CHICAGO—Amazon will soon make a decision on where to locate HQ2, and Chicago boosters got a little excited by a site visit from the company. But whatever decision Amazon makes, the city seems likely to continue playing an important role in the nation’s tech industry. Richard Florida, a geographer and expert on what makes cities grow, recently published a study on where high tech venture capital firms send their money. And even though Chicago was far, far behind San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, Boston and New York, the metro has in the past decade at least captured a growing share of the funds. In 2017, Chicago was sixth in the US with about $1.8 billion in venture capital funding, or 2.42% of the total. That’s $1.397 billion more than the area received in 2006.
BY THE NUMBERS
CHICAGO—Hotel developers in the Upper Midwest currently have about 12,600 rooms under construction, according to Marcus & Millichap’s latest investment forecast for the region, which covers the states of IL, WI, IA, MN, NE, ND and SD. At almost 5,000, the most rooms will open in IL. IA’s supply will expand the highest as a percentage of inventory. Collectively, developers will add 380 rooms to the Dakotas. Positive demand from special events will help improve occupancy, placing it at 59.9%, after two years of declines.
NEWS & NOTABLES
CHICAGO—The Chicago office of 90 North Real Estate Partners, a London-based, international real estate investment management and advisory firm, has promoted Martin Ahern to vice president – investments, and Jay Pacelli (pictured) to vice president – transactions. “We continue our work toward building and managing a dynamic property portfolio, acquiring and managing assets that will help us achieve the objectives we’ve established for 90 North and our investment partners,” says Dan Cooper, head of North American operations for 90 North. “Marty and Jay are contributing greatly to that success, with their individual skill sets, and the contributions they make to the broader team.” The firm’s strategy for North America involves targeting office, industrial, senior living, and student housing properties, among other property types, in the $50 to $200 million range. Most recently the 90 North team completed the $135.3 million disposition of the Lenovo Office Campus in Raleigh, NC.
CHICAGO—Paul Boomsma assumed the role of president and chief executive officer of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World this week. Boomsma, who has served as the company’s chief operating officer and president of its international luxury portfolio division, succeeds long-time Pam O’Connor, who announced her retirement from LeadingRE in January. Boomsma brings more than 20 years of real estate experience to his new position. He began his career marketing luxury office towers, later heading marketing for a Chicago residential firm before becoming national marketing director for a major franchise. Boomsma created the international luxury portfolio and subsequently also headed operations and strategic marketing for LeadingRE as chief operating officer.
DEALTRACKER
INDIANAPOLIS—Colliers International has closed the sale of College Park Plaza in Indianapolis. Republic Airlines helps anchor the 180,637-square foot class A office building, located in the city’s Northwest office submarket. Alex Cantu, head of investment sales with Colliers International | Indianapolis, facilitated the transaction on behalf of the buyer, Little Rock, AR—based Tempus Realty Partners. This marks the firm’s second acquisition in Indianapolis. Colliers previously coordinated the 2017 sale of One College Park, a 136,472-square foot class A building located adjacent to College Park Plaza, to Tempus from Chicago-based Zeller Realty Group. Owning this combined portfolio makes Tempus one of the largest Class A office owners in the Northwest Indianapolis submarket. As reported in GlobeSt.com, the seller, Onward Investors, purchased College Park Plaza in 2015.
BUILDING BLOCKS
MINNEAPOLIS—Hillcrest Development LLLP and The Opus Group have just started construction on the first building at Southeast Industrial Park in suburban Cottage Grove. North Star Sheets will occupy the 161,000-square-foot building, which the partners plan to complete by September. North Star Sheets officials say they will use the building for manufacturing and chose to pursue development at this location because Canadian Pacific provides it rail service. The state’s Department of Employment and Economic Development certified the development as shovel-ready, allowing the developers to resolve time-consuming hurdles well in advance. Located south of US Hwy. 61, the one-story building will have major freeway access. An additional 24 acres remain open on the site, which Hillcrest owns, allowing for 300,000-350,000 square feet of future development. Hillcrest has retained Eric Rossbach of Colliers International to market the site. Opus Development Co., LLC is the developer, Opus Design Build, LLC is the design-builder and Opus AE Group, LLC is the architect and structural engineer of record.
CHICAGO—A lot of renovations are happening at Willis Tower, and J.C. Anderson, Inc. has been selected to complete renovations to The Metropolitan, a 40,000-square-foot club located on the 66th and 67th floors within the Chicago skyscraper. The Metropolitan is a member of the ClubCorp family of clubs. Currently underway, the renovations will include the addition of Frame, a bar and lounge with food, drinks and live entertainment; Blueprint, a collaborative work area that will transform to a cocktail bar at night; and an upscale dining area called Craftsman that will honor Chicago’s architectural heritage, specifically that of Frank Lloyd Wright. The club, which also hosts private events such as weddings, parties and corporate meetings, will remain open throughout the renovations. Joe Maguire, project executive, Michael Dunn, project manager, and Greg Wysocki, superintendent, lead the J.C. Anderson team. Gonzalez Architects are providing architectural services. The builders plan to complete construction later this year.