CHICAGO—Not many developers were launching $106 million office projects in 2009, but the University of Chicago's commitment to take up a hefty portion of the space in Harper Court, a university-owned, 223,775-square-foot building at 53rd St. and Lake Park Ave., helped kick it off. Now, the university has just hired CBRE to represent it in the structured sale-leaseback or financing of the recently-completed project's first phase.
“Harper Court was 82% pre-leased when construction began, and as of October 2013 it was 96% leased, including 100% of the office space leased to the University of Chicago,” says a recent report by the Urban Land Institute. “The university lease was put together very early in the development process and was essential to the project's feasibility.”
Harper Court Holdings, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the university, will provide a 20-year master lease for the property.
The mixed-use project is a class A asset on 3.2 acres with 150,000-square-feet of office space occupied by the university, 42,275-square-feet of retail space, and a 31,500-square-foot LA Fitness Center as well as approximately 417 parking spaces. Harper Court sits in the heart of the Hyde Park business district adjacent to a newly-constructed Hyatt Place Hotel and also near a Metra station which provides easy access to downtown Chicago.
CBRE's executive vice presidents Mike Vesper and Jeff Shell will represent the university in the sale.
A second phase is planned to include up to 400,000-square-feet of residential, hotel, and office space.
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Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
