Call-center lease in Oak Brook

February 28, 2012

As seen in Chicago Real Estate Daily
As seen in Globe St
As seen in CoStar

Check-cashing chain PLS Financial Services Inc. leased just under 47,000 square feet for a call center in west suburban Oak Brook. Chicago-based PLS signed a long-term deal for the space at 800 Jorie Blvd., part of a two-building complex controlled by a lender. The center should open by August, says Ken Crane, PLS’ vice president-real estate, who says it’s a consolidation of satellite locations and represents an expansion. With the deal, 800-810 Jorie, which totals about 194,000 square feet, is about 70 percent leased, according to figures provided by Jim Adler, an executive vice president at NAI Hiffman, which leases and manages the property. Mark Kolar of Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. represented PLS, which has locations in nine states and has more than 3,000 employees, according to its website.

Posted by NAI Hiffman | Filed Under Office

Foreclosure suit hits Schaumburg office building

February 24, 2012

As seen in Chicago Real Estate Daily

(Crain’s) — A Colorado real estate firm that’s taken several blows here during the downturn faces foreclosure in the cutthroat Schaumburg office market, this time on a half-empty building down the road from Woodfield Mall.

A venture of Lakewood, Colo.-based Alliance Commercial Partners was hit this month with a $15.7-million foreclosure suit from Bank of America N.A. after failing to pay off a loan on One Woodfield Lake, a 204,885-square-foot property at 1000 E. Woodfield Road, according to the complaint. The loan matured in January 2011, according to the suit, filed Feb. 14 in Cook County Circuit Court.

The case underscores the difficulty many landlords face as they try to refinance properties acquired at the top of the market. The Alliance venture paid nearly $14.4 million for One Woodfield Lake in 2006, financing the deal with a $15.8 million mortgage from LaSalle Bank, county records show. Office values plunged during the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009 and generally remain depressed.

“You had very aggressive lenders out there and essentially they financed or leveraged income that never was there,” says Art Burrows, senior vice president in the Chicago office of real estate firm NAI Hiffman. “They were underwriting occupancy that didn’t exist that they assumed would happen . . . that’s really what crushed everybody out here.”

A spokeswoman for Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America, which acquired LaSalle Bank in 2007, declines to comment. An Alliance executive and leasing agent for the building did not return messages seeking comment.

One Woodfield Lake is just 51.3 percent occupied, down from 82.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010, according to real estate data provider CoStar Group Inc. The largest current tenant is a subsidiary of Indianapolis-based health insurer WellPoint Inc., which occupies 60,000 square feet, according to CoStar. Flexera Software Inc. leases nearly 52,000 square feet in the building, CoStar says.

Alliance is no stranger to loan troubles here, surrendering three suburban office buildings to lenders since 2009. An Alliance venture also defaulted last year on a $21.3 million mortgage on the Washington Commons office complex in Naperville, though a loan modification is being negotiated, according to a loan report compiled by Bloomberg L.P.

The foreclosure suit highlights the perils of owning office property in the Schaumburg area, which is awash in space, pushing several large buildings into foreclosure since the crash. Jack Reardon, a leasing broker and senior vice-president at NAI Hifman, does not see an office recovery in the northwest suburbs anytime soon.

“We need to hopefully find another growing industry, and somebody who is going to come out there and take some large chunks,” he says. “At a minimum, (it will take) four-plus years to get to what people would consider a stabilized market.

Posted by NAI Hiffman | Filed Under Office

The Globe St Deal Wrap

January 8, 2012

As seen in Globe St

SCHAUMBURG, IL- KBS Real Estate Investment Trust, based in Newport Beach, CA, has finalized two lease agreements for 32,207 square feet at its Woodfield Preserve Office Center complex here. KBS acquired the 647,216-square-foot property in 2007. Hitachi High Technologies America, a developer of electron microscopy solutions, renewed its 26,595-square-foot lease on the fifth floor of Woodfield Preserve I. Chad Freese and Victor Toft with CBRE in Chicago represented Hitachi in the transaction. Nippon Life Insurance of America, a subsidiary of Japan-based Nippon Life Insurance Co., signed a new lease for 5,612 square feet at Woodfield Preserve II. Nippon Life was represented by Dan O’Neill with NAI Hiffman and Tak O’Hara with White Cube. Mark Smith, Rob Graham and Allison Reynolds with CBRE’s Schaumburg’s office represented KBS in the two transactions.

WHEELING, IL- Ellen Steinbrecher and CJ Kuehl, both principals with Lee & Associates of Illinois LLC represented National Louis University in its lease of 11,199 square feet of office space in the Capitol Commerce Center here. Jason Streepy with NAI Hiffman represented building ownership in the transaction.

ROMEOVILLE, IL- Distribution 2000 Inc., a third-party public warehouse and distribution firm offering food grade storage, has leased 236,000 square feet at 1165 Crossroads Parkway here. The new lease is a relocation and consolidation from two locations, with an increase in total square footage by 61,000 square feet. Sally Macoicz, a senior director with Cushman & Wakefield of Illinois Inc., represented the tenant in the five-year lease. Dan Leahy and Adam Roth with NAI Hiffman represented the landlord, TA Associates. The 471,500-square-foot industrial warehouse building was built in 2004.

Posted by NAI Hiffman | Filed Under Industrial, Office

A. M. Castle Plans to Move HQ to Oak Brook Office Complex

December 1, 2011

As seen in Globe St

CHICAGO-A. M. Castle & Co., a specialty metals distributor, is planning to relocate its headquarters to an office complex in Oak Brook from its current location in Franklin Park. The company will occupy 39,361 square feet at the Crossings, a 303,510-square-foot complex at 1420 Kensington Road.

A. M. Castle will retain its manufacturing facility measuring 522,600 square feet at 3400 N. Wolf Road. Dan O’Neill with Oakbrook Terrace-based NAI Hiffman represented Boston-based Davis Cos., the landlord, in the lease transaction.

Posted by NAI Hiffman | Filed Under Industrial, Office

Cole Taylor renews big Rosemont lease

December 1, 2011

As seen in Chicago Real Estate Daily

As seen in GlobeSt

As seen in Real Estate BISNOW

Cole Taylor Bank has renewed a 114,762-square-foot lease for its headquarters at Pointe O’Hare, 9550 W. Higgins Road in Rosemont, according to the bank’s office broker, Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. It is the largest lease in the O’Hare submarket this year. Cole Taylor’s lease was scheduled to expire at the end of September 2014, before the five-year extension was signed. The bank was represented by Managing Director Jeffrey Liljeberg and Executive Vice-president Eric Kunkel of Jones Lang. The building representatives were Jason Streepy and Linda Garske, senior vice-presidents for NAI Hiffman. The building has 278 of Cole Taylor’s 640 employees, which includes commercial real estate, asset-based lending, customer service, operations and other back-office functions, a bank spokesman says. “This central location, along with our downtown commercial banking offices and local banking centers, gives us easy access to our clients and prospects throughout the Chicago area and, when combined with the recent consolidation and relocation of our mortgage company headquarters in Ann Arbor, Mich., positions the bank for growth,” Mark Hoppe, the bank’s president and CEO, says in a statement.

Posted by NAI Hiffman | Filed Under Office

Celergo Expands Operations by 4,843 SF

November 13, 2011

As seen in Globe St

Seen in Real Estate BISNOW

DEERFIELD, IL-Celergo, a provider of outsourced global payroll services, has expanded its operations at 750 Estate Dr. by 4,843 square feet to a total of 18,182 square feet within the 26,200-square-foot, class B, single-story office building. Michael Flynn and Jason Wurtz with NAI Hiffman’s office services group represented landlord ECD Co. Chris Cummings with Colliers International represented Celergo in the transaction.

Posted by NAI Hiffman | Filed Under Office