The 60,000-sf shopping center at Lafayette and Orleans streets had been slated for demolition to make room for a condominium development that had been planned by the center's previous owner, The Habitat Co. of Chicago. Habitat also owns two high-rise apartment buildings, Lafayette Towers, next to the shopping center. Habitat will use proceeds from the sale to upgrade air conditioning, landscaping and other amenities at the 600-unit apartment complexes.

"Beyond its appeal as an economically attractive real estate investment, there were many compelling reasons for rescuing this shopping center from the wrecking ball," says William Watch, president of First Commercial Realty & Development Co. "As a component in the Mies van der Rohe District, The Shops at Lafayette Park has significant value as a historically important architectural structure, and as one of a limited number of shopping venues in the area, it provides much needed, basic retail services to local residents."

Construction on The Shops at Lafayette Park, located south of Lafayette Blvd., two blocks east of Interstate 375, is already underway.