Chicago Commercial Real Estate – In the News

Tom’s Recommended Reading for the Week

Check out the top news in Chicago commercial real estate before heading into the weekend!

  1. Construction deals rise in first half – The local construction industry got off to a strong start during the first half of the year but will likely be challenged to continue such a pace as 2014 wears on. Signed contracts for commercial and residential construction projects in the Chicago area hit nearly $4.3 billion during the first six months of the year, up 16 percent versus $3.7 billion in deals during the same period a year ago, according to data from New York-based McGraw-Hill Construction… Crain’s Chicago
  2. BECO buys Motorola Mobility’s Libertyville campus – The vacant former Motorola Mobility campus headquarters in Libertyville has been acquired by a Washington, D.C.-based commercial real estate company that plans to remake the space into an “innovation campus.” BECO Management Inc. said Monday it purchased the five-building, 1.2-million-square-foot complex on 84 acres of land for $9.5 million… Chicago Tribune
  3. Is something wrong with Chicago’s suburbs? – In the past, I’ve written about Connecticut becoming a suburban corporate wasteland as well as the rise of the executive headquarters in major global city downtowns. What we see is anecdotal signs of re-centralizing, while the more bread-and-butter — though still often well-paying — jobs are heading to less-expensive suburban locales in places like Austin, Texas; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Salt Lake City. This leaves expensive and business-hostile suburbs around global cities, like most of those in Connecticut, in a tough spot… Crain’s Chicago
  4. Wintrust sings lease for 231 S. LaSalle – Wintrust Financial Corporation has entered into a long term lease for the main banking hall, multiple floors, retail space and primary signage to the iconic 231 South LaSalle building. Built in 1924, the building is located at the base of “the canyon” on the corner of LaSalle and Jackson, across from the Federal Reserve Bank and the Chicago Board of Trade. Once the home of Continental Illinois Bank, the building is considered one of the most recognizable buildings in the Loop and features a banking hall believed to be one of the largest of its kind in the world… RE Journals
  5. Sterling Bay to buy LaSalle-Wacker Building – Sterling Bay Cos. has found its next target: an 85-year-old riverfront office tower on Wacker Drive. A venture of the Chicago-based developer agreed to pay $53 million for most of the 41-story art deco tower at 221 N. LaSalle St., known as the LaSalle-Wacker Building, according to a person familiar with the deal. The acquisition marks another turnaround opportunity for Sterling Bay, which is converting the former Fulton Market Cold Storage building into Google Inc.’s future Chicago office and is trying its hand at the long-vacant, 2.7 million-square-foot Old Main Post Office straddling the Congress Parkway… Crain’s Chicago