CHICAGO—The building boom in 2007 and 2008 created a lot of properties that began underperforming when demand dried up during the recession, but in the past few years investors have been giving many a second look. Greenwood Global, Inc., for example, has just bought Kendall Marketplace, a shopping center in west suburban Yorkville that opened in 2008 in the midst of the financial crisis, and company officials believe it can now fulfill its potential.

“This is the area that was supposed to be the next to develop,” Alex Berman, founder of the Northbrook, IL-based firm, tells GlobeSt.com. The center's developers originally planned to have about 800,000 square feet, but “the sales, while decent, were lower than expected and it wasn't entirely built. Growth is returning and we will be happy to complete the project, although it may take time.”

Kendall Marketplace currently has about 590,000 square feet, which includes space occupied by shadow anchors Super Target, Home Depot and Kohl's. Berman's group bought 192,000 square feet of existing retail space anchored by Dick's Sporting Goods, Marshalls and PetSmart, in addition to several vacant outparcels and adjacent residential land zoned for 192 single-family homes and townhomes. The price was not disclosed.