Tom’s Recommended Reading for the Week

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

1. Lawrence House developer lands financing, buys near Google project – Cedar Street Cos. landed financing for an ambitious Uptown redevelopment and on the other side of town bought a loft building near Google Inc.’s future offices. A venture of Chicago-based Cedar Street borrowed $18 million from PrivateBank & Trust Co. and secured a $7 million equity investment to remake the former Lawrence House, 1020 W. Lawrence Ave., said Cedar Street Managing Partner Alex Samoylovich… Crain’s Chicago
   
2. Has co-working jumped the shark in Chicago? – Cubicles are overrated. That’s the philosophy at Space, a three-month-old co-working venue in the shadow of Trump Tower. The 25,000-square-foot warehouse on the top floor of a River North loft gives off a warm industrial feel with its wood beams, open rafters and exposed-brick walls. Clean white desks and Herman Miller chairs dot the room, and about half are occupied by silently working 20- and 30-somethings. The whole setup looks more like a stylish loft than an industrial hub… Crain’s Chicago
   
3. Foreign investors pay $40.5 million for Deer Park offices – An investor group with ties to London, Dubai and Kuwait paid $40.5 million for a Deer Park office building, illustrating the Chicago-area real estate market’s increasing international connections. A venture of London-based 90 North Real Estate Partners LLP and Dubai-based Arzan Wealth Ltd. on Sept. 22 bought the seven-story Reserve at Deer Park building at 21440 W. Lake Cook Road, according to 90 North and Lake County records. Investors in the deal include Kuwait-based real estate investment and development firm Al-Tijaria… Crain’s Chicago
   
4. Heitman paying $700 million for River North office tower – Chicago-based real estate investment manager Heitman LLC has agreed to pay just over $700 million for a trophy tower in River North, in what would be one of the largest office deals in the city’s history. A Heitman fund has a preliminary deal to buy the 46-story tower at 353 N. Clark St. for nearly $600 per square foot, according to people familiar with the deal. If completed as expected, the sale of the nearly 1.2 million-square-foot tower will rank as the fourth-highest price paid for a Chicago office tower, and the second-highest per square foot… Crain’s Chicago
5. Top 10 cities with the most construction – After two years atop the Forbes list of American cities with the most construction, New York has to settle for runner-up to a booming, oil rich Houston. The Texas city racked up over $25B in construction starts in the first three quarters, with a trio of $3B gas and energy sector developments leading the charge. Two healthcare projects—the Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Pavilion Clinical Medical Facility at NYU and David H. Koch Ambulatory Care Center at New York-Presbyterian—topped the development list in NYC… Bisnow