EVANSTON, IL—A joint venture of Philadelphia-based Lubert-Adler and the Farbman Group has just acquired the 154,000-square-foot office building at 1007 Church St. in suburban Evanston for only $9.6 million in a judicial sale.
The inexpensive purchase comes just six weeks after its $100 million sale of Chicago's 200 West Monroe St. The building, previously owned by a tenant-in-common group, had been taken over by a special servicer when the JV acquired its outstanding debt in February. The JV finalized its acquisition on June 30.
Designed by the renowned architect Helmut Jahn and developed in 1984, 1007 Church St. currently has an occupancy rate of only 52%, according to JV officials, but they also believe that once they make some improvements its prime location in downtown Evanston near Northwestern University and next to a major transit station will prove attractive.
Lubert-Adler, which makes investments on behalf of several national university endowments and state retirement systems, owns five other Chicagoland properties with Farbman: 79 West Monroe St., 209 West Jackson Blvd., and 205 West Randolph St., all in the Loop area, plus the Atrium Building in Naperville and 25 Northwest Point in Elk Grove Village.
“Our Chicago strategy has been to target assets where value can be created through repositioning, upgrading, or leasing to create durable income streams that are not dependent on market revenue growth,” said Dean Adler, chief executive officer and co-founder of Lubert-Adler Partners. “We execute this strategy through an experienced operator with local market expertise, which provides an alignment of interests with the infrastructure necessary for success. 1007 Church St. represents an attractive redevelopment opportunity at a favorable cost basis in a transit- oriented location.”
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
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.
