Hoping to strike while the market is hot, or at least while it is showing some signs of life, a Chicago developer is set to build what would be the first new speculative office building downtown in more than five years.
Development Resources says it plans to break ground in early 1998 on a 320,000-square-foot, 17-story office building at 550 W. Van Buren St. Called Union Tower, the building will be one of the more technologically advanced in the Loop, developers say.
Although the developer doesn’t have any tenants signed on the bottom line, the company believes now is the time to bring a new building on line.
“We’re definitely going to build it and we’re confident we’ll have tenants. We’re talking to a number of them now–from back office operations to LaSalle Street law firms,” said Gene Ventura, vice president of Development Resources.
Although office vacancy rates downtown remain near 15 percent, Ventura said space is tightening for some large-block users. Because the new office building will be ready for occupancy in early 1999, Ventura said his firm believes the project poses little market risk.
“I don’t know if this will be a new prototype for downtown offices, but it doesn’t have the (three- to five-year) financing and building cycle that a 1 million foot building would have. That will keep us within this (tightening) cycle,” Ventura said.
Financing hasn’t been completed for the project, but Development Resources already owns the site–currently a parking lot–and the zoning is in place.
Brininstool + Lynch is the architect.
Property shopping
Inland Real Estate Corp. has acquired four area shopping centers, with a total of nearly half a million square feet of leasable space, in a $41 million deal.
Maple Park Place in Bolingbrook, Golf Road Plaza Shopping Center in Niles, Aurora Commons Shopping Center in Aurora and Southpoint Shopping Center in Arlington Heights were included in the transaction.
The Oak Brook-based real estate investment trust now holds 27 suburban properties in its portfolio, valued at more than $152 million.
Greek revival
The West Loop will get an additional residential project with the conversion of a former garment factory in Greektown into 66 loft condominiums.
Joseph Freed Homes and Centrum Properties Inc. will convert the seven-story building at 841 West Adams St. into the Olympia Lofts. Prices for the one- and two-bedroom units will start at $117,000 and run to $179,000. A few duplex units wiil be offered at prices up to $271,000.
The project is being designed by Roy H. Kruse architects.
Site scanning
The Illinois Development Finance Authority has issued $18 million in revenue bonds on behalf of the Radiological Society of North America in order to finance the acquisition of a 5.3-acre site in Oak Brook.
The radiological society said it will construct a 101,000-square-foot office facility on the property at 820 Jorie Blvd.
The society said its new facility, expected to be completed later next year, will allow for expansion and provide for a greater variety of member services.
River run
The conversion of two mid-rise apartment buildings to condominiums is the first phase of what promises to be a $750 million makeover for the former Cityfront Center property north of the Chicago River and east of Columbus Drive.
MCL Companies president Dan McLean said last week that the renamed River East development is now slated for as many as 2,000 new residential units, two hotels, a 34-screen cinema and new shops and amenities.
McLean and other investors earlier purchased the 13-acre property from Chicago Dock and Canal Trust, which along with its predecessor firms had held the land since the city was founded.
The 424 apartments being converted range from studios priced from $75,990 to three-bedroom units with balconies priced from $338,900. McLean said 30 percent of the units already have sold to existing tenants.
The next step in the development will be the construction of condominiums and townhouses along the river front just west of Lake Shore Drive. Work on that phase is expected to begin in November.
Deal of the week
Warner LLC has purchased 88 acres on U.S. Highway 45 just south of Sand Lake Road in Lindenhurst and will develop a mixed-use project there consisting of town homes, luxury residences and a 30-acre business park.
Tri-State Realty, which handled the transaction, said the value of the deal was around $2 million. The seller was the Kenneth E. Poirier Trust.
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Chicago Tribune real estate editor Steve Kerch reviews realty news and answers your questions on housing and other topics on The Real Estate Show every Friday from 9:40 to 10 a.m. on Channel 26-WCIU.
