ISTP has a central quad and buildings designed to accommodate several types of users including life science and technology firms at various stages of the corporate life cycle – from startup to Fortune 500. To date, about 510,000 square feet of the campus has been repositioned into first class office or R&D facilities.

“We are seeing a lot of momentum in the market from science-based R & D companies encompassing a variety of industries, along with our Chicago-area research universities,” says Brandwein. “With all of this activity, we are seeing an increase in demand for quality lab space with modern infrastructure,” said CBRE's Saad. “ISTP provides the highest quality opportunity in the Chicagoland area.” Included in the acquisition is the 136,000-square-foot 8030 Lamon Ave. building shell which Brandwein says is ideal for a build-to-suit. Additional development opportunities include up to 1.3 million square feet of new office and lab facilities on the ISTP campus and a 500,000-square-foot, mixed-use retail and residential project directly on Oakton St.

“Our strategic acquisition philosophy is to seek and acquire value-add and opportunistic mid-cap office, industrial and multi-family properties in the Midwest and East Coast,” says Roeser.

CHICAGO—Chicago-based American Landmark Properties recently acquired the Illinois Science + Technology Park located at 4901 Searle Pkwy., in suburban Skokie. The firm bought the property for $77 million from Forest City Realty Trust, which has owned it since 2005.

The 24-acre corporate campus has nearly 556,650 square feet of fully developed office, laboratory, and amenity space. Scott Brandwein and David Saad of CBRE have been retained as the leasing agents for the property.

“The Illinois Science + Technology Park represented a rare opportunity to acquire one of Chicago's premier life science and technology campuses,” says John Roeser, executive vice president of the Skokie-based American Landmark. “The three existing fully renovated lab and office buildings are currently 86% leased to leading domestic and multi-national life science, energy, and nanotech companies.” Major ISTP tenants include NorthShore University HealthSystem, Astellas Pharma, LanzaTech, Vetter Development Services USA and Fresenius Kabi.

In the Chicago market, American Landmark owns several suburban office and industrial properties. It is best known for its acquisition of the Willis Tower in 2004 and its sale to the Blackstone Group in 2015.