Monthly Archives: July 2013

CHICAGO – Bradford Allen Realty Services is pleased to announce the firm has recently completed a 15,510 square foot lease for Pangea Properties at 79 West Monroe in Chicago.

Andrew DeMoss, managing director at Bradford Allen, and leasing agent for the historic Bell Federal Building, represented the building’s ownership, Bell Acquisiton LLC and its property manager, Farbman Group.  After analyzing multiple options in the market, Pangea Properties, a Chicago-based real estate investment trust (REIT), chose 79 W. Monroe for its well-surrounded location and the plug and play availability on the third floor.

“The firm was drawn to the Central Loop location, competitive pricing, hands-on management and recent lobby renovations,” says DeMoss, who was able to provide Pangea with a smooth and fast relocation for their expansion.

Pangea Properties CEO Al Goldstein adds that it was time to expand with a second corporate office.  “We have grown from 25 employees in 2010 to over 300 employees currently,” says Goldstein.  “We’re excited to bring part of our growing company to the heart of the city.  Our new space not only offers fresh energy, it provides us with the opportunity for continued expansion.” Pangea also has five local satellite Chicago offices in and around its properties, eight such offices in Indianapolis and one in Baltimore.  

79 West Monroe, located at Monroe and Clark Streets in the Central Loop, is often recognized for its exterior aesthetics and landmark weather bell, which changes color in accordance with temperature.  Built in 1906, the 200,000 square foot, 13-story structure has considerable street presence and visibility.  One fully furnished full floor space remains available.

About Bradford Allen 
Bradford Allen Realty Services, a Chicago-based, national commercial real estate company provides a full array of brokerage services and expertise to entrepreneurial and corporate business entities as well as not-for-profit organizations.  The firm provides real estate strategy, advice, marketing, and transaction execution for occupiers, investors and owners of real estate. For more information please visit our website at www.bradfordallen.com.

About Pangea Properties
Pangea Properties is a private real estate investment trust (REIT) targeting the distressed residential multi=family real estate market.  Pangea was founded in 2008 where entrepreneurs saw an opportunity in the Chicago market to create a real estate firm that serves as both the property owner and the building manager, utilizing a call center to support the high bar for service and scalability.  Today, Pangea has over $250 million into 8,000+ apartment units throughout Chicago, Indianapolis and Baltimore, with the goal of continued expansion.  For more information, visit Pangea online at www.pangeare.com.

CHICAGO – Bradford Allen Realty Services is pleased to announce that Managing Director Sameena Mustafa Basit has completed a new lease on behalf of Urban R2 Development Company (UR2) at 20 N. Wacker Drive in Chicago.

UR2 is a successful Chicago-based real estate development company which spearheaded a development  to construct a 223-unit apartment building at Washington and Des Plaines in the City’s West Loop. 

“Sameena completed a thorough analysis of our space options and guided us as our needs evolved,” said Gary Rosenberg of UR2. 

Bradford Allen’s Basit negotiated a lease relocation on behalf of UR2 which almost doubled the amount of its previous office space in River North. The new 41st floor offices feature impressive views and provide UR2 with adjacent space to meet the firm’s future requirements.

“UR2 is a dynamic and growing organization.  The new ownership of the Civic Opera building has invested significant capital to rejuvenate this landmark asset and create the atmosphere and amenities to accommodate the firm,” said Basit.

Matt Lerner with J.F. McKinney and Associates represented ownership in the lease transaction.

About Bradford Allen 
Bradford Allen Realty Services, a Chicago-based, national commercial real estate company provides a full array of brokerage services and expertise to entrepreneurial and corporate business entities as well as not-for-profit organizations.  The firm provides real estate strategy, advice, marketing, and transaction execution for occupiers, investors and owners of real estate. For more information please visit our website at www.bradfordallen.com.

CHICAGO – Bradford Allen Realty Services, a Chicago-based commercial real estate firm, today announced that they have released their Mid-Year Suburban Market Research Report.   

“Our Mid-Year Suburban Market Research Report portrays a more accurate reflection of current market conditions,” said Senior Managing Partner Joel Berger.  “We take into account a multitude of factors that are related to market strength — not just the amount of physically vacant space.”   

According to Bradford Allen, a good portion of the space that sits physically vacant today is “The Last Mile” of space—perhaps 5-10% of any given property—where landlords have a diminished desire to be aggressive to get the last deals done.  As a result, this skews the overall statistics.  

Unlike the market reports from many other national real estate firms, the Bradford Allen methodology eliminates geographical outlier properties that can skew the accuracy of reported numbers.  In addition, the bi-annual report offers details for five “micro-markets” within the four major submarkets, and provides greater insight into the current status and emerging trends in the suburban Chicago office market.

“The purpose of any market report is to portray a ‘market snapshot’ to people not directly involved in the day-to-day commercial real estate industry.  Our enhanced format does that much more accurately than other reports that are out there,” added Berger.

About Bradford Allen 
Bradford Allen Realty Services, a Chicago-based, national commercial real estate company provides a full array of brokerage services and expertise to entrepreneurial and corporate business entities as well as not-for-profit organizations.  The firm provides real estate strategy, advice, marketing, and transaction execution for occupiers, investors and owners of real estate. For more information please visit our website at www.bradfordallen.com.