If there is a slowdown in real estate development, it certainly was not evident in Chicago last week.
Two major downtown office projects were started officially with groundbreakings last week, as was an important mixed-use center on the North Side. And a pair of suburban developers announced large additions to the office market.
Tishman Speyer Properties held a dedication ceremony to mark construction of its 44-story, 1.5 million-square-foot office tower at 500 W. Monroe St. that will house anchor tenants Heller International and Marsh & McLennan Inc.
The building is the latest example of the growing importance of the West Loop as a headquarters site, said Craig Bayless, Tishman Speyer`s managing partner in Chicago.
In the heart of the North Loop, the Linpro Co. officially broke ground for the Chicago Title and Trust Center, being constructed on the site of the old Greyhound Bus Terminal at Randolph and Clark Streets. The site was one of the lynchpins in the North Loop redevelopment effort by the city.
The first phase of the project is a 50-story tower with 1.3 million square feet in which Chicago Title will occupy 250,000 square feet. A second 50-story twin tower is on the drawing boards.
In Rogers Park, SLC Properties Inc. and the Loyola Development Co. started construction of Granada Centre, a 16-story mixed-use project on the site of the former Granada Theater at 6455 N. Sheridan Rd.
The project includes 35,000 square feet of retail, three floors of offices and 166 apartments. Considered the gateway to Rogers Park, Granada Centre is expected to provide further impetus for redevelopment in the neighborhood.
The suburbs got into the act as well last week. Cabot, Cabot & Forbes announced it will start construction on the fourth speculative office building at its Corporate Lakes office park in west suburban Lisle. The 180,000-square- foot building will join three others that are 97 percent leased.
Corporate Lakes is on 64 acres at Warrenville Road and Interstate Highway 88. The new five-story building will be completed in the spring of 1992.
In Westmont, SKD partners is going ahead with two additional office buildings totaling 218,000 square feet at Oakmont Circle near Illinois Highway 83 and Ogden Avenue. The joint-venture development of Slough Estates PLC and Draper and Kramer Inc. has one 117,800-square-foot building open.
The two additional office buildings are scheduled for completion in the spring of 1991. Also within the 23-acre project is a one-story tech center building opened in 1989 that is 50 percent leased.
– Offices were not the only developments getting underway last week. Retail projects continued to sprout as well.
First National Realty & Development broke ground for the 160,000-square-foot second phase of its Bradley Square Shopping Center that will bring the power center to 450,000 square feet when completed this fall at Illinois Highway 50 and Interstate Highway 57 in Bradley.
Tenants in the second phase, which is 75 percent leased, include Aldi Foods, MC Sports, Minnesota Fabrics, New York Carpet World and Santikos Theaters. The first phase is anchored by a 110,600-square-foot Wal-Mart store. First National Realty also said it sold a 4.5-acre parcel adjacent to the center for development of a 173-room Holiday Inn Holidome, which is expected to open early next year.
– Three anchor stores have been signed for Foxfield Commons, a 135,000-square-foot shopping center under construction on the northwest corner of Kirk Road and North Avenue in west suburban St. Charles.
Coldwell Banker Commercial Real Estate Services said that Eagle Foods has leased 47,000 square feet, Ace Hardware has taken 18,000 square feet and Walgreens has leased 13,500 feet at the Capital Ventures Development Corp. project.
Several smaller stores also have signed deals, bringing the project to 75 percent leased, said Coldwell Banker`s Michael Meksto and Kevin McLoughlin, who handled both the 15-acre land sale and subsequent retail leasing for the center.
When completed in early 1991, Foxfield Commons will have more than 20 stores. Capital Ventures Development also owns 26 acres north of the shopping center and has plans to develop that land for office/research use.
– Three land transactions completed by Mid-America Real Estate Corp. in north suburban Mundelein will result in three retail developments on 10 acres north of Illinois Highway 60 and west of Butterfield Road.
Brokers Alan Raskin and Peggy McNamara negotiated a 10-acre land sale to Seigle`s Home & Building Centers, which has built a retail and wholesale home improvement center on a portion of the site. The land was purchased from Northfield Block Co., which moved just north of the site.
Raskin and McNamara in two other transactions sold 4.5 acres of Seigle`s land to The Hanus Group, a Chicago development firm that plans to build a Sears Roebuck & Co. furniture store on 3 acres and a 17,000-square-foot strip center anchored by Color Tile on 1.5 acres. Those parcels will be developed later this year, an officer with Mid-America said.
– Capital & Regional Properties has signed five firms to leases totaling 110,000 square feet at its East Chicago, Ind., redevelopment of Combustion Engineering Co.`s former manufacturing plant, 425 W. 151st St.
Taking 34,000 square feet each were two Pittsburgh-based companies-Elliott Corp., a turbine manufacturer, and D.L. Smith, an industrial construction firm. Inland Steel Industries of Chicago leased 24,000 square feet for a corporate records center.
In addition, Dango and Dienenthal, a West German maker of blast furnace equipment, leased 13,000 feet, and Haddy Co. of Hammond, an electrical components manufacturer, took 6,000 feet.
John Gates, president of Chicago-based Capital & Regional, said the leases bring the 375,000-square-foot project to 74 percent occupancy. The renamed East Chicago Industrial Center underwent extensive renovation last year. Capital & Regional also has rehabbed and leased the 1.1 million-square- foot Great Lakes Industrial Center in Gary.
– Other leases and sales:
Comdisco Inc., a computer service firm, will add 54,000 square feet to its 102,000-square-foot lease of warehouse/distribution space at Southgate Commerce Center, 21800 S. Cicero Ave., Matteson. Bennett & Kahnweiler, which handled leasing for the center, said Comdisco would expand this summer. Also at Southgate, Atlanta-based Sewell Plastics, a blow molding distribution firm, has leased 78,000 square feet of warehouse space, Bennett & Kahnweiler said. . . . Baird & Warner`s Corporate Group has arranged the sale of two industrial buildings at the Eisenhower Expressway and Gardner Road in Broadview. An unidentified buyer purchased a 179,000-square-foot building and plans to redevelop it, while medical supplier Pieser Inc. purchased a 17,500-square-foot building adjacent for its operations. . . . A private investment firm has purchased a 50,400-square-foot industrial building at 940-950 Lake Shore Drive in Lake Bluff. Darwin Realty & Development Corp., which represented the buyer and will lease the 25,000 square feet of the building that is vacant, said the asking price for the property was $1.5 million. . . . Topical T`s Inc., a T-shirt maker, has purchased a 25,200-square-foot facility at 3313 W. Newport Ave. from Process Gear Co. Corporate Realty Advisors, which represented the seller, said Process Gear will continue to lease a portion of the property for a year. . . . Allied Marketing Corp. Inc. will move its corporate headquarters next winter to a 16,000-square-foot facility at 750 Forest Edge Drive in Van Vlissingen & Co.`s The Corporate Woods, the developer announced.
