CHICAGO—Liberty SBF, a nationwide direct lender of commercial real estate loans, has just hired Ankur Patel as director, commercial real estate loan originations working out of its Chicago office. Patel will help Liberty SBF provide coverage to a network of new and established referral sources across the Midwest. Prior to joining Liberty SBF, he spent more than 12 years working at large money-center banks. Patel presently serves on the board of directors as the vice president/president-elect of the CCIM IL chapter.

DEALTRACKER

NORTH AURORA, IL—NAI Hiffman represented ownership in its long-term lease renewal with Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems for 34,399 square feet of industrial space at 301-329 Airport Rd. in North Aurora, IL. Bendix has occupied the building since 1993, utilizing the warehouse for manufacturing and distribution of its comprehensive air brake systems and components. The property has a 20' clear ceiling height and the Bendix unit has 4 exterior loading docks. The property remains 100% occupied. John Whitehead, senior vice president and Mark Moran, executive vice president with NAI Hiffman's industrial services group, represented ownership, GLP, in the transaction.

CHICAGO—Newmark Grubb Knight Frank has just successfully arranged three industrial lease transactions totaling 131,065 square feet on behalf of Good News Publishers, Zilber Property Group and Caldic USA Inc. Led by Adam Marshall, senior managing director, and Mark Deady, director, all three recent transactions were completed in the fourth quarter of 2016. In the first transaction, NGKF arranged a long-term, 46,365-square-foot lease renewal on behalf of Good News Publishers at 320 W. Army Trail Road in Carol Stream, IL. Founded in 2013, Good News is a newspaper publishing company that also operates under the name Crossway Publishing. The team negotiated directly with the private owner of the property. Marshall and Dead also arranged a 42,521-square-foot lease to ComEd on behalf of Zilber at 1333 Davis Rd. in Elgin, IL. Randy Olczyk of Chicagoland Commercial Real Estate represented ComEd. In the third transaction, Marshall and Deady represented Caldic USA Inc. in a 42,179-square-foot lease renewal at 2425 Alft Ln. in Elgin. Founded in 1970, Caldic USA Inc. is a distributor and manufacturer within the chemical and food market, and uses its Elgin facility for production and distribution. Exeter Property Group, the landlord, was self-represented by Jason DeFilippis.

BUILDING BLOCKS

DETROIT—FOURMIDABLE, a national real estate property management and brokerage firm, has just opened The Griswold, located at 1117 Griswold St., in the heart of Detroit's central business district. The Griswold is Detroit's first residential new downtown construction project in 25 years. The $24-million apartment community sits atop a 10-story parking garage and retail structure, with 80 one, two and three-bedroom units occupying floors 11 – 15. The apartment homes feature open floor plans with nine-foot-high ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances, sealed concrete floors, state of the art heating and cooling and storage units. Furthermore, all units have panoramic views of downtown Detroit. “FOURMIDABLE is proud to have been selected as the management agent for The Griswold,” says Michael Schocker, president of FOURMIDABLE. “This is the second project where we have worked with the Roxbury Group and are honored to be part of their vision to help revitalize housing in Detroit.”

BY THE NUMBERS

CHICAGO—Demand for industrial space remains strong across the Chicago market, with Lake County showing a 195% increase in absorption from year-end 2015 to year-end 2016, according to Avison Young research. “The outlook for 2017 is promising with several large users expected to close in various submarkets throughout the first half of 2017,” the firm says. Overall, industrial users absorbed 19.4 million square feet in Chicago in 2016. Lake County users absorbed 1.5 million square feet throughout 2016. E-commerce giant Amazon inked a 626,848 square foot lease in Lake County's newly created 1750 Bridge Dr. as well as 402,860 square feet at 4200 Ferry Rd. within the I-55 Corridor. Amazon also made major moves throughout the market signing three of the top five leases during the fourth quarter, the largest being a 954,720 square foot built-to-suit at 1 Duke Pkwy. in Joliet. As infill development continues to gain traction, the South Chicago submarket experienced increased demand. Net absorption in that market jumped 34% year-over-year to 1.4 million square feet. The I-55 Corridor remained a user favorite, with strong leasing driving net absorption up 32% year-over-year to 2.6 million square feet. Leasing activity across the market remained strong throughout the fourth quarter of 2016, bringing the total square feet transacted to 47 million square feet.

NEWS & NOTABLES

CHICAGO—Paine/Wetzel Associates, TCN has just honored Ed Wabick, Curt Stanton and Terry Lynch as their 2015 top producers. Wabick and Stanton, both partners of the firm, have received the award multiple times in their 25+ year careers. Lynch, a senior vice president, has earned top producer for the second time in the past three years. The firm has also honored Denise Chaimovitz with the Paine Wetzel Spirit Award for exemplary performance and teamwork. Marc Hale has been named the firm's rookie of the year for outstanding growth and production.

CHICAGO—Liberty SBF, a nationwide direct lender of commercial real estate loans, has just hired Ankur Patel as director, commercial real estate loan originations working out of its Chicago office. Patel will help Liberty SBF provide coverage to a network of new and established referral sources across the Midwest. Prior to joining Liberty SBF, he spent more than 12 years working at large money-center banks. Patel presently serves on the board of directors as the vice president/president-elect of the CCIM IL chapter.

DEALTRACKER

NORTH AURORA, IL—NAI Hiffman represented ownership in its long-term lease renewal with Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems for 34,399 square feet of industrial space at 301-329 Airport Rd. in North Aurora, IL. Bendix has occupied the building since 1993, utilizing the warehouse for manufacturing and distribution of its comprehensive air brake systems and components. The property has a 20' clear ceiling height and the Bendix unit has 4 exterior loading docks. The property remains 100% occupied. John Whitehead, senior vice president and Mark Moran, executive vice president with NAI Hiffman's industrial services group, represented ownership, GLP, in the transaction.

CHICAGO—Newmark Grubb Knight Frank has just successfully arranged three industrial lease transactions totaling 131,065 square feet on behalf of Good News Publishers, Zilber Property Group and Caldic USA Inc. Led by Adam Marshall, senior managing director, and Mark Deady, director, all three recent transactions were completed in the fourth quarter of 2016. In the first transaction, NGKF arranged a long-term, 46,365-square-foot lease renewal on behalf of Good News Publishers at 320 W. Army Trail Road in Carol Stream, IL. Founded in 2013, Good News is a newspaper publishing company that also operates under the name Crossway Publishing. The team negotiated directly with the private owner of the property. Marshall and Dead also arranged a 42,521-square-foot lease to ComEd on behalf of Zilber at 1333 Davis Rd. in Elgin, IL. Randy Olczyk of Chicagoland Commercial Real Estate represented ComEd. In the third transaction, Marshall and Deady represented Caldic USA Inc. in a 42,179-square-foot lease renewal at 2425 Alft Ln. in Elgin. Founded in 1970, Caldic USA Inc. is a distributor and manufacturer within the chemical and food market, and uses its Elgin facility for production and distribution. Exeter Property Group, the landlord, was self-represented by Jason DeFilippis.

BUILDING BLOCKS

DETROIT—FOURMIDABLE, a national real estate property management and brokerage firm, has just opened The Griswold, located at 1117 Griswold St., in the heart of Detroit's central business district. The Griswold is Detroit's first residential new downtown construction project in 25 years. The $24-million apartment community sits atop a 10-story parking garage and retail structure, with 80 one, two and three-bedroom units occupying floors 11 – 15. The apartment homes feature open floor plans with nine-foot-high ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances, sealed concrete floors, state of the art heating and cooling and storage units. Furthermore, all units have panoramic views of downtown Detroit. “FOURMIDABLE is proud to have been selected as the management agent for The Griswold,” says Michael Schocker, president of FOURMIDABLE. “This is the second project where we have worked with the Roxbury Group and are honored to be part of their vision to help revitalize housing in Detroit.”