Chicago investor E. Barry Mansur and developer Michael Reschke have teamed up with a Los Angeles real estate investment firm to increase their buyout bid for Prime Group Realty Trust, after more than three months of wrangling with the real estate investment trust.
The Mansur-Reschke venture has teamed with BentleyForbes Holdings LLC to make a new bid that is expected to be higher than the previous offer of $6.70 a share, sources said. That offer was announced in late October. The amount of the new bid could not be determined. In November, Chicago-based Golub & Co. and a Dublin-based real estate investment firm offered $7.05 a share.
The new bid is also expected to pay off $100 million in preferred shares, unlike the earlier bid, sources said
Executives with Chicago-based Prime Group declined to comment. Executives with the buyers could not be reached for comment.
Tishman targets Skokie site: Tishman Speyer Properties LP is close to a deal to buy 5215 Old Orchard Rd., Skokie, for about $27 million, as the New York real estate firm targets acquisitions in the Chicago suburbs, sources said.
The 210,000-square-foot office building is 78 percent leased, according to real estate research firm CoStar Group.
An executive with real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield Inc., which represents the seller, Dallas-based Invesco Realty Advisors, declined to comment.
Bids due on O’Hare sites: Looking for signs that the suburban investment market will remain active this year, many real estate experts are watching the bids, due later this month, on Riverway and O’Hare International Center.
The two Rosemont office complexes are being marketed by Eastdil Realty Inc., said a spokesman for Simon Property Group Inc., which owns the two developments. They total 1.3 million square feet. Better known as a mall owner, Indianapolis-based Simon has considered a sale before but never completed a deal, in part because of lofty price expectations.
Beitler gains in court: A Cook County Circuit Court judge has ruled that New York real estate entrepreneur Howard Milstein’s lawsuit over his short-lived partnership with Chicago developer J. Paul Beitler was barred by their 2001 buyout agreement.
Milstein says in court papers he will appeal the Oct. 22 order granting summary judgment against him. But Judge Nancy Arnold has delayed that step while Beitler pursues counterclaims against MB Real Estate Services LLC, said attorney Monte Mann, a partner in Chicago law firm Novack & Macey, which represents Beitler.
Milstein and Beitler co-owned the predecessor to MB from 1998 until 2001, when Milstein bought out Beitler’s half interest for $1.375 million, documents show. Milstein filed suit the following year.
Apartments settled in: The downtown apartment market is bumping along, as rents and occupancies remain nearly unchanged compared with a year ago, according to the forthcoming Downtown Chicago Residential Benchmark Report by Appraisal Research Counselors.
Meanwhile, condominium converters will continue to drive apartment building sales, with deals totaling $500 million projected to close by June, compared with about $617 million in all of 2004, said John Jaeger, a vice president with the Chicago consulting firm.
Appraisal Research will present its 2005 forecast for the downtown residential market during a Thursday luncheon at the Union League Club, 65 W. Jackson Blvd.
GVA spins off units: The local office of real estate firm GVA Williams said it is spinning off its property management and building leasing operations into a separate firm, called GlenStar Properties LLC. Both firms are owned by Rand Diamond, Lawrence Debb and Michael Klein.
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Downtown apartment market struggles
The market for rental units in downtown Chicago showed no signs of rebounding during 2004, after improving slightly in 2003. Occupancy rates improved slightly for standard buildings during the fourth quarter, compared with a year ago. But all landlords continue to aggressively offer concessions, such as free rent, particularly for larger units. Effective rents, shown below, factor in the value of concessions to tenants.
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2003 2004
Occupancy rate
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Luxury 91.7% 91.6%
Standard 91.3% 92.7%
Effective Rent (per sq. ft.)
Luxury $1.84 $1.84
Standard $1.66 $1.65
Source: Appraisal Research Counselors
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