top sales producer at Jameson Realty, where he worked for nearly 10 years and completed about $200M dollars in sales.

Sales News

Paramount Lodging Advisors' Walker Geyer and  Brent Clemens have brokered the sale of the 14-story, 208-room  Fort Wayne Hotel and Conference Center located at 300 East Washington Blvd. in downtown Fort Wayne, Ind. Walker and Brent repped the owner, BRT Realty Trust, in a transaction that closed May 7 and will result in the conversion of the hotel into a senior living facility.

Company News

Opus Holding  announced that its subsidiary, Opus Design Build has acquired substantially all of the construction and design-build assets of Opus Northwest and its subsidiary, Opus Northwest Construction, which includes various third-party design-build construction projects. Opus North Corp. will operate nationally as a full-service CRE development company, under the direction of Tom Shaver, prez and CEO.

Design and Construction News

James McHugh Construction Co. has completed Aqua, the mixed-use tower that was named Skyscraper of the Year  in a global competition. McHugh served as general contractor for the project, located at 225 N. Columbus Dr. in the new Lakeshore East neighborhood. Aqua's developer is  Aqua Development Group, an affiliate of longtime McHugh client Magellan Development Group. The design architect is Studio/Gang/Architects, headed by Jeanne Gang, with Loewenberg Architects  the architect of record and Magnusson Klemencic Associates the structural engineers.

***

Krusinski Construction Co. is building out a 13k SF space for the GSA at 5100 N. River Rd. in Schiller Park. The building is owned by RREEF. Reitan Architects served as the project architect.
In Burr Ridge, Krusinski is also on a fast track to complete interior renovations of an existing 54k SF office space and manufacturing facility for Quinlan & Fabish Music Co. The office expansion is 5k SF. The architect is Ware Malcomb.

***

The Missner Group has been selected as the general contractor for the renovation of the Mercedes Benz-Autohaus on Edens at 1600 Frontage Rd. in Northbrook. The Autohaus on Edens building will undergo a complete corporate identity renovation featuring a new client lounge, showroom, sales area, and interior offices. Exterior renovations will include the addition of a new vestibule, sun screens and updated finishes. Glen Missner is the principal overseeing the project and Jess Knigge is the firm's senior project manager.Eckehoff Saunders Architects and Manhard Consulting are providing architectural and engineering services.

***

Reed Constructio n has completed a 7k SF build out at 500 N. Michigan Ave. on behalf of Symmetri Marketing Group. Reed was hired by Zeller Realty Group, property manager of the 24-story Magnificent Mile high-rise, to complete the tenant improvements.

Leasing News

CBRE's Keith Puritz, Brett Kroner, Ryan Bain, and Zach Graham represented Focus Products Group  in the sublease of 133k SF at 100-130 Lakeview Pkwy. in Vernon Hills to Hyper Microsystems. The distributor and manufacturer of computer storage devices will take occupancy of the entire building this summer. NAI Hiffman's Eric Fischer repped Hyper Microsystems in the sublease transaction.

***

Champion Realty Advisors has completed an industrial lease for TGI Systems Corp. for 20k SF at Moore Industrial Park at 7431-33 W. 90th Ave. in Bridgeview. Champions' Michael Bader repped the tenant, while the landlord, AF Moore & Associates, was repped in-house by Jeff Koenig.

***

Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada has retained Bradford Allen Realty Services  as exclusive leasing agent for its office acquisition at 29 North Wacker D. Sun Life recently closed on the purchase of the 129k SF building from Intercontinental Real Estate Corp. The 39-year-old building was designed by A. Epstein and Sons.

***

JLL's Kurt Sarbaugh, Robin Stolberg, and Kris Bjorson repped Midland Paper Co. in its lease of 81k SF industrial space at 363 N. Third Ave. in Des Plaines. Colliers Bennett & Kahnweiler's Jonathan Kohn  and Tom Rodeno  repped the landlord, ProLogis.

***

Tegrant Diversified Brands signed a long-term lease renewal and expansion for 44k SF at Commerce Point in Arlington Heights. NAI Hiffman's Michael Flynn and Jason Wurtz, repped the owner,Premises Management. Grubb & Ellis repped Tegrant.

***

Paine/Wetzel · ONCOR International has completed a 44k SF transaction for Comcast at 1585 N. Waukegan Rd. in Waukegan. Paine/Wetzel's Whit Heitman and Samuel Badger Jr. represented the landlord, Prudential.

Finance

Wells Real Estate Investment Trust II  announced today that it has received investment-grade credit ratings from two leading ratings agencies. Wells REIT II has been assigned a corporate credit rating of BBB- by Standard & Poor's, and a Baa3 rating from Moody's. The Wells REIT II portfolio includes 91 buildings in 23 states, DC, and Russia, covering more than 20M SF.