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CHICAGO-Opus Group, based in Minneapolis, has created the position of director of capital markets, and hired Richard Figueroa here. He was previously director of acquisitions for Mansur.

Tim Murnane, president and CEO of Opus Holdings LLC, said in a statement that the company has a solid pipeline teed up for 2012 and beyond. Currently, the company has five corporate campus projects under development across the country, a 120-unit student housing and retail project in Minneapolis will be completed this fall, and the firm is breaking ground soon on an apartment project in Denver.

Figueroa tells GlobeSt.com that it was hard to say no to this opportunity. “Opus is looking to expand its relationship with institutional capital providers,” he says. “We’re seeing an appetite by investors to put capital to work in development.”

CHICAGO-Cohen Financial recently secured an $8.5 million refinancing of the Addison Mall on 2921 W. Addison St. about a half mile east of I-94. The 69,240-square-foot retail center sits on 3 acres and is shadow anchored by a Target. The property is fully leased with tenants such as Casual Male, Dollar Tree, Foot Locker, Harris Trust & Savings Bank, Payless Shoe and Sally Beauty Supply. Don Trossman secured the fixed rate, non-recourse, 10-year term loan. “Because the loan carried a large prepayment penalty, we had to work with AIG to secure acceptable new loan terms to meet the borrower’s needs in minimizing the impact of the penalty,” said Trossman in a statement. “We were able to accomplish this refinance early at a 65% loan-to-value with a 10-year term, amortizing it over 25 years.”

CHICAGO-J.C. Anderson Inc. has been selected to complete a 40,000-square-foot build-out on behalf of LinkedIn Corp. at 525 W. Monroe downtown. The tenant is moving from another office in Chicago. The renovations will include the implementation of 13 tons of supplemental cooling equipment, drywall feature ceilings and new carpet and paint in the company’s game room.

CHICAGO-Illinois Bell, the largest provider of local telephone service in Illinois, has restructured its lease at 4533 W. Roscoe here. The company modified and extended their lease of the 113,000-square-foot building primarily because of the fleet maintenance amenities and location. Jeff Blake, SVP and Jeffrey Girling, VP with Paine/Wetzel/TCN Worldwide represented the landlord, Roscoe Properties LLC. George Kotrogiannis, EVP with Jones Lang LaSalle, represented the tenant.

CHICAGO-For the second stage of Buccellati's US expansion, Faith Hope Consolo and Joseph Aquino with Prudential Douglas Elliman's Retail Group have arranged a long-term lease at 58-68 E. Oak St., between North Rush Street and North Lake Shore Drive at the newly renovated Esquire Theater. Representing the landlord was Atlas Partners Commercial Brokerage.

ROMEOVILLE, IL-Venture One Real Estate LLC, through its acquisition fund, VK Industrial I LP, has closed on two buildings totaling 64,664 square feet at 140-162 Pinnacle Dr. The buildings, which were completed in 2008, are located in the Pinnacle Business Center. The spaces have never been occupied. The project was originally developed as industrial condos, and will be marketed for both lease and sale. Venture One has retained Adam Tarantur and John Homsher with Podolsky Northstar to market the units for sale and lease.

PLAINFIELD, IL-Paul Galanis, managing director of CBRE Auction Services is handling the auction of Plainfield Crossing, a 55,000-square-foot, partially-leased retail center at 12337 S Route 59 here on May 2. The center is currently 32% leased and hosts tenants such as Bella Vita Pizza, Zen Salon & Spa, Smile Care Dental, Enterprise Leasing Co. and Springleaf Financial Services. The property was ordered sold by bankruptcy court.

ELK GROVE VILLAGE, IL-Chicago-based Bridge Development Partners LLC has acquired 2727 Old Higgins Rd., a vacant, 184,406-square-foot industrial building from a local investor with plans to redevelop it beginning this summer. Bridge and its capital partner, Elgin, IL-based Wanxiang America Corp., paid $3.1 million for the property. The property is in the heart of the O’Hare industrial submarket. Bridge plans to redevelop the property into a state-of-the-art air cargo building with 32-foot clear ceiling heights and 35 docks to attract freight forwarding companies. Construction is currently scheduled for late summer 2012.

ELMHURST, IL-Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services arranged the sale of 111 W. Third St., a 34-unit senior housing building here. The asset commanded a sales price of $3.8 million. Ryan Engle and Andrean Angelov represented the seller, a financial institution and the buyer, a private investor.

BROOKLYN PARK, MN-Nystrom Inc. has completed a lease expansion and relocation totaling approximately 51,000 square feet of manufacturing space here. Jones Lang LaSalle provided tenant representation services for the commercial building products manufacturer and distributor. Nystrom has leased space at 7316 Aspen Ln., a multi-tenant industrial facility. The converted warehouse space being leased by Nystrom features approximately 3,000 square feet of office space. The rest of the space is newly constructed manufacturing space. The company previously had leased approximately 30,000 square feet, but needed to expand due to the increased demand for products from clients. Products produced by Nystrom include access doors, roof hatches, smoke vents, expansion joint systems, floor hatches, louvers and fire safety. Chris Rohrer, executive vice president, and Brett Severson, senior associate, represented Nystrom in the transaction.

MINNEAPOLIS-Tom Lelich, Jerry Driessen and Joe Hughes with CBRE recently completed the sale of the Coliseum at 2700 E. Lake St. in south Minneapolis for $2.3 million. American Bank of St. Paul foreclosed on the property in late 2009. At this time, the building had a vacancy rate of more than 40%. CBRE was hired in early 2010 to manage & market the property. CBRE was successful in bringing the building’s occupancy level to 90%. Exeter Realty served as the asset manager for American Bank on this property.

MILWAUKEE-Bentley World Packaging recently purchased a 40,000-square-foot industrial building at 9411 W. Fond du Lac Ave. here. Kevin Barry and Kurt Van Dyke with Cassidy Turley Barry represented Bentley in the transaction. Port Washington State Bank was the seller.

LYON TOWNSHIP, MI-Signature Associates has negotiated the sale of 46,000 square feet of industrial space at 56195 Pontiac Trail. Jim Montgomery represented the purchaser, Alta Equipment. Alta is expanding their heavy equipment business.

INDIANAPOLIS-Buckingham Cos. has opened the Avenue, a 142-unit apartment complex, at 10th Street and Indiana Avenue. The site was originally home to the Fall Creek YMCA which was opened in 1959 and served the surrounding neighborhood for 44 years. Amenities include an internet caf