CHICAGO—CA Ventures has just added Sean Spellman to its development team as chief development officer. Spellman will have responsibility for a multi-sector pipeline that includes nearly 30 projects valued at more than $2 billion throughout the US. The role was formerly held by JJ Smith, now principal at CA Ventures and president of the firm's student housing division, CA Student. Spellman “is universally respected and well-liked throughout the commercial development community and I expect his design/build mentality and leadership skills to make an immediate impact at our fast-growing organization,” says Smith. He started his career as a development manager at McShane Development Co., where he honed his design/build skills. He went on to lead the leasing, development and sales efforts as vice president of sales and development for Northern Builders Inc. further expanding his relationship base, market knowledge and transactional acumen. And for the past six years, Spellman ran the Chicago office of Opus Development Co.

CHICAGO—Brad Gries will join LaSalle Investment Management as its head of US acquisitions, effective August 18, 2017. The Chicago-based Gries will oversee a team of 20 industry-leading acquisitions professionals that handle sourcing, underwriting, and executing new investments across the US. In addition to developing and leading the acquisitions group, company officials say Gries will help with capital raising efforts. As a senior member of LaSalle Americas, he will be directly involved in the formation and execution of joint ventures and large portfolio transactions, and help introduce global investor clients with large US investment opportunities. Gries brings more than 20 years of industry experience to LaSalle. Most recently, he spent 16 years with Deutsche Asset Management, Americas Real Assets in a variety of leadership roles, culminating as managing director, real estate transactions.

CHICAGO—William Montana and Christopher Sackley have joined Greystone Real Estate Advisors as managing directors overseeing multifamily sales advisory efforts in Chicago and the Midwest. Prior to joining Greystone, Montana and Sackley co-headed the multifamily brokerage team at Midwest-based middle-market investment bank Brown Gibbons Lang & Co. As part of a specialty offering within a fully-integrated capital markets group, the team established a multifamily advisory practice and generated $200 million in transactions within two years. Before that, Montana and Sackley worked together at Cushman & Wakefield where they helped re-establish the company's Midwest multifamily sales advisory platform. Montana held previous roles at NAI Hiffman, Hendricks & Partners, and Draper & Kramer, while Sackley served at CBRE, Savills Studley, Inc., and UBS Global Asset Management.

DEALTRACKER

CHICAGO—MB Real Estate announced that Kyle Robbins and Boris Yelyashov of the firm's corporate services and tenant advisory team completed a 19,800-square foot lease extension and expansion for EnsembleIQ's headquarters office. Stagnito Business Information, a previous client of MBRE, recently merged with the Path to Purchase Institute to create EnsembleIQ, a business intelligence provider, moving its employees into Path to Purchase Institute's office at 8550 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. EnsembleIQ expanded its office from 12,000 to 19,800 square feet to accommodate additional staff members and anticipated growth. “We conducted a demographics analysis and found that 8550 W. Bryn Mawr was a superior commute location for EnsembleIQ's staff,” says Robbins. “We extended EnsembleIQ's lease with flexible terms and helped secure significant signage which will help advance their new branding efforts.” Stagnito's former Deerfield office at 570 Lake Cook Rd. will be available for sublease in October of 2017.

BUFFALO GROVE, IL—The Missner Group has just acquired 900-950 Busch Parkway within the Corporate Grove Business Park in suburban Buffalo Grove. The 121,000 square foot property is currently 100% leased and will serve as an investment property for the company. “This opportunity to acquire the Lake County property was presented to us by the owner and broker,” says Barry Missner, the firm's chief executive officer. “It is a stabilized asset with a quality tenancy and a dependable cash-flow, as well as located in a strong infill location with high barriers to develop new property. As such, it made a sound investment with the potential for significant ROI for our investors.” Originally built in 1985 as a 50,000 square foot corporate headquarters, the building sits on 8.8 acres and was expanded by 71,000 square feet in 1999. Rockin' Jump Indoor Trampoline Park and The Pillow Factory occupy it.

BY THE NUMBERS

CHICAGO—Direct vacancy in Chicago's 30 newest class A office buildings with more than 300,000 square feet has decreased by 10 bps points to 9.0%, according to MB Real Estate, which issues a report on this subject each quarter. MBRE officials say this set of buildings, which contains some of the CBD's most desirable space, serves as a leading indicator of office market conditions. Meanwhile, the CBD direct vacancy decreased to 11.1% at the end of the first quarter of 2017, a 21 bps decrease from the previous quarter.

NEWS & NOTABLES

CHICAGO—CA Ventures has just added Sean Spellman to its development team as chief development officer. Spellman will have responsibility for a multi-sector pipeline that includes nearly 30 projects valued at more than $2 billion throughout the US. The role was formerly held by JJ Smith, now principal at CA Ventures and president of the firm's student housing division, CA Student. Spellman “is universally respected and well-liked throughout the commercial development community and I expect his design/build mentality and leadership skills to make an immediate impact at our fast-growing organization,” says Smith. He started his career as a development manager at McShane Development Co., where he honed his design/build skills. He went on to lead the leasing, development and sales efforts as vice president of sales and development for Northern Builders Inc. further expanding his relationship base, market knowledge and transactional acumen. And for the past six years, Spellman ran the Chicago office of Opus Development Co.

CHICAGO—Brad Gries will join LaSalle Investment Management as its head of US acquisitions, effective August 18, 2017. The Chicago-based Gries will oversee a team of 20 industry-leading acquisitions professionals that handle sourcing, underwriting, and executing new investments across the US. In addition to developing and leading the acquisitions group, company officials say Gries will help with capital raising efforts. As a senior member of LaSalle Americas, he will be directly involved in the formation and execution of joint ventures and large portfolio transactions, and help introduce global investor clients with large US investment opportunities. Gries brings more than 20 years of industry experience to LaSalle. Most recently, he spent 16 years with Deutsche Asset Management, Americas Real Assets in a variety of leadership roles, culminating as managing director, real estate transactions.

CHICAGO—William Montana and Christopher Sackley have joined Greystone Real Estate Advisors as managing directors overseeing multifamily sales advisory efforts in Chicago and the Midwest. Prior to joining Greystone, Montana and Sackley co-headed the multifamily brokerage team at Midwest-based middle-market investment bank Brown Gibbons Lang & Co. As part of a specialty offering within a fully-integrated capital markets group, the team established a multifamily advisory practice and generated $200 million in transactions within two years. Before that, Montana and Sackley worked together at Cushman & Wakefield where they helped re-establish the company's Midwest multifamily sales advisory platform. Montana held previous roles at NAI Hiffman, Hendricks & Partners, and Draper & Kramer, while Sackley served at CBRE, Savills Studley, Inc., and UBS Global Asset Management.

DEALTRACKER

CHICAGO—MB Real Estate announced that Kyle Robbins and Boris Yelyashov of the firm's corporate services and tenant advisory team completed a 19,800-square foot lease extension and expansion for EnsembleIQ's headquarters office. Stagnito Business Information, a previous client of MBRE, recently merged with the Path to Purchase Institute to create EnsembleIQ, a business intelligence provider, moving its employees into Path to Purchase Institute's office at 8550 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. EnsembleIQ expanded its office from 12,000 to 19,800 square feet to accommodate additional staff members and anticipated growth. “We conducted a demographics analysis and found that 8550 W. Bryn Mawr was a superior commute location for EnsembleIQ's staff,” says Robbins. “We extended EnsembleIQ's lease with flexible terms and helped secure significant signage which will help advance their new branding efforts.” Stagnito's former Deerfield office at 570 Lake Cook Rd. will be available for sublease in October of 2017.

BUFFALO GROVE, IL—The Missner Group has just acquired 900-950 Busch Parkway within the Corporate Grove Business Park in suburban Buffalo Grove. The 121,000 square foot property is currently 100% leased and will serve as an investment property for the company. “This opportunity to acquire the Lake County property was presented to us by the owner and broker,” says Barry Missner, the firm's chief executive officer. “It is a stabilized asset with a quality tenancy and a dependable cash-flow, as well as located in a strong infill location with high barriers to develop new property. As such, it made a sound investment with the potential for significant ROI for our investors.” Originally built in 1985 as a 50,000 square foot corporate headquarters, the building sits on 8.8 acres and was expanded by 71,000 square feet in 1999. Rockin' Jump Indoor Trampoline Park and The Pillow Factory occupy it.