Developer John Buck Co. has refinanced 111 S. Wacker Drive with a five-year, $270 million loan, after weighing unsolicited offers from prospective buyers for the 51-story tower to be completed this summer.
A group of lenders led by GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corp. issued the loan, which replaces a $233 million construction loan, also issued by the General Motors Corp. unit. Participants in the loan include Dublin’s Anglo Irish Bank and Germany’s Landesbank Hessen Thuringen, or Helaba, said Peter Smolenski, a GMAC vice president.
Some of the loan proceeds will be used to return equity to a Buck Co. investment fund that financed the project, said Kent Swanson, a principal in the Chicago real estate firm. The transaction also gives the firm time to finish the 1 million-square-foot tower, which is nearly 80 percent leased.
Cushman assignments: The Chicago office of Cushman & Wakefield Inc. has picked up two new assignments to sell suburban office properties.
In one deal, the investment arm of Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. is putting up for sale Highland Landmark I, a fully leased, 250,000-square-foot building in Downers Grove, a spokeswoman confirmed.
In the other deal, an investment unit of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is putting up for sale two of the six buildings in Woodfield Corporate Center in Schaumburg, confirmed Thomas Danilek, a senior vice president with Hines Real Estate Interests LP, which manages the complex.
Combined, 150 and 200 N. Martindale Rd. are 507,000 square feet and more than 90 percent leased, he said.
Jays assets sold: In a sale/leaseback transaction, Structured Development LLC bought from Ubiquity Brands Inc. the real estate assets of snackmaker Jays Foods, an eight-building, 455,000-square-foot portfolio, said Michael Drew, principal in the Chicago real estate firm.
The price was nearly $8 million for the assets, which include Jays’ 127,000-square-foot plant and headquarters at 825 E. 99th St. Holly Duran Real Estate Partners LLC teamed up with Colliers Bennett & Kahnweiler Inc. to represent Chicago-based Ubiquity, which last year bought Jays out of bankruptcy for about $30 million.
Erickson closes on purchase: Erickson Retirement Communities LLC has closed on the purchase of a 71-acre site near I-88 and Route 59 in the western suburbs from Industrial Developments Inc., said Richard Souyoul, president of Chicago-based Souyoul Properties Group, which advises Erickson.
The Baltimore developer last year disclosed plans for a 1,650-unit project on the site. Sources said the price was about $21 million.
Trammel Crow adds exec: James D. Carpenter, 41, has joined the Chicago office of Trammel Crow Co. as a senior vice president with the firm’s capital markets group. He was formerly executive director of investments with First Industrial Realty.
Vacancies decline: The suburban office market continued its steady improvement, with the vacancy rate falling to 16.4 percent during the first quarter from 16.7 percent in the fourth quarter and 18 percent a year ago, according to a study by tenant representative Studley Inc.
The number of available large blocks of space in top-quality buildings is declining, prompting many large tenants to consider older, renovated office buildings, said Laurence Morgan, a Studley executive vice president.
Including sublease space, 20.6 percent of the market is available, compared with 21.7 percent in the fourth quarter and 22.9 percent a year ago.
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Suburb vacancy rate continues to fall
%%
AREA
Vacancy rate 4th Quarter 1st Quarter
North 15.3% 16.2%
I-88 18.1% 18.4%
O’Hare 18.1% 16.3%
Northwest 15.1% 14.3%
Total 16.7% 16.4%
Asking rents (per sq. ft)
North $19.45 $20.04
I-88 $19.91 $20.13
O’Hare $19.68 $20.07
Northwest $19.18 $19.28
Total $19.60 $19.89
%%
Rents include taxes and other operating expenses. Source: Studley Inc.