NORTHBROOK, IL—The Boulder Group, a net leased investment brokerage firm in suburban Chicago, has just completed the sale of a single tenant PNC Bank ground lease located at 1996 Freedom Parkway in Washington, IL, for about $1.2 million. This is the third PNC Bank property that Boulder sold in 2014, company officials say. As reported in GlobeSt.com yesterday, a study by Boulder found that investors find banks the most appealing, especially those of investment-grade, and over the last four years the gap in overall cap rates between banks and other retail has widened to about 200 bps.

“The market for bank ground leases is at historic low levels as investors are attracted to the typical long-term leases with rental escalations,” says Randy Blankstein, president of Boulder.

PNC Bank occupies the entire 3,501-square-foot building that sits on a 1.34-acre outparcel to Walmart Supercenter and Menards. This location has branch deposits in excess of $100 million. It has over 14 years remaining on the ground lease, which expires in December 2028, and features what Blankstein calls rare 14% rental escalations every five years throughout the primary term and renewal option periods.