CHICAGO—Preservation Chicago had a bit of a surprise recently when it released its annual list of the city's most endangered buildings. Along with the 1927 Hotel Guyon in West Garfield Park, Englewood's Harper High, and Jackson Park on the South Side, it included Union Station, a 1925 structure by Graham, Anderson, Probst, and White. The group worries the current $1 billion redevelopment proposal to add high-rise buildings over the headhouse building could be a case of “facadism,” and endanger the structure. Soldier Field, they point out, lost its status on the National Register of Historic Places when builders added a grandstand.

CHICAGO—Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, LP just completed senior financing for NEXT, a 310-unit, class A luxury apartment tower in Chicago's River North neighborhood. The HFF team worked on behalf of the borrower, a joint venture between Fifield Cos. and Strand Corp. to secure the seven-year, fixed-rate loan through a correspondent life insurance company. Loan proceeds will refinance the original construction financing. Completed in 2016, the 28-story NEXT comprises 310 residential units totaling 240,523 rentable square feet along with 5,700 square feet of ground-floor retail. Located at Chestnut and Orleans Sts. just north of Chicago Ave., the property's proximity to employment, retail, dining and nightlife around River North and the Miracle Mile, Gold Coast, Streeterville and Lakeshore areas has earned it a WalkScore® of 98. The HFF debt placement team representing the borrower included managing director Danny Kaufman, senior director Trent Niederberger and director Jimmy Conley.

DEALTRACKER

INDIANAPOLIS—M & J Wilkow recently completed the acquisition of Meridian Plaza in suburban Indianapolis as part of a joint venture with a fund managed by DRA Advisors LLC. The property consists of two class-A, four-story office buildings totaling 240,312 square feet, along with 805 surface parking spaces. Meridian Plaza is located in North Meridian/Carmel, the top Indianapolis suburban office submarket. Constructed in 1987 and renovated in 2016, Meridian Plaza offers a range of amenities including a fitness center, conference center, tenant lounge and outdoor patio space. The property boasts a tenant roster comprised of 39 tenants representing a broad spectrum of industries. “While the property was recently renovated, we plan to improve upon and market these improvements to drive lease-up of the remaining vacancy,” says Julie Flanzer, vice president of asset management for M & J Wilkow.

PLEASANT PRAIRIE, WI—Industrial tenants continue to show strong interest in the southeast Wisconsin real estate market. Majestic Realty Co. has signed its first tenant at the Majestic Badger Logistics Center located here, and is actively discussing additional agreements that will drive the park's growth in 2018, according to company officials. CTDI, a global engineering, repair and logistics company, has signed a long-term lease agreement to occupy 166,620 square feet of the 424,164-square-foot Building #1. The West Chester, PA-based CTDI will expand its services to the region with the addition of at least 150 new employees at the Pleasant Prairie warehouse location, adding to its more than 14,000 employees spread across 90 worldwide facilities. John Morrissey with Jackson Cross Partners in Wayne, PA, represented CTDI in the agreement.

CHICAGO—Interra Realty, a Chicago-based commercial real estate investment services firm, recently brokered the $13.7 million deconversion sale of 3264-70 N. Clark St., a mixed-use building in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood. The buyer, Chicago-based North Park Ventures, intends to convert the property's 30 condominiums back into rentals and develop a new five-story, 22-unit apartment building on an adjacent surface lot. David Goss and Jon Morgan, co-founders and managing principals of Interra, together with Joe Smazal, managing partner, represented both sides in the transaction. The sale price equates to an average of $380,555 per unit, a market value that is much higher than other recent deconversions in the area as a result of the adjacent lot's development potential, according to Morgan.